"Tchee, tchee! Velly ploper. Sometime big feller come in if Pidgin palaber or not. Pidgin never lude to big feller."
"Your life may depend on it," said Chunda Lal impressively. "How many are here?"
Ah-Fang-Fu turned at last from his cards, pointing in three directions, and, finally, at Gaston Max.
"Four?" said the Hindu—"how can it be?"
He peered from bunk to bunk, muttering something—a name apparently— after scrutinizing each. When his gaze rested upon Max he started, stared hard, and meeting the gaze of the one visible eye, made the strange sign.
Max repeated it; and Chunda Lal turned again to the Chinaman. "Because of that drunken pig," he said, pointing at Bill Bean—"we must wait. See to it that he is the last."
He walked slowly up the stairs, opened the door at the top and disappeared.
CHAPTER VIII
THE GREEN-EYED JOSS
Sinister silence reclaimed the house of Ah-Fang-Fu. And Ah-Fang-Fu resumed his solitary game.