He looked at me steadily. “Brave words,” said he.
“But we have deeds to back them,” retorted Joe.
“You’ll force us to ruin if you’re not careful, Gov’nor,” added Archie, savagely.
“Yes,” said I, as if the idea had just occurred to me; “if you think to play us false, Mai Lo, it will cost you your life.”
He turned his glassy eyes from one to the other of us, and when I had finished he asked, quietly:
“Will you make a compact with me?”
“We have one already,” I replied, “deposited at the American consul’s office, at Shanghai.”
“But that is so far away,” he said significantly.
“What then?” I demanded.
“Will you promise not to talk about what has occurred?”
“What will you promise in return?”
“To send you safely back to Shanghai at once — tomorrow.”
“We intend to remain here some time.”
“You cannot remain here alive.”
“Indeed!” I exclaimed. “If that is your game I will expose you now — to the Chief Eunuch.”
“You will not see him again,” said Mai Lo, slowly, “unless you promise to return at once to Shanghai.”
“We are the guests of your Prince for a full year, if we care to remain. Dare you oppose your Prince’s orders?” I inquired.
“I am now the supreme power in this principality,’ he replied.
I turned to my comrades.” What do you say, boys?” I asked.
“Don’t give in,” said Archie.
“Let’s fight it out,” observed Joe, promptly.
“Then your lives shall be the forfeit,” announced Mai Lo, and before we could stop him he blew a shrill blast upon a little silver whistle that hung around his neck.
But I saw the action and motioned to Nux and Bry. Instantly my blacks had pounced upon the governor and drawn him behind us, holding him secure, while from a dozen nooks about the hall sprang eunuchs with drawn scimitars, who ran swiftly toward us.
As the foremost approached I stepped forward and cried out:
“Stop!”
They knew no English, but they comprehended the action, and paused irresolutely.
“Order them away, Mai Lo,” growled Archie. “Quick, or I’ll put a bullet through your head!”
“Hold on, Archie,” I called, still facing the eunuchs. Then I showed them the ring of Prince Kai and said sternly:
“Wi-to!”
They understood at a glance, and lowering their weapons, bowed humbly before me. Then one of them ran up the hall and disappeared, while we stood motionless in our places. Mai Lo was held fast by the blacks, Archie and Joe stood behind me with drawn revolvers and I faced the band of eunuchs.
Wi-to suddenly entered and came hastily toward us.
“What is the meaning of this?” he asked, taking in the scene at a glance.
“Mai Lo has been hasty and summoned your men by mistake,” I answered. “He wishes you to send them away.”
Wi looked at the captive governor, who stood motionless with Archie’s revolver pointed directly at his left ear, and then the eunuch smiled as if amused.
“Is this true, most noble Governor?” he inquired.
“It is true,” answered Mai Lo, calmly.
Then Wi laughed outright and clapped his hands. The men disappeared as if by magic.
At a signal from me the blacks released Mai Lo, who deliberately rearranged his clothing.
“I want a personal conversation with you, Wi-to,” I said; “but first of all we want something to eat, and proper entertainment.”
“Are you not the slaves of Mai Lo?” he asked.
“No; we are his masters.”
Again I showed the ring of Prince Kai, and the effect was to send the Chief Eunuch to his knees before me.
“We are the friends and representatives of your dead master,” I continued, “and are here to carry out his orders. Mai Lo knows this perfectly well, for Prince Kai ordered him to obey me as he would his royal master, and he himself witnessed with his signature the authority I bear. But he does not seem inclined to respect this order for some reason of his own; so I appeal to you to protect and assist us.”
The eunuch rose and bowed gravely.
“Your orders shall be obeyed,” he said.
“Not so,” interrupted a harsh voice from the governor. “The ring was stolen from me on the journey here.”
“I can disprove that statement,” said I, easily, “and I am surprised that Mai Lo, who is so soon to commit suicide, would dare to speak falsely. Give us some food, Wi-to, and then we can talk further of this matter. But I won’t have the governor present at the interview.”
The eunuch nodded and turned away.
“Follow me, if you please,” said he.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WI-TO PROVES FAITHFUL
After being profusely fed we were ready for an important interview with Wi-to; an interview that was to determine our standing in the Royal House of Kai.
The governor had left us in the hall and we had not seen him since; but as it was now to be open warfare between us we did not care what his future intentions might be.
The Chief Eunuch had forborne to question us while we ate, and appeared unusually thoughtful; but when we rose he ushered us into a little room on the main floor which seemed to be his private office. It was luxuriously furnished and we were given comfortable chairs.
Nux and Bryonia accompanied us here, as they did everywhere; but Wi-to seemed to disregard the precaution of having any of his own men present at the interview.
He offered us cigars, and when we refused he lighted one himself and leaned back in his chair. “What proof have you that the ring of Prince Kai was not stolen?” he asked.
For answer I took the Prince’s letter of authority from my pocketbook and handed it to him to read.
He perused it carefully and with a grave countenance; then folded the paper, pressed it to his forehead and returned it to me.
“The Prince is my master, whether he is here in the flesh or wandering in the land of the Genii,” said the eunuch. “He has given to you, Sam Steele, the power to command his servants, and I, as one of the most faithful of these, will obey you, even for the term of one year. But much has happened since my noble master died, and Mai Lo has told me strange things about you, which, if true, would annul even the authority of the great Prince Kai. Let us talk together; tell me all that I do not know.”
“You have heard how the Prince was injured, and how we brought him to our ship and cared for him until he died,” said I.
“Now, before Prince Kai died, there were certain matters he wished to attend to. At his palace in Kai-Nong were some possessions he wanted taken to England and America and given to friends in those countries, that they might cherish his memory. There were some papers in his yamen here that he wished to destroy, that no eyes might read them. There were some of his servants here that he wished to reward for faithful service. All this he asked me and my two friends to do for him, in his name and by his authority; and we promised Prince Kai Lun Pu it should be done.”
The eunuch had listened carefully, and I had tried to be as direct in speech as I could, realizing that to make any blunder at this time would prove fatal to our plans.
“Why did not the Prince ask his governor to do all this? Has not Mai Lo been a faithful servant and followed his master to the ends of the earth?” asked Wi-to.
“The Prince was very wise,” I said.
“He was very wise,” repeated Wi-to, nodding.
“He had traveled far and learned many things.”
“It is true.”
“Also he had learned how to read men’s hearts, and he saw that the heart of Mai Lo had changed since he had mixed with foreign people, and become acquainted with foreign ways. Therefore the Prince no longer trusted Mai Lo.”
“Yet Mai Lo has been faithful and brought the bo
dy of his master many thousand li, that it may rest in peace in the halls of his ancestors,” remarked Wi.
“True,” I acknowledged.
“Had the governor wished to be faithless he could have remained in foreign lands and so preserved his life. By returning here he is forced, as soon as his affairs and those of his Prince are arranged, to kill himself — or be killed,” said the eunuch, thoughtfully.
“He has done all this,” I replied, “and Prince Kai, who distrusted him, expected him to act in this way. For the governor is very crafty and full of tricks. To remain abroad would make him a poor man. Mai Lo wants to be rich, and to pass his life in Europe, with many slaves and all the luxuries of the Western civilization. So Prince Kai said to me that the governor would come back to Kai-Nong, to get much treasure and with it flee from this empire to Europe.”
Wi-to seemed genuinely astonished. “Where could Mai Lo get such treasure?” he asked.
“His duty is to convert all the fortune of Prince Kai into cash and deposit it in the ancestral chih, or tombs.”
The eunuch laughed.
“Prince Kai has squandered all his fortune,” said he. “Outside of what his palace contains there is little or nothing to convert into cash.”
I own I was astonished at this statement, but I tried not to show it, and continued:
“Among other duties, Mai Lo is to seal up the ancestral chih, and destroy all traces of its existence. Listen now, Wi-to, for this is the important thing that was in the mind of Prince Kai; he declared to me that Mai Lo would rob his ancestral halls of the great treasures deposited there during the past ages.”
“Impossible!” gasped the eunuch, staring at me in amazement.
“Mai Lo is no Shintoist,” I explained. “His travels have made him a renegade and taught him to despise the religion of his ancestors. He has no intention of committing suicide, according to the traditions of your people. Nor will he allow the vast treasures of the House of Kai to remain sealed up in the burial halls when he has the power to enrich himself with them. His power as governor of this province will enable him to make secret arrangements to fly to Shanghai or Hong-Kong, and from there to leave China forever and carry his stolen wealth with him.”
The eunuch arose and paced the floor thoughtfully. He was much agitated at what I had said and was pondering my words carefully.
“You have no faith in Mai Lo, yourself,” I suggested, watching him closely. “You know in your heart he is treacherous and false, just as the noble Prince knew it.”
Suddenly he sat down and his brow cleared.
“You must be right,” he said.
“That is why Prince Kai employed comparative strangers to do his bidding,” I went on. “We had not known him long, but he believed he could trust us, and so he gave me his letter of authority and his ring, that we might receive the support of his faithful servants in the tasks we have undertaken.”
“And you think I will side with you against the powerful governor?” asked the Chief Eunuch.
“I am sure you will; and the Prince was sure,” I answered, confidently.
“But I can destroy you foreigners with a word, and sweep you from my path. Then I can make an alliance with Mai Lo and together we could rob the ancestral halls and escape to some other country to enjoy the wealth. Yes, yes! It is a pretty plan, and we could do it easily.”
“But you will not,” said Joe, while I stared aghast at the eunuch.
“Why not?” he asked, turning to the boy with a curious expression upon his face.
“In the first place,” replied Joe, “you are a faithful and true servant, or Prince Kai, who knew men’s hearts, would not have made you his Chief Eunuch. From what I have seen of your followers I believe you are the only gentleman of the whole lot.”
“I also am a eunuch,” said Wi. “I am of lowly birth, and as a child my parents sold me to the House of Kai to become a eunuch. My consent was not asked. Why should I be faithful to my masters?”
“It’s your nature,” asserted Joe. “I said you were a gentleman, and so you are, as we Americans accept the word. With us a gentleman is he who behaves as a gentleman should, not a person highly born. But there is still another reason. A eunuch is of no use in the world outside of his own province. Here you have power. In Europe you would be despised and insulted. You don’t know the big outside world, and you would be unhappy there, in spite of your wealth.”
“You’d feel like a fish out of water,” added Archie, nodding.
Wi-to laughed, and the laugh was not forced, but merry and spontaneous.
“Again you are right!” said he. “My Prince offered twice to take me away with him to see the outside world, and I refused — for the very reasons you have given. Now I will ask another question. Why should I not divide the treasure with Mai Lo and remain here to enjoy it? No one would know where my wealth came from.”
“I cannot answer that,’ said I, musingly;” if you are faithless enough to do such a thing.”
“He is not faithless,” persisted Joe.
“Then you are answered, Wi-to,” I declared, laughing.
“I see I must answer my own question,” said the eunuch. “This estate will become the property of the Celestial and August Emperor, because Prince Kai left no heir to inherit it. It may stand for many years unoccupied, and in that case I may lead a life of ease and be the real master here. If the Celestial and August Emperor should bestow this estate and palace upon some mandarin or high official, it is the custom to retain the services of the Chief Eunuch who has before ruled the household. So, in any event, I have no incentive to be faithless.”
“Will you allow Mai Lo to carry out his plan to rob the ancestral halls?” inquired Archie.
“No. You are right in thinking that the governor and I are not friends, for he has tried to interfere with my rights, and that I will allow no man to do. Outside the palace walls Mai Lo commands the province of Kwang-Kai-Nong; within this enclosure my word is law. But he has one privilege within my domain which I cannot refuse him. By virtue of his office he is the sole protector of the chih, or ancestral halls of the House of Kai. He alone has the right to enter there, now that the noble Prince Kai has gone to the Genii. For myself, although I have guarded the entrance for many years, I have never seen the interior of the building, nor do I know the way to the vaults beneath it. But although Mai Lo may enter the halls he must not remove any of the treasure that belongs to those ancestors of the House of Kai that lie buried there. It will be my business to prevent that.”
“Very good,” said I. “And now, Wi-to, since you have seen the written instructions of Prince Kai, how do you intend to treat us who are here to represent his interests?”
“You shall be honored guests in this palace,” was the prompt reply.
“And will you protect us from the governor?” inquired Joe.
“While you are inside the palace enclosure you shall be safely guarded from Mai Lo and all other enemies. But remember my power does not extend beyond this fu.”
With that he clapped his hands together and two eunuchs stepped forward from behind a screen, so silently that their appearance startled me. Speaking rapidly, Wi issued some orders to his men in Chinese, and then turned again to us.
“If the suite of rooms I have placed at your disposal is not satisfactory,” said he, “you may have your choice of any the palace contains, excepting only the royal apartments. Your meals will be served in your own rooms at such hours as you direct, and whatever you may desire I shall be prompt to provide. This man,” indicating the taller of the two eunuchs, “is instructed to devote himself to your service. His name is Tun; he is a Manchu and will be faithful. Tomorrow, if you desire, I will myself show you through the palace and the gardens.”
“We thank you, Wi-to,” said I.
And then the eunuchs led the way and we followed them back into the great hall, up the elaborate winding stairway and along several passages until we came to a richly carved door. Tun open
ed this and motioned us to enter.
So we went in, followed by Nux and Bryonia; but the eunuchs remained outside.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE SACRED APES OF KAI
I am not MUCH acquainted with palaces, but I venture to state that those of European countries are not more magnificent, even when inhabited by royalty, than that of this Manchu prince of the ancient line of Kai. It is a mistake to think that the Chinese are half civilized, or wholly uncivilized, as I myself had carelessly considered them until I visited their Empire. They boast a civilization older than any other existent nation; they were cultured, artistic and learned thousands of years before the Christian Era, and while the inventions and clever utilities of our modern Western civilization give us advantages in many ways over the Chinese, we cannot withhold our respect and admiration for the accomplishments of this ancient and substantial race.
Our suite was so luxurious as to astonish us.
It consisted of ten rooms, five being sleeping rooms furnished in carved teakwood, mahogany and rosewood. The bedsteads and other furniture were marvels of intricate carving, and statues, vases and ornaments were everywhere. The floors were strewn with costly rugs and the walls hung with priceless tapestries. We called it the “Kite Suite,” because these tapestries bore many scenes in which kites were flying.
We judged from the parting speech of Wi-to that we were not expected to leave our apartments again that day, so we passed the evening in perfecting our plans of procedure and discussing ways to further our important undertaking. So far we had prospered in our adventure as well as we could possibly expect. Mai Lo had exhibited considerable foolishness and lack of foresight in his opposition to us, and we were learning to despise the mandarin’s enmity. But the Chief Eunuch was more sagacious and discerning, and, as Prince Kai had warned us, he would have no hesitation in cutting us down if he discovered us robbing the ancestral halls of Kai. So we knew that we must plan shrewdly in order to deceive Wi-to, and that above all we must retain his confidence and good will.
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 690