Under the Chinese Dragon Part 18

'Of course, my dear; for what else? He has no direct interest in us. But supposing he were to succeed in helping us, then his interest comes in.

We could afford to reward him handsomely.'

The lady leaning back in her chair nodded sharply, and looked at her husband with a cunning gleam in her eyes. She was beginning to see daylight Here, perhaps, was a means to defeat David Harbor and without subjecting him to violence. She fanned herself with a newspaper, for the sudden hope which the tale brought made her feel oppressively hot.

'We could afford to reward him handsomely,' she declared, in the most unctuous manner. 'What did you offer?'

'I gave him a hundred pounds for his expenses, and promised a thousand if he were successful.'

Mrs. Ebenezer clapped her hands energetically. She was delighted, and thoroughly in agreement with her husband. What a shrewd fellow he was, to be sure, she thought. Why, a thousand pounds was well spent if only they could destroy that will, the existence of which paralysed their own schemes, and might make paupers of them. Then a sudden doubt came to her mind, for like every schemer and dishonest person this lady was quick to perceive where this plan might break down. She imagined herself in the place of the Chinaman who had come to her husband, and cogitated what she would do under similar circ.u.mstances.

'Why,' she suddenly declared, in no little alarm, 'a hundred pounds is riches to a Chinaman. Supposing this ruffian makes off with your money, and does not try to help you. Supposing he forgets all about us once he has left the country?'

'He has left the country already,' came the swift and somewhat disconcerting answer. 'I sent him off hurriedly; he will not fail us.'

'Why?' Mrs. Clayhill was insistent. More than that, she was more than usually artful. In fact, Edward Harbor, poor fellow, could not have come across a woman less suited to his tastes and feelings, while Ebenezer Clayhill found in the widow of the late Edward Harbor a woman cunning and clever, and to some extent unscrupulous. To some large extent one might say, for who could describe the action of this pair as other than unscrupulous? Alas! the attempt to deprive a near relative of possessions due to him is nothing new. The same sort of sordid scheme has been practised many a time with variations, and sometimes with success. Not every case has been a.s.sociated with a lad of David Harbor's nature, nor with one possessed of his determination and courage. Still, if in this particular affair there were such a person, as these two schemers had found already to their chagrin and cost, on the other side our hero was opposed to a couple of crafty people, of whom Mrs. Clayhill was by no means the inferior.

'How do you know that this fellow will not fail us?' she demanded, rising from her seat and walking to the window, which she threw up, as if the room were too hot for her. 'How? I am suspicious.'

'You always are, my dear,' chuckled her husband. 'But it will be all right. This Chinaman is the very man we want. I told you it was a piece of extraordinary good fortune his writing to me, for there is more to tell you about him. He is a deposed mandarin.'

'I thought no such person existed,' said Mrs. Clayhill quickly. 'A mandarin at fault is a dead mandarin, so far as I have been able to gather.'

'Unless he escapes. Unless he escapes, my dear,' suggested Mr. Ebenezer.

'Then this man?----'

'Escaped. Disguised himself, and made for Canton on a river boat. Then, thanks to his knowledge of English, he was able to s.h.i.+p aboard a vessel sailing for England. Once China was left behind he was safe, and the crafty fellow so contrived matters that it was a.s.sumed in his own country that he had become desperate, and had thrown himself into the river. That mandarin, to all intents and purposes, is dead. He can begin life again in China as an altogether different person, without incurring any suspicion. No one, not even the mandarin who had his trial in hand, and who had caused him to be arrested for an attack upon some Europeans would recognise him. Dao Chang is a name which none will a.s.sociate with Hang Chiou, the mandarin who was to have been beheaded.'

'Attack on Europeans! This man a mandarin, and yet a servant to Europeans,' protested Mrs. Clayhill. 'I am bewildered. There is something missing in your description, Ebenezer.'

It was not at all remarkable that she was to some extent confused, for at the beginning of his tale of this Chinaman, the ruffian, who was the instigator of this attempt to rob David Harbor, had declared that the man had taken service with some Europeans, and could cook, as well as speak English. Then how could he be servant and mandarin at one and the same time? Surely there was an error in the narrative! But Ebenezer smiled cunningly as he noticed his wife's bewilderment, and again spread his hands out in a manner calculated to soothe her. Then he made a dive for his handkerchief, but remembering in time, rubbed both fat members together as if he were was.h.i.+ng them. To speak with absolute impartiality the man looked, as he stood there in front of the fire, precisely and exactly what he was. He had the appearance of a mean, sneaking villain, capable of planning the most cunning plot from the security of his fireside, but sure to turn tail and decamp at the first sign of danger.

But his wife was blind to his imperfections. Had she been as other women are, no doubt, she would have recoiled from this man. But Mrs. Clayhill was what she was, and guile and cunning pleased her. She went back to her chair, and sat down in the most placid manner, as if she were listening to the most ordinary tale.

'Go on, Ebenezer,' she lisped. 'You interest me vastly. Tell me more of this man who was mandarin and common servant.'

'And who was arrested for complicity in the murder of certain Europeans,' remarked her husband, promptly, and in the quietest tones, to which, however, he contrived to lend some subtle note that was easily detected. Swiftly his wife looked up, loosing all appearance of placidity.

'For complicity in the murder of certain Europeans,' repeated Ebenezer, watching his wife closely, and bringing into special prominence the last two words of his short sentence.

'Certain Europeans 'What do you mean? Ebenezer, I do declare, you bewilder me. Certain Europeans! Why, you can't mean that----'

There was a sleek smile on the man's face as she looked up at him. He appeared to be in that position where he hardly knew whether it would do, considering all the circ.u.mstances, to show pleasure here, though, knowing his wife as he did, he rather fancied she would not take umbrage if he were to show some trace of satisfaction. And he was right. Mrs.

Clayhill smiled. After all, poor Edward Harbor was only a bitter memory to her.

'You can't mean that this man had to do with the murder of poor Edward,'

she cried, attempting to a.s.sume horror, though there was no doubt at all that she was vastly interested. 'Tell me more,' she demanded eagerly.

'This man is a find indeed. I can't believe it possible. He implicated in that wretched affair! You will tell me next that he had something to do with this will which David has gone in search of.'

If Ebenezer ever allowed himself to laugh outright, he was as near as possible permitting himself that luxury on this occasion. His fat face reddened and beamed. His nose became peculiarly prominent on account of its heightened colour, and once more his hands washed oilily together.

Ugh! He would have given an honest person a cold s.h.i.+ver.

'You are wonderfully far-seeing, my dear,' he laughed. 'And now you seem to have got to the depth of the story. This Hang Chiou, or to give him his modern name, Dao Chang, is as crafty as he is long-headed. It appears that Edward Harbor and his staff were working in his district, for Chang was only a minor official, and very poor at that. He saw that the expedition was possessed of certain riches, and moreover, he knew that they had discovered ancient bronzes which would bring money in one of the open ports. He decided to have that money. He gave out that he was going to Pekin on an official visit, and quietly disguised himself as a coolie. Then he took service with Edward Harbor and his partners.

One day he led a band of coolies against them, and killed them all. Then he swore all the coolies to secrecy, and declared himself as the mandarin of the district. Of course, the bulk of the booty fell to him, and with it all Edward's papers. He had hardly returned home, however, making believe that he was from Pekin, when he was betrayed by a coolie, and at once arrested. You know the rest of the story.'

Truly it was a marvellous narrative; it was almost unbelievable--yet, why not? Unless the whole thing was a plot to obtain money. Mrs.

Clayhill promptly voiced the doubts in her mind.

'He may have fooled you,' she declared. 'One hundred pounds would hardly tempt him to return to China. Most likely he is still here.'

But there was no doubt in the face of the man who had been speaking.

Ebenezer looked confident. He chuckled as he thought of his own astuteness.

'My dear,' he proclaimed, with unusual emphasis, 'it requires a clever man to deceive me. Besides, I am very careful. I booked the man's pa.s.sage. I saw him off. He was aboard when the s.h.i.+p was in mid-ocean.

The wireless telegraph told me that with ease and certainty. No, let us have no doubts. Dao Chang does not require money alone to tempt him to China. He willingly risks his head to get even with the coolie who betrayed him, as also to work his revenge on the mandarin who was the actual cause of his downfall. Besides there is another reason. If he could earn the money I have promised, he could buy evidence to clear his name with the greatest certainty. He could even buy a position of some power, and of greater affluence. In fact, he could reinstate himself.

There is his object.'

'But----'

'You cannot see farther. Quite so,' said this soft-spoken ruffian. 'I will proceed at once. Chang sailed promptly so as to land in China before the party to which David is attached. He will enter himself as one of their servants. Then he will earn his reward from us by taking possession of the will should they happen to find it. If not, he himself will make search for it on his own account. Should that happen he will have done with your stepson and his friends, though I suspect that he will relieve them of any valuables. He will send us the doc.u.ment so that we may destroy it, and will then be free to carry out his own business.

Our affair first, you understand, his own afterwards.'

It was a crafty piece of scheming when all things were considered, and looking at the matter from Ebenezer's point of view there was no reason at all why he should not be eminently satisfied. For fortune seemed to have played fairly with him. The very ruffian who had instigated the murder of Edward Harbor had offered his services; and it was this Chinaman's direct interest to find the will for which David was journeying to the country of the Celestials. It was not as if the man had been asked to discover a jewel of vast value. For then one might easily have suspected his honesty and good intentions. Here only a doc.u.ment was in question, a piece of parchment, perhaps, with a few written lines upon it, valueless to all but our hero and the two schemers who should have been father and mother to him. Valueless in any case to Chang, the ruffianly Chinaman, so useless, in fact, that he would be eager to change it for the thousand pounds so readily offered by Ebenezer. Undoubtedly, the man who had married David's stepmother was delighted, and by the time he had finished his narrative, so also was Mrs. Clayhill.

'It is all wonderful and most fortunate. I can sleep in peace,' she ventured, 'for I know that no violence will be offered.'

She departed from the room in high feather, while hardly had the door closed when her husband smiled broadly, and in a most suggestive manner.'

'Clever woman,' he told himself. 'Precious clever; but I have to remember that she is a woman, with natural distaste of murders and sudden attacks. Glad I didn't tell her all that Chang hinted. What luck to be sure to have dropped on the fellow. You could have knocked me down with a hat pin when I received his letter.'

Perhaps it was as well that Ebenezer had not told his wife all the story; for there were parts of it to which that lady would most certainly have taken exception. As Ebenezer had remarked, Chang had hinted many things, and had, in fact, spoken openly.

'You leave it to me to stop this English boy, then?' he had asked, prior to his departure on the boat. 'If, for instance, I could send certain news that he was killed or drowned, or something of that sort, that would be sufficient?'

'I will pay a thousand pounds for that will with pleasure,' Ebenezer answered promptly. 'Of course, should this young fellow come by an accident, and his death be sworn to by a British Consul, then the money would be paid with equal pleasure.'

There was no need to say more. The two ruffians parted with the most perfect understanding, Chang to formulate schemes to bring about David's undoing. And very soon he had an opportunity to carry them out. He disembarked at Hong-Kong, and waited for the arrival of the steamer on which David and his friends had left England. Then he sneaked on board as a deck pa.s.senger, disembarking at Shanghai, where it will be remembered, the Professor and his party landed. And at once news reached Chang that a native boat was about to be chartered. It was an opportunity not to be missed. The Chinaman dived in amongst the ruck of men in the bazaar, and soon discovered others of equal villainy. It took little persuasion on his part to induce a man to offer his boat to the Professor, and but little work to organise a scheme of attack with a piratical vessel. Then Chang watched the departure with a grin on his ugly features.

'I think I shall be able to apply for that money very quickly,' he told himself. 'The scheme of attack is one which can hardly fail to be successful.'

Yet it failed, much to his fury. Thanks to Alphonse's watchfulness, and to the heroism of the whole party David and his friends escaped. It was the miscreants hired by Chang who suffered in the adventure, and indeed lost life and everything. Chang found himself at the beginning of his task again, and what was worse, was now far removed from the Professor and his party. However, that was a matter which could be remedied, and taking a boat along the coast it was not long before he landed at the port where the gun-boat commanded by the dapper little, English-speaking Chinese officer had set them.

'Foreign devils marched up country,' he was told, when he made cautious enquiries. 'Been gone some days, but you will easily catch them. They are making for the Ming To ruins.'

It was in that neighbourhood that the rascal Chang actually came up with the expedition, and thereafter set his wits to work to bring about the destruction of the party, and failing that, the death of David Harbor.

'I can crawl into the camp at night and slay him,' he told himself. 'Or I can fire at him while at work in the ruins. Yes, that is better. I shall certainly kill him.'

He crept off to a hovel where he had obtained a lodging, and throwing himself upon the kang, closed his eyes and gave himself up to deep contemplation. In Chang David had all unknowingly an enemy even more subtle and more dangerous than Ebenezer Clayhill.