“What proof have you that the ring of Prince Kai was not stolen?” he asked.
For answer I took the Prince’s letter of authority from my pocketbook and handed it to him to read.
He perused it carefully and with a grave countenance; then folded the paper, pressed it to his forehead and returned it to me.
“The Prince is my master, whether he is here in the flesh or wandering in the land of the Genii,” said the eunuch. “He has given to you, Sam Steele, the power to command his servants, and I, as one of the most faithful of these, will obey you, even for the term of one year. But much has happened since my noble master died, and Mai Lo has told me strange things about you, which, if true, would annul even the authority of the great Prince Kai. Let us talk together; tell me all that I do not know.”
“You have heard how the Prince was injured, and how we brought him to our ship and cared for him until he died,” said I.
“Now, before Prince Kai died, there were certain matters he wished to attend to. At his palace in Kai-Nong were some possessions he wanted taken to England and America and given to friends in those countries, that they might cherish his memory. There were some papers in his yamen here that he wished to destroy, that no eyes might read them. There were some of his servants here that he wished to reward for faithful service. All this he asked me and my two friends to do for him, in his name and by his authority; and we promised Prince Kai Lun Pu it should be done.”
The eunuch had listened carefully, and I had tried to be as direct in speech as I could, realizing that to make any blunder at this time would prove fatal to our plans.
“Why did not the Prince ask his governor to do all this? Has not Mai Lo been a faithful servant and followed his master to the ends of the earth?” asked Wi-to.
“The Prince was very wise,” I said.
“He was very wise,” repeated Wi-to, nodding.