The muffled sound of machinery ended abruptly. Bron’s ferocity was suddenly curbed by the occurrence.
He released his hold upon the right arm of The Shadow and reached for the switch. At the same time, he showed his brute strength to the fullest as he used his right arm to whirl The Shadow sidewise across the passage.
The Shadow’s hat protected his head as he crashed against the wall. In that moment of half-stunned defeat, his weakened arm stretched out, and his hand struck against the leg of the stool which was Bron’s customary resting place.
The Shadow had dropped to one knee. He rose from the floor, starting a mighty swing. Bron, turning to finish his enemy, saw it coming, but too late.
The stool was a terrible weapon. It knocked aside the giant’s upraised arm. The legs of the stool broke into fragments as they struck the monster’s head. The Shadow’s formidable foe collapsed in a huge heap.
THE SHADOW was weak and breathless. Then he realized that the throbbing of the machinery had begun again when Bron had pressed the switch.
Above the sound he heard another noise. A weak tapping at the end of the corridor. He drew back the switch. He went to the door and found the hidden catch. The door arose and showed a most amazing sight.
Harry Vincent was prone on the floor, below the level of the door. His hands were reaching through a space scarcely more than a foot in width. Above him was a long, dark platform, like the level of a huge elevator. From beneath came a weird light — the last illumination furnished by the frame at the opposite end of the corridor of death!
The Shadow gripped Harry’s hands and pulled him through the narrow opening. It was a tight, close squeeze. For a moment it seemed as though the man’s body could not get through the space. Then Harry was free.
He lay motionless upon the floor of the passage, faint from the ordeal he had undergone.