Fletcher," said Weymouth, noting the anxiety expressed in my
face. "His missing lady friend has given him a nasty wound, but he'll
pull round all right."
"Thank God for that," I replied, clutched my aching head. "I don't
know what weapon she employed in my case, but it narrowly missed
achieving her purpose."
My eyes, throughout, were turned upon Smith, for his presence there,
still seemed to me miraculous.
"Smith," I said, "for Heaven's sake enlighten me! I never doubted
that you were ..."
"In the wooden chest!" concluded Smith grimly, "Look!"
He pointed to something that lay behind me. I turned, and saw the box
which had occasioned me such anguish. The top had been wrenched off
and the contents exposed to view. It was filled with a variety of gold
ornaments, cups, vases, silks, and barbaric brocaded raiment; it might
well have contained the loot of a cathedral. Inspector Weymouth
laughed gruffly at my surprise.
"What is it?" I asked, in a voice of amazement.
"It's the treasure of the Si-Fan, I presume," rapped Smith. "Where it
has come from and where it was going to, it must be my immediate
business to ascertain."
"Then you ..."
"I was lying, bound and gagged, upon one of the upper shelves in the
opium-den! I heard you and Fletcher arrive. I saw you pass through
later with that she-devil who drove the cab to-day ..."
"Then the cab ..."
"The windows were fastened, unopenable, and some anaesthetic was
injected into the interior through a tube—that speaking-tube. I know
nothing further, except that our plans must have leaked out in some
mysterious fashion. Petrie, my suspicions point to high quarters. The
Si-Fan score thus far, for unless the search now in progress brings
it to light, we must conclude that they have the brass coffer."
He was interrupted by a sudden loud crying of his name.
"Mr. Nayland Smith!" came from somewhere within the Joy-Shop. "This
way, sir!"
Off he went, in his quick, impetuous manner, whilst I stood there,
none too steadily, wondering what discovery this outcry portended.
I had not long to wait. Out by the low doorway come Smith, a grimly
triumphant smile upon his face, carrying the missing brass coffer!
He set it down upon the planking before me.
"John Ki," he said, "who was also on the missing list, had dragged
the thing out of the cellar where it was hidden, and in another minute
must have slipped away with it. Detective Deacon saw the light shining
through a crack in the floor. I shall never forget the look John gave
us when we came upon him, as, lamp in hand, he bent over the precious
chest."
"Shall you open it now?"
"No." He glanced at me oddly. "I shall have it valued in the morning
by Messrs. Meyerstein."
He was keeping something back; I was sure of it.
"Smith," I said suddenly, "the man with the limp! I heard him in the
place where you were confined! Did you ..."
Nayland Smith clicked his teeth together sharply, looking straightly
and grimly into my eyes.
"I
saw
him!" he replied slowly; "and unless the effects of the
anaesthetic had not wholly worn off ..."
"Well!" I cried.
"The man with the limp is
Dr. Fu-Manchu!
"
Chapter X - The Tûlun-Nûr Chest
*
"This box," said Mr. Meyerstein, bending attentively over the carven
brass coffer upon the table, "is certainly of considerable value, and
possibly almost unique."
Nayland Smith glanced across at me with a slight smile. Mr. Meyerstein
ran one fat finger tenderly across the heavily embossed figures, which,
like barnacles, encrusted the sides and lid of the weird curio which
we had summoned him to appraise.
"What do you think, Lewison?" he added, glancing over his shoulder at
the clerk who accompanied him.
Lewison, whose flaxen hair and light blue eyes almost served to mask
his Semitic origin, shrugged his shoulders in a fashion incongruous
in one of his complexion, though characteristic in one of his name.
"It is as you say, Mr. Meyerstein, an example of early Tûlun-Nûr
work," he said. "It may be sixteenth century
face. "His missing lady friend has given him a nasty wound, but he'll
pull round all right."
"Thank God for that," I replied, clutched my aching head. "I don't
know what weapon she employed in my case, but it narrowly missed
achieving her purpose."
My eyes, throughout, were turned upon Smith, for his presence there,
still seemed to me miraculous.
"Smith," I said, "for Heaven's sake enlighten me! I never doubted
that you were ..."
"In the wooden chest!" concluded Smith grimly, "Look!"
He pointed to something that lay behind me. I turned, and saw the box
which had occasioned me such anguish. The top had been wrenched off
and the contents exposed to view. It was filled with a variety of gold
ornaments, cups, vases, silks, and barbaric brocaded raiment; it might
well have contained the loot of a cathedral. Inspector Weymouth
laughed gruffly at my surprise.
"What is it?" I asked, in a voice of amazement.
"It's the treasure of the Si-Fan, I presume," rapped Smith. "Where it
has come from and where it was going to, it must be my immediate
business to ascertain."
"Then you ..."
"I was lying, bound and gagged, upon one of the upper shelves in the
opium-den! I heard you and Fletcher arrive. I saw you pass through
later with that she-devil who drove the cab to-day ..."
"Then the cab ..."
"The windows were fastened, unopenable, and some anaesthetic was
injected into the interior through a tube—that speaking-tube. I know
nothing further, except that our plans must have leaked out in some
mysterious fashion. Petrie, my suspicions point to high quarters. The
Si-Fan score thus far, for unless the search now in progress brings
it to light, we must conclude that they have the brass coffer."
He was interrupted by a sudden loud crying of his name.
"Mr. Nayland Smith!" came from somewhere within the Joy-Shop. "This
way, sir!"
Off he went, in his quick, impetuous manner, whilst I stood there,
none too steadily, wondering what discovery this outcry portended.
I had not long to wait. Out by the low doorway come Smith, a grimly
triumphant smile upon his face, carrying the missing brass coffer!
He set it down upon the planking before me.
"John Ki," he said, "who was also on the missing list, had dragged
the thing out of the cellar where it was hidden, and in another minute
must have slipped away with it. Detective Deacon saw the light shining
through a crack in the floor. I shall never forget the look John gave
us when we came upon him, as, lamp in hand, he bent over the precious
chest."
"Shall you open it now?"
"No." He glanced at me oddly. "I shall have it valued in the morning
by Messrs. Meyerstein."
He was keeping something back; I was sure of it.
"Smith," I said suddenly, "the man with the limp! I heard him in the
place where you were confined! Did you ..."
Nayland Smith clicked his teeth together sharply, looking straightly
and grimly into my eyes.
"I
saw
him!" he replied slowly; "and unless the effects of the
anaesthetic had not wholly worn off ..."
"Well!" I cried.
"The man with the limp is
Dr. Fu-Manchu!
"
Chapter X - The Tûlun-Nûr Chest
*
"This box," said Mr. Meyerstein, bending attentively over the carven
brass coffer upon the table, "is certainly of considerable value, and
possibly almost unique."
Nayland Smith glanced across at me with a slight smile. Mr. Meyerstein
ran one fat finger tenderly across the heavily embossed figures, which,
like barnacles, encrusted the sides and lid of the weird curio which
we had summoned him to appraise.
"What do you think, Lewison?" he added, glancing over his shoulder at
the clerk who accompanied him.
Lewison, whose flaxen hair and light blue eyes almost served to mask
his Semitic origin, shrugged his shoulders in a fashion incongruous
in one of his complexion, though characteristic in one of his name.
"It is as you say, Mr. Meyerstein, an example of early Tûlun-Nûr
work," he said. "It may be sixteenth century
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