But the girls were more alive to the conditions surrounding them than we were, and their fertile brains arranged a series of signals to let us know whether it was safe to enter the pavilion or not, since at any time one of the eunuchs or older members of the harem might see fit to accompany them. Also they timed their stay by our watches, so as to leave before there was a chance of their being sought for.
All this savored of intrigue, but our meetings were harmless enough. I don’t say that little Nor Ghai was averse to a bit of flirtation, but none of us encouraged her because we had no thought of flirting with our new friends. We talked in boyish fashion and treated them exactly as if we were brothers and sisters.
Meantime the days flew swiftly by, and still Mai Lo paced the gravel paths before the Ancestral Halls of Kai, and we hesitated to begin our appointed task. But finally one evening, while talking over our plans and chances of success, Joe proposed that we should explore the secret passage and accustom ourselves to the way to the underground vaults; so we promptly decided upon the adventure.
At about ten o’clock, the usual time, we dismissed our eunuch, Tun, who always remained in waiting until we retired for the night, and then, instead of going to bed, we put out our lights and sat quietly in the darkness until after midnight.
Every time we had passed by the bend in the hall we had noticed the tapestry of the dragon, but never had we ventured to disturb it to see what was behind the hangings. We dared not show a light in this passage because just around the bend was the guard of the royal apartments, eternally pacing up and down to prevent anyone from penetrating to the sacred precincts.
We had, unfortunately, no candles; but I had unhooked a small oil lamp from a bracket in one of our rooms, and matches were plentiful. When I softly opened our door to listen, there was not a sound to be heard throughout the palace except the steady footfalls of the distant guard; so, being in our stocking-feet, we tip-toed along the corridor, feeling our way in the darkness by keeping one hand on the wall, until we reached the bend in the passage.
We could not see the dragon tapestry, but knowing its exact location I crept beneath the heavy drapery, followed closely by Archie and Joe, and then began to feel for the bronze knob.
Across the face of the wall in every direction we fumbled, and I had almost begun to despair of finding it without a light when Joe grasped my shoulder and guided my hand to a tiny projection far to the left.
Yes; it was a knob, all right. I grasped it and pulled it toward me, and at once we heard a faint swish, and a breath of colder air reached us. I felt along the wall, and found an opening, through which I passed, drawing the others with me. Another heavy tapestry was on this side of the wall, and we crept beneath its folds on hands and knees.
“Do you think it’s safe to scratch a match?” I whispered.