After he had seen me safely seated, he continued thus:
“Know, then, my gentle guest, that I, So Too, Imperial Mandarin of the white glass button, after mature deliberation with my most honorable Council, do order and decree that thou and thy servants shall be, as thou hast prayed, forthwith conducted to the city of Canton, and there be delivered into the keeping and custody of the officers of him of the Sacred Countenance, until opportunity shall present itself to procure means of sending thee and thy servants back to your native land!”
Here I bent my body in token of my profound gratitude.
The Mandarin likewise made a low obeisance, and then continued:
“I do further decree that the evil spirit which attends thee in the shape of a dog shall be at once bound with chains and cast into prison there to await, his trial for witchcraft!”
Had So Too plunged a two-edged knife into my vitals I could not have felt a more agonizing hurt.
“Bulger? My beloved—Arrested? Witchcraft? Chains; Prison?” I stammered out.
“I have so decreed!” calmly replied So Too. “Oh! no! no! no! I cried, it cannot—it must not be! He is no evil spirit—no evil dwells in him. He is but a simple, loving, intelligent dog! I crave suspension of this terrible decree! What hath he done? O beloved Bulger, is this thy reward for saving fourteen human lives? Is this the way in which thou art to be repaid for all thy courage, thy love, thy devotion? O, no! no! Kill me if you will, cruel stranger, thrust me into a prison cell, but spare Bulger, spare him——”
I could say no more.
It grew black before me. A fit of vertigo came upon me. I staggered, reeled, fell lifeless to the floor.