The door opened in response to the visitor’s rap. When it closed again, The Shadow emerged from his temporary hiding place. His hands, now clad in black gloves, worked silently upon the lock.
The door yielded and The Shadow entered. His tall thin form glided along the inner hall, until it reached the entrance to the lawyer’s office. The visitor had evidently been conducted into this room, for the low buzz of conversation was audible.
From beneath his cloak The Shadow produced an odd-shaped instrument: a disk of black rubber, connected by a wire to a cup-shaped earphone.
With one hand, The Shadow pressed the disk over the keyhole of the door. The earphone disappeared beneath the projecting edge of the slouch hat. With this special device, the figure in black was ready to pick up the sound waves from the inner room. He could hear every word of the conversation.
“Helmsworth,” Noyes was saying to the visitor, “the time has come that I have been anticipating. Are you ready?”
“Not as yet, Mr. Noyes,” came the gruff reply of the visitor. “You will have to allow me three days, at least.”
“You have not lived up to your agreement,” declared Noyes testily. “You were to be in readiness at any time. It was upon that understanding that I managed to arrange the funds that you needed for your polar expedition.”
“Submarines are uncertain at best,” protested Helmsworth. “My ship is ready now, Mr. Noyes, but I can leave nothing to chance. You have demanded a trip across the Atlantic and return, without refueling. No man, other than myself, could have guaranteed such a voyage.
“I have just conducted new experiments and have learned that my estimate was not exact, so we are installing additional fuel tanks. I can positively assure you that we will be ready for the trip three days from now. Nevertheless—”
“What is the trouble?” demanded Noyes, as Helmsworth paused.