"Neither money nor fear can put brains into the head of a fool," he continued, with the same acrid savor to his words. "I suppose you have hardly understood what has gone on, Mr. Hampden."
"I confess I am much in the dark."
"Necessarily, as you do not understand our language. You saw the beginning of the trouble. You have seen what followed. I wish you could tell me the end."
"I'm sorry," I answered, "that I'm not a prophet--"
"It would be worth something to me--to both of us--if you were."
He paused a moment and turned to his charge before he continued: "This girl, as you may suppose, is a valuable piece of property."
"I had not looked at her in that light."
"A defect of your western training, Mr. Hampden. She belongs to one of our tongs--or to the leading men of that tong, which amounts to the same thing. Another tong has been most anxious to secure her, and has offered as high as three thousand dollars for her possession. It was refused and four thousand demanded. I interfered so far as to order that the girl should be reserved until some man offered to make her his wife. She is pretty--very pretty, to our notions--and I have interested myself so much in her welfare as to think that she would grace a home. I suppose I do not need to tell you that the leaders of the two tongs have no such destiny in view for her."
"Well, no, if rumor does them no injustice," I assented.
"It was promised that I should be obeyed. I have been obeyed for many months. Yet just at this moment, when it is of the utmost importance that we should be a peaceful, united body, these dogs of the gutter start a war between the tongs."