
THE road from Riverport to Westhampton was a lonely highway. For miles, it followed the river gorge
between the two towns. Sharp curves impeded continual speed but the lack of traffic on the highway
partly offset that disadvantage.
The Shadow had left Riverport at ten minutes of seven. He was managing an average of fifty miles an
hour. Fifteen minutes out of Riverport had carried him slightly more than a dozen miles along his way.
Hands firmly clutching the wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, The Shadow observed the contour of
the highway. Every curve was different; yet all bore one point of similarity. To the right were rugged,
towering slopes; to the left a guard rail that fringed the river bank.
The rail was one that had been built to stand a severe test. Taut wires ran between stout wooden posts,
fixed deep beside the left shoulder of the highway. In all that monotony of posts, the ordinary observer
would have seen no change. To The Shadow, however, differences were apparent.
Certain posts had weakened. Though they remained upright, there were tell-tale depressions at the base,
sure signs that freshets had washed away supporting soil. Those posts needed strengthening supports.
The Shadow made a mental note of that fact. Curiously, his observation was to serve him well before his
trip was ended.
Except for those infrequent weaknesses, the guard rail was strong enough to resist the onslaught of a
ten-ton truck. It needed to be strong. The river that lay below was deep and blackly sinister.
This gorge was narrow; its waters were slow, for the river was dammed some miles ahead. Fully thirty
feet of depth lay below the dark surface of the river.
Mile after mile, The Shadow saw no other cars. He was traveling at the highest speed that any car could
maintain along this winding road. At a fifty-mile-an-hour average, there was a chance that he might reach
Westhampton soon after the departure of the mysterious truck. Inquiries; new clues; then The Shadow
would resume pursuit. He was confident that a trail could be picked up at Westhampton.
The clock on the coupe's dashboard showed seven ten. It was the exact minute mentioned in the
hard-faced man's telephone call. Timed almost to the second, The Shadow whizzed past an obscure side
road that led upward to the right, through the ravine of a little stream.
THOUGH his headlights were pointing ahead, The Shadow was conscious of a small house nestled at
the outlet of the dirt road. His momentary glimpse gave him the impression that the house was deserted.
The impression was justified. Supposedly, that house had been vacated a month before. Tonight,
however, it was occupied. Peering eyes were stationed at a blackened upstairs window, to note The
Shadow's coupe as it whirled past. Observers saw the New York license plate.
The hard-faced man at Riverport had made a perfect estimate of the time interval. He had done better
than produce a haphazard guess. He had been familiar with the river road; he knew the maximum speed
that its curves allowed. He had assumed that whoever had departed in the coupe would be riding at the
fastest possible clip.
Gripping the wheel of the coupe, The Shadow swung hard as he finished a leftward curve. The road
swung to the right; then left again, to a jutting point that hung above the river. The turn was one that
required brakes. Safety signs showed twisted lines to indicate the sharpness of the turn. The right side of
the road was a mass of mixed rocks.
The Shadow's foot moved to the brake pedal. There it halted, momentarily. His ears had caught a