 | #019 "The Romanoff Jewels"
Vol. 4, No. 1 Published: 12/01/32 Submitted: 05/27/32 under the same title Author: Walter Gibson Review date: Dec 28, 2001 |
THE ROMANOFF JEWELS was originally published in the December 1, 1932 issue of The Shadow Magazine. And let's get this straight right at the beginning. No, this is not a scan of the paperback reprint. This is the original pulp version, scanned directly from the original 1932 pulp magazine. Complete! True to the original! Unedited! Uncut! Every word just exactly as originally published. There, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the story.
There's a plot underfoot. A plot to discover the hiding place of the famous Romanoff jewels. The greatest hoard of wealth in all the world! Those vast possessions which the Revolutionists had wrested from the last of the Czars! And once the plot has succeeded, and the evil plotters have discovered the secret vault where the jewels are stored, then what? Why, steal them, of course!
This is the story you've heard about that reveals the origin of The Shadow's girasol ring. The mysterious fire-opal that changes color. Yes, it's one of the famed Romanoff jewels, given to The Shadow as a momento of friendship by the authentic owner. Of course, in later stories of The Shadow, author Walter Gibson gives this ring another conflicting origin. The ring is sometimes said to have come from South America, a gift to Kent Allard from the Xinca indians. But this story came first, and for now we'll trust in The Shadow.
As our story opens, we meet the first round of main players at the home of millionaire Tobias Waddell. First, there is Marcus Holtmann, who has just returned from Russia. He learned secrets in Russia. And he actually saw the famed collection of jewels. Then there is Parker Noyes, attorney, who has been introducing Holtmann around town. And Frederick Froman, wealthy young adventurer. And finally, David Tholbin, man with a mysterious past. All of these are mixed up in the search for the Romanoff jewels.
After leaving the home of Tobias Waddell, Marcus Holtmann, the man with the secret, disappears. He has been captured and is being tortured to reveal the secret hiding place of the treasure. And in a hidden dungeon room far below ground, he finally cracks and confesses all to his evil torturers. And now the race to gather the treasure is on.
Our story switches to Russia. This is post-revolutionary Russia. The Czar has been overthrown; the Bolsheviks are now in power. We meet Michael Senov, a royalist. A faithful Czarist, he was once a member of the secret police and joined the Bolshevist movement as a spy. Now that they are in power, he is known as Comrade Senov a faithful Red. But secretly, he is still loyal to the Czarists. And there is also Ivan Motkin, the true and faithful representative of the new government, who has been given the duty of guarding the Romanoff jewels.
When the evil powers in America send secret word to Senov where the jewels are hidden, he gathers his forces and attacks the highly guarded secret vault. With a great loss of life on both sides, Senov succeeds in capturing the entire collection. Ivan Motkin, faithful Red who was supposed to be guaranteeing their safety, is then set upon Senov's trail to track down the stolen gems.
Meanwhile, the powers in America are heading toward Europe the take possession of the jewels that they have conspired to aquire. Whew! It's quite a story. The action travels from America to Russia to Paris. Then back across the Atlantic to America. And a trail of dead bodies is left the entire way.
The Shadow appears in this story as Lamont Cranston and Henry Arnaud. But mostly, he appears as his black-cloaked self. Also appearing are Burbank, Harry Vincent and Cliff Marsland. Cliff has a nice part in the story, traveling to Paris. As the story explains, Cliff is familiar with Paris. He was a veteren there during the World War and speaks fluent French.
But this is a younger and more headstrong Cliff Marsland than we are normally used to seeing. As we are told in the story, Cliff has an adventurous spirit who prefers action to craftiness. For this reason, he serves The Shadow only in special situations. In later stories, he settled down, and became of more general use to The Shadow.
When The Shadow speaks in Russian, his accent is perfect. As we've learned in other stories, he's a master of languages. Russian is just one more.
A final note of interest, at the climax of the whole story, The Shadow is assisted by two masked operatives. Why they are masked is never explained. There is no need to hide their identity. And it's the first time I can remember that The Shadow masked his aides. Hmmm... Just another mystery, I guess. One the solution to which only The Shadow knows...