CHAPTER XXV--SHADOWED BY THREE
Roger Verbeck's powerful, four-seated roadster, its curtains upagainst the fine drizzle of rain, and with Muggs at the wheel, drew upwhen the traffic policeman raised a warning hand, and waited for thecross-town stream of vehicles and pedestrians to pass.
It was eight o'clock in the evening, and the streets were thronged.Crowds were hurrying toward the theaters; more crowds were making fora big automobile show, and others were hastening toward a large hall,where there was to be a mass meeting, at which infuriated speakerswould demand that the police department of the city capture instantlythe Black Star, the notorious master criminal, who, with his band ofclever crooks, had terrorized the city for half a year.
Verbeck's car was of foreign make and of peculiar appearance, and itwas natural that it should be recognized. Muggs bent over the wheeland gritted his teeth as he heard the expressions passed bypedestrians, and the young man beside him looked straight ahead as ifseeing nothing and hearing nothing.
"When you goin' to get the Black Star?"
"What's Black Star payin' you to hold off, Verbeck?"
"That crook's too much for you, ain't he?"
"Well, well--so he hasn't caught you again?"
Those were samples of the remarks being passed, and they made Muggswant to get from the roadster and fight his way into the midst of themob. Muggs knew better than any one else how Verbeck, since thememorable day when the Black Star had dared the young millionaire tocapture him, had tried every means in his power to get hands on themaster criminal.
The Black Star had written again to Roger Verbeck, saying that he andhis man Muggs would be abducted by the Black Star's men, taken to themaster crook's new headquarters, for which they had been searching invain, and from there taken to the scene of a big crime. They would beforced to stand by under guard and watch the crime committed, and thenthey would be treated to shots from the vapor gun the Black Star andhis men used, and left unconscious on the spot--laughingstocks for thepublic.
That letter had been sent to the newspapers three weeks before, and asyet the Black Star had not abducted Roger Verbeck and Muggs. Thecriminal, in another letter to the papers, insisted that this was notbecause he had not had an opportunity to effect the abduction, butbecause preparations had not been completed for the next big crime.
So now, as Verbeck's roadster waited at the corner, those whorecognized the car and its occupants enjoyed a few moments ofsarcastic abuse. It was nothing to the general public that Verbeck hadspent time and money in an effort to capture the master criminal afterthe police had failed, that he had risked his life half a score oftimes, and once even had been accused of belonging to the Black Star'sband himself.
The unthinking public looked only at results--and there had been none.Muggs and Verbeck and the few thinkers in the city knew well that, ifthe Black Star was caught, these thoughtless ones would be the firstto praise Verbeck loudly; but in the meantime the sarcasm was highlyunpleasant.
After a time the traffic cop turned and raised a hand, and Muggsgrowled again and threw in the clutch and piloted the heavy car acrossthe street and down the broad avenue. They were out of the congesteddistrict within a few minutes, and speeding along a boulevard that ledto a section of the city where large and modern apartment houses wereto be found.
Half a block behind Verbeck's roadster a man trailed on a motor cycle,seemingly paying no attention to the car ahead, but in reality keepingclose watch on it. A short distance behind the motor cycle trailed arunabout with one man in it. The runabout was a small car, but amechanician could have told after a second glance that it was apowerful one. The man in the runabout was watching both the motorcycle and Verbeck's car.
A short distance behind the runabout was a lightweight truck. Behindthe wheel of the truck was a young man, who appeared eager to get homeafter an overtime delay in making deliveries. He wore greasy overallsand jumper, and a slouch hat pulled well down over his eyes. Thecollar of the jumper was turned up to keep out the drizzle.
Thus the procession moved along the broad boulevard, and, after atime, Verbeck's roadster drew up at the curb in front of an imposingapartment house. Muggs remained behind the wheel, but the man he hadbeen driving got out and hurried into the building. It was naturalthat he did so, for on the ground floor lived his fiancee. The threatof abduction, it appeared, did not keep Roger Verbeck from paying hiscustomary visits to his sweetheart.
The man on the motor cycle pulled in at the curb on the opposite sideof the street, dismounted, and appeared to be tinkering with hismachine. The runabout passed him, and its driver bent out and spoke afew words as it passed, the motor cyclist nodding in reply. Then therunabout went around the next corner, where it stopped, its drivergetting out and walking slowly back up the boulevard, like a belatedlaborer on his way home.
The light truck did not pass Verbeck's car. It turned into an alleyand pulled up behind a garage there. Its driver got out and walkedquickly back to the mouth of the alley, and there he peered around thecorner of a high fence and down the boulevard. He noticed that themotor cyclist had left his machine and crossed the street and wasapproaching Verbeck's roadster. He saw the man who had been drivingthe runabout walking slowly from the other direction.
The driver of the truck chuckled lightly to himself and remained atthe mouth of the alley in the shadows, watching.