Peter the Brazen: A Mystery Story of Modern China

by George F. Worts

  PART III

  THE GREEN DEATH

  CHAPTER I

  "Oh! Chiang Nan's a hundred li, yet in a moment's space I've flown away to Chiang Nan and touched a dreaming face." --TS'EN-TS'AN.

  A young man can get himself into trouble in China.He may refuse to eat the food that is pushed into hismouth at a Chinese banquet by the perfectlywell-intentioned man sitting beside him. In that case he willhardly do more than arouse the contempt of hisbeneficiary and his host. He simply shows that he lacksgood Chinese table manners, for at a Chinese banquetit is proper to stuff food into your companion's mouth,no matter how full his stomach may be.

  Another way to offend the Chinese is to refuse a gift.

  But these are minor things. The surest method toarouse the suspicion, dislike and animosity of China isdeliberately to keep your affairs shrouded in mystery.Discuss your important business secrets in loud shouts;no one will pay the slightest attention. But whispermysteriously in your friend's ear, and spies will attendyou! Leave a note-book filled with precious dataplainly in view upon your dressing-table, and yourroom-boy won't for the life of him peek into it. Lockthat same note-book away in a dressing-table drawer,and your room-boy will move heaven and earth to findout what it's all about!

  The time of the day was mid-forenoon; the time ofthe year was spring. The low, mournful voice of atemple gong floated across the race of brown water.River _fokies_, on sampans and junks, were singing theirold work song, the Yo-ho--hi-ho! of the ancient river, astheir naked, broad backs bent to the sweeps. Apleasant breath of perspiring new earth was drifting downthe great stretch of yellow water on a light, warm wind.

  Peter had taken his favorite stand on the upper-boatdeck, where the wireless shack was situated, withone hand wrapped loosely about a davit guy, the otherthoughtfully rattling a cluster of keys in his pocket.

  Spring is for youth, and Peter was young; yet hedid not reflect in any way the mood of the new season.He felt gloomy and depressed. Life seemed an empty,a dreary thing to Peter, because he could see himselfgetting nowhere.

  In spite of the sweet candor of the young springday, one of the first sounds that came to his ears as hestood there, in the shadow of the life-boat, was thebrazen clamor of a death cymbal. One of China's fourhundred millions had died in the night; now his spiritwas being escorted to the seventh heaven of his blessedforefathers, by the death cymbal, clashing with a soberdin to drive the devils away from his late abode.

  The shadow of the life-boat was rather unaccountablyattenuated; Peter turned around and looked into thebland, unsmiling face of Jen, a Chinese deck-boy.Pig-tails were coming back in style again. About six inchesof wispy, purple-black braid extended downward fromJen's white cap. His face was quite yellow, and hiseyes were green. An understandable light came andflickered across their satiny surface as Peter lookedinquiringly into them.

  "Wanchee my?" he asked.

  The deck-boy took a cautious and all inclusive lookof the broad, gray deck, bending head to look past thegiant funnels, the first of which stood about twentyfeet forward of them.

  "Stay allatime on _King Asia_?" inquired theChinese, moiling his hands together and bowing slightly.

  Peter gave him a blue-eyed, indolent stare.

  "Maybe. Maybe not," he said. "What's on your mind, Jen?"

  "You tell me what going do," replied the yellowone meaningly. "Can do?"

  "Mebbe can do," replied Peter, folding his hands."You run up to the place on Jen Kee Road as soon asyou catchee sampan. Tell man-man if I decide to doanything I will drop in and tell him. You don't know,Jen, but he knows that my word is good. If I decide togo up-river I'll tell man-man. If I decide to donothing, I'll say nothing to man-man."

  "Allee light, allee light," said Jen, backing away afew steps. "You tell man-man, eh?"

  As Peter watched the retreating skinny shouldersbob up and down as they went away from him towardthe after ladder, he felt just a little more undecided thanhe had five minutes earlier. He went into the wireless-room,to straighten up the apparatus before locking thedoor for the visit in Shanghai.

  As he was locking the tool-box--the Chinese riverthieves would steal anything they could lay handson--he heard his name called in a silvery voice accompaniedby a man's pleasant laugh, and he went out on deck tofind that Mr. Andover, with the twins in tow, was alldressed up for a trip ashore.

  The twins and Anthony Andover were passengers,bound on a sight-seeing trip through the East, and asPeter Moore was a very impressionable young man, itis only natural that the twins be discussed first, invirtue of their loveliness.

  Peter had first contemplated Peggy and HelenWhipple in the _King of Asia's_ dining-room. It wouldhave been a rather impossible thing not to see Peggy andHelen Whipple, if you were young, and with fair eyesight.

  At the first dinner after leaving the Golden GatePeter had gone into the dining-room rather early, ashe skipped tiffin (by reason of an empty pocket) andwas ravenously hungry.

  He had looked up over his first spoonful ofmulligatawny a la Capron to meet the clear, undistilled,brown-eyed gaze of Peggy Whipple, who had seatedherself at the captain's table. In that liquid,brown-eyed gaze had lurked a sparkle of mischief, a slightlyarrogant look of inquisitive scrutiny, and perhaps aplayful invitation.

  As Peggy Whipple gave him that mischievous, liquid-brownglance when he was in the act of lifting a levelsoupspoonful to his lips, he did not, as a man mightdo under the circumstances, spill the soup upon thetablecloth, or back into the dish; nor did he pause inthe work of lifting the liquid to his mouth.

  He did not have to look at the spoon to guide itspassage to his mouth. Without spilling a drop, hecaptained the spoon to its destination, maintaining hisclear, deep-blue eyes upon the beautiful brown ones ofthe young passenger. And, without lowering his eyesonce, he lifted the loaded spoon up twice in succession.

  This skillful management brought a smile to thepretty face of the girl. Perhaps she had expected himto spill the soup under her glance; it was to beexpected; more than probably the thing had happened inpast episodes of Peggy, for she was distractingly fairto look upon, and her turned-up nose should havedisarmed any man.

  Her hair was golden and sleek and drawn backstraight from her low, white forehead and knottedtogether in the back, calling attention to a neck that wasslim and beautifully proportioned. Pink and white andgold described her. She seemed to bristle with a sortof fidgety energy, as if she had so much youth andloveliness stored up in her that she had a tremendous timekeeping it all within bounds.

  After Peter had slowly, but not at all insolently orimpudently, taken all of this in, in the time required tostow away three heaping spoonfuls of mulligatawny ala Capron, by dead reckoning, she looked away fromhim with a little pout.

  Peter followed her glance. He had not noticed theother girl before. It was evident that they were of thesame blood, but the other girl seemed older. She, too,had sprung from a brown-eyed ancestry, and she, too,was blond and pink and lovely, with the prettiestfingers and finger-nails Peter had seen for some time.

  Her glance, arising to meet his, was brown and verycalm; unlike her sister, she appeared to be grave, moreof the deliberate, thoughtful type.

  It was in the shop of a Japanese silk merchant onMotomatchi Chome that he had met them for the firsttime. Several times on the trip across he had passedthem on the deck, always escorted by proud young men.

  They were the most popular girls on shipboard.Beauty rarely travels in pairs; these were unusualtwins.

  Once, as Peter was swinging down the ladder fromtopside, he came upon Peggy alone, looking rather blue.It may have been that she was simply in repose; andthe contrast gave him that impression. Her eyesdreamingly encountered his, and the mischievous lightflickered in them and instantly went out.

  She ran her eyes down the white uniform with thegold emblems of his profession at the lapels, droppedher eyelids demurely, and seemed to wait. He hesitated,and she stood still; but he
passed on, leaving herstaring after him with a little pout. Obviously thetwins had traveled much!