Both Major and Ferret understood. These threatening automatics had them helpless. They would be forced into the vault which they had rifled — and Butcher would be placed there with them.
What would happen then?
Both pictured the result. An alarm, perhaps. Police, summoned to the bank to find three men helplessly awaiting their arrival. They sensed the menace of The Shadow. This man knew all! Their game was ended!
Ended, unless they could count on Butcher. If he should arrive in time, he might divert The Shadow long enough for them to attempt an escape. But hope faded with the thought. The Shadow was slowly edging his arms along the rail, reaching the top of the stairs, from which he could advance, and be clear of any danger from below. Those menacing automatics did not vary from their targets. A move by either Major or Ferret would mean death.
If Deacon would only come with Butcher! That might offer some help. But Deacon had planned otherwise. He would travel away alone, without knowing the plight of his comrades.
Butcher, by himself, could be of no use. He would blunder into this trap like a blind bull. The Shadow paused at the head of the stairs. His course was simple, now. It meant that no chance remained for the two men whom he covered. Major groaned and Ferret echoed with a snarl. The Shadow laughed — a jeering, whispering laugh that sounded with chilling reverberations throughout the high-roofed room. Major shuddered, and Ferret cowered. Bold though these villains were, they quailed at the triumphant laugh of The Shadow.
As the eerie echoes died away, a shot rang out. It reechoed in the big bank room — a loud report that came with startling suddenness. With that shot, The Shadow's form swayed dizzily. It toppled sidewise, and plunged headlong, crashing down the stairs.
Bewildered, the men by the vault heard the muffled finish of the fall; then came the clatter of an automatic as it fell from step to step.
Silence followed, and amid the stillness, a man came forward from a partition halfway down the room. Major and Ferret dropped their arms and gasped in astonishment as they recognized the familiar face of Judge!
Their chief had saved them. They had not even dreamed that he would be here; yet he had been on hand to witness their plight, and to effect a rescue.