CHAPTER V.
THE HALLS OF HIS ANCESTORS.
I’m afraid we looked rather foolish at this suggestion. Archie was open-mouthed and wide-eyed; Joe’s sensitive face took on a frown, and I felt myself flushing red.
“You see, Prince,” I said at last, shifting uneasily in my seat, “we’ve been adventurers, but not buccaneers, and to rob——”
“Nonsense!” cried Kai, laughing at us again; “the word ‘rob’ does not mean to steal, even in your bungling English. And I used it figuratively. To rob my ancestral halls would not be a sin, for you would deprive no living person of what is his at present or might be his in the future. As for the dead, my opinion is that my ancestors are very dead; and, in case their bodies resurrect at the end of the world, they won’t mind whether they are wealthy or not. I tell you, Sam, I can imagine no more foolish idea than to bury treasure with the dead, and had I lived to return to China it was my firm intention to rob the ancestral halls myself. In that case no one would ever know it, and there would be no danger. Why, as I said before, I abstracted certain jewels from the tombs years ago, and spent the proceeds in high living. So, if I was willing to rob the ancestral halls myself, and approve of your robbing them in my place, now that I am prevented, you need have no scruples on the plea of morality. Listen, friends: I present to you three—to Sam and Joe and Archie—all of the treasure contained in my ancestral halls. It is yours—I give it freely—but you must go and secure it, and that will be a dangerous expedition.”
“Why so?” asked Archie.
“Because you won’t have me to assist you,” he replied. “Because you must oppose the ancestral devotion, amounting to a religion, of the entire Chinese nation. Because my own followers and servants would cut you down in an instant if your errand were discovered, and——”
He hesitated.
“Any more interesting reasons?” I asked.
“The strongest of all,” said he. “Because I am convinced that Mai Lo means to get the treasure himself.”
Joe gave a low whistle, and Archie looked especially thoughtful.