Both officers were now on their feet, gripping their revolvers.
"Afterwards another howl," continued the informer. "The Chunchuses in the village will seize rifles and pistols hidden in the gardens and pig-sties. Afterwards a third signal; every house with Russians in it will be attacked, every honourable soldier captured or killed."
The captain rapped out an oath. The Chinaman, still on his knees, lifted up his hands and spoke earnestly.
"I can show the honourable nobility how to cheat them; honourable master will reward his humble slave. Is it not so?"
The captain, none too quick-witted, nodded to the man to proceed. The Chinaman stood erect.
"At the first howl, master will cut a hole in the window—quickly, so that the men in the passage hear nothing; they are all Chunchuses. He will whisper to the sentry outside; the soldier will warn the patrol, and they will in haste make the round of the houses where soldiers are. Before the second signal is given, honourable master's men will be ready; they can shoot down the Chunchuses in the village, and Ah Lum will have to retreat, for honourable nobility's countrymen are only ten miles away."
For a moment the captain gazed doubtfully at the man.
"Do you think it a trap?" he asked Borisoff.
The long-drawn howl of a dog as if baying the moon rose and died away at some distance from the village. The officers started.
"Trap or not, we can't go far wrong in doing what he says. Even if he is lying we are no worse off."