“Great!” said Branch. “I’ll phone you at your office.”
With that declaration, the government operative made his departure. Joseph Darley was alone, smiling to himself, as he recalled the interview. How vague, he thought, were the idea’s of those who saw things from the outside.
If the visit were to be made tomorrow, Darley realized, it must be planned at once. For the Chinese liked to arrange their affairs well in advance.
So Joseph Darley sat down at the telephone table in his apartment and called the Chinaman, Ling Soo, to tell him that he could expect visitors on the morrow.
CHAPTER IV
LING SOO
CHINATOWN was a splash of light the following evening, when Joseph Darley and Cleve Branch arrived there in the committeeman’s limousine. To Darley, a visit to this district was scarcely more than a matter of routine.
Cleve Branch, although familiar with portions of the Chinese settlement, still found it unusual. His observant eyes wandered here and there, peering toward the yellow faces of passing Celestials; noting carefully the appearance of Americans who were passing through the district.
Darley had purposely left the limousine on the border of Chinatown. Now, he led the way along a narrow thoroughfare that was comparatively level for this hilly portion of the city.
The two men passed by lighted Chinese shops. They turned a corner, and encountered a gay scene. On the right was the bizarre Mukden Theater, a playhouse which presented stars from the Orient. Branch noted the billings — in English and Chinese — that announced the arrival of popular actors from Shanghai and Canton.