"Stop!" entreated Helen again, and louder than before. "Oh, do stop! We mean no harm. We only want to talk to you." But the more earnestly she entreated, the more determined the old woman seemed to be to resist her, to escape from her.
Helen had now drawn near enough to lay hold of the old woman's clothing, but her grasp was violently shaken off, as the mutang sprang away again with renewed energy.
The two girls, intensely excited, stuck to the chase. All their thoughts were concentrated upon it; their one desire to overtake the old woman and to induce her, by offering yen in exchange, to return the miriok. Absorbed in these thoughts, this desire, they lost sight of all else, especially of how every moment that they were getting nearer and nearer to the woman they were going farther and farther away from the sampan.
"Oh," said Helen breathlessly, "we must overtake her! We must get her to give us the miriok. We can't let her escape with it in this manner, for what then could we do about poor Choi-So and Mr. Kit-ze?"
"Yes," replied Dorothy, "we must get it back. I am like you, Helen, I can't bear to see the old woman get off with it. Oh, every time I think of that poor man Choi-So and his melancholy, pleading eyes, I feel that we must keep on, that we must overtake her and secure the image by some means!"
"Why," said Helen suddenly, "I have forgotten to tell her about the yen I have for her." Then she began to call, holding up her purse: "See! I have yen for you. Stop and let me tell you about it."
At last she had used the magic words. At sound of them, twice repeated, the mutang slackened her pace. Then she turned her head. Encouraged by these signs, Helen renewed her efforts.
They were now some distance into the village, and a half-mile or more from the sampan. The red glow of the coming morning had fully dyed the east. Already there were signs of stirring life in the huts about them. Then too, the noise of running feet and of Helen's loudly spoken words had attracted attention. One by one forms began to appear on the street. Soon there was quite a group in the neighborhood of the pursued and pursuers. By the time Helen had succeeded in gaining the old mutang's interest, there were many curious spectators surrounding them.