William Arden - The Mystery of the Laughing Shadow

As the canyon gradually narrowed in the shadowy light, they continued to move ahead. Aware that the Hoard was probably somewhere high up, they kept glancing up towards the mountaintop as they advanced. Jupiter, in the rear with Pete and Worthington, suddenly exclaimed as he stared up at the bulk of the mountain against the moonlight.

“Pete! The mountain! See, it — ”

He got no further. From the silver shadows of the canyon the wild, insane laugh burst out, bouncing and echoing from the walls of the canyon.

“The laughing shadow!” Pete cried.

“Over there!” Chief Reynolds yelled. “Shine your lights!”

The police aimed their flashlights into the shadows. Mr. Harris stood there, smiling.

“Well, you arrived a little too early,” he said. “Unfortunate. Now I shall have to settle for less than I wanted, eh?”

From nearby the crazy laugh rang out again, drowning out the rest of Harris’s words.

“Don’t move, Harris! ” Chief Reynolds ordered. “Take him, men, and search him. Where’s the other man?”

A policeman called from the dark, “We’ve got him, sir!”

Harris stood smiling while he was searched. A policeman took a small sack from him, and handed it to the Chief. The assistant, Carson, was hustled to stand beside Harris. Chief Reynolds opened the bag, and faced the smiling criminal.

“There’s gold in the bag, Harris, which means you’ve found the Hoard. You’d better tell us where it is. We know all about you.”

“All about me?” Harris smiled. “I doubt that. Those dirty Indians may have told you some story, but you can’t believe — ”,

“I’ve also talked to Australia,” the Chief interrupted

Harris paled. “Australia? But how did you find out?”

“Jupiter, tell him… ” the Chief began, but before he could finish his sentence, a huge bird swooped down out of the dark, flew straight to Mr. Harris and perched on his head. It was a large, shaggy bird about the size of a crow with a very big, long, black-and-yellow beak, a ragged brownish crest, a white chest and belly, and a ragged tail. Its body was thick, and its head seemed too big for its size.

“What is that?” Pete asked, staring at the odd bird.

Before anyone could answer, it opened its enormous beak and let out a wild, crazy laugh that seemed to fill the whole canyon.

“The laugh!” Pete yelled. “It was a bird!”

“A kookaburra bird, to be exact,” Jupiter announced, looking remarkably unsurprised. “Known in Australia as a Laughing Jackass. It’s the thing I couldn’t remember — an Australian animal with an almost human laugh.”

Jupiter took a flashlight and aimed it at Mr. Harris. With the bird perched on his head, Harris cast a tall, humpbacked shadow with a birdlike head and beak that jerked and moved about.

“That’s our laughing shadow,” Jupiter said. “Mr. Harris with his pet kookaburra on his head — and the kookaburra is found only in Australia.”

Mr. Harris nodded, and shrugged. “So, it was you who tripped me up, Jupiter? I was afraid something like this might happen, and I tried to get rid of the bird. Unfortunately, it stayed on the estate and kept crying out at awkward moments.”

“Jupiter also spotted your meat sandwich, Harris,” Chief Reynolds said. “You were careless.”

“Ah, that too, eh? I should have dealt more firmly with our stout friend. However, as they say, all is not lost. I presume that you would like young Bob and the Indian boys back safely?”

Mr. Andrews cried, “What have you done with Bob?”

“Don’t try anything, Harris,” Chief Reynolds snapped. “You’re in trouble enough.”

“Too much trouble, Chief. However, I have my way out. It pays to be prepared,” Harris said with a wicked smile. “Now, in that sack you took there is some gold. Not nearly as much as I had hoped to have, but a fair amount. I am willing to trade for it. I will take that gold, no more, and my freedom. You may keep Sanders and Carson to make it look good.”

“Why, you!” Sanders muttered, and lunged at his boss, but the police held him back.

“Tut, tut, Sanders, we must all look out for ourselves, eh? I can’t be greedy. I’ll trade myself and this gold for the boys and the rest of the treasure.”

“No deals, Harris,” Chief Reynolds declared. “We’ll find the boys. You can’t hurt them now that we have you and your men.”

“On the contrary, Chief,” Harris said smoothly. “You see, I prepared for this emergency. The boys are still beyond your reach unless I tell you where they are.”

Chief Reynolds said, “Harris, I warn you that — ”

“No!” Harris snapped, his voice harsh now. “I warn you! Unless you give me the gold, and my freedom, you will never find those boys alive! They cannot escape, and they cannot call for help. They have no food or water. If you let me go with that gold, I will telephone when I am clear and tell you where they are. Otherwise, they will die.”

“You wouldn’t dare! Why, that would be murder!”

Harris smiled. “Perhaps I wouldn’t dare, but you can’t be sure, can you? You have no choice!”

Harris’s own laugh was low in the night. But his pet kookaburra echoed wildly from his perch on the criminal’s head, and the high laughter filled the dark canyon. Mr. Andrews looked pleadingly at Chief Reynolds. Everyone else stared at the grinning Harris. Then Jupiter spoke up.

“No,” he said quietly, “I think we do have a choice. Chief, I am sure I know where the boys are.”

Harris turned his cold eyes towards Jupiter. Chief Reynolds looked doubtful.

“Where, Jupiter?” Mr. Andrews cried.

“Up there,” Jupiter announced, and pointed to the black mountain towering above them. “Magnus Verde’s words were, ‘It is in the eye of the sky where no man can find it.’ We know he was being tricky about saying no man, but I think he was telling the exact truth about the eye of the sky. He didn’t mean the sun or the moon or anything like an eye. He meant a real eye. There, up on the mountain. Indian Head Mountain!”

Everyone looked upwards. Etched against the silvery moonlit sky was a face. A giant rock face with a nose, mouth, and two eyes.

“The left eye is deep in shadows,” Jupiter went on. “I think there’s a ledge up there, and a cave. And that’s where the Chumash Hoard is hidden. Harris must have been up there, too, and when he saw our lights down here he pushed the boys inside and sealed up the opening so they’re trapped.”

Harris muttered, “You think I can climb up there?”

Jupiter nodded. “With the help of the Yaquali boys, yes. The Australian police told us you had been a cat-burglar.”

“Suppose they are there, what can you do?”

“Natches and Nanika can get up there,” Jupiter said. Natches nodded eagerly. “ Si ! We climb easy. Mucho easy.”

“Are you going to listen to a kid?” Harris demanded of the adults. “I warn you, if you listen to him, and he’s wrong, the whole deal is off! We deal now, or never.”

The adults stood uneasily. Harris muttered an oath. everyone looked at Mr. Andrews and the two Yaquali. Mr. Andrews spoke first:

“I’ll trust Jupiter’s hunch,” he said. The two Indians nodded.

“All right,” Chief Reynolds said, “Natches and Nanika can go up and look. But what if Harris has the boys tied up? If the cave opening is so small, Natches and Nanika may not be able to get inside.”

“I don’t see how Harris could have got inside to tie them,” Jupiter replied. “Unless he had one boy tie all the others, and then tied him up and pushed him inside before sealing the cave. But I don’t believe he had time to do that. However, perhaps I’d better go up, too, just in case I might be able to get inside.”