As soon as by eating and drinking, he had satisfied Chow that he was really alive, the latter said, "Truly the gods must have been favorably disposed toward the noble Nicholas, to have kept him alive for so many days and nights, without brains in his head or food in his mouth."
"What words are these, O Chow?" said Nicholas, placing his hand to his forehead, as if making an effort to decipher the boy's meaning.
"Let my master open his ears," said Chow; adding, "Worn out with my exertions in the boat, I no sooner perceived the terrible eye than I loosened my hold of the pole, and either from fright or fatigue, became insensible; the water, however, revived me, and looking for my master, I saw him lying by my side upon a shelving edge of rock, for, thanks be to Fo, we had dashed upon the rock, the servant with out harm, but the master receiving such a blow that it deprived him of his senses; when, alarmed for his life, I shouted to the crew of the junk for help, and begged of them to take us on board, but the rats refused, saying, that as the gods had evidently reserved us for drowning, to resist would be to provoke Ma-tsoo-po. Then, as my only hope, I shouted to them that I had secured a traitor for whose head fifty taels were offered."
"Surely thou art not a rogue." But not noticing this, Chow continued, "The hope of so much silver made the rogues carry us on board, and then poor Chow could have swallowed fire, for when he begged of them to use means to recall thee to thy senses, the dog of a captain said, 'Know thou rat of a boy, that if fifty taels are offered for the rascal's head, it will save trouble to lop it off at once.' Then Fo sent a thought into my brainless head, and falling at the captain's feet, I told him that so great were thy crimes, that although fifty taels would be given for thy head, five hundred and a mandarin's button would be given for thy whole body.
"Then said the captain, 'the dog utters words of wisdom,' and fearing to lose the silver, if you died, he commanded a physician who happened to be on board to make thee sound and whole, and moreover, promised to reward me with ten taels if I helped to bring thee round."
But as they heard approaching footsteps, Chow said softly, "Get thee to thy mat, it is the physician; do not let him bring thee to thy senses, or we are lost."
By the time Nicholas had lain down, an elderly man, with a small funnel and a porcelain cup in his hands, entered the cabin, and with as much meaningless mystery of manner as one of our doctors, knelt by his side and commenced the comical operation of feeling his pulse, or rather pulses, for the physician's hands and fingers traveled up and down the boy's body like a flea in search of a choice bite. Having gone through this performance, he placed the funnel in the patient's mouth, and poured down his throat a decoction of the gen-seng root, a plant which the Chinese believe will cure all ills; and, disagreeable and difficult as it was, Nicholas swallowed it, which so delighted the old gentleman that he left the cabin chuckling, but telling Chow on no account to attempt to awake him for the next three hours, as he was assured that nature was bringing him to by her own means.
"Verily the old cheat believes I have a fever," said Nicholas, jumping up as soon as the doctor had left the cabin.
Chow, who had been gazing from the window of the cabin while the physician was present, no sooner saw him leave than he said, "We shall leave the dogs now;" adding, "Let the noble Nicholas remain senseless till Chow returns," and without another word he left the cabin.
For some time Nicholas remained quiet upon the mat, but getting tired he arose, and looking out of the window he saw that the junk was in the middle of the canal, and from the great quantity of boats knew they were near to some great city. He had not, however, been looking long, when to his surprise he saw one of these san-pans come alongside the junk, and taking Chow on board, paddled off to the shore, where he remained for some time, and then was brought back to the junk. What could that mean? Surely Chow was not playing him false. No he was ashamed of the thought. The boy must be concocting some scheme for his benefit; but hearing footsteps he resumed his position upon the mat, and in another minute the physician and Chow entered. This time the doctor only went through the pulse performance, saying, "Now if the rascal would but move a limb it would show that Fo and the immortal drug had sent the blood into his muscles."