Then, as Major began to relieve the tension by turning away from Ferret, the black-clad hand acted.
The fingers caught the revolver as the hand swung downward. The sudden motion caught Major unprepared. The revolver was wrested from his grasp.
With a wild, startled cry, Major turned, and his light revealed the action on the floor. The Shadow was rolling onto his back, his hand clutching the gleaming revolver by the barrel. His body winced as the weight fell upon the crippled left shoulder.
An amazing thrust for life! But one that could hardly avail.
The Shadow's face was upturned; but the slouch hat, jammed over his eyes, still hid the features that lay beneath the brim. His left arm, totally helpless, was bent underneath his sprawled form. His right held the revolver — but by the wrong end.
Major, though weaponless, held the advantage, and realized it. The Shadow, prone, wounded, could be no match for him.
The Shadow had rolled a yard away; but the space was short, and Major was reaching for the gun as he sprang forward. All was in his favor — had he been coping with any one but The Shadow. For, despite his helplessness and the fact that he could neither rise nor use both hands, The Shadow was equal to the emergency.
Coincident with Major's spring, the right hand of The Shadow made a quick, twisting motion. The gun tipped backward in his hand. The muzzle swung up toward Major, and The Shadow's hand caught the butt. His outstretched finger was ready for the trigger.
A clean bit of jugglery, performed in a split second! As the gun plumped safely in The Shadow's hand, Major's fingers arrived. They were closing upon the barrel of the revolver, when The Shadow pulled the trigger. Major's form kept on, hurtling forward on the floor, across The Shadow's body. The flashlight slipped away from Major's dying grasp. It clattered on the stone, and lay shining along the corridor, uselessly turned away from the amazing scene of action.
The lunge of Major's body had trapped The Shadow's arm, but that arm was writhing free. It was racing now with Ferret.