“Never! Mai Lo never suicide,” she declared, positively. “If Mai Lo dead, somebody kill him.”
“Somebody did,” I replied, smiling at her shrewd knowledge of the governor’s character. “It was the Sacred Ape, Fo-Chu.”
“But Fo-Chu is escaped and lost. I heard it today.”
“Well, Mai Lo found him, and thought it was a good time to shuffle off his mortal coil. You remember that in Shakespeare?”
She nodded.
“So Mai Lo shuffled.”
“Isn’t it nice, Nor Ghai?” asked the widow, delightedly. Then with a sudden thought: “Ah—oo! ah-oo! ah——”
“Cut it out, Ko-Tua,” warned Archie.
“Her tongue!” gasped Nor Ghai.
“No, that’s quite safe; but she isn’t supposed to use it for wailing except in public. Take her to your rooms, little one, and don’t fear for her or Mai Mou any longer. Your troubles are nearly over, I’m sure.”