I shook my head and went on deck, where Archie and Joe at once collared me with a demand to know what “His Royal Muchness, the Chink” had been talking about all the afternoon. I was quite full of the subject and told them as much as I knew about our injured passenger, adding that I was sincerely sorry the poor fellow must die.
CHAPTER IV.
A STARTLING PROPOSITION.
Next morning after breakfast I was again summoned to attend Prince Kai Lun Pu. I may as well remark in this place that with the Chinese the surname comes first, and Kai was my new friend’s family name, as mine is Steele. “Pu” with him stood in the place of “Sam” with me, and Lun was his middle name. But as the Chinese name always means something, a free translation of Kai Lun Pu into English would be “blossom of the tree,” Kai being a tree, or in some connections the root of a tree. So the Prince’s name was a very pretty and appropriate one, although it sounds so queer to our uncomprehending ears.
My new friend greeted me as cheerily as on the previous day, although I noted the fact that dark circles had settled around his eyes and his cheeks were a bit more hollow. The doctor was with him when I came in, and I asked if his patient had slept.
“Not a wink,” he replied. “Our Prince does not intend to lose a moment of life, and so I sat up with him until after midnight myself. Then he talked to Mai Lo until daylight.”
“And that was time wasted,” added the Prince, with a queer glance at his attendant, “for Mai Lo has a limited vocabulary, although he is so wise and experienced. I think he spoke six words to me in return for all my chatter. So now I will excuse him from my presence until I require his services.”
Mai Lo heard and prostrated himself humbly before his Prince, retiring with the stealthy glide of a ghost. The doctor was preparing his hypodermic syringe, and the sick man watched him thoughtfully.
“Do you see much change in my condition?” he presently asked.
“A little,” answered the doctor. “Your vitality is wonderful. An ordinary man would have succumbed long ago.”
“Am I sure of today?” enquired the Prince.