“He was all right until he met that English friend at Ichang,” I said. “I believe he must have heard something from him about Mai Lo or the country between here and Kai-Nong that took away his courage.”
“Perhaps,” remarked Joe, thoughtfully, “Mai Lo himself has been talking to Doctor Gaylord, and warned him not to go farther. You see, Mai Lo knew all along about the imposture we practiced in regard to the body of the Prince, and it may be that when the doctor found that his trick was discovered he thought it time to dig out.”
“It’s a mystery,” I said, soberly, “and I’m rather sorry to lose the doctor. He had a pretty level head usually, and would have been a great help to us when we got to Kai-Nong.”
“Shall we get there, do you think?” asked Archie.
“Of course.”
“I thought the jig was up when Mai Lo discovered there was a dummy in the casket, instead of the body of Prince Kai,” he continued.
“Why so?”
“Because Mai Lo was so dead set against our tossing the body overboard while we were at sea. He would have defended it with his life, then. Why does he take the discovery so quietly now?”
“The explanation is very simple,” I answered. “Chinese customs are peculiar; and especially those that relate to ancestor worship. Should Mai Lo return to Kai-Nong without the body of his dead prince he would be eternally disgraced, and unless he at once committed suicide he would be killed by the other servants of the Prince. So it was a matter of life or death to him whether we tossed the body overboard or preserved it and brought it to China.”
“But we really did toss it overboard; and Mai Lo knows it now,” objected Archie.