"You forget," said Forge gently, "you gave me the fan."
"And have you got it?"
"I have," he nodded towards a cabinet of Chinese work adorned with quaint figures, "it's in there."
"Give it to me back."
"No. I think I'll keep it."
"What do you want to do with it?" asked Tidman angrily.
Forge rose and looked stern, "I want to keep it from Lo-Keong," he said savagely, "there's some secret connected with that fan. I can't understand what the secret is or what the fan has to do with it: but it means life and death to this Mandarin. He'd give ten thousand,--twenty thousand to get that fan back. But he shan't."
"Oh," groaned the Major, "why did I give it to you. To think that such a lot of money should go begging. If I had only known what the fan was worth."
"You knew nothing about it save as a curiosity."
"How do you know," demanded the Major.