Guy Boothby

“ When Nikola returned to the room he examined me carefully and expressed himself as highly pleased with the result; indeed when we greeted each other in the Chinese fashion and language he would have been a sharp man who could have detected that we were not what we pretended to be.
“Now,” said Nikola, “if you are ready we will test the efficiency of our disguises. It is now a quarter to twelve and there is a meeting at the house of a man named Lo Ting at midnight. The folk we shall meet there are members of a secret society aiming at the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. ”

“ As we go I will explain more fully our intentions.”
“But you are surely not going to penetrate into a secret society to-night?” I said, astonished at the coolness with which he proposed to run such an enormous risk. “Wouldn't it be wiser to wait until we are a little more accustomed to our dresses?”
“By no means,” answered Nikola. “This will be a very good test. If we are detected by the folk we shall see to-night we shall know where the fault lies, and we can turn back and remedy it before it is too late. ”

“ Anyone who has had experience of Tientsin will bear me out when I say that of all the dirty and pestilential holes this earth of ours possesses there are very few to equal it, and scarcely one that can surpass it. Narrow, irregular streets, but little wider than an average country lane in England, run in and out and twist and twine in every conceivable direction. ”

“ Having said this he rose to go, and in five minutes we were back in our respective chairs being borne down the street again. When we reached the house from which we had started Nikola called me into the room where we had dressed.
“You have had an opportunity now of seeing the power of that stick,” he said. “It was Laohwan who discovered that the man was a member of the society. All that talk of overthrowing the Manchu dynasty was simply balderdash, partly real, but also meant to deceive. Now if all goes well the old fellow will open the first gate to us, and then we shall be able to go ahead. ”

“ Nikola seemed as well acquainted with this place as he was with every other, and as soon as we arrived on the Bund called 'rickshaws and bade the coolies convey us without delay to a certain Mr. Williams' residence in the European Concession.
This proved to be a house of modest size, built in the fashion usual in that part of the East. As we alighted from our 'rickshaws, a tall elderly man, with a distinctly handsome cast of countenance, came into the veranda to welcome us. Seeing Nikola he for a moment appeared to be overcome with surprise. ”

“ Luck is playing into our hands. If I can get hold of the two men I want to carry this business through I'll have the society's secret or die in the attempt. Listen to me. When we arrived to-night I learnt from Williams, who knows almost as much of the under life of China as I do myself, that what I suspected has taken place. That is that after this long interval there has been an election to fill the place of the man whom China Pete killed in the Llamaserai to obtain possession of that stick. ”

“ By this time it was close upon daylight and already a stir of life was discernible in the streets. Making our way into the house we proceeded direct to Nikola's study, where his servants had prepared a meal for us. We sat down to it and were in the act of falling to upon a cold pie when a boy entered with the announcement that a Chinaman was in the hall and desired to speak with us. It was Laohwan.
“Well,” said Nikola, “what message does the old man send?” ”

“ Come along.”
He passed into the passage and led the way through the house out into the compound, where a couple of chairs with their attendant coolies were awaiting us. We stepped into them and were presently being borne in a dignified fashion down the street!
In something under twenty minutes our bearers stopped and set us down again; we alighted, and when the coolies had disappeared Nikola whispered in Chinese that the password was “Liberty,” and that as one said it it was necessary to place the fingers of the right hand in the palm of the left. ”

“ For half an hour we discussed the events of the evening and, exactly as the clock struck a quarter past five, rose to our feet again. Nikola rang a bell and his principal boy entered.
“I am going away,” said Nikola. “Most probably you will not see my face again for a year. In the meantime you will take care of this house; you will not let one thing be stolen ”

“ On seeing us he intimated that we should follow him, which we did, down a long passage, to bring up finally at a curtained archway. Drawing the curtain aside he bade us pass through, and then re-drew it after us. ”