Nothing was said as they ate. All were famished. Biff raised his plate to scrape up the last few grains of rice. As he did so, his eye was caught by a small, square piece of thin paper stuck on the bottom of the plate.
He removed the paper, and once more, saw the symbol “K,” the seal of the House of Kwang.
Without a word, Biff handed it to the Ancient One. The old man looked at it. Now it was his time to talk as the Americans and Chuba listened.
CHAPTER XX
Muscles “Muscles” In
Muscles checked his watch for the tenth time in the past five minutes. He was growing more and more impatient. The minute hand showed it to be ten minutes past four o’clock. Twenty minutes remained before Biff’s four-hour deadline would run out.
The powerful mechanic had returned to the spring. He kept his eyes turned in the direction of the path taken by Chan Li, Biff, and Chuba. He kept them turned that way except for the times he glared at the crystal of his watch.
There was no sign of anyone. He could see the path at several spots. He had watched closely as long as he could when the party of three had left. Since their departure, he had seen no one.
“They could be back by now,” he said to himself. “Plenty of time to get there and back.” Impatiently, he strode up and down. Deep within him, Muscles knew that he really wasn’t expecting them to return. His doubts, his fears had grown as the minutes became hours. He pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand. He wanted action. He was a man of action. This waiting, he told himself, was strictly for the birds.
At 4:25, Muscles could stand it no longer. He started for the path. If Biff, Chuba, Charlie Keene, and their guide were returning, he’d meet them on the way.
Muscles went along the path at a dog trot. Without realizing, he broke into a run. He checked himself when he came to the path’s sharp left turn and the steep rise to the crumbling stone wall.