"Oh, I reckon you do, Major. But you're well out of it. If you'd kept that fan there would have been trouble--yes, you may look, but if you'd held on to that article you'd have been a corpse by now."
Tidman sneered, not at all terrified by these vague threats. "What do you mean by this drivel?"
"Let's come to anchor here," said Clarence pulling up beside a seat in a secluded part, near the old town beach. "I'll spin the yarn."
"About the fan," said the Major sitting promptly. "I confess I am curious to know how it came to England again, after Forge took it again to the Far East. Didn't he give it to Lo-Keong?"
"So he says," said Clarence with a side-long look at his companion. "I don't know myself. All I know is, that I got it from a pirate."
"From a pirate?"
"That's so. I was in Chinese waters a year or so ago, and I reckon pirates swarm in those parts--"
Tidman shivered. "Yes," he admitted, "I had an adventure myself in Canton with a pirate of sorts."
"Old Forge told me something about it," said Clarence lighting a fresh cigarette, "but my yarn's different. I was out with some of the boys in Chinese water, and a pirate tried to board us. We were down Borneo way, looking out for a ruby mine said to be in those parts. My pals--there were two of them, and myself engineering the job--hired a boat and cut across to Borneo. The pirates tried to slit our throats and our Chinese crew tried to help them. But we used our Winchesters and six shooters freely, and shot a heap. The pirates cleared off and we brought our barky into port safe enough."
"But about the fan?"