"Maxwell Grant - The Shadow - 172 - Battle of Greed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Maxwell)

To George, all that was as totally amazing as if his own conscience had spoken aloud. It
seemed that The Shadow must be possessed of a clairvoyant gift that enabled him not only
to see hidden scenes, but to probe the workings of another man's brain. It didn't occur to
George that The Shadow, in some other guise, might once have visited Sandersham and
noted Atlee open the safe.
Nor did George recognize that if The Shadow had observed him, perhaps by chance, earlier
this evening, the rest of the story could have been pieced by sheer deduction. George's one
impression was that he had encountered a being of vastly superior intelligence, whose ways
were as near all-powerful as any human's could be.

There was only one thing that The Shadow omitted; that was mention of the primary motive
that had inspired George Ellerby to adopt the role of gentleman crook. In justice to himself,
George felt that the fact should be included in the indictment.
"I came here to steal," he admitted, "but only to get back a portion of what belongs to me."
"Not to you," reminded The Shadow, "but to your father."

"Granted," returned George. The Shadow's words had encouraged him. "But I didn't want
the money for myself. I want it for others in my family, who would have received money after
my father's death, if all he owned had not been stolen."

"Not 'stolen'," corrected The Shadow. "Your father's wealth was legally acquired by Rupert
Sandersham."
George's teeth had lost their chatter. They were tightening on his lips. What The Shadow
said, was true. Sandersham, man of millions, drove rivals into bankruptcy through sheer
power of wealth. There was no way—so far as George Ellerby knew—to end the
money-mad tactics of Rupert Sandersham, whose greatest joy, it seemed, was the ruthless
game of bringing ruin to other people's fortunes.
"Your deed tonight," pronounced The Shadow, "is one of intended theft. If completed, it will
mark you a criminal. My task is twofold: to thwart those who engage in crime; to see that
justice is gained by those who have been wronged. You are using crime as a means to
obtain justice. In this case, I render no decision. The choice is yours."
THE gun muzzle lowered. The Shadow reached out and extinguished the lamp. From the
small area illuminated by his own flashlight, George Ellerby stared at blackness. He fancied
that he heard the swish of a cloak in the darkness, but was not sure. He was certain, though,
that the door of the room opened, then closed again, allowing a tiny trickle of light from the
hallway.

Had his experience been real, or was it some fantasy of his strained imagination?

Whichever the case, George's decision was made the moment that the door had closed.
The Shadow's words had driven home the bitter truth: that a man who employed crime as a
medium of justice was staining his hands as much as any crook.
When George turned toward the open safe again, the money that he saw there attracted him
no more than worthless bundles of paper.
Deliberately, George closed the heavy door. He twirled the combination; then, almost
mechanically, he wiped the safe front and the dial with his handkerchief. He intended to
leave no trace of the fact that he had been here.

Pocketing the flashlight, George picked up his derby and started to grope toward the closed
door.