The Shadow uneasily decided to leave the killer Frank "the Snake" Earl to a police trap and turned his attention to the case of "Mavis, the Mystic", a spiritualist cheating the rich. But Earl, true to his name, wriggled free of the trap, massacring both the police and his own men who he blamed for his near capture. The Shadow now felt compelled to hunt down Earl and turned the case of Mavis over to another.

The Shadow, as Lamont Cranston, with the help of Margot Lane, introduced young socialite Morgan Willis to a strange little man named "Mr. Maxwell", who was actually the Magician "the Mysterious Audini" incognito. At the height of a Seance Maxwell tripped a "ghost" and revealed to Morgan's gullible Aunt Agatha the truth.

But as fate would have it, Seagate House, which Mavis had just been foiled in her attempts to seize, was itself Earl's hideout. Mavis told Earl, hiding unseen in the servant quarters, of her being exposed, expecting him to find a new hiding place. But instead Earl declared he was not leaving, he had arranged for a bootlegger's ship to use the cove behind the house to gain both capital and an escape route to Canada.

Mavis, trapped into helping Earl but trying to avoid more bloodshed, set up a ghostly scene designed to scare off Morgan and his Aunt. But it backfired, the House ghost "Captain Black" was played by Earl himself and when faced by Morgan brandishing a gun he killed him with a Cutlass.

At the Funeral for Morgan, the true nature of whose wounds had been hidden in a trumped up car accident, Margot and Lamont were reunited and Margot wondered openly what had gone wrong, Mavis was back in with Aunt Agatha and Morgan, her old college friend, was dead. Lamont, who as the Shadow felt he was closing in on Earl and couldn't yet break free of the chase, advised Margot to accept Agatha's invitation to stay a weekend and to help them find out.

But that night in a warehouse used by the underworld, the Shadow with the aide of Cliff Marsland got the last piece to the puzzle -- only to realize it meant that Margot had been unknowingly sent alone directly into the Killer's hideout.

Margot, not knowing the danger she was in, did her best to make good her visit, when the night brought mysterious doings down by the cove she went to investigate, only to find Agatha sitting in the dark hallway obsessed with seeing the Ghost. Agatha saw something and chased it out to the cove only to collapse with exhaustion on the beach. There, to Margot's surprise, the Shadow appeared to get her out of danger, but Margot couldn't leave Agatha. The Shadow understood her commitment but couldn't get them both out then without risking open warfare. They had to settle for a plan of Margot getting Agatha out the next morning.

Only, by next Morning Mavis had finally won over Agatha's dwindling resistance and had Margot escorted out. Margot, unhappy with being marched out, and with hoped for support from Moe Shrevnitz the New York Cabby and fellow Agent of the Shadow, returned to try to spirit Agatha out, only to find her lying drugged unconscious. Margot then turned to find a grinning Frank Earl holding a gun on her.

When Margot didn't reappear as she promised, Moe went back to the Shadow to report it. A black sedan was parked well outside of the grounds of Seagate House. When the Shadow saw Shreevy alone and looking like he was choking on death itself he knew Margot was taken.

That day was one of the longest any associated with the Shadow had ever known. They kept up their watch on the house as the shadow marshaled his forces for the night ahead, but not a sound came from the house all day. As if in concert with their misgivings the skies darkened, a storm was coming inland.

As the day faded Cliff Marsland was given instructions for his part in the night's doings. Cliff was not by nature a patient man and would have preferred they had stormed the house hours ago, but he took his instructions and carried them out the best he was able. He stole onto the grounds of the House and found the side of the house least likely to be watched. From there he tossed up a grappling line and pulled himself to a second story window. It was locked but it opened quick enough when he jimmy'd it with a crowbar. He was trying to be quiet, but not too quiet, he had a role to play but it mustn't be obvious about it.

To Cliff's eyes the inside room looked like a museum. So this is how rich people lived, he thought, it didn't look so friendly to him. He pulled out a bag and took not the nicest stuff but only the sort easiest to fence. He was not too familiar with doing this, this wasn't the sort of thing he'd would have ever done to make a living, but knew how it was done. He moved out of the first room and quietly moved to another. Quietly, but not too quietly.

If he lucked out and found Margot in one of these rooms there was one alternative to action, but that was not his mission. When he turned a corner and heard footsteps he turned and headed for the window and escape. It was sort of a ballet to Marsland. He made his move in, they made their move on him, then he made his feint toward escape but before he got there he found himself facing a shotgun, and did his best to feign surprise.

The man who had the drop on Cliff was slim and weak, only a few days before he'd playacted the part of a Butler in Mavis's schemes. He wasn't nearly a match for a big tough like Marsland, but by holding the shotgun he thought he was in control and commanded Marsland to put his hands up where he could see them. He also wasn't up to taking note of the falseness of Marsland's pretended surprise, instead he immediately called for help in dealing with Cliff.

Cliff knew the man was too nervous to be holding a gun on an intruder, it would've been easy when he'd turned to call for help for Cliff to take him out, but that wasn't in the plan. Instead, Cliff complied meekly. Then Frank Earl entered the room, cliff could tell immediately that here was a man who was dangerous.

"What's this? What did you get here?" Earl said brandishing a revolver as if he was itching to use it on someone.

It was not a hard situation to assess, rough looking guy jimmy's open a window, bags some loot and is caught before he can get away. But the skinny guy's nerves were on edge. "I caught another spy!" he crowed and pushed the shotgun further in on Marsland as if waiting for permission to blow Cliff's head off.

"Easy, sonny" Cliff mumbled with the shotgun barrels in his face. "I've not done you no harm have I?"

Earl spat "Spy? What are you talkin' about?" he cursed "He don't look like a spy, he looks like a workin' man to me."

The skinny guy's Adam's apple bobbed in surprise as Earl took over the situation. Earl looked at the window sill and looked back at Marsland. "Sloppy work, kid. You an amateur or something? You just get fired from the factory?" Earl spat "Naw, you look more like muscle to me, what you doing here? You're out of your league working on a house like this ... and it isn't fully dark yet. Who put you up to this?" the eyes of "the snake" were on him, every word would have to be exactly right or Cliff would be dead, and speaking wasn't what Cliff was best at.

"If I've trespassed somewhere I ain't wanted I'll leave." Cliff said awkwardly "You know I ain't gonna call the cops."

"The Cops!" Earl spat. "What have people in a nice house like this got to fear from the cops?" Earl's eyes flared "What do you know about who's in this house?" he said building up a head of steam.

Earl hit Cliff across the face with the barrel of the revolver Cliff winced but didn't fight back. This seemed to anger Earl more. "Get down on your knees" He growled.

Cliff didn't respond fast enough and got pistol whipped again.

Then Marsland, bleeding from the lip, slowly got down on his knees. The wild-eyed Earl put the revolver up against his forehead and cocked the hammer. "Now you talk and talk good or I'll blow you straight from here to kingdom come."

Marsland did his best to say what he'd been told to say. "I didn't know you'd still be here, tonight. I was here last night ... but I saw some men and got spooked off. I got the number on this house cause I've got a connection in a servant's agency ... no servants sent out here for over a week meant the house was empty, right? But I got here last night and it wasn't empty. I figured a gang had moved in and was robbing the house before I got my chance. Today I thought this being a big house there might still be pickings the gang had missed ... but I never figured anyone would still be here a day later."

Earl blinked and cocked his head, then chuckled. "It figures" he nearly outright laughed "Figures it would be a slip up by Mavis." he looked over at the skinny guy with the shotgun and talked as if the skinny guy was not able to hear himself being talked about. "Her and you phony servants, it figures that you bums would queer things." He laughed again "Lucky, I'm leavin' tonight and don't care."

He looked back at Cliff, "So it was you we were chasin' last night. Boy, you're lucky we didn't tackle you then, we were so mad we coulda skinned you." Earl's face fell, it went from big smile to deadly serious, "Too bad you crossed us last night, we could've used another hand tonight, but now I have to pay you back for giving us trouble."

Cliff swallowed hard, he knew this was it. They'd gambled his life on a story, Earl had bought the story but even so he wanted Cliff's blood. The Shadow had saved Cliff twice in the past days from a bullet execution but this time he was alone and no help would come in time. The only thing he could do now was not to give Earl the satisfaction of seeing him crawl. Cliff took this final fate with a stone face.

Earl's scowl seemed frozen and the barrel of the gun seemed to cut into Cliff's forehead, but still the expected blast to oblivion didn't come.

Suddenly, Earl raised the gun and uncocked it. "You got guts, Big Man. " he sniffed, putting the gun away in his belt. "Stand up, I could use a man with guts like yours."

Cliff stood but found his knees were a bit wobbly. Earl smiled putting an hand on Cliff's shoulder. "Say, Big man, you ever been to Canada?"

Cliff followed Earl out to the cove. The Storm had moved closer with the dying of the daylight, rain spattered the house and the wind tossed the surf up the beach.

With the fall of night a masted ship anchored just outside the cove, rising and falling with the sea. A long boat was lowered from the ship and after a tortuous journey beached on the Cove. Boxes of liquor bottles were unloaded onto the sand but Earl was impatient with the few boxes that landed, much too few. Earl cursed and harried the sailors as they unloaded the boat.

Mavis came out of the house into the storm and down to the beach. Her associates pulled along the figure of a woman wrapped in a bed sheet and tossed it like useless goods onto the sand. Cliff's stomach did a turn as he realized the body was Margot Lane. He didn't dare look closer or show any interest in her, but she was all he could think about.

Mavis closed with Earl as he argued with the head of the sailors. The sailor was saying how it wasn't worth risking the ship in this weather, maybe next trip down.

While they argued, a truck arrived at the front of the house and was directed by Mavis's cronies back to the cove. Five men got out of the back. Cliff didn't recognize the men but he knew their kind and he knew he was one of them, men down so down on their luck as to be beasts of burden for anyone in or outside the law. If things had gone differently, he might have been one of them, instead he stood at Earl's side. Cliff looked down at the sailors as Earl argued and they were gratifyingly intimidated at his brutal scrutiny.

Earl finally cursed and pulled a gun and waved it around for emphasis. "This stinks! I can't wait until next trip ... and I want my merchandise."

An older man with a rocky face came out of the truck and was looking sourly at the situation, seemingly taking no notice of Earl's waving revolver.

Finally, Earl cursed and waved for the men from the truck to come over to the boat, "You men, over here." he waved the gun in front of the first mate's face "If you ain't got the guts to row in these waves I'll see to getting the merchandise ashore myself"

Earl turned to face the white-haired man from the truck "You got my money" he demanded.

The white-haired trucker wouldn't be pushed by this wild man waving a gun, he just answered quietly, "Yeah."

Earl nodded, "Good! I'll go get your merchandise." With that he gathered up the men from truck and the sailors, under Earl's wild gestures, pushed the boat back into the surf. In a confusion, both the Men from the truck and the sailors boarded the bobbing long boat. Cliff got into the surf and then into the boat while Earl stood in the long boat and yelled to the beach. He demanded his "package" from Mavis's cronies.

Cliff was puzzled about this "package" as they tossed Earl a small valise. Then Earl sat in the boat and out of the valise pulled a Thompson machine gun and fitted it with a round magazine. "And toss that girl up here, too" he demanded.

Cliff's blood ran cold as the body of Margot Lane, wrapped in a sheet, her hair down covering her face, was tossed into the boat. But he had some cold satisfaction to hear the body moan, she was still alive. Her head turned as she groaned, she seemed in a painful daze, half in a troubled sleep. She was drugged and mercifully didn't know where she was or what was happening to her.

Earl looked at the Tommy gun like it was his baby, fussing over how well it was oiled and how it was doing in the salt spray. Back on the shore the white-haired man from the truck was counting out the boxes under Mavis's watchful eyes. The first mate rowed and all the time stared holes into Earl.

Earl laughed at him and inspected his Tommy gun. "You think your Captain will be trouble? Naw, he'll finish business" Earl tapped the Machine gun "But just in case maybe this will help him see reason." Then he turned back to fussing with the gun. "There, baby, the sea water won't hurt you, not when daddy's around."

Cliff didn't know what to do so he helped with the rowing and tried not to look down at Margot. But every time she groaned his stomach took another flip.

The Sea was stubborn, it seemed like it was fighting the oars. Both sailors and truckers were unhappy but Earl was positively jovial, he'd have his way and there was no question about it. When they got to the ship the only way up was a rope ladder, half the truckers were wishing Earl had just shot them and got it over with, but no one fell into the sea.

Earl came over the railing beaming "Captain! Good to meet you." he said and shook the Captain's hand, tho the Captain's eyes were on the Tommy gun Earl casually dangled by his side. Earl put his free arm around the dour Captain's shoulder and said in a familiar tone "As a personal favor to me, I want you should finish what we've started her. Pack up the rest of the bottles and lets get them ashore."

The Captain was a raw, rough boned man in his fifties who didn't bluff, but then he could also see Earl wasn't a man who bluffed. They bargained while the sailors brought the long boat up with a winch. With a signal from the Captain the sailors unfettered a second long boat and began to fill it with cases of liquor.

"You and your men will do the unloading ashore," dictated the Captain "mine will load up here. While you're going ashore and back we'll pack up the next boat. But mind now ... " he said pointing out to sea. "If you're not done by the time that storm head hits we cast off, even if we have to lose a long boat to do it."

Earl knew a reasonable deal when he heard it. "Right, and I'll cut my losses, too, if need be, to get aboard before then." he shook the Captains hand again "Good man, pleasure doing business with you."

With that the ship lurched and groaned, the sea was getting worse every minute. A black shape near the mast caught Earl's eye, he pointed at it with the Tommy gun. "What's that?"

The Captain looked over and smiled, "Come, take a closer look" he said leading Earl over, he removed a tarp and revealed a wood carving tied to the mast of a man-sized figure draped in a cloak and hood. "It's a figure head from an old whaling ship I picked up down coast." he said proudly. "I intend to have it set in the prow back at port." Earl wasn't a superstitious man but didn't feel right looking at it. It was a figure of death in a monk's cloak and holding an anchor, the gaping, smiling skull face reminded him of the mask he'd worn when he killed Morgan Willis.

Just then a cry went up from the sailors. The long boat that had come back from shore was unloaded of it's final burden, the body of Margot Lane. It was dropped to the deck like a rag doll. All the sailors stopped still in their work and stared as the wrapped form made a low pitiful groan. The Captain's eyes near bulged out in horror, he spat and mumbled something incoherent about jinxes, women and the sea. Earl knew a monkey wrench in things when he saw it, he needed quick work not fearful reluctance, not now, of all times. "Come on" he cried to the sailors "Get that boat packed up! You heard the Captain there's a storm coming!"

"What is the meaning of bringing this female aboard?" The Captain demanded.

Earl tried to laugh it off "Keep your shirt on, my girlfriend ashore is squeamish, afraid of getting that nice house back there all messed up with dead bodies, so this rat girl is doped up and the minute we get out to the open sea we dump her over the side." Earl smiled "No fuss, No muss."

The Captain was unsure but decided not to fight Earl over it "As soon as we're under full sail and beyond land, we still have a storm to out run tonight."

Earl smiled a crooked smile "Your the boss." The sailors got back to filling the Long boat with renewed speed, half of them stealing nervous looks to Margot on the deck every few moments.

All this while Cliff was having more and more trouble concentrating on his act as just another hired on thug. While Earl dangled the Tommy gun from one hand, he also had a shoulder holster with a revolver under his arm. For one moment Earl was standing with his coat open, glaring down at the sailors to keep them working, and the butt of the revolver stood out. It was only one quick, simple and direct motion, that Earl wasn't expecting, and suddenly Cliff had relieved him of the revolver. Earl looked up to see Cliff pointing it at him.

Earl's face wrinkled in surprise, confusion, then anger. He growled at Cliff "You've just made the worst mistake of your life, buddy boy."

"I don't think so" Cliff said cocking the revolver and stepping back to where Margot lay.

The Tommy gun still dangled in Earl's hand and his tight face foretold it was only a matter of time before he'd pull it up to fire. Cliff knew that, and knew he'd have a bullet between the killer's eyes, the hand with the gun would go limp, before he'd ever aim it. But Earl's wild eyes meant if Cliff wavered for a second it would be him not Earl who fell. Cliff wanted to succeed for Margot's sake but for himself he didn't care which way it went, he just could no longer stand by anymore, even if it meant his death.

Cliff barked orders to the Sailors not breaking eye contact with Earl."Drop the long boat." then to Earl "I'm taking the Long boat and the girl, and while I'm reaching down for her if you so much as blink, Earl, I'll kill you."

Cliff might've done it, the winch released the Long boat and the shoot out to come might've fallen his way but he never got the chance. The night suddenly burst into a million stars.

Cliff fell to his knees trying to hold onto the gun but all went black and it fell out of his fingers. Someone above him in the rigging had dropped a belaying pin on his head and nearly cracked his head open. Cliff fell face first onto the deck.

Earl stepped forward and kicked Cliff. "Damn you! You did that for the girl, didn't you! You idiot! Playing Sir Galahad has cost you your life! Damn! and I could've used a guy like you in Canada." he kicked again for good measure.

Now two of the Shadow's agents lay on the deck awaiting death.

to be continued...