"The faithful friend of the noble Nicholas! Surely this is not possible," said the princess, hysterically, so forgetting her rank in her delighted surprise, that she embraced him as a brother, not a little, I assure you, to the wonder and horror of the servants, and the colao himself, who had hastened to the apartment to secure the daring robber, as the frightened servant had reported, and which Ki believed Chow to be, feeling certain that none but a thief would be guilty of so profane an act as entering the sacred apartments of the ladies.
CHAPTER XLIII.
CHOW DISCOVERS HIS MOTHER AND THE PRINCESS.—RESCUES THEM FROM THE TARTARS AND RELATES HIS ADVENTURES.
When the surprise had a little subsided upon both sides, Chow looked around, listened anxiously for a moment, and then said, "This is a fortunate day; the surprise, the joy is great, but, alas! it will be short-lived, for the barbarians can neither forget nor forgive," and he related his adventure with the soldiers; when, taking him by the hand, the princess said, "Fear not, friend of my brother; the barbarians dare not enter the house of Ki; for the usurper, barbarian as he is, has bestowed honor upon the noble colao for his services to his late Emperor, and as a consolation for his misfortunes; and in the house of one upon whom Chun-ti has bestowed the honored title of 'Faithful to his Prince,' no person dares enter unasked."
"Thy servant feared less for himself than for his beloved mother and the illustrious princess, whom he is commanded by the noble Nicholas to rescue from the degenerate soil of China, till it again owns its native princess," said Chow; adding, "From the hour that the vile guide betrayed the illustrious princess into the hands of the rogues, the noble Nicholas has left no stone unturned to discover thy fate." Then, repeating the history of their adventures to the time of his being taken prisoner by Li-Kong, he added, "So enraged was the villain mandarin, that, instead of killing me on the spot, he reserved me for a cruel death upon our reaching Pekin; then, however, being driven from the capital, he took me with him to Chen-si, where I was kept loaded with chains in a damp hole for many months, till indeed the great rebel was himself driven out of Chen-si, when, so ill that I could not walk, I was taken from the prison and conveyed to the house of the physician, who had been ordered to take charge of the sick and wounded, and unfortunately I remained senseless so long, that when I recovered, I discovered that not only had the great Woo-san-Kwei been the general who had punished Li, but that my beloved master had been with him. Bitterly regretting the misfortune that had caused me to miss him so narrowly, I resolved on seeking him in the capital; and so without money or food, but what I could beg on the road, I traveled, being compelled to rest many days upon my journey.
"At length, however, I reached Pekin, when, to my great rage, not only did I find that the Tartar prince had seized the throne, but that my noble master had left the city in horror at the great treason of his illustrious parent Chin-Chi-Loong. Then, weary of a world which contained so much vileness and misfortune, I should have myself sought the yellow stream, had it not occurred to me, that it would be villainous to desert the beloved parent whom I had resolved to discover; but, moreover, my master had taught me that it was a great crime; and, trembling that I had ever contemplated such a thing, I rushed down to the canal and engaged myself as a Coolie, for I thought the employment would drive away my sorrow, and, perhaps, throw some lucky chance in my way, and so it happened; for one day, carrying some goods for a traveling merchant, the good man took a fancy to me, and offered to take me with him into the province of Fokien. The offer gave me joy, for I knew that if ever I found my master it would be near the sea, which he loves as if he were a fish, and so it chanced; for one day, after many months' traveling, we lodged at the town of Ho-a, when a few days afterward the Chinese inhabitants became very joyful, and the Tartar soldiers were greatly terrified at a report that the terrible Koshinga, whose name just about that time had become famous, would land. Well, the report proved true, for the sea chief appeared with a great fleet, and drove the Tartars inland; when, feeling weary of my servitude, and longing to fight against the usurping barbarians, I offered my services to one of the commanders, and no sooner had I put in force that virtuous resolution, than my fortunes began to mend, for in one of the ships I found the noble Nicholas.
"Well, I will only tell the illustrious princess how that I kept by the side of the noble Nicholas in all battles that have been fought by the great Koshinga; but in the midst of our adventures and successes, both the noble Nicholas and his servant were unhappy, for they pined to learn the fate of the daughter of the Mings, whom the heavens had once entrusted to their care. At every town upon the coast, from every man who joined the fleet, did we endeavor to trace some clue, not omitting to offer great rewards; it was all, however, useless, till one day a Tartar prisoner was taken and brought to our ship, and as he had with him a copy of the Pekin Gazette, which contains the officers of the empire and the decrees of the Emperor, the noble Nicholas eagerly read it to find out the movements of the barbarians, when, much to his surprise, he saw that the noble Ki had been restored to his rank and fortunes, and, moreover, was permitted to reside unmolested at his native palace in Fokien. 'Thus, then, O Chow, we have a fortunate day; here is a clue to the princess—for should she have escaped the villain rebels, this old and faithful servant of her royal father will surely know,' said the noble Nicholas."
"Truly the great Father of heaven hath directed, this even," said the princess.
"Then, O my princess, the heart of thy servant leaped for joy; for he knew that the clue to the illustrious daughter of the Mings would lead to the discovery of his beloved mother, so upon his knees he begged his noble master to let him search the coast of Fokien, a request he would have granted, had not the whole fleet been ordered by the chief Koshinga to attack and drive the barbarian Hollanders from the great island of Formosa on that day. Then for nearly four moons was the fleet before the castle of Zealand, which protects the island; and so well did the barbarians fight, that we had no other hope but to starve them out; at length, however, they were joined by the numerous ships of the traitorous black dragon Yuen, and for the first time Koshinga was near being defeated, till at length destiny led him to fill seven of his ships with oil and inflammable materials, when, taking advantage of the first north-easterly wind, he set them on fire, and sent them among the ships of Yuen, the greater part of which being destroyed, the crews with the black dragon sought the shores in their boats. Thus having got rid of the fleet, the great Koshinga landed his troops, and after a great battle killed the greater portion of the pirates, made the remainder prisoners, and took possession of the country."