"I cannot meet you as I planned, so follow these instructions exactly.
Tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock, be at the New India Bazaar in
Calcutta—"
At this, Li exclaimed excitedly, "It's Mr. Brewster's voice!" and Kamuka added, "But where is he? I don't see him?" Then, Biff was pointing, showing them the answer. The voice was coming from a tape recorder that was on a table in the corner, and was connected with a lamp socket in the cabin wall.
"And there you will receive another message," Mr. Brewster's voice declared. "Follow it exactly, and you will meet a man we both can trust. He will have more to tell you, so obey his orders to the letter, as if they came from me."
The tape ran on silently from that point. Biff stopped the recorder as Li asked, in a puzzled tone, "Is this a joke, Biff?" Kamuka, his eyes wide, was silently asking the same question, but Biff shook his head.
"Far from it," said Biff. "I never heard this tape before, but it's Dad's voice, as you both know. He has a recorder just like mine; in fact, I brought this one along because Dad told me that if he had a special message, he would put it on tape for me—just as he has!"
With that, Biff strode to the porthole and looked out over the black river, toward the thousands of lights that were now gleaming from the vastness of Calcutta, largest city in India, and the second greatest metropolis of what had once been the British Empire.
"But who brought the message?" queried Li.
"And why?" added Kamuka.
"Those questions," returned Biff, "will be answered tomorrow, at the New
India Bazaar!"
II
The Boy and the Basket