The girl reclining was even prettier, and wore a wonderful pink gown, all embroidery and fluffy silk trimmings. I may not be describing all this properly, but I am doing my best to tell you what I saw.
There was a third girl sitting upon a stool and doing a bit of embroidery—at least she had a needle and some work in her hands; but she was not paying much attention to the work, for when I got to my peep-hole it was this maid—a tiny, dainty, dimpled bit of a roguish looking thing—who was engaged in talking.
“I’ll do it, Mai Mou—even if they beat me, or kill me!” she was saying, impetuously; “I’ll have a glance myself, this very evening, from my window, and see what they are like.”
“But why need you care, Nor Ghai?” asked the reclining beauty, in a soft, subdued voice. “What if Ko-Tua has seen these foreign devils, and praises their beauty—what to you is it all?”
“To me!” returned the impetuous one; “they knew my brother, who has gone to join the Genii. I loved well our Lun Pu, who never knew me or cared for me. Perhaps the fearful, handsome strangers will tell me of him.”
I knew who they were now—at least, two of them. Nor Ghai was the little sister of the Prince—she was the girl with the embroidery. Mai Mou was the daughter of our enemy the governor; she was well named the Pearl of Kai-Nong. As for the third, the beauty with the book, who had been called Ko-Tua and who claimed to have had a peep at us, I had no idea where she belonged.
But what I had overheard decided me upon a bold step. It would have been bold even in America; here in China it was actually audacious.
I saw the opening in the willows that formed the entrance to this leafy pavilion, and crept toward it, motioning the boys to follow. When near enough I boldly stepped out, walked into the pavilion and then paused as if astonished at what I had discovered there. Archie and Joe were with me, and we were greeted by a panicky chorus of muffled screams. Lucky it was they were muffled, or the cries might have brought the eunuchs upon us. Perhaps the frightened girls remembered this and screamed just loud enough to show they were properly scared.
“Pardon us, ladies, for intruding,” I said, removing my cap and making a low bow. “We are the foreign devils, and we’re glad to make your acquaintance.”
Really, we had created a sensation in the summer-house. The three beauties were huddled together in a bunch as far away as the circling willows would permit, and with clasped hands and wide open eyes they were staring at us intently.
“Permit us to introduce ourselves,” said Joe, in his most polite manner. “I am Joseph Herring, of America.”
“And I am Archie Ackley, of the same grand old country.”
“I am Sam Steele, at your service, ladies. Won’t you sit down?” I continued. “Now that we are here let us tell you all about Prince Kai Lun Pu, and how he sent us to this place.”
“Go away!” said Mai Mou, in low tense tones.
“Oh, no, we can’t do that,” said Joe.
“But you must,” persisted the Pearl.
“Why so?” asked Archie, calmly seating himself at the table.
“You will be sliced if you are found here,” announced Nor Ghai, with a dimpled smile, half frightened, half amused.
“Sliced! What does that mean, little friend?” I asked.
“You are bound to the plank and the axe begins at your feet and slices you thin until you are dead—and long afterward.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Archie, contemptuously. “We’re not afraid.”
“If you care not to consider yourselves, then consider us,” begged the fair Ko-Tua. “If you are found here we shall be beaten with bamboos upon the soles of our feet and cast into dungeons without food.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, assuringly. “I will not allow the eunuchs to harm you.”
“How can you prevent it?” asked Mai Mou, curiously.
“This is our authority,” I replied, exhibiting the Prince’s ruby ring.
“Oh—h!” sighed Nor Ghai, gliding swiftly toward me. Then she knelt and touched the ring with her rose-bud lips, saying:
“It is his, Mai Mou! It is my brother’s signet, Ko-Tua! We need fear nothing, I am sure.”
“Then sit down and let’s talk it over,” I said, motioning toward the chairs.
Very timidly they approached, like frightened doves about to fly at the least alarm, and then they plumped down upon a bench all together, with their arms twined around each other for mutual encouragement.
“How does it happen you speak English?” I inquired, pretending not to notice their fears.
“One of my father’s wives lived at Hong-Kong before he brought her here, and she taught us,” replied Nor Ghai, simply. “Do you think we the English speak with perfection?”
“Nothing could be more perfect,” laughed Archie.
“Ah—h!” they murmured, looking at each other delightedly.
“We the English talk much with ourselves,” declared Ko-Tua, casting her eyes down modestly to avoid Joe’s stare. “We can faster talk in English than in our own language.”
“That’s a great blessing,” said Archie; “you must have a lot to say to each other.”
“And we study all the time, velly hard and good,” added Mai Mou, looking earnestly at Archie for approval.
“I’m sure you are very wise and learned,” said he.
“Now,” broke in Nor Ghai, wiggling expectantly in her seat, “tell me of Lun Pu—all of Lun Pu—and how he came to join his ancestors, and how you foreign dev—you, you——”
“That’s right. We’re foreign devils.”
“How you came to Kai-Nong?”
“Let me see,” I rejoined; “you are the Prince’s sister, I believe; Nor Ghai by name.”
“How did you know?” she exclaimed, clasping her hands with a little gesture of pleasure.
“And this must be Mai Mou, the governor’s daughter, called by all the world the Pearl of Kai-Nong,” added Archie.
“How strange,” she murmured. “Do you know everything?”
“Not quite,” laughed Joe. “For instance, we do not know who Ko-Tua is. Will she tell us?”
Now Ko-Tua was not the least charming of the little maids by any means. Her features were not quite so regular as those of Mai Mou, nor so merry and winning as those of Nor Ghai; but she was sweet and dainty as a spring floweret and her eyes had a pleading and wistful look that was hard to resist. So we were all greatly astonished when Mai Mou answered Joe’s question by saying:
“Ko-Tua is my little mother; she is my father’s new wife.”
“What!” I exclaimed. “Has the old governor been marrying since he returned?”
“No-no!” answered Ko-Tua, smiling and blushing. “I was married to the noble Mai Lo six years ago.”
“Impossible! How old are you now?”
She looked inquiringly at Mai Mou, who answered:
“Fifteen summers has Mai Mou looked upon.”
“And you were married at nine!”
“That must be it,” she nodded, counting upon her slender fingers. “Ten—’leven—tlelve—thirt’—fourt—fliftleen!”
“It’s preposterous!” cried Joe, indignantly. “The old rascal ought to be sliced for daring to marry a child.”
“What is wrong?” asked Mai Mou, wonderingly. “Is not my little mother beautiful? Is she not nice? Is not my father’s harem well appointed and comforting?”
“Are you happy, Ko-Tua?” asked Joe, earnestly.
“Oh, yes, foreign one. Only the birds are happier.”
“Then we won’t slice Mai Lo,” I announced, airily.
I picked up the book that lay open upon the table and found it an English translation of Plutarch.
“Do you like this?” I asked.
“Oh, yes!” they cried. And Ko-Tua added: “We are entertain much by its stories.”
It seemed pretty heavy reading for young girls.
“We have the Shakespeare and we have the verse songs of Blylon,” announced Nor Ghai, gleefully. “My brother, Lun Pu, gave them to my father’s wife who came from Hong Kong. But now you may tell us, foreign ones, since you are with us so unlawfully, about my brother’s accident.”
So we began the story, trying between us to tell it in such a way as to remove all horror from the tragic incidents. But it seemed they loved to dwell mostly upon those very details, having the same love for slaughter and bloodshed that I have observed in the natures of some of our own children. Even Nor Ghai had known the Prince so slightly that he was a mere personage to her, and his untimely end was to these fair and innocent girls but a romance that was delightful to listen to.
With the telling of the story and answering the numerous questions showered upon us, the hours passed rapidly, until finally Ko-Tua sprang up and declared it was time for them to go, or Mai Lo’s eunuchs would be looking for her.
“Will you come here again tomorrow?” I asked Nor Ghai, taking her little hand in mine—a liberty she did not resent.
She turned to the others.
“Shall we come here tomorrow?” she inquired.
Mai Mou looked at her “little mother.”
“Let us come,” said Ko-Tua, after a little hesitation. “We shall then be able to learn more of the English.”
Nor Ghai laughed at that and said, with a pretty courtesy:
“We shall come.”
Then they glided from the pavilion with quick little steps that were not ungraceful, and we stood silently in our places until all sounds of their departure had ceased.
We were much elated by this meeting, and had no thought of the danger we might incur by arranging for a future interview with the charming orientals. You must not think we had fallen in love with these Chinese beauties, for that was not the case. I don’t say that I shall never fall in love; but when I do it will be with an American girl, and it won’t matter much whether she is beautiful or not, so long as I love her.
But I think every well regulated young fellow is fond of chatting with nice girls, and in this heathen country we were so beset with dangers and had so little companionship outside of our circle of three, that it was a pleasant change to meet these pretty maids and converse with them.
“It’s wrong, you know,” remarked Archie, as we wandered slowly back to the palace. “That is, from the standard of Chinese etiquette. We may really get ‘sliced’ if we keep up the meetings, and even if we escape that, the girls will be terribly punished if they’re caught.”
“That’s true,” said Joe. “Do you think the ring would save us in this case, Sam?”
“I think it would with Wi, but we’ve got to figure on the old governor finding out that we’re associating with his wife and daughter. I’m convinced that would make him furious.”
“Then let’s go ahead,” said Archie, grinning with delight. “It will do me good to worry old Mai Lo into fits.”
“Oh, if he finds it out, he’ll be sure to resort to slicing,” said Joe, “if he can get his hands on us.”
“Never mind,” said I. “The girls come here to visit Nor Ghai, and that’s how we happened to meet them. It’s different from our intruding into the governor’s harem, or even into the harem of the palace. If Mai Lo doesn’t want his wife and daughter to meet strangers he should keep them safe at home.”
“The chances are he doesn’t know they are in the habit of visiting Nor Ghai,” observed Archie. “Anyhow, I’m going to have all the fun I can, in spite of old Death’s-Head.”
That expressed our sentiments exactly. We were foolish, I admit; but boys are apt to be foolish at times, and some great writer—I don’t remember his name—has said that a woman is at the bottom of every misfortune.
Here were three of them, and they looked harmless enough. So we voluntarily thrust our heads into the trap.
When we met the girls in the secluded pavilion the next afternoon, we found that Nor Ghai had brought the Shakespeare and Byron, and she begged us to explain certain passages in them that had puzzled the fair students of English. This we did, and before we parted that day a friendly footing had been established between us that was very pleasant indeed. Of course another interview was arranged for, as all of us had become reassured by our success in escaping observation, and if we still had any qualms of fear we did not allow them to prevent future meetings.
But the girls were more alive to the conditions surrounding them than we were, and their fertile brains arranged a series of signals to let us know whether it was safe to enter the pavilion or not, since at any time one of the eunuchs or older members of the harem might see fit to accompany them. Also they timed their stay by our watches, so as to leave before there was a chance of their being sought for.
All this savored of intrigue, but our meetings were harmless enough. I don’t say that little Nor Ghai was averse to a bit of flirtation, but none of us encouraged her because we had no thought of flirting with our new friends. We talked in boyish fashion and treated them exactly as if we were brothers and sisters.
Meantime the days flew swiftly by, and still Mai Lo paced the gravel paths before the Ancestral Halls of Kai, and we hesitated to begin our appointed task. But finally one evening, while talking over our plans and chances of success, Joe proposed that we should explore the secret passage and accustom ourselves to the way to the underground vaults; so we promptly decided upon the adventure.
At about ten o’clock, the usual time, we dismissed our eunuch, Tun, who always remained in waiting until we retired for the night, and then, instead of going to bed, we put out our lights and sat quietly in the darkness until after midnight.
Every time we had passed by the bend in the hall we had noticed the tapestry of the dragon, but never had we ventured to disturb it to see what was behind the hangings. We dared not show a light in this passage because just around the bend was the guard of the royal apartments, eternally pacing up and down to prevent anyone from penetrating to the sacred precincts.
We had, unfortunately, no candles; but I had unhooked a small oil lamp from a bracket in one of our rooms, and matches were plentiful. When I softly opened our door to listen, there was not a sound to be heard throughout the palace except the steady footfalls of the distant guard; so, being in our stocking-feet, we tip-toed along the corridor, feeling our way in the darkness by keeping one hand on the wall, until we reached the bend in the passage.
We could not see the dragon tapestry, but knowing its exact location I crept beneath the heavy drapery, followed closely by Archie and Joe, and then began to feel for the bronze knob.
Across the face of the wall in every direction we fumbled, and I had almost begun to despair of finding it without a light when Joe grasped my shoulder and guided my hand to a tiny projection far to the left.
Yes; it was a knob, all right. I grasped it and pulled it toward me, and at once we heard a faint swish, and a breath of colder air reached us. I felt along the wall, and found an opening, through which I passed, drawing the others with me. Another heavy tapestry was on this side of the wall, and we crept beneath its folds on hands and knees.
“Do you think it’s safe to scratch a match?” I whispered.
“It’s got to be done, safe or unsafe,” replied Joe, and in a moment a faint light flared up, and Joe shaded it with his hands while I cast a hurried glance at the tapestry.
“No light can shine through that, I’m sure,” said I. “Here, Joe; light the lamp.”
I held it while he touched the match to the wick, and then we stood up and gazed curiously around us.
We found ourselves in a lofty sleeping chamber that was beautifully furnished. The carved mahogany bedstead with its pagoda-like canopy towered fully fifteen feet in height, and its curtains were cloth-of-gold. Around the frieze, just above the heavy tapestry hangings, was a row of embossed golden fishes with ivory horns, set in a background of azure blue. Near to where we stood, at the left of the secret panel, a number of bronze tablets were attached to the wall, their faces engraved with Chinese characters. I supposed these to be the tablets of ancestors, which every house contains in its inmost sanctum. Before the tablets was a sort of altar, containing a vase for burning incense and prayers.
A broad archway, hung with stiff draperies, formed a communication with the next room of the suite, and just beyond it stood a great carved cabinet with numerous drawers and recesses and a writing shelf in the center. This I thought must be the Prince’s “desk” which I had asked the Chief Eunuch to remove to my room, without realizing its size. That he had promised to do so filled me with wonder, for I doubted if it could be carried through the archway.
Passing around the huge bedstead and holding the lamp before us, we peered into the further corner of the room and with one accord shrank back in sudden fear. For before us stood a gigantic form in glittering armor, with a face-mask so terrible in expression that it might well cause a sinking of the heart. And behind the mask glittered two cruel, piercing eyes, while the right arm swung a scimitar as if about to attack the beholder and hack him asunder.
“Never mind,” muttered Joe, with a low laugh. “It isn’t alive, although it looks it.”
“It’s the statue we were searching for,” said I.
“No wonder it used to scare the Prince,” remarked Archie. “Ugh! I shouldn’t want to own that fellow for an ancestor.”
“This was the first Kai,” I rejoined. “They must have been giants in those days, if he’s a sample warrior.”
Then I leaned down and tried to press outward the left foot of the statue, which stood flat upon the floor without any pedestal. It resisted and I knelt down and tried again, pushing with all my strength and using the other foot as a purchase. The foot gave a little—not more than half an inch—and I heard a sharp click and a grating sound behind the tapestries.
“All right,” said Joe, pushing aside the drapery while Archie held the lamp. “The panel is open.”
The opening disclosed was about five feet high and not more than eighteen inches wide, but it was sufficient to allow us to pass through with ease. A secret passage, narrow and low, had been built in the great side-wall of the palace, and a few paces from the panel a flight of steps, made of stone, led downward. These continued to descend until we had passed below the foundations of the building, when we entered a tunnelled passage slanting straight into the earth. The walls were protected with stone and cement, but there was a damp, musty smell in the passage; and, as we advanced, numerous vermin, such as rats, lizards and fat spiders, scampered away from the path to hide in the little nooks between the stones.
Archie, who went first, carrying the lamp, growled continually at these pests, but I felt they could not be dangerous or the Prince would have warned us against them.
We traveled what seemed a very long distance to us, under the circumstances; but I now believe the passage was a bee-line to the burial vaults from the palace, and of course the vaults were located some distance from the building that appeared above ground. But my sense of direction was so confused that I would then, and even afterward, have been unable to locate the vaults from the palace grounds.
Finally we reached a steel door which was unlocked and opened easily. Beyond this hung a tapestry, and pushing that aside we came to an alcove, arched high above us and having a grating of bronze or similar metal at the further side.
In the center of the alcove lay a superb sarcophagus or burial casket, set across two slabs of marble. This was of wrought bronze and bore upon the cover a mask with a surprising resemblance to the statue of the first Kai in the Prince’s bedroom.
We did not pause to examine it long, however, for all about the coffin stood carven stands and taborets weighted with curious ornaments in solid gold and silver, while upon a low table were several suits of splendid armor, inlaid with gold and set with precious stones that glistened brightly under the lamplight. Nor was this all. Ornaments of green and yellow jade were scattered about, and at the foot of the coffin stood a semi-circle of big jars of bronze.
I thrust my hand into one of these jars and drew it out filled with beautiful emeralds.
“We don’t need to go any farther, boys!” I exclaimed with a gasp. “Here are riches enough, in this one niche, to satisfy a dozen fortune hunters.”
Archie examined another vase and found rubies and pearls in it. The third was quite empty, and so was the fourth, but the fifth and last one contained many jade rings, bracelets and necklaces, with which were mingled several large sapphires.
“Yes,” said Archie, sighing; “here’s more treasure than the priests of Luxor buried in the desert. But let’s continue our explorations. This can’t be all of the ancestral chih, for only one ancestor is buried here.”
“He must have been very rich in his lifetime, if this was but half of his fortune,” remarked Joe. “I wonder if he got it all honestly?”
“Probably not,” I replied. “This fellow is an ancient, and perhaps lived in an age of robbing and pillaging. But come on, fellows; let’s see if we can pass those gratings.”
Only a catch, worked from either side, held the grating in place, and swinging it open we passed into what was doubtless an immense domed chamber, for our tiny lamp could not light more than a small portion of it. On either side of the alcove from which we had emerged hung magnificent tapestries worked in threads of gold and silver and representing scenes of battles, processions and the like. The workmanship was so fine on the first tapestry we examined that it seemed impossible it could be anything but a painting, and a marvelous one at that. But we found the other fifty or more sections hung around the domed chamber to be equally perfect in execution.
Beyond the tapestry hangings, each section of which was some sixteen feet in width, was another grating leading to an alcove, and this system we afterward found was continued all around the chamber. None of the gratings were locked and all opened readily to our touch. The alcove we next entered contained another splendid casket and even more golden ornaments and precious gems than we had found in the first. We accounted for the empty jars in the first alcove, which connected with the secret passage, by the pilfering from them by Prince Kai, of which he had told us.
“Wait a minute!” exclaimed Joe, as we eagerly started to examine the next alcove. “If we’re not careful we’re going to lose our bearings in this big place and get lost. Before we wander any further away let’s mark the grating to the alcove we came from when we entered.”
That seemed good advice, so we retraced our steps until we reached the first alcove, where Joe tied his handkerchief to the grating. Then, feeling assured we could find the place again, we proceeded upon our explorations.
We had examined five or six of the chih, or alcoves of the dead, all of which contained enormous wealth, when suddenly I stumbled against a low stand just outside of a grating. Holding the lamp high to see what the obstruction was, I found upon the stand a large lamp, nearly filled with oil, and a box of London safety-matches.
“Oho!” said I; “Mai Lo has been here.”
“I suppose he can now wander through these ancestral vaults at will, since there is no one to forbid him,” said Joe.
“I hope he won’t decide to come while we’re here,” remarked Archie, “or our pretty plans will be nipped in the bud.”
“Oh, it isn’t necessary for Mai Lo to lose sleep to enter these vaults,” I replied. “But it is as well to be on our guard, and I’m glad we found the evidences of his visit.”
Entering the alcove before which the table and lamp stood, we looked around with astonishment, for here was more evidence of Mai Lo’s presence in the tomb. This niche was evidently very rich in treasure, and the vases and bowls of gems had been emptied into a great heap in the center of the floor. From this heap some one had been assorting the jewels into varieties and sizes. In one place were pearls, the finest of which had been placed in one row, the next largest in a second row, and so on.
Rubies had been assorted in a similar way on another side of the chih, and emeralds in a third place. No jewels seemed to have been taken away, and from the size of the heap there was much more assorting to be done, and the job was scarcely begun.
The beauty of the row of great pearls appealed to Archie strongly, so he picked them up, one by one, and placed them in the pocket of his jacket.
“If anything should prevent our coming here again,” he remarked, “these pearls will well repay us for our journey to Kai-Nong.”
But he never suspected that they were likely nearly to cost us all our lives.
From alcove to alcove we went, finding in each a different class of treasure, according to the wealth of the occupant and the period in which he had lived. Here a scholar was laid, and beside him a mass of parchment manuscripts, which either represented a half of his fortune or had been purchased at such high prices that his heir preferred to bury the manuscripts with his ancestor and keep the half of his wealth represented by more tangible assets. In another place we found many painted pictures, in another bales of silks, rotted and fallen to decay. But usually the wealth of these ancestors of Kai Lun Pu consisted of splendid gems and jewelry, ornaments of gold, silver and jade, and in many cases golden coins of the Empire. Well might Prince Kai say that his Ancestral Halls contained enough wealth to ransom a kingdom. To carry it all away with us would have required a railway train or the hold of a steamship.
“What we must do,” said Joe, who was a fair judge of gems and jewelry, “is to select only rubies, emeralds and pearls, and perhaps some of the fine jades. These may be carried in a small space, if we don’t take too many of them, and they’ll sell more readily at home for cash.”
We quite agreed with him in this, and believed we would now be able to order the packing cases of such a size as to fit our needs. We might have some trouble in carrying our plunder through China to Shanghai, and to strive to take too much of this almost inexhaustible wealth might very easily cause us to lose it all.
So eager and excited were we by the sight of this splendid treasure-house that we lingered in the tombs a long time, and finally reached an alcove where rested the casket we had made aboard the Seagull, and which contained the bandaged pillows and bolsters that had been substituted for the body of Prince Kai.
It was still locked, and had not been disturbed in any way by Mai Lo; nor was there any treasure beside it. From there on to the alcove where we had entered, and where Joe’s handkerchief was attached to the grating, the niches were empty. These ancestral chih would have accommodated several generations yet, had not the last of the royal line perished without an heir.
“Good gracious! It’s after four o’clock!” exclaimed Archie, leaning over to examine his watch by the flame of the lamp.
“Then we must hustle back,” I said, “for it begins to get daylight at five, and we mustn’t get caught in the passages of the palace.”
So we ran into the alcove of the first Kai and closed the grating behind us. Then we thrust aside the tapestry, passed through the steel door, and fastened it securely. A moment more and we were treading the tunnel in single file back to the palace.
The way was up hill now, and harder walking, but it did not seem so long as it did when we came down. In a few minutes we had reached the stone steps and were climbing them to the chamber of the Prince.
The sliding panel behind the statue puzzled us a little, but we soon discovered how to close it, and it caught in place with the same little click that had released it when the foot was pushed aside.
Without pausing again in the bed-chamber, we crept beneath the tapestry and out of the panel door into the corridor, and then paused to listen with bated breath. The guard could still be heard treading heavily before the door to the Suite of the Horned Fish; so we took off our shoes again, pushed aside the dragon tapestry, and noiselessly crept to our own room.
You may be sure we breathed easier when we were safe within our own quarters, for day was just breaking and our return had been timed none too soon.
Nux and Bryonia, whom we had left to guard our rooms from possible intrusion while we were absent, were mighty glad to see us back again, and their eyes opened wide with astonishment when Archie displayed his pearls as proof that we had found the treasure.
But the night of excitement had wearied us greatly, so we all turned in and slept like dead men until our faithful blacks called us to breakfast.
It was while we were at this meal that Joe uttered an exclamation, and glancing up I saw his face go white and frightened.
“What is it, old man?” I asked quickly.
“My handkerchief!” he replied. “I left it tied to the grating of the alcove!”
We looked at one another in stupid bewilderment for a moment, trying hard to think how to remedy such a blunder. But nothing could be done for that day, anyhow, and if Mai Lo happened to visit the Ancestral Halls during that time he would have ample proof that we had been there.
“Of course he may not notice it,” said Archie, comfortingly.
“Why, it’s a regular flag—white against all those dark hues of tapestries and black spots of alcoves. Of course he’ll notice it,” retorted Joe with a groan.
“Not any more than he’ll notice the absence of the pearls,” I suggested. “Mai Lo is evidently busy assorting the treasure he means to run away with, and his first visit there will assure him someone else has been in the vaults.”
“Oh, but without the handkerchief he would be unable to guess who it was,” answered Joe. “The handkerchief gives him just the clew he needed.”
“Never mind,” said I; “the governor can’t do anything about it that I can see. If he is onto our game, we are also onto his, and he won’t dare whisper to the people outside that he is visiting the vaults. When he enters the building he is supposed to be praying, and he must not enter the underground chih after laying the body of the Prince there. His only legitimate business now is to seal up the vaults and destroy all traces of them.”
“And then make an end of himself,” added Archie.
“Just so.”
But in spite of our brave talk we were decidedly uneasy over the way in which we had bungled our adventure of the night, and as soon as breakfast was finished we started out with one accord and took the path that led to the Ancestral Halls.
Nux followed us, but Bry remained in our rooms. This plan we had adopted several days before, having only one of our blacks with us when we ventured out of the palace and leaving the other to guard the entrance to our apartments. The reason for this procedure was that we soon expected to accumulate considerable treasure in our rooms, and we wanted it understood that we permitted no intrusion further than the outer reception-room. Indeed, Bry was guarding, this morning, a few pearls that Joe estimated to be worth over fifty thousand dollars; and the way he did it was to tie them in a handkerchief and carry them in his pocket. As for separating our faithful servants, it was evident that nothing could ever be done in this place by brute force, and a thousand men would be of no more use to us than one.
We sauntered carelessly along, so as not to convey the impression that we had any object in our walk more than to get a bit of air and exercise. Often we passed the magnificently attired household eunuchs, singly or in groups; but we had now become familiar sights to these creatures, and they merely touched their yellow turbans respectfully and passed on.
Around the outbuildings the place thronged with less important servants, all under the general command of Wi-to and his lieutenants. Sounds of industry came from the House of the Artisans, where the bronze, brass and gold workers were busy. In front of the House of the Weavers were groups throwing shuttles back and forth or spinning the threads to be used in the looms.
Kitchen servants passed and repassed in every direction, and this part of the grounds was in many ways the most interesting of all, for here beat the pulse that gave life to the whole establishment.
Moving on, we took the path descending the mound toward the Ancestral Halls—not the one that led past the cage of Sacred Apes, for we hated those fearful creatures and avoided them—but a shaded, winding way that was very pleasant, though it led past a pond of black water which was said to be the home of a monster Devil-Fish.
Before long we came to a halt directly in front of the north entrance of the beautiful bamboo palace of the dead, and the soldier on guard, radiant in the crimson and sapphire uniform of the governor’s service, waved his scimitar partly in salute and partly in warning.
“Mai Lo?” I said to him, questioningly.
He spoke no English, but could not fail to understand I was asking for the governor; so he turned his thumb toward the entrance, to indicate that his master was inside the building, and then resumed his strut back and forth before the door.
Well, that was all we wanted to know, and our hearts sank as we realized that our enemy was even now in the underground chih examining the traces of our midnight visit there. We slowly turned and retraced our steps as far as a group of trees that stood a little way up the mound and commanded an unobstructed view of the entire House of Ancestors. Here we seated ourselves upon shady benches and passed the next two hours moodily talking over the situation.
At the end of that time we observed Mai Lo appear from the building by the entrance nearest us. He was as deliberate and reserved in demeanor as ever, and after a word to the guard he took the very path that led past the trees where we were.
“Let’s get out,” advised Archie, hastily.
“No,” said Joe, “let’s stay and hear what the old duffer has to say. Don’t be afraid to talk up to him, Sam.”
“I won’t,” was my promise.
Then we grimly awaited the governor’s approach. He paced steadily up the path, his hands clasped behind his back and his face turned square to the front.
So he reached the trees and came to a halt before our bench. Upon his parchment-like yellow face there was no sign of expression; in the bead-like eyes turned upon us was no ray of intelligence.
Without doubt Mai Lo had been astounded by the discovery he had made that morning: that we were able to penetrate to the sacred chih of the Ancestors of Kai. If he was human, he must have been stirred to the very depths of his nature. But here he stood, as passionless and cold as a statue, his glassy stare wandering from one to another of us in turn, but no word passing his thin, compressed lips.
What a relief it would have been had he denounced us, threatened us, cursed us for foreign devils and scoundrels! But no. He merely fixed his soulless eyes upon us, and I began to realize how the ancient Greeks might have got their idea of Medusa and the terrible gaze that turned men to stone.
When the governor had gone—and he returned along the path as silently as he had come, after his passionless inspection of us—we arose and walked to the palace, finding mighty little to say on our own account.
On the broad piazza that led into the main building of the palace we found the Chief Eunuch, leaning heavily against a pillar. I had been trying to communicate with Wi-to for several days, but Tun, who carried our messages, always returned to say that his master was closely occupied with his duties and begged to postpone the interview. During these days we had neither seen nor heard of the Chief Eunuch, so I was a little surprised to find him on the piazza. His face was haggard and worn, his eyes puffy and bloodshot and his person untidy.
“Good morning, Wi,” said I, cordially. “Have you been ill?”
He smiled at me rather childishly, and replied:
“The Earth Dragon has had me in his coils—and nearly strangled me. Ah—oh! how unhappy I have been! Who has such deep and dreadful sorrows as poor Wi-to? Who suffers such horrible pangs? Who—but never mind. The sun-god is smiling this morning, and the breeze is sweet and lovely. Are my master’s guests wholly content? Have they any orders for their lowly servant?”
I own this rambling, inconsequent speech somewhat puzzled me. Wi-to did not seem himself; he was surely not at his best today. Ordinarily the Chief Eunuch was the most intelligent, shrewd, courteous and agreeable Chinaman we had met, save only Prince Kai Lun Pu.
But I pretended not to notice his peculiar bearing and asked him when he could have the desk of Prince Kai moved into our rooms. I wanted to begin my work of inspection at once, I told him; but really the only reason I made the request at all was to allay any suspicions he might harbor.
To my surprise he at once blew his whistle and brought a dozen eunuchs running to answer the summons. Still leaning against the pillar Wi-to chattered away in Chinese for a time until his men prostrated themselves and hurried away to fulfil his commands.
“The cabinet will come to you, my master,” now answered the eunuch. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“Why, as regards the selection of the gifts——”
“Don’t hurry,” he interrupted, rubbing one eye with his knuckles. “Tlake it easy; much time; no hurry; only Mai Lo want you out of the way. Mai Lo? Dlam Mai Lo! English dlam. Pah!”
Really, I couldn’t understand Wi-to in this peculiar condition, so we left him still leaning against the post and went away to our own rooms.