CHAPTER XVIII--OF THE SPIDER AND THE WEB
When Frank was thrown into the little room beneath the stairs, and heardthe key turn upon him, he at first believed himself to be in utterdarkness. But very soon his eyes became accustomed to the dim lightthat emanated from several cracks in the woodwork.
These cracks were in the stairs that led from the lower room to thebalcony. The opium den was, of course, well illumined by severalparaffin lamps. The little room in which Frank was imprisoned extendedfrom the foot of the staircase to the back wall, the staircase itselfforming the ceiling, which was in consequence only about three feet highat one end of the room, and about twelve feet high at the other. Now itso happened that the largest crack was at the lower end of the room, andFrank Armitage was not slow to discover that, by placing his eye tothis, he could see quite easily into the opium den.
When he looked into the outer room he was able to observe several opiumsmokers, and Ah Wu himself, who was seated at his desk at the doorway.There was, however, no sign of Ling, and Frank rightly concluded thatthe Honanese must have left the establishment in pursuit of Yung How.
There could be no doubt upon this point; for not only could the boy see,but he was able to hear quite distinctly, the woodwork of which thesmall room was constructed being extraordinarily thin. If Ling had beeneither upon the balcony or in the lower room Frank must have heard him;for the man seldom spoke without raising his voice to such a pitch thathe might have been giving a word of command to a regiment of cavalry.
Fully an hour elapsed before the Honanese returned. He was then in atowering rage. He called for Ah Wu, who chanced to be absent in thekitchen. Frank heard Ling inform the proprietor of the opium den thatYung How had escaped on the Hong-Kong boat. Both men then repaired toAh Wu's private apartments, where they remained for the greater part ofthe night, Ah Wu occasionally looking in upon the opium den to see thathis business prospered.
Until about eleven o'clock the following morning, Frank Armitage wasleft to his thoughts; and these were none of the pleasantest. He wassuffering considerable discomfort. It was a long time since he had hadany food; and the great heat and stifling atmosphere of the opium den,together with the pungent smell of the smoke, had served to make him sothirsty that his lips were dry and his tongue clave to the roof of hismouth. He regretted bitterly that he had not been able to escape withYung How. He felt that he could not stand the extreme suspense of hissituation much longer. It seemed to him inevitable that before longLing would discover who he was.
This was all the more probable, since--according to Ling--Cheong-Chauhimself was coming to the opium den. The brigand would be far morelikely than anyone else to recognise Frank--because he knew which of hisprisoners had escaped, and had evidently come south in order to hunt forthe fugitive.
Frank was seized with a great dread that Cheong-Chau had already madeaway with his other prisoners, that he had murdered both Sir ThomasArmitage and Mr Waldron. There was a possibility, on the other hand,that he had brought his captives with him, which he might have donequite easily on board a river-junk. Knowing full well that he could nothope to obtain the ransom if Sir Thomas and Mr Waldron were known to bedead, he may have decided to send further evidence to Hong-Kong to theeffect that his hostages were still alive. On thinking the matter over,Frank was inclined to the belief that this was what had actuallyhappened.
There was another aspect of the business which demanded consideration.It was now Cheong-Chau's intention to go himself to the Glade ofChildren's Tears, in order to procure the money as soon as it arrived.This, as we know, was a privilege that the mighty Ling had chosen toreserve for himself; and so a meeting between these two redoubtablevillains was sooner or later inevitable. Cheong-Chau would have uponhis side the advantage of numbers. Ling, on the other hand, was inpossession of the more accurate information: he knew Cheong-Chau'swhereabouts and his intentions, whilst Cheong-Chau knew nothing abouthim; he knew also that Yung How had escaped to Hong-Kong and thatintervention by the British was by no means improbable--a circumstanceof which the brigand chieftain remained in ignorance.
That night Frank endeavoured to work out every possible contingency,until his brain grew dizzy with thinking. At last, dead tired, feelingsick with suspense, hunger and thirst, with such a splitting headacheresulting from the foul atmosphere of the den that he could hardly openhis eyes, he flung himself down upon the couch and almost at once fellfast asleep.
In the boy's last waking thoughts he found some degree of comfort. Hehad come to realise that he himself could do nothing. He was at themercy of fate, in the hands of Providence--just as helpless as a wisp ofstraw carried down-stream upon the current of a river. So far as hisown safety was concerned, he had come to such a pass that it mightalmost be said that he no longer regarded it. To himself it did notseem a matter of supreme importance whether he lived or died. He hadnot given up hope, but physical exhaustion and mental strain had donetheir work.
During the earlier hours of the night his sleep was disturbed andrestless. He was conscious all the time of the voices of men talking inthe outer room, and these voices were in some way mingled with hisdreams, which were nothing but a series of nightmares, in which thesinister figure of the colossal Ling was ever present--Ling with hisgreat hands and brute strength, his long glistening pigtail, his evil,snake-like eyes, his rude jokes, his loud laughter, and thehalf-mocking, half-serious manner in which he quoted from the writingsof the great Chinese philosophers. But, given a fair chance, a sane,healthy and youthful constitution will in the end triumph over bothmental and bodily disorders, and towards the small hours of the morningthe boy fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep, from which he was notawakened until Ling unlocked the door of the little room about eleveno'clock in the morning.
The Honanese regarded his captive for some moments without speaking.
"You have slept well?" he asked.
"I have slept well," said Frank.
"They say," said Ling, "that sound sleep is a sign of a pure conscience.I myself am in the habit of sleeping like a child. And yet," he added,in a doubtful voice, "I am half of opinion that I ought to put you outof the world."
"You are free to do as you wish," said Frank.
"I thank you," said Ling. "I am aware of it."
"At the same time," said the other, "I beg to remind you that I am nothere of my own free will. I did not ask to accompany you; you canscarcely say that I intruded. You kidnapped me and demanded that Ishould assist you. I did so to the best of my ability. I confess I hadno other alternative. That does not alter the fact that had you left meto mind my own affairs I should not have interfered with you. You toldme a great deal about yourself. I did not ask you to. You brought mehere, where in my presence you committed a crime----"
"No, no," Ling interposed. "You do me a great injustice. I havecommitted no crime. I did but defend my life. I usually do so withsuccess."
"Have it your own way," said Frank, who now--for some reason orother--felt bolder in the man's presence that he had ever felt before."It is not a matter that concerns me. A few days ago I had neither seennor heard of you. It was a misfortune for me that I encountered youthat morning upon the wharf at Sanshui. You have no right to detain me.I have no valuables upon me, but a few copper _cash_. If you want themyou can take them. You are welcome to what I have. I ask but onething: to be allowed to go free, to go about my own affairs."
"That is well spoken," said Ling. "I admit I am fond of you. I think Ihave told you already that I have admitted you into the innermostchamber of my heart. Had I a son, I would that he were such as you. Iwould bring him up in the way that he should go. I would not entrusthis education to the _literati_ of China. I would teach him myself."
"To be a robber?" asked Frank.
"Robbery," said Ling, "is a profession. I think that education shouldbe regarded merely as a groundwork, a kind of foundation upon which tobuild. A man should be left to discover his own talents. His
naturalinclinations will not lead him astray. One man will make a good priest,another a good pirate. An excellent _scroff_ may make a fool of himselfas a schoolmaster. You cannot grow mangoes upon a cherry-tree, neitherwill a river fish live in the salt water. I would teach you, my son,the divine philosophies of China; I would instruct you in astronomy,music and mathematics. Then, when you were grown up, you would be ableto fend for yourself. It would be all one to me whether you were agovernment prefect, a mandarin of the Red Button, or a brigand likeCheong-Chau, whom I hope to meet this evening."
"I see," said Frank, "that you would confer many favours upon my humbleself. I ask but one small boon--to be allowed to go away from thisplace where you have thought fit to imprison me."
"And that is the one request," said Ling, "that I am unable to grant. Itso happens that I want you."
"Why?"
"Our friend, Ah Wu, has gone away. He has gone upon a visit toCheong-Chau. Cheong-Chau and he are old friends; they are brother pigs,who have eaten many a time from the same trough. Ah Wu will bringCheong-Chau here. Cheong-Chau is a great opium smoker, and, as allCanton is well aware, no better opium can be obtained in the city thanthat which is sold by Ah Wu. So Cheong-Chau will come."
"And what has this to do with me?' asked Frank.
"It has a great deal to do with you," said the other, "for, in themeantime, I am left in charge of this establishment; hence, for thesecond time, I need your assistance. Cheong-Chau knows me very well bysight. He would not remain in this place two seconds if he saw me whenhe entered. Therefore, once again, I must hide."
"Where?" asked Frank.
"There is a small storeroom between the curtains and the outer door.There I shall be. Thence I shall be able to see everyone who enters orwho leaves. There will be no other way of exit, for the back door willbe locked and I shall have the key. When Cheong-Chau enters you are toattend to his wants. When he asks for opium to smoke, you are to takeit to him; but you are to come to me for it, and the opium which I willgive you will be drugged. That is all you have to do. It will be verysimple. You cannot hope to escape, for I myself guard the outer door,and I shall be armed with the revolver that I took from Yung How. Ineed hardly tell you that, if necessity arises, I shall shoot."
Frank realised at once that this plan of Ling's involved the utmostperil for himself. It was probable that Cheong-Chau, when he came,would recognise the fugitive. What the result of this would be, Frankdared not imagine. On the other hand, he saw no way of escaping fromLing. It was as if the boy was no more than a fly which had been caughtin the meshes of the huge net woven by this implacable and terriblespider.
Throughout the whole of that day, he was kept busily employed in theopium den, brushing the couches, sweeping the floor and cleaning thespirit-lamps. He was given food to eat, and plenty of green tea todrink, which had the effect of getting rid of his headache. And all thetime he was working he endeavoured to collect his thoughts; he tried tothink of some definite plan of action. But rack his brain as he might,he could see no way out of his difficulties. He could think of no meansof staving off the calamity which was impending.
During the afternoon the den began to fill. Customers continuallydropped in, some to smoke opium, others to purchase it and take it away.At nightfall, there was about a dozen people in the place, and when theclock which was suspended upon the railings of the balcony struck thehour of ten, the voice of Ah Wu was heard without the main entrance.Immediately afterwards, the fat proprietor entered, accompanied byCheong-Chau, the brigand chief.