“Am I sure of today?” enquired the Prince.
The surgeon administered the hypodermic before replying. Then he said, slowly:
“While your heart retains its action you will live; but a clot may interfere with the action at any time. I cannot promise you even today, yet you may see the light tomorrow—or of several tomorrows.”
“But not many of them?”
“Not many, Prince.”
“Ah, the Earth Dragon is relentless. I cannot reach China?”
“No, indeed. To Shanghai or Hong Kong is two weeks. And there is another thing that I must speak to you about. I have no means of embalming or preserving your body.”
For a moment the Prince looked grave. Then he laughed again, lightly, but I thought with little or no mirth. In spite of his Occidental education Kai Lun Pu retained the prejudices of his forefathers and longed to have his body carried to China and laid to rest in his ancestral halls.
“What a fuss old Mai Lo will make when I am cast into the sea!” he remarked. “You’ll have to put him in irons, Sam, or he’ll run amuck among you and cause mischief.”
“If he does he shall go after you,” I promised. “That is, unless you wish him preserved to carry out your bequests at home and convey your messages to your friends.”
The Prince made a face so ridiculous that both Gaylord and I smiled at him.
“I will confide to you a secret,” said he; “my servant is fully as repulsive to me as he is to you. But he is a man of high birth, a mandarin and the hereditary governor of my own province; so I had to carry the fellow with me on my travels.”
“He looks like a dummy,” I suggested.
“And his looks are very deceptive,” retorted the Prince. “Mai Lo is remarkably subtle and observing, and as intelligent as he is proud and ambitious. Really, until my accident occurred, I feared the fellow, although I knew he would sacrifice his life for me if necessary. It will be his duty after my death to return to his home, propitiate the Earth Dragon, and then commit suicide; but the chances are Mai Lo will find a way to avoid that. There will be too much to feed his ambition.”
“Will he inherit your estates?” inquired the doctor.
“By no means. Mai Lo is noble, but not of the blood royal. My estates will go to the Emperor, because I have no heir; my ancestral halls will be sealed up and abandoned, and—I shall soon be forgotten.”
“Why so?” I asked.
“Because I shall never become an ancestor myself,” he responded, laughing genuinely this time. “An absurd statement, isn’t it, Sam? But my countrymen are devoted Shintoists, or ancestor worshippers, and while I have gained honor and respect in life through my powerful ancestry, in death I lose all and am speedily forgotten.”
While I thoughtfully pondered this statement the doctor withdrew and left us alone together.
“Do you believe in this queer religion of ancestor worship, Prince?” I inquired.
“Of course not, Sam. I’m a mighty poor Chinaman, as far as our orthodox traditions and religious observances are concerned. In fact my people are not really religious at all, for they vilify and even thrash their bronze and wooden gods if they do not behave properly, and the whole ceremonial worship of China is a farce. I do not mind telling you that even before I went to Europe my heart refused to acknowledge those decayed ancestors of mine as more important than the dust to which they have returned in the course of nature. But I kept the secret of my apostacy to myself, and in order to secure ample funds to enjoy the pleasures of Europe I even robbed my ancestral halls of a portion of their treasure.”
“Oh!” I said. “Is there treasure, then, in your ancestral halls?”
He smiled.
“More than half the wealth of China—the accumulated wealth of centuries—is tied up forever in this absurd manner,” he replied. “My family was old at the time of the Tartar invasion, and it has always been wealthy. In my ancestral halls, in my province of Kwang-Kai-Nong, lies a mass of treasure that would startle the world if it were to be unearthed and publicly displayed. Yet no one has ever seen it in my generation but myself.”
“I do not quite understand this system,” I said, much interested in these statements.
“It is our immemorial custom,” explained the Prince, “to bury with each head of a family one-half the wealth he possesses, to be used by him when his resurrection occurs at the end of the world. The remaining half is inherited by his eldest son, his successor. A daughter never inherits, you know. When the son dies, one-half his wealth is laid with his body in the tombs of the ancestral halls, and so this accumulation goes on from century to century, and half the wealth of the nation is continually abstracted from its resources.”
“But suppose there is no son,” said I. “What happens then?”
“Then the line ends. In the case of a noble family, such as ours, the confidential servant secretly seals up the ancestral halls and then commits suicide, so that no one may ever discover where they are located. If he hesitates to kill himself by the ninth day the other servants promptly kill him; so his fate is really sealed in case his lord dies without an heir.”
“And is Mai Lo your confidential servant in this case?” I asked curiously.
“You have guessed it,” replied the Prince, smiling. “If I were sure he would do his duty it would deprive death of half its sting; but I suspect, Sam, that Mai Lo has as little respect for ancestor worship as I myself, and it is my impression that he will rob the tombs of my forefathers very freely before he seals them up forever.”
“But won’t his fellow-servants kill him if he fails to commit suicide?” I asked.
“I could answer that question more positively if I knew the mind of Mai Lo better,” returned the Prince, more gravely than was his wont. Then he brightened and said:
“I am much interested in your friends Archie and Joe, who were so loyal and brave in your Egyptian adventures, which you related to me yesterday. Did you not say they were still your comrades?”
“Yes, indeed, Prince. Both are now aboard the Seagull.”
“May I see them? Will you bring them here to see me?” he asked, eagerly.
“They will be greatly pleased,” I replied. “When?”
“At once. You remember the doctor’s warning.”
“I’ll get them,” said I, rising.
“Send Mai Lo,” suggested the Prince. I did so, asking the attendant, who stood stiffly outside the door, to summon my friends to an audience with Kai Lun Pu.
In a few minutes Joe and Archie arrived, as eager as I knew they would be to make the acquaintance of our interesting passenger.
The Prince conversed with them upon various subjects for fully an hour, pressing them for details of our former adventures and shrewdly drawing out the characteristics of both the boys without their suspecting it in the least. I felt quite proud of my friends, for although each in his own way was odd to the verge of eccentricity, two more manly, truer hearted fellows did not exist—or at least that was my opinion of them.
The Prince seemed to approve of them, too, and with their quaint answers and ways they certainly amused him—Archie bluff and outspoken and Joe modest and retiring as a girl.
Presently, as he lay back upon his pillows, Kai Lun Pu began to laugh. He laughed again, seemingly much amused; and still again, with evident enjoyment of some thought that had occurred to him. Archie and Joe stared at him rather uneasily, and I own I had myself a fleeting suspicion that his maimed body was finally affecting his mind. But the next moment the Prince said, in his ordinary tones:
“By all the big and little gods, I’ll do it!”
“Do what, Prince?” I asked, curiously.
“Give you a new adventure to undertake,” he replied, almost gleefully. “You three boys are not tired of adventures, are you?”
“Not much,” returned Archie, stoutly.
“And although you’ve found some small treasure already, you wouldn’t object to finding more, would you?” he continued, eyeing us closely.
Our eager faces must have answered him; but I said, as calmly as I could:
“What is the proposition, your Highness?”
“The proposition is simply this, Sam; I’m going to show you how to rob my ancestral halls!”
I’m afraid we looked rather foolish at this suggestion. Archie was open-mouthed and wide-eyed; Joe’s sensitive face took on a frown, and I felt myself flushing red.
“You see, Prince,” I said at last, shifting uneasily in my seat, “we’ve been adventurers, but not buccaneers, and to rob——”
“Nonsense!” cried Kai, laughing at us again; “the word ‘rob’ does not mean to steal, even in your bungling English. And I used it figuratively. To rob my ancestral halls would not be a sin, for you would deprive no living person of what is his at present or might be his in the future. As for the dead, my opinion is that my ancestors are very dead; and, in case their bodies resurrect at the end of the world, they won’t mind whether they are wealthy or not. I tell you, Sam, I can imagine no more foolish idea than to bury treasure with the dead, and had I lived to return to China it was my firm intention to rob the ancestral halls myself. In that case no one would ever know it, and there would be no danger. Why, as I said before, I abstracted certain jewels from the tombs years ago, and spent the proceeds in high living. So, if I was willing to rob the ancestral halls myself, and approve of your robbing them in my place, now that I am prevented, you need have no scruples on the plea of morality. Listen, friends: I present to you three—to Sam and Joe and Archie—all of the treasure contained in my ancestral halls. It is yours—I give it freely—but you must go and secure it, and that will be a dangerous expedition.”
“Why so?” asked Archie.
“Because you won’t have me to assist you,” he replied. “Because you must oppose the ancestral devotion, amounting to a religion, of the entire Chinese nation. Because my own followers and servants would cut you down in an instant if your errand were discovered, and——”
He hesitated.
“Any more interesting reasons?” I asked.
“The strongest of all,” said he. “Because I am convinced that Mai Lo means to get the treasure himself.”
Joe gave a low whistle, and Archie looked especially thoughtful.
“Is it worth while, then, for us to undertake the adventure?” I questioned.
“For centuries past one-half of the wealth of one of the richest families in China has been placed in the vaults which I call my ancestral halls,” he returned. “This wealth consists of jade, precious stones—especially rubies—pearls and stores of gold and silver. There is enough to ransom a kingdom, and as I cannot use it myself I should like you to get it—if you can. Your task would be difficult in any event, for to rob any ancestral hall is a great crime in China. Even the graves of the poor, which are stone or mud vaults with roofs of bamboo and palm leaves, are respected by all. Yet your greatest danger is from Mai Lo. If he cannot rob my ancestral halls himself he will try to prevent anyone else from doing so.”
“Well, then,” said Archie; “let’s toss him overboard, while we have the chance. He’s only a Chinaman.” The next instant, seeing the amused smile on the Prince’s face, he realized what he had said and began to apologize. “It’s so hard, sir,” he added, “to think of you except as one of ourselves.”
Perhaps the naive compliment pleased the Prince, for he laughed and said:
“It might be a wise thing to cast Mai Lo into the sea. But I do not think you will undertake murder, even to secure my treasure. So I will do what I can to enable you to outwit the mandarin. Can you find me a piece of paper and a small brush?”
Joe got them from his cabin in a few moments, and while he was absent we all sat in silence.
I spread the piece of paper upon the coverlet in front of the Prince, and dipped the brush in ink for him. His left arm was broken and useless, but fortunately he could use his right arm and hand, though with difficulty. At once he began writing in Chinese characters upon the paper, and presently he finished and held out the brush for me to take.
“You cannot read my signature, Sam,” said he, “but it is there, and will be recognized. It is an order to all my dependents to recognize you and your companions as my guests for one year, and to serve you as faithfully as they would myself. I have added that my spirit will watch to see if I am obeyed and to take vengeance if I am not. That is, of course, nonsense to us; but it ought to be effective with my people. Take the paper, Sam, and guard it carefully. Stay! call in Mai Lo for a moment.”
I did so, and the Prince said to his attendant in an easy tone:
“Witness this order, Mai Lo.”
The mandarin glanced at the document, but though I watched him carefully I could detect no sign of emotion in his glassy eyes, or even surprise or interest upon his putty-like features. He took the brush from my hand and obediently added his signature to that of the Prince. Then, at his master’s command, he again retired.
I took the paper, folded it carefully, and placed it in my wallet.
“Then you are decided to undertake the adventure?” asked the Prince, in a pleased voice.
I looked at Archie and Joe, and they both nodded. So I answered:
“We will seek for the treasure, your Highness.”
“Good!” said he. “Now take the signet ring from my finger.”
I obeyed. It was a heavy gold band, curiously engraved and set with a huge ruby. The stone had an upper flat surface, on which were cut three strange characters.
“Do not display this ring except in case of necessity,” warned Kai Lun Pu. “When you do, it will command obedience of every man in my province. It will even be powerful with the Emperor. So keep it safely.”
I thanked him and stowed the ring in my pocket.
“And now,” said the Prince, “there is but one more thing I can do for you, but that ought to prove of great assistance in your venture. Listen carefully, all of you, for the secret I am about to confide to your ears may not be written down in any way, and the memory alone must guard it. Heretofore it has been handed down in my family from generation to generation by confiding the knowledge to the eldest son, who alone inherits. My ancestors would have died sooner than allow a stranger or an alien to know this family secret; but I—I am different. In me the shackles of tradition and foolish custom have been broken by a liberal education and a knowledge of the great world whose existence many of my countrymen do not even suspect.”
He paused a moment, as if in thought, and then continued as follows, speaking slowly and distinctly but in a lowered voice:
“It will be easy for you to locate the ancestral halls of the family of Kai. It is near to my own palace, and you will first see a quaint but beautiful house of polished bamboo, with an entrance on each of its four sides. Each entrance is guarded by a god, and it will be wise for you to pretend to propitiate these gods by offerings. Burn prayers for my spirit’s welfare before them. You must not enter this house, for it is sacred; but I will describe it to you.
“In the center is a stone walled pit, with steps leading downward. In the center of the pit is a bronze tablet, which, when lifted, discloses a passageway. This passage forms a long tunnel slanting into the earth, and if you could follow it, it would lead you to the underground vault, or chih, where my noble ancestors lie buried. This vault is cut from the solid rock, and is a big domed chamber ornamented with the best art of the ages that have elapsed since its construction. The tapestries are said to be the best and most valuable in the whole Empire. Around the sides of this chamber are the niches where repose the burial caskets of my respected ancestors, and beside each casket are placed the chests, urns and taborets containing one-half the wealth this ancestor died possessed of. Do you understand this description?”
“I can picture it perfectly,” said I.
“That is well. But now for the secret.” Again he lowered his voice, with an uneasy glance toward the door, behind which he knew Mai Lo was stationed. Then he continued:
“There is a second, or secret, entrance to the burial chamber, which no one outside of the heir of our house has ever suspected. It was built seven centuries ago by Kai Tai, a pious man who wished to worship in secret at the tombs of his ancestors without the formal ceremony required when entering the ancestral hall publicly. This private entrance is also a tunnel, and leads from my palace itself. Now, my friends, pay strict attention. There is, in the palace, a set of rooms called the Suite of the Horned Fish, from its mode of decoration. These are the apartments always occupied by the royal prince of our line, and so they will be vacant when you arrive at the palace. The main doorway to the Suite of the Horned Fish will doubtless be guarded night and day, and it will not be wise for you to try to force an entrance therein. But in the bend of the passageway just beyond the entrance is a tapestry representing the Earth Dragon embracing a woman, and behind this tapestry you will find a small ball or knob of bronze. Pull this ball toward you, outward, and a private door will open leading directly into my sleeping chamber. Once there, you are not liable to interruption.
“In one corner of this chamber is a great statue of the first Kai in armor. It is a dreadful thing, and used to frighten me when a boy; but in its carving the statue shows great artistic skill. By pushing the left foot sideways—it will require a strong pressure—a panel in the wall back of the statue will be released. It is the entrance to the secret passage and once you have found it the rest is easy. It leads to one of the niches in the vault of my ancestors, the tapestries cleverly concealing the doorway. By means of this passage you may convey all or a part of the treasure to my chamber in the palace, and from there I must leave you to your own ingenious devices to transport it safely to Shanghai or aboard your ship. Have I made this quite plain to you, my friends?”
“Quite plain,” we all answered, pleased to have the adventure so easily arranged for us; and I added:
“How can we thank you, Prince Kai?”
He smiled.
“I am well repaid in believing you will outwit old Mai Lo, and secure the treasure he means to steal,” was his reply. “If I possess spirit I shall try to watch you and enjoy the fun.”
“Oh, don’t do that!” exclaimed Archie with a shudder.
“But you won’t know it, and I haven’t much faith in a spiritual existence,” he replied.
“What have you faith in?” I asked, shocked to hear him speak so lightly on his death-bed.
“We Shintoists believe in our ancestors,” said the Prince mockingly, I thought; “and that has always made us more sensible than our Buddhist neighbors. Also I have studied Christianity, Mohammedanism and Theosophy, and they have led me to admire Confucius more. So I get back to Shintoism in the end. I shall die in the faith of my ancestors, but not hampered by their narrow prejudices, I hope.”
He sighed with this, and I thought his cheeks looked more sunken and his skin more pallid than I had yet noticed them. So I said:
“This has been a trying interview, your Highness, and you need rest. Shall we retire?”
He hesitated, and then nodded with a return of his old brightness:
“Send in the doctor,” said he, “it’s time for more morphine.”
When we arrived on deck again the wind had freshened and the pleasant spell of weather we had lately experienced seemed likely to leave us. But our gallant Seagull headed the waves merrily, with scarcely any heaving of her swanlike body, and we knew her staunchness so well that we did not dread any weather that might overtake us.
Finding a sheltered position in the waist, we three boys eagerly discussed our important interview with the Prince and the chances of success in the adventure offered us.
“He’s made everything so blamed easy for us that it’s like taking candy from a babe,” said Archie, gleefully.
“He has certainly proved himself a generous friend,” I assented. “It’s a pity he must die. I’d rather have him alive and my friend, than to get the treasure. Eh, Joe?”
“Exactly,” answered Joe, in his quiet voice.
“I like the chap, too,” said Archie, “but our sentiment won’t alter the facts in the case, will it? Here’s a treasure—and a whopper, too, I imagine—calling to us to come and take it, and——”
“And here’s Mai Lo, who wants it himself,” added Joe.
“Oh, him!” cried Archie, scornfully.
“Joe’s right,” said I, thoughtfully; “Mai Lo is a power to be reckoned with. Even the Prince fears him.”
“I don’t,” declared Archie, “the man’s a dummy. Anyone that’ll kow-tow and get on his knees the way this fellow does, is a coward and a sneak.”
“The doctor,” said Joe, softly, “calls him ‘Old Death’s-Head.’”
“Well, what of it?”
“I’m afraid of Death.”
We both started at this; but Archie, recovering courage, asked:
“What can one miserable Chinaman do, opposed to three Americans?”
“Very little, in America,” replied Joe. “But we’re going to his own country, to China, where old Death’s-Head is a high mandarin, and the governor of a province. He won’t kow-tow there, for the Prince is his only superior, and the Prince will be deep under the ocean soon.”
We thought this over. There was usually something to think over when Joe made a long speech.
“Do you mean, then, that you’re scared out; that you won’t undertake this thing?” demanded Archie, finally.
“No,” said Joe, “I’m going to China. That is, if you fellows are game to go with me.”
“That’s the way to talk!”
“But we’re putting our heads in the jaws of a trap, and the least little thing is likely to spring it,” added Joe.
Archie looked puzzled.
“I can’t understand why you take that view of it,” he protested. “It seems to me the thing’s easy enough. We’ve got the Prince’s letter to his people, and the ring, and the secret of the private way into his ancestral hall. If we bungle such a job as that, we ought to be hanged.”
“And will be, or worse. So we mustn’t bungle it,” said Joe. “Where is this province of Kwang-Kai-Nong, Sam?”
“I forgot to ask,” I replied, wondering at my oversight.
“China’s a big country,” suggested Joe.
“I know. I’ll inquire about the location, and how to get to it, the next time I see the Prince.”
“Do,” said Archie, “that’ll help a lot.”
But I didn’t see the Prince again. At the lunch table we found the doctor, eating with apparent gusto but with an intent look on his face.
“How’s your patient, Doc?” Uncle Naboth was asking as I entered.
“Why, I’m out of a job again,” replied Doctor Gaylord, gravely.
“Great Goodness! The man ain’t dead, is he?” demanded my uncle.
“He is, sir.”
I do not know why I had such a sudden sinking of the heart as I heard this. Perhaps the noble young Chinaman had won from me more admiration and affection than I had suspected, during the brief time I had known him.
I glanced at Joe and Archie, and they were looking mighty solemn.
“Wasn’t it rather sudden, Doc?” inquired Uncle Naboth, after a pause, during which he stirred his tea energetically.
“Yes, he might have lived another four-and-twenty hours. But he wore out the morphine and began to suffer terribly. So I killed him.”
“What!”
“Gave him an overdose of morphine, at his own request, and he went to his long sleep with a smile of gratitude upon his face.”
There was another pause.
“Ahem!” said Capt. Steele, clearing his throat, “was that—er—er—strictly professional, Dr. Gaylord?”
“It was strictly humane, Captain. The man was crushed and mangled from the waist down, and according to all the laws of science and common-sense has been as good as dead ever since the accident. He couldn’t have lived until now without the morphine. When that failed to soothe him the end was bound to creep nearer by slow degrees, allowing him to suffer horrible torments. I couldn’t stand that, and he couldn’t. So he begged me to end it for him, and I did.”
“You’re a good man, Gaylord,” remarked Uncle Naboth, mopping his bald head with his red bandanna. “I’m glad you had the courage to do it.”
“This Prince of China,” said the doctor, leaning back in his chair and thrusting his hands in his pockets, “was a royal good fellow. I had observed him on shipboard, and was attracted by his cheerful, intelligent face. When the Karamata Maru broke up I left everyone else to attend to Kai Lun Pu, until I discovered he was fatally injured. Unfortunately all my surgical tools and requirements were out of reach, and in the pockets of the clothes which I grabbed up before I rushed on deck were only a small medicine case and my hypodermic outfit. I assisted Mai Lo, the only one of the Prince’s attendants who survived, to get Kai off the wreck and safe aboard this ship, and at his urgent request I remained with him, since the doctor of the Nagasaki Maru could look after the few survivors of the Karamata Maru who were injured. I am well paid for doing this, but I want to state that the money did not influence me in the least.”
To look at the doctor was evidence of the truth of this statement; so we merely nodded assent.
“As soon as I had him settled in your cabin yonder,” he continued, “I told him that he was dying. Kai accepted the decree like a philosopher and asked me how long I could keep him alive without suffering. It was then that we made our bargain, and I promised he should die comfortably. It seems he had certain family affairs to arrange with Mai Lo, who represents him in his province, and afterward he had several long talks with Sam and the other boys here.”
He paused to look from one to the other of us curiously, and the shrewd glance from beneath his prominent gray eyebrows was rather disconcerting.
“By good luck,” he went on, “the Prince finished his arrangements, whatever they were, before the effect of the morphine wore out. When I went to him a while ago I saw the time had come to fulfil my promise. I asked him if he was ready and he said he was. So, in the parlance of the Chinese, he sleeps with his ancestors.”
In the silence that followed we were all busy with our own thoughts. Finally my father asked:
“Where is Mai Lo?”
“Burning prayers before the body. He’s going to make trouble for us, pretty soon.”
“How’s that?” asked the Captain.
“These Chinese believe it’s a lasting disgrace to allow their bodies to be buried anywhere but at home. Mai Lo has already asked me when I would embalm the body; but I’ve been making inquiries and find there’s no material aboard the Seagull that will enable me to preserve the corpse of Kai Lun Pu until we can get him to China. He himself understood this, and was willing to be cast overboard; but old Death’s-Head has different ideas, and when he learns what we are going to do he will make trouble, as I said.”
“What can he do?” asked Uncle Naboth.
“These Chinese have a disagreeable way of running amuck and slicing a few people into mincemeat before they can be overcome. I won’t say Mai Lo will do that, but he will do something—anything in his power to prevent us lowering his master’s body into the sea.”
“He won’t run amuck,” said I, positively; “nor will he do anything that will endanger his own life.”
“Why not, Sam?” asked my father. “Mai Lo’s a queer chap. I can’t make him out at all. Seems to me he’s likely to do anything.”
“Except endanger himself,” I added. “The Prince knew Mai Lo better than anyone, and from what he told me I believe Mai’s more clever than you suppose, and too ambitious to sacrifice his life for a mere whim.”
“It isn’t a mere whim,” said the doctor. “The Shintoists are ancestor worshippers, and the sacredness of a dead body is part of their religion. Mai Lo, if he’s a good Shintoist, believes he himself will be condemned by the spirits of his own ancestors if he allows his master to be cast into the sea, whence it is impossible he can be resurrected when the end of the world comes.”
“But is Mai Lo a good Shintoist?” I asked.
“Mm—I don’t know. He claims to be; but the fellow puzzles me. Many of the Chinese wear a mask of expressionless reserve; but Mai Lo is the most incomprehensible being I have ever met. If he weren’t clever he wouldn’t be a high mandarin, so we can’t judge him by his terracotta face and beady eyes.”
“Oh, well,” remarked my father, “we can’t endanger our own health by keeping a decaying body on board, so whenever you’re ready for the ceremony, Doctor, we will give the Prince as decent a sea-burial as possible. And that in spite of the old mandarin. By the way, Sam, see if Mai Lo wants anything to eat.”
I arose and knocked softly upon the door of the state cabin. Presently it was opened a mere crack and I caught a glimpse of Mai Lo’s expressionless face behind it. But when he saw me he closed the door again quickly, before I had time to speak; and I heard the key click in the lock.
“Let the beast starve,” I growled, turning away to go on deck; and the others seemed to approve the sentiment, for they followed me without protest.
“You’ll find my first suggestion was good,” said Archie, as we stood in the shelter of the wheel-house, for the wind was half a gale by this time. “The proper thing to do is to chuck old Death’s-Head overboard.”
“It would certainly simplify matters,” I agreed; “but unfortunately it can’t be done.”
“Then we ought to cultivate his friendship,” said Joe.
“How can we?”
“I don’t know; but it’s a great mistake to allow him to think he’s our enemy.”
“Why so, Joe?”
“We’ve got to go into his province to get the treasure. He’s powerful there, and we need his good will. He might make it pretty hot for us otherwise.”
“True enough,” said Archie, gloomily. “But you can’t cultivate the friendship of a dummy. He won’t respond worth a cent.”
“He must have some sentiment,” suggested Joe; “his faithfulness to his Prince proves that. Let’s study him and try to discover how to reach his gratitude, or self-esteem, or——”
“Or what?”
“How to further his ambition.”
“If the Prince is buried at sea,” I said, reflectively, “Mai Lo will be disgraced at home. If we can save him from this disgrace he ought to be grateful, for it will give him a chance to carry out his ambitious plans.”
“I thought he was obliged to commit suicide,” said Archie.
“So he is; but not immediately. First he must settle his master’s affairs, and that business ought to provide pretty fair pickings for an unscrupulous man. Then he will be obliged to seal up the ancestral hall and destroy all traces of any entrance to it, or even its existence. All this takes time, and will give him a chance to complete his plans for running away with his plunder, most of which will be stolen from the tombs of the Prince’s ancestors.”
“Will he dare do that?” asked Archie.
“Mai Lo has seen a good deal of the world outside of China,” said I, “and such experience is bound to destroy many of the doctrines of his religious belief. Contact with our western civilization made the Prince an unbeliever in Shintoism, and perhaps did the same for Mai Lo.”
“Then why is he so set on lugging the body of the Prince to China? He must know that this ancestor worship is a humbug.”
“He does. Also he knows that his people at home are still firm believers in it. It is to save himself from disgrace that he will insist on taking the body home.”
“I see,” responded Archie. “But he can’t do that, you know. There’s no way to embalm the Prince properly, and Captain Steele has already decided to drop the body overboard.”
Looking aft I saw the doctor pacing the quarter-deck with his pipe in his mouth, and suddenly the sight inspired me with an idea.
“Boys,” I said, “we’ve got to have some help in this affair. We can’t carry out the adventure all alone. Suppose we ask the doctor to join us?”
“Old Gaylord?”
“Yes. He has good stuff in him, to my notion; and he says he’s out of a job.”
“A good idea,” said Joe.
“Won’t he ask for too big a slice of the pie?” inquired Archie.
“According to the Prince there’s more treasure in his ancestral halls than we could cart away in a year. If Dr. Gaylord will help us we won’t lose anything by giving him his share.”
“I don’t see how he can help us a bit,” declared Archie. “For my part I’d rather have Ned Britton or Mr. Perkins. They’re true blue and game to fight to the last.”
“This isn’t a matter that depends on fighting, Archie,” I reminded him. “Our whole ship’s crew wouldn’t make a showing against the thousands of Chinamen if it came to open warfare. It’s a question of ready wit, courage and audacity.”
“Then I can’t make out why you want the doctor,” returned Archie, with a puzzled look.
“I know,” said Joe, in his quiet voice. “I think I’ve caught Sam’s idea, and it’s a good one.”
“What is it, then?” asked Archie.
“With the doctor’s help we can fool Mai Lo and save him from disgrace. And that will win his gratitude. Eh, Sam?”
“Quite right, Joe. Shall I call the doctor over?”
They nodded, and at my summons Dr. Gaylord willingly joined our little group.
“Doctor,” said I, “there’s a conspiracy afloat. Do you want to join it?”
He gave me a shrewd glance.
“I knew there was something up,” he said, “and I’ve been trying to study out what secret Prince Kai confided to you. It has worried me almost as much as it has Mai Lo.”
“Oh!” said I, with a gasp. “Does he suspect anything?”
“Mai Lo is no fool, and you were closeted with Prince Kai a long time. Also, he witnessed an important paper, and I heard him ask the Prince what had become of his ring.”
“What was the reply?” I inquired.
“Prince Kai told him he had given it to Sam Steele for an important purpose, and that he had appointed you to carry out his secret wishes. Also he exacted a promise from Mai Lo to obey you and render you any assistance you might demand.”
“Good!” I exclaimed.
“Good as far as it goes,” said the doctor, drily; “but it won’t go far with Mai Lo. He’s likely to cut your throat some night if you leave your door unlocked.”
“Then you distrust him?” I asked, uneasily.
“More than that, Sam. I’m afraid of him. But let me have your story and your proposal, and I’ll tell you in a jiffy whether I’ll join your conspiracy or not.”
So I began by relating in full my various interviews with Prince Kai, in the last of which Archie and Joe had been participants. I added that I believed the Prince’s idea of our robbing his ancestors arose from my relation of our former adventures in search of a treasure, which I had told him with a view to amusing him. Once the mischievous notion had seized him, he began to plan ways to assist us, and I think he derived a certain pleasure during his last hours in imagining our difficulties and trying to overcome them. Another thing that doubtless influenced him was the desire to outwit Mai Lo, whom he suspected, probably with good reason, of a desire to rob the tombs himself.
Dr. Gaylord listened to all the story without interruption, and I could see that he was intensely interested. When I finished he smoked for a time in silence, while we watched him rather anxiously. Finally he knocked the ashes from his pipe and said, with decision:
“It looks too pretty to miss, my lads, and if you see where an old fellow like me can be of use to you, I’ll stand by to the last. But I want to warn you that we are taking big chances in this adventure, and if any one of us escapes with a whole skin he’ll be lucky. On the other hand, I know something of the enormous wealth of these ancestral halls, and if we succeed in our undertaking our fortunes will be made. That won’t mean much to you youngsters, of course; but it will enable me to buy a snug farm in England and settle down to end my days in peace. So I’m with you, lads, and you can count on my venturing as much as any of you.”
“Do you know in what part of China the province of Kwang-Kai-Nong is, doctor?” I inquired.
“Surely. It’s away up in the northwest, in the foothills of the Himalayas—a most retired and out-of-the-way place; and that’s what’s going to make our task doubly hard.”
“How can we get there?” asked Archie.
“By starting at Shanghai, traveling up the Yang-tse-Kiang a thousand miles or so to Ichang, and then cutting across country by elephant-train to the edge of the world, which is the province of Kwang-Kai-Nong. That’s not very definite, is it? But the road to Kai-Nong, the capital, is probably well known.”
“Mai Lo will show us the way,” I said.
The doctor looked at me blankly.