It was impossible!
Yet he was not mistaken. A portion of the blackness entered the cavern. For an instant it seemed to be a shapeless mass; then it suddenly took form.
A figure stood in the light — the figure of a living being, clad in a black cloak, wearing a broad-brimmed slouch hat that totally obscured his face.
Birdie Crull looked up suddenly as an involuntary exclamation came from Blair Windsor’s lips.
“The Shadow!”
The words were uttered by Birdie Crull. A look of intense fear came over the gunman’s features. He clambered to his feet, away from the grating.
* * *
Two automatics appeared from beneath the black cloak. They covered the four men: Crull, Windsor, Vernon, and Jerry. The counterfeiters raised their hands instinctively. They needed no command to make them fear the menace of The Shadow.
The figure moved to the center of the cavern. It stood above the pit, where the two men were fighting for life. Their faces were pressed against the grating. The water was nearly above their heads. In less than one minute their doom would have been sealed.
There was a motion at the bottom of the black cloak. The hose was kicked aside. Its flood poured along the floor of the cavern. The lives of the prisoners were saved for the time.