THE GREEN BOX
by Maxwell Grant
As originally published in "The Shadow Magazine," March 15, 1934.
A dying convict gasps a last message to his cellmate - a message which
brings about a strange change in the events of a thriving community. The
Shadow, master of crime detection, avenger of justice, watches, follows the
trail which leads to The Green Box and brings about stern justice to clear up
the mystery which clouded this strange story.
What is the treasure concealed in The Green Box?
Why the unusual place of concealment and what purpose is there in bringing
it to light again?
CHAPTER I
CONVICT 9638
THE air seemed thick within the prison cell. Rays of dull-yellow light
from the central cellroom faded on the threshold, as though shrinking from the
confinement of the cell itself.
Bolder was the pallid moonlight that trickled through the window. It
formed a whitish splash across the cell floor - a luminous pool that was marked
with lines of black, as grim reminders of the bars between which the moonlight
came.
Eyes were upon that patch of light. Two men were staring toward it,
fascinated by this token of the outside world. Moonlight was the only privilege
that these prisoners could share with free men in the world beyond the
penitentiary walls.
One man, his dull face rendered overly pale by reason of the moonlight,
was staring from a lower bunk. His clutching hands - trembling talons - were
closed about the side of the iron bedstead.
The other, stationed in the berth above, was gazing toward the floor in
patient fashion. Of the two, he seemed less troubled by his plight.
"Sammy" - the man below was speaking in a wheezy whisper - "Sammy -"
The upper man leaned over the edge of the bunk. His face, crafty as it was
hardened, formed a marked contrast to the peaked countenance of the prisoner
below.
"What is it, Ferris?" came the cautious question.
"I - I'm feeling worse." The wheezy man gasped as he spoke. "I - I can't
hold out - much longer."
"You'll be all right tomorrow." Sammy's tone was encouraging. "Take it
easy, old fellow. They're going to ship you to the hospital tomorrow. You'll
feel like a new man, Ferris."
"Ferris!" The man below gasped his own name. "Ferris - Ferris Legrand.
That's my name, isn't it?"
"Sure it is." The man above laughed. "Ferris Legrand - that's you. Sam
Fulwell - that's me."
