I was now in a quandary. If the Fêng Shui did not come up soon I might be arrested as an accomplice in the murder, and all day I strolled about within the settlements listening to the strong expressions of disgust for the deed. The murderer must be hanged—that was only justice. The feeling against the Japanese was in a measure increasing, and one knows how racial dislikes are fomented in the Far East. I began to look around me cautiously. I had been already in the witness-box, and some fanatic might think it proper to whet his knife upon my ribs. This opportunity I did not desire to afford him.
But for all my care I, of all people, was drawn into a dispute, and concerning an arrest—or perhaps I should say an attempted arrest. I was strolling up the road which turns aside from the Bund—a street in which European wares are displayed—when I perceived two rather peculiar Chinamen following a third Chinese, and evidently "shadowing" him. Perhaps I might not have remarked them had not the "shadowed" man halted beside me as I was looking at photographs displayed in a well-known shop. I turned sharply to look at the man. He struck me as different from the ordinary Chinaman, not a coolie, yet not a mandarin certainly. A "middle-class" I may say; a trader, perhaps, but surely not a native of South China.
To my astonishment he addressed me in excellent English.
"Can you permit me to accompany you, sir? Please be cautious."
I stared at the fellow; then thinking that trouble might arise, I made no reply. He spoke again. The men stood watching us.
"Do not turn away. I am in danger in these clothes. Can you assist me? I am a Japanese officer."
"A Jap!" I exclaimed. "Why this disguise, then? What are you doing here?"
"I have been travelling in China. The Chinese suspect me in consequence of the murder here. Can I accompany you a while?"
I paused a moment, and at length consented. We proceeded to the Consulate, and were seated upon the bench there, when my new acquaintance replied to my request for information by saying—
"I am a sailor—a Japanese junior officer. Those men intended to kill me. I am searching for news. They are arming against us."