Sam Walser

“ Ahmed dropped Marianne sprawling on the floor and turned to the stair door, drawing a pistol. An instant later Bull Davies, plunging through the stair-door, brought up short at the threat of that black muzzle. In an instant the five Orientals who were tumbling down the stair after him had fallen on him from behind, borne him to the floor, and had him bound hand and foot. Swift hands ransacked his garments, and then Jum Chin looked at Ahmed and shook his head. Ahmed turned on Marianne, who rose from the floor, rubbing her hip. ”

“ I knew Ahmed wouldn’t sell it, so I hired you to have it stolen for me.”
Clanton picked up the yellowed figure and turned it about.
“I dunno,” he mused. “Ram Lal got into Ahmed’s house and swiped this. He’s the slickest thief on the Peninsula. But if it’s the wrong one, he might be afraid to risk another try. Ahmed’s bad business.”
“But he’s been paid, and it isn’t the right dragon!” she snapped. “What kind of a man would he be to take money under false pretenses?”
“Hire a thief and then squawk if he gyps you!” he mocked her. “But keep your shirt on. I’m a man of my word, anyway. ”

“ Why, the body’s gone!”
“We threw it in the river after we returned from pursuing Clanton,” said Ahmed absently, gazing at her half-exposed breasts. “I meant to take Ram Lal alive and make him talk. But he attacked my faithful servant, Jum Chin, who traced him here, and Jum Chin was forced to kill him. I arrived with the rest of my men just after he had killed Ram Lal. We had just completed a fruitless search of the body when we heard you and Clanton approaching. Why did you come here when you already had the dragon?” ”

“ She tilted a scornful nose.
“I can take care of myself, Mister Clanton—otherwise I’d never have dared to have any dealings with you! I’ll pick you up near the mosque on Muscat Street. And I don’t want to have to drag you out from under some table, or away from some brown-skinned wench, either.”
“I’ll be there, sober and respectable,” he assured her. “But how about a little drink before you go?” “No, thanks!” she declined. “I prefer to keep our relationship on a strictly business basis; and whiskey gives men ideas. ”

“ A few moments later he was seated in a silk shop kept by one Yakub, an old Jew who had a finger in many enterprises besides the one advertised by the sign over his door, and whose ear was always close to the mysterious pulse of the East. Clanton set the ivory dragon before him and demanded: “What’s that?” Yakub donned square, steel-rimmed spectacles, and regarded it.
“That’s the Kao Tsu dragon,” he said. “But I wouldn’t handle it for you. You m ust have stolen it from Shareef Ahmed. I love life too much to handle anything stolen from that devil.” ”

“ She clenched a small fist and struck him in the face, and in return got a slap that filled her eyes with stars and tears. He picked her up, fighting and kicking, and started toward the other room with her, when upstairs a shot banged, blows thudded, men yelled and heavy boots stampeded down the stair. ”

“ Lurid Anglo-Saxon oaths mingled with Asiatic yowls, and she almost pitied his adversaries as she heard what sounded like beeves being knocked in the head with a maul, but which she knew to be the impact of his massive fists on human skulls. ”

“ General Kai also had his agents after it, Bull Davies bein’ one of ’em. Ram Lal stole both dragons. He gave you the real Kao Tsu, but he kept the one with the contract in it, and was goin’ to sell it to General Kai’s agent. You know the rest.”
“But the dragon—” she exclaimed bewilderedly. “That one, I mean!”
“Easy!” he grinned. “Jum Chin had it all the time. He killed Ram Lal and must have found the dragon on him before Ahmed got there. Ahmed trusts Jum Chin so it didn’t occur to him to suspect him. An Arab’s no match for a Chinaman in wits. I found it on Jum Chin when I searched him. ”

“ He wanted to give that concession to another firm. But if he refused, in the teeth of his own signed agreement, he’d lose face. So he had it stolen from your old man, meanin’ to destroy the agreement and then claim he never made it, but Shareef Ahmed, who don’t overlook many bets, had it stolen from Kai’s agent. He already had the original Kao Tsu.
“Then Ahmed offered it to the highest bidder. Your old man had lost so much money in the stock market crash he was afraid General Kai would outbid him, so he sent you to steal it. ”