He calmly lowered his gaze and began to polish the ruby again. From the distant alcove where Fo-Chu was confined came the ape’s horrid growls and the shaking of the bars; but the governor seemed little interested in anything but the heap of plunder before him.
“You have tried in various ways to destroy us,” I went on. “You set your eunuchs on us in the pavilion; you ordered your soldiers to cut us down in the palace; you loosed the King Ape in these vaults to tear us to pieces. But what is the result? We are here still, and free, and masters of the situation.”
Mai Lo slipped the ruby in his pocket and took another from the heap before him.
“How can you enter the Ancestral Chih?” he asked. “My soldiers guard every avenue of approach.”
“There are some things it is not necessary for you to know,” I retorted; “and that is one of them. But we did not come here to quarrel, but to make peace with you.”
This seemed to interest him, for he transferred his beady gaze from the gems to my face.
“This constant opposition is annoying,” I continued, “and while Prince Kai Lun Pu gave to us the riches contained in these vaults, and showed us how to secure them, we find there is more than we need, or can carry back with us.”
“Prince Kai had no right to give you the wealth of his ancestors,” said Mai Lo.
“Perhaps not. Neither have you any right to rob the Ancestral Halls. Instead, you ought to seal them up, and commit suicide. But you won’t do that. You want to escape with enough treasure to make you rich for the rest of your life.”
He regarded me intently, but made no reply. So I went on: