[CHAPTER IX.]
IN THE BLACK HOLE.
Where had Shadow gone to?
At the instant that the murderous crew rushed at him, he quietly sank to the floor.
The first one to reach the spot where he had been standing struck his body.
The cry of surprise on his lips was changed into a death-groan, as the man nearest him grabbed at and stabbed him, under the impression that it was the strange, and to them, unknown person whom they had detected spying on them.
Shadow had seen us and knew that we would now take care of the gang, and he had edged toward the door communicating with the hall, and had disappeared unseen by my men, deeply interested just then in another quarter.
The villains were marched away and locked up, and to make a long story short were properly punished in due course of time.
The bank officials, grateful at having been saved a heavy loss, voted me a handsome sum in reward for my services.
This, I felt, belonged entirely to Shadow, and I kept it about me in the shape of a check, to be given him at the first opportunity.