However, there was nothing in the world that Don could do to warn his friend. By this time both cars were out of sight. Ko Loo skidded the big limousine around two more dim corners at twenty miles an hour, and pulled up abruptly in front of a dark warehouse.
“Ki-wo-pu teh shwoh!” sang out Cho-San’s commanding bass.
“Ta chang!” came the answer, as Ko Loo sprang out to obey the order. In the foggy night the chauffeur’s voice had a curious, muffled sound.
Almost immediately he returned, and the car rolled silently forward into a black, cavelike opening. As it stopped, Lotus again squeezed Don’s hand.
“Last time, we came another way—remember, André?” she whispered. “We are now in the garage next to Cho-San’s curio shop. Of course it doesn’t look like a garage from the outside with the doors closed....”
“Yi ko pu hau! I shall not need you any more, Ko Loo,” interrupted Cho-San harshly. “Get out; Lotus. I’ll follow you, Count Borg. Since your mind is admittedly sick, I would rather not turn my back on you, even here in my own quarters!”
“Tit for tat, and insult for insult!” smiled Don, as a brilliant light filled the room from concealed electric lamps. “You can’t make me angry tonight, though, Cho-San. Not even by breaking up my evening’s date with your ward! So far, your little game of hide-and-seek is most fascinating. Even as a boy, I remember....”
“Quite so!” hissed the Chinese furiously. “There is nothing wrong with your memory, Borg! And I can promise that you will have cause to remember this night if you live to be a hundred—which is not likely. Ummm-hummm! Not likely at all! Now, Lotus, if you will lead the way, please.”
“Which—which way do you wish to take, Cho-San?” asked the girl in a frightened voice. “The one through the shop?”
“Ummmm, yes. That will do,” rumbled the Oriental. “It will be new, I think, to Count Borg.”