The Shadow Read Online Free PDF

running lights in the form of rising suns, with the words “Sunshine Radio” below the center light.
    The rear door of the taxi opened of its own accord. The Shadow extended a hand to Tam and motioned him to enter. Tam did so, sliding all the way to the left, dismayed to learn that The Shadow planned to follow him in.
    The door closed and the hack squealed into the night.
    “Drive, Shrevvy,” The Shadow had instructed the hackie.
    The name on the license was Moe Shrevnitz. From behind, in peacoat and tweed hat, he looked fifty or so. He drove daringly, with one arm thrown over the front seat, throwing glances to the backseat, taking every turn at the highest possible speed, scarcely looking at the road. The rates stenciled on the front doors of the cab were twenty cents for the first quarter mile, five cents additional, but, while the on-duty lights were lit, the cab’s black meter box was silent.
    Tam risked a slight turn toward his backseat companion while Shrevnitz was barreling the cab south, along Manhattan’s East Side. He had no idea where he was being taken.
    Only a portion of The Shadow’s aquiline profile was visible between the brim of the black hat and the scarlet scarf and upturned collar of the black, double-breasted frock coat he wore underneath the wool cloak. Aware of Tam’s gaze, The Shadow tugged his sleeve down over his right hand; the glove had been removed, and his hand was cut and bloodied from the beating he had meted out to Duke Rollins.
    “Thank you,” Tam said at last. “For saving me.” When The Shadow didn’t respond, he looked to the chauffer. “Uh, you fellows are probably busy, so you can just drop me anywhere along the—”
    “You’re Dr. Roy Tam,” The Shadow interrupted, his voice deep and susurrant. “A professor in the science department at New York University. A metallurgist, I believe.”
    “Yes,” Tam said, amazed. “But how—”
    “A theoretical physicist in your native country, a metallurgist here.” The Shadow snorted. “I’ve known of you for some time, Dr. Tam, and have long considered recruiting you.”
    Tam showed him a puzzled look. “Recru—”
    “I know, too, that you witnessed something two nights ago that almost got you killed tonight. Fortunately, I was made aware of Duke Rollins’s plans for you and was on hand to save you.” The Shadow looked at him out of the corner of his eye. His eyebrows were as bushy as caterpillars. “Your gratitude is appreciated, but it’s not enough. Since I have saved you life, your life belongs to me.”
    Tam was confounded but too frightened to protest. “It does?”
    The Shadow nodded. “You will become my agent—like dozens of others all over the world, in all walks of life. Some carry out missions for me every day, others may carry out only one in their lifetime. But theirs are lives with purpose, Dr. Tam. Purpose and honor.” He turned slightly toward Tam, as if waiting for a response.
    Tam gulped and found his voice, opting for humor, his best defense. “Could I, uh . . . ask my wife about this?”
    “No,” The Shadow told him sternly.
    “Okay.” He swallowed audibly, telling himself: no jokes. A sudden right turn threw him against the door. Shrevnitz drove as if there were no tomorrow.
    “Your life will proceed as always,” The Shadow said. “Mr. Shrevnitz will instruct you in the way in which you will be contacted should I ever require your help. When you hear one of my agents say, ‘The sun is shining,’ you will respond, ‘But the ice is slippery.’ This will identify you to each other. Do you understand?”
    “ ‘The sun is shining’?”
    “But the ice is slippery.”
    Tam mulled it over for a moment, wondering suddenly if the joke wasn’t on him. “What then?”
    “You will await my instructions.” The Shadow paused briefly. “I demand one thing of my agents, Tam: obedience. Absolute, unquestioning obedience.”
    “You’ll have it,” Tam said, nodding. “No problem. But