Nikola

“ I stood on one side of the door, the monk who had admitted us on the other; Nikola was before the dais, and on it, rigid and motionless, sat the two black figures. At the end of the time I began to feel if someone did not speak soon I should have to do so myself. The suspense was terrible, and yet Nikola stood rigid, never moving a muscle or showing a sign of embarrassment. ”

“ He put the question in a high tremulous voice, more like a woman's than a man's.
“I am the high priest of the temple of Hankow,” said Nikola gravely. “I believe my arrival is expected.”
“If it is as you say how shall I know you?”
“Is the moon no longer aware that there are little stars?” asked Nikola, speaking with a perfection of accent that no Chinaman living could ever have excelled.
“The dawn makes all things equal,” replied the old man. “But there are other means whereby we can tell those who are true or not.” ”

“ Then turning to Nikola, he continued: “Take off those vestments. If you are innocent they shall be restored to you and you shall wear them with honour to yourself and the respect of all our order; but if you be guilty, prepare for death, for no human soul shall save you.”
Nikola immediately divested himself of his gorgeous robes and handed them to the monks who stood ready to receive them. ”

“ He could rouse in our hearts such emotions as he pleased; could induce us to pity at one moment, and to loathing at the next; could make us see the city with his eyes, and in a measure to love it with his own love. That Nikola did entertain a deep affection for it was as certain as his knowledge of its history.
"I think I may say now," he said, when we had been absent from the hotel for upwards of an hour, "that I have furnished you with a superficial idea of the city. ”

“ Nikola only answered with a smile, and lifted the cat on to his knee. He stroked its fur with his long white fingers, at the same time looking at me from under his half closed eyelids.
“Do you know, I like you,” he said after a while. “There's something so confoundedly matter-of-fact about you. You give me the impression every time you begin to speak that you are going to say something out of the common.” ”

“ Nikola took the basket before mentioned on his knee, and opened it. When he had done so, the same enormous black cat, whose acquaintance I had made in the East India Dock Road, stepped proudly forth. In the daylight the brute looked even larger and certainly fiercer than before. I felt I should have liked nothing better than to have taken it by the tail and hurled it out of the window. Nikola, on the other hand, seemed to entertain for it the most extraordinary affection. ”

“ No, no, sir! It won't do! If you think so, who has schooled him so cleverly? Who has pulled the strings so wonderfully?"
"Why, Nikola to be sure!"
Had I clapped a revolver to the old gentleman's head, or had the walls opened and Nikola himself stepped into the room, a greater effect of terror and consternation could not have been produced in the old gentleman's face than did those five simple words. He fell back in his chair gasping for breath, his complexion became ashen in its pallor, and for a moment his whole nervous system seemed unstrung. ”

“ Closer and closer he approached the unsuspecting monk, and then, having measured his distance, with a great spring threw himself upon the man and clapped the sponge upon his nose and mouth. The man fought hard, but Nikola held him like a vice, while I was standing near to render him any assistance he might need. Then little by little his struggles ceased, and presently he lay in Nikola's arms as helpless as if he were dead.
“That is one man accounted for,” said Nikola quietly, as he laid the body down upon the floor; “now for the others. Slip on this man's dress as quickly as you can.” ”

“ Nikola, when I met him, would have a heavy account to settle with me, and if my darling reported any further cruelty on his part I would show no mercy. But why had Mr. Wetherell brought the curio with him now? I put the question.
"For one very good reason," he answered. "If it is the stick Nikola is after, as I have every right to suppose, he may demand it as a ransom for my girl, and I am quite willing to let him have it. The wretched thing has caused sufficient misery to make me only too glad to be rid of it." ”

“ When he had finished Nikola turned to the chief priest and said—
“My father, you have heard all that this wicked man hath said. He accuses my servant yonder—he himself you will remember being a thief and a would-be murderer by his own confession—of being one of those barbarians whom we all despise. I have found my man faithful and true in all his dealings, but if he is not what he pretends to be then he shall die. ”

“ Nikola!” I answered candidly, quite carried away by the boldness of his scheme, “you're what I call a really good-plucked one, and since you take it in this way I will go on with you and carry it through if it costs me my life.”
“I thank you,” said Nikola quietly. “I thought I wasn't deceived in you. Now we must think out how these different schemes are to be worked. To begin with we must leave here at least an hour before our friends in the other rooms. Once on the way we must push forward as fast as we possibly can and secure a camel and saddle of the kind described before they can suspect. ”

“ And if there turned out to be only an opportunity of escape for one at any time, would Nikola, by virtue of being my employer, seize that chance and leave me to brave the upshot whatever it might be? In that case my £10,000 in the Shanghai Bank and the £10,000 which was to be paid to me on my return would be a little less useful than a worn-out tobacco pouch. And this suggested to my mind another question: Was Nikola sufficiently rich to be able to pay £20,000 to a man to accompany him on such a hairbrained errand? ”

“ That however was Nikola's way. If he were making a paper boat, cutting a pig out of orange peel, weaving a plot round a politician, or endeavouring to steal the secret of an all- powerful society, he would give the matter in hand his whole attention, make himself master of every detail, and never leave it till he had achieved his object or had satisfied himself that it was useless for him to work at it any longer.
Throughout the voyage Laohwan, though we saw him repeatedly, did not for a moment allow it to be supposed that he knew us. ”

“ Though the rope was a comparatively short one it seemed centuries before I was anywhere near Nikola. Another 8 feet would find me on the ledge, and I was just congratulating myself on my cleverness when there was an ominous tearing noise on the cliff top, and the next moment I was falling backwards into mid-air. I gave myself up for lost, but fortunately the catastrophe was not as serious as it might have been, for with that presence of mind which never deserted him Nikola braced himself against the wall and clutched the rope as it slid by. ”

“ All day long I have had it before me, and now, as if to add to the strangeness of the coincidence, he proves to be the man of whom you have so often told me—your demoniacal, fascinating Nikola. You must admit that it is very strange."
"A coincidence, a mere coincidence, that is all," I replied. "Nikola possesses an extraordinary face, and it must have impressed itself more deeply upon you than the average countenance is happy enough to do." ”

“ Then Nikola fired—I felt the bullet whiz past my ear—and before I could think the great beast had fallen back upon the ground and was twisting and twining in his death agony.
“Quick!” cried Nikola springing to his feet once more. “There's not a moment to be lost. Throw the dogs into the stream.”
Without wasting time we set to work, and in less than half a minute all three animals had disappeared into the river. ”

“ Hailing a gondola, we bade the man take us back to our hotel. For some minutes after we had said good-bye to Nikola we sat in silence as the boat skimmed over the placid water.
"Well, what is your opinion of Nikola now?" I said, as we turned from the Rio del Consiglio into the Grand Canal once more. "Has he grown any more commonplace, think you, since you last saw him?"
"On the contrary, he is stranger than ever," Glenbarth replied. "I have never met any other man who resembled him in the slightest degree. ”

“ There was foam at the corners of his mouth, and the light of madness in his eyes. Nikola returned to the table and began to pour some liquid into a glass. So busily occupied was he, that he did not see the thing, I cannot call it a man, in the corner, get on to his feet. ”

“ Nikola answered very quietly. "He is a singing-bird shut up always in the dark. And now, good-night. I have trespassed too long upon your time already."
He bowed low to the ladies, shook hands with the Duke and myself, and then, before we had time to thank him for the delightful evening he [Pg 76] had given us, was in his gondola once more and out in mid-stream. We watched him until he had disappeared in the direction of the Rio del Consiglio, after we entered the hotel and made our way to our own sitting-room. ”

“ From what I had so far seen of Nikola's character I can say that I would rather quarrel with any other half dozen people in the world, whoever they might be, than risk the displeasure of the man Dr. Nikola. ”

“ I have come to you that I may beg of you that wretched man's life. Doctor Nikola, I implore you to spare him!"
"My dear young lady," said Nikola, with a softness in his voice that reminded me of that I had heard in the death-chamber a few hours before, "you cannot understand what you are [Pg 306] doing. You must let me take you back to your friends. You should not be here at this hour of the night."
"But I was bound to come—don't I tell you I could not remain away? Spare him! Oh! for God's sake, spare him!"
"You do not know what you are asking. You are not yourself to-night." ”

“ I have seen Nikola take in hand one of the keenest and, at the same time, most obstinate men in China, ask of him a favour which it would have been madness to expect the man to grant, talk to him in his own quiet but commanding fashion, and in less than ten minutes have the matter settled and the favour granted. ”

“ The man approached a few paces, and it was easily seen that he was afraid. Then for nearly a minute Nikola gazed fixedly at him, and I cannot remember ever to have seen those terrible eyes look so fierce and cruel. If you can imagine a rabbit gazing into the eyes of a serpent you will have some idea of how the man faced his persecutor. Slowly, inch by inch, Nikola raised his right hand until it pointed to the wall a little above the other's head. ”

“ The last time I dined with him, you must remember, was in Port Said, and then the banquet could scarcely be described as a pleasant one. What is more, I am anxious to see what effect Nikola and his house will produce upon our friend the Don."
"I wish he'd get rid of him altogether," my companion replied. "I dislike the fellow more and more every time I see him."
"Why should you? He does you no harm!"
"It's not that," said Glenbarth. "My dislike to him is instinctive; just as one shudders when one looks into the face of a snake, or as one is repelled by a toad or a rat. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Though I had not revealed as much to Barkston, who had derived such happiness from his position of guide, philosopher, and friend, this was not the first time I had heard of Nikola. Such a strange personality as his could not expect to go unremarked in a gossip-loving community such as the East, and all sorts of stories had accordingly been circulated concerning him. Though I knew my East too well to place credence in half of what I had heard, it was impossible for me to prevent myself from feeling a considerable amount of curiosity about the man. ”

“ Then in a heart-broken whisper she added, "She is growing weaker every moment. Oh, Dick, Heaven grant that we are not acting wrongly, and that he may be able to save her."
"I feel convinced that we are doing right," I answered. "And now I will go in search of Nikola, and if possible bring him back with me."
"God grant you may be successful in your search," said Glenbarth, wringing my hand. "If Nikola saves her I will do anything he may ask, and still be grateful to him all the days of my life." ”

“ 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. ”

“ If you consider that, you will see that you are the only young nobleman of high rank whose face is not well known to his brother peers. That being so, Nikola wants to procure you for some purpose of his own in Australia. Your father advertises for a tutor; he sends one of his agents—Baxter—to secure the position. Baxter, at Nikola's instruction, puts into your head a desire for travel. You pester your father for the necessary permission. ”