Read Held by Chinese Brigands Page 23


  CHAPTER XXIII--HOW THE TREASURE ARRIVED

  Sir Thomas Armitage did not at first recognise his nephew, and when hedid so, he could hardly believe the evidence of his eyes.

  "Frank!" he exclaimed. "However did you come here?"

  "That is too long a story to tell you now," answered the boy. "What arelief it is to see you! All these days I have not known whether youwere alive or dead."

  "Say," said Mr Waldron, "are we to be let loose? Am I a free citizen ofthe United States or a condemned criminal? I should like to know."

  Frank turned to Ling.

  "Those are questions," said he, "which you are better able to answerthan I."

  Ling, finding it inconvenient to remain standing in so cramped aposition, seated himself cross-legged upon the floor and spoke inexcellent English.

  "You are right," said he. "The situation is in my hands. I hold you ashostages until the ransom is paid."

  Here Mr Waldron was guilty of an injudicious action. He expressedhimself with extreme rashness in a moment of deep-seated indignation.

  "I assure you," said he, "that I will pay this twenty thousand dollarswithout question and without delay. To be frank, I consider the valueof my freedom and my safety to be far greater than that. Twentythousand dollars is nothing to me."

  "I am glad to hear it," said Ling. "I may demand forty or even fiftythousand. In the meantime, I must satisfy myself with what I can get."

  "Do I understand," said the judge, addressing himself to the Honanese,"that you are not one of Cheong-Chau's band?"

  "Does the tiger serve the wolf?" said Ling. "I am neither his coolienor is he mine. Understand that I have taken possession of this junk,that at the present moment every man on board is bound hand and foot,with the exception of this boy. The crew, the ransom money, Cheong-Chauand yourselves--all are at the mercy of the mighty Ling. I will tellyou plainly what I intend to do.

  "At any moment," he continued, "I expect the ransom money to arrive atits destination. It is possible that Cheong-Chau may put in anappearance. When he recovers his senses, he will probably behave like amadman. If he puts his head into the tiger's jaws, the fault ishis--not mine. It would appear to be a simple matter for me to possessmyself of this money. I have but to wait here until it arrives, andthen, taking the treasure on board, to sail down-stream to the NorthRiver, and thence to Canton. However, I have reason to suspecttreachery. I must therefore be careful to act with the greatestcircumspection."

  "Treachery from whom?" asked Frank.

  "From your friend, Yung How," said Ling, "the Hong-Kong 'boy.'"

  He got suddenly to his feet, and passing through the door into the cabinbeyond, set foot upon the lowest rung of the little companion-ladderthat led to the deck above.

  "I leave you for a few seconds," said he to Frank. "In my absence youare not to attempt to unbind your friends. I propose to inconveniencethem a little longer."

  He mounted the ladder and returned soon afterwards, carrying the manwhom he had overpowered on the upper deck. This fellow he threw downupon the ground alongside the others. He then returned to the innerroom.

  "I desire you to come with me," said he, still addressing Frank. "It isnot so much that I find your company indispensable, as that I am notsuch a fool as to leave you on board. I propose to go to the tower,from the top of which we shall be able to obtain a good view of thesurrounding country. So soon as the money arrives we will return to thejunk. You will assist me in hoisting the sail and navigating the shipdown-stream after we have taken our cargo on board. I know of a villageon the North River where I shall find friends who will assist me--goodseamen, who know their work. These will sign on as my crew, andCheong-Chau's men can be packed off ashore. We shall sail to an islandthat lies not far from Macao. There I shall keep you and your twofriends in comfort and in safety--if not in luxury--until I obtain asecond ransom. This gentleman," he added, indicating Mr Waldron, "hasbeen so obliging as to inform me that he can well afford to pay fiftythousand dollars. Very well, he shall do so. The matter can bearranged."

  He then told Frank to ascend the companion-ladder, he himself following,the ladder creaking violently beneath his weight.

  Upon the deck they were able to observe the first signs of daybreak uponthe horizon to the east. The old moon was setting; one by one, thestars were disappearing in the sky. The river at that hour lookedghostly. A thin white mist was drifting down the valley.

  Ling, walking to the stern part of the ship, found a small boat, a kindof dinghy. This he lowered into the water; and then he and Frankclimbed down by means of a rope. It required but a few strokes of theoar, wielded by Ling's powerful arms, to drive the boat into the bank,where he hid it among the rushes. A moment after they set off walkingrapidly in the direction of the tower and the Glade of Children's Tears.

  By that time the first rays of the sun had flooded the valley with astream of golden light. Frank observed that a great many of the treeswere covered with bloom, and that the surrounding country was rich incolour, the slopes across the river being scarlet with the bloom of theopium poppy.

  Ling came to a halt before a carved door at the base of the tower.Opening this, he entered, followed by the boy, and found himself in asmall circular room. Owing to the semi-darkness of the place, Frankcould not at first take in his surroundings, but as soon as his eyesgrew accustomed to the light, he was able to make out a narrow spiralstaircase, built into the wall itself, which must have been at leastfive feet thick.

  By means of this they ascended to the top of the tower, where they foundthemselves upon a narrow, projecting balcony, encircling a little roomthat reminded Frank of a summer-house. From this position they wereable to look down upon the whole valley, which extended to the east asfar as the eye could reach, but which to the left vanished at a distanceof about a mile behind a great fold in the hills.

  "We wait here," said Ling. "At any moment the treasure may arrive. Ifyou take my advice you will go inside and snatch a few hours' sleep.There are strenuous days in front of you. You will have to work foryour living. But I will reward you. I am a kind master, as those knowwell who serve me to the best of their ability."

  Frank, thinking that he might as well follow this suggestion, enteredthe small circular chamber, and there lay down upon the floor, using hisrolled coat as a pillow. Almost immediately he fell asleep, and musthave slept for several hours, for, when Ling awakened him, he noticedthat the sun had passed its meridian, and was already sinking towardsthe west.

  The boy was exceedingly hungry, and accepted with eagerness the offer ofa large piece of rice-cake which Ling produced from his pocket. Hardlyhad he taken a mouthful when he remembered his uncle and Mr Waldron.

  "Your prisoners!" he exclaimed. "They will be starving!"

  The Chinaman shook his head.

  "Not so," said he, "whilst you were asleep, I returned to the junk andattended to their wants. I gave them food to eat and water to drink.Besides, I was anxious to see that all was well."

  "Supposing they are found," said Frank, after a pause, "by some junkpassing up or down the river? There is plenty of traffic upon the SangRiver, as you know, this part of the country being thickly populated."

  "They will not be found," said the Chinaman. "There is no reason whyanything of the sort should happen. They have no means of communicatingwith anyone passing upon the river. And there is nothing extraordinaryin the spectacle of a junk lying anchored clear of the mid-streamfairway. You yourself often must have seen upon the Chinese riversthousands of such boats with not a soul visible on board. In all suchcases the crew has either gone ashore to drink _samshu_ or to smokeopium, or else they lie asleep below. I am anxious aboutnothing--except, perhaps, Yung How," he added, in an altered voice.

  "And the money has not come?" asked Frank.

  "It is coming," said Ling. "That is why I awakened you."

  "It is coming now!" The boy sprang to his feet.

  Lin
g pointed to the west, in the direction of the river. There, sureenough, about half-a-mile down-stream, was a small white launch, similarto those which may be seen by the score in Hong-Kong harbour, headingstraight for the southern bank, for the Glade of Children's Tears.

  Like a great vulture in the heavens that soars higher and higher in aseries of concentric circles, Ling from the top of the tower looked downupon his prey. After the manner of a vulture, he did but bide his time.

  The launch ran into a narrow creek, and for a moment was hidden fromview by the trees of the little wood. Shortly after, it appeared again,and both Frank and Ling watched the Chinese sailors tie her up to astunted tree that overhung the water. On board were three Europeans,dressed in white ducks and wearing sun-helmets. The launch was too faraway for Frank to recognise these men.

  And then they witnessed a sight that made the dark eyes of the greatHonanese glitter with triumph and greed; his wide mouth expanded in asmile. A plank was thrown from the launch to the shore. Across thisgangway bag after bag was carried, each one so heavy with silver that itrequired two men to lift it.

  At last the task was ended. The Europeans, who had superintended thedischarging of this precious cargo, returned to the launch, whichpresently turned slowly round and made off down-stream. In the redlight of the setting sun, on the surface of the water, they could seethe convergent lines of ripples spreading from the bows of the launch.

  Ling laughed.

  "Come!" he cried, seizing Frank by a wrist and dragging him out into theopen. "The ripe harvest awaits the reaper; the honey-comb is full.Come, come, my little junk rat, let us hasten to the feast. Wisdom andprudence are always triumphant. The victory is ever to the strong."

  As the words left his lips, there came from the direction of the gladethe report of a revolver, and a bullet, speeding upon its way with asoft, shrill whistle, cut off the lobe of one of the great Chinaman'sears. On the instant Ling fell flat upon his face, and Frank was notslow to follow his example.