"Be assured, Mr. Tavernake, I shall do all in my limited power to learn whither your—er—muleteer has been spirited."
Trent rested one hand upon his hip, touching the steel beneath the robe.
"I understand," he began, "that last evening your chief councillor, Na-chung, who was kind enough to accompany me to the ceremonies yesterday, was missed from his home."
Hsien Sgam limped back to his table; sat down; folded his hands upon the surface. The close-cropped head rose, almost as a deformity, from the dark crimson robe. In that instant he was both sinister and pathetic, threatening and pleading. Trent saw him as a figure curiously detached and aloof from human beings (the power of the man could not be denied), as mentally grotesque and misshapen as his limb.
"It is strange," he declared in those chosen, precise words of his, "that the two disappeared on the same night, your muleteer and my chief councillor. It is quite"—the slant eyes smiled—"quite coincidental." A pause. "Do I—er—strike the nail on the head, as they put it in your country, when I say that you come for a twofold purpose: to solicit my aid in finding your muleteer, and to inform me that you have discovered a clue that might lead to the very excellent Na-chung? In other words, you suggest a compromise: I agree to direct my efforts toward recovering your—er—lost one, if you produce the clue that will lead us to the councillor."
Another smile. Trent, too, smiled—only inwardly. There was something droll in the situation.
"Did you consider," the Mongol continued, "that—er—my duties may be quite pressing and that I might find it difficult to spare the time to devote to searching for your—muleteer?"
"But surely," Trent parleyed, "in return for the service I can render, you will find it convenient to spare time enough to repay me?"
Hsien Sgam's eyes contemplated the surface of the table; his fingers worked with nervous energy.
"Suppose," he suggested, "even then I find it impossible to respond to a suggestion that under other conditions and at another time would be welcome. What then?"