Under the Chinese Dragon: A Tale of Mongolia

by F. S. Brereton

'But, you——'

'Oh, yes, we know all about that,' interrupted the fine young fellow impersonating Tsu-Hi. 'I did a terrible lot. I started the business, of course. It was I who managed to clamber out of my cell, and was then such a good comrade that instead of getting clear away, as sensible fellows would have done——'

'Sensible fellows! Oh, come now,' cried David hotly.

'Yes. Just what I said. Sensible fellows, just as sensible fellows would have done. I repeat, instead of clearing off as I had a right to do, of course it is well known that I went back again at the risk of my skin, knocked the sense out of the gentle Tartar soldier, took his place for a few moments, nobbled the Governor of the city, and then, when things were getting ship-shape, called in the help of my friend to cure the wounds of the wretches I had been operating on. Look here, David, here's my hand. I'm not going to chip in with heaps of thanks. But I know how it is that I am alive and capable of thinking of a breakfast.'

Out there, beneath the shade of the trees, they gripped hands firmly, and thereafter never a word did Dick say with regard to his gratitude. But he knew who was his benefactor. David had stalked inches higher in his estimation.

'What'll you do with the baggage?' he asked after a while. 'Drop it into the river, upset it at the side of the road? What?'

'Take those villains on another fifteen miles,' answered David. 'Then fish out Tsu-Hi and send him back. Guess he'll have a deal of difficulty in explaining his absence. As for the other, this Chang, I shall keep him till I can hand him over to the authorities. It seems to me that if I fail in that he may very well attempt some other game and perhaps actually earn the money Ebenezer promised him. But now for breakfast, then we'll put our best leg forward.'

That afternoon they dragged the discomfited and almost suffocated deputy-governor from the basket in which he had been reposing, and having handed him his clothing; for both lads had by now donned their own, they sent him back to the city of Hatsu a sorry and unhappy figure. Then they pushed on again, arriving in the hours of dusk at Chi-Luang, another walled city of great age, where their request to see the governor brought them at once a polite invitation written in purest English. Judge of their delight in discovering that Twang Chun himself, the enlightened governor of the province, was the writer, and that he was in those parts on a tour of inspection. He greeted them warmly, sent their prisoner to the cells, and at once arranged for comfortable quarters to be given to David and his following. And that night, after having joined them at dinner, which, by the way, was a feast of the utmost attraction, being of purely Chinese origin, and therefore most interesting to our heroes as well as appetising, Twang Chun called on the lads to give their story.

'I'm glad I had the good fortune to be in this direction,' he said, when Dick had finished; for no persuasion would induce David to tell of his own exploits in the prison. 'Very glad indeed, for had the question been left to the city's governor he would have found it difficult to decide how best to act. To be candid, foreign devils are still foreign devils to the majority of my countrymen, and more so at a time such as this is, when plague is stalking through Manchuria, and threatening to reach Pekin. I assure you that the people are driven frantic, and that I am here and am patrolling the province, solely with a view to making arrangements to stop all travellers who may come from infected areas, and to arrest, if possible, the course of the disease. But, as I said, Europeans are not much loved. The Chinese do not understand them, and in a case such as this, with such an exalted personage as Tsu-Hi implicated, the governor here could only hold him in prison till orders came from Pekin; that might take months. I have known years to elapse, so that the course of justice does not run either smoothly or for the benefit of the people. However, I am here, and will sift the matter. An example must be made of these wretches.'

Let the reader imagine the terror of Chang on the following morning when he was brought into the presence of Twang Chun, the governor who had once before condemned him. Little by little the whole story leaked out, so that David learned that this heartless rascal had been engaged in the murder of his father. In any case, there was no doubt of his guilt on this occasion. He had been taken red-handed, while the letter which he had had the boldness to write to Ebenezer Clayhill condemned him. Justice might be slow and lagging when the authorities at Pekin controlled it; but here it was swift—terribly swift—for the wrong-doer. Chang was beheaded that very morning, and thus Ebenezer Clayhill's rascally scheme came to an ending.