“THREE LITTLE MAIDS FROM SCHOOL.”
The Chief Eunuch eyed me expectantly. He was a clever fellow in his way,
and had more than ordinary intelligence; but all his life had been
passed in this retired place and he judged people and things from his
own limited point of view. He could understand how his master might wish
to reward friends with costly gifts, because he had lived surrounded by
rare and precious objects of art. Likewise he supposed books precious,
because there were so few in the palace, and he had seen so much
intrigue in his life that it was but natural that the Prince wished to
destroy certain papers left in his desk before a successor obtained
possession of them. But he could not understand our undertaking the
commission to do these things without reward. So when I answered his
question, I said:
“You must not suppose we are mercenary, or that we journeyed to Kai-Nong
solely for a reward; but Prince Kai did tell us we might each select a
jewel or ornament for ourselves while we were here.”
“That is just,” said the eunuch.
“But we will confess that the chief reason for favoring your Prince,
aside from our friendship for him, was a love of adventure. Mai Lo paid
our expenses here, and will pay to send us back if we demand it. We have
his contract. But if he is not able to do that, we have funds of our own
in Shanghai which we can draw upon. For, mark you, Wi-to, we are
important people in our own country.”
“I am sure of that,” was the reply. “And if you have a contract with Mai
Lo, he must pay to send you back to Shanghai.”
“If he is alive. But he ought to commit suicide before long.”
“Oh, I see!” exclaimed the eunuch. “You intend to compel him to do
this?”
“We intend to see that he doesn’t rob the Ancestral Halls and run away
with the treasure. For that reason we may remain your guests longer than
would be required to execute the orders of Prince Kai, who greatly
feared that Mai Lo would rob his ancestors.”
“You shall remain as long as it pleases you,” returned Wi-to, with
sparkling eyes. “And you may call upon me and all my followers to assist
you, in case the renegade governor tries to escape you.”
“Thanks; that was just what we expected,” I exclaimed.
Then, feeling well satisfied with our interview and our tour of
inspection, we left the Chief Eunuch and returned to our own rooms.
“Do you think it wise to harp on the subject of Mai Lo’s robbing the
Ancestral Halls?” asked Joe, when we were where we could not be
overheard.
“Why isn’t it wise?” I asked.
“Why, the Chief Eunuch may get suspicious that something is up.”
“I want him to get suspicious of Mai Lo, and watch that old fox so
carefully that he won’t get a chance to steal anything until we get
through. Besides, it will relieve us of any suspicions. Wi thinks it’s
impossible for us to get to the burial vaults, because our enemy the
governor guards all entrances. And he’s crafty enough to believe that we
wouldn’t talk about robbing the Ancestral Halls if we had any idea of
doing it ourselves.”
“Sam’s right,” declared Archie.
“I think so, too,” acknowledged Joe. “But I began to fear we were
overdoing the thing. Our talk about the orders of Prince Kai worked all
right, didn’t it?”
“Why, it was all very reasonable to the eunuch,” I said, “and we will
have no trouble in getting the packing cases to our rooms, where we can
replace the ornaments and books with the treasure.”
“It looks too easy altogether,” said Archie, doubtfully.
“You must remember Prince Kai planned it all, and he knew the conditions
here perfectly,” answered Joe. “I imagine our greatest difficulty will
be in getting back to Shanghai. If the governor acts ugly and refuses us
an escort we won’t get fifty miles without being murdered.”
“Don’t let’s worry about that,” I said, sharply, for the thought had
already worried me a good deal. “That’s another bridge that needn’t be
crossed till we come to it.”
We were naturally eager to explore the Ancestral Halls and see what the
treasure consisted of which had been so freely given us by Prince Kai—if
we could take it. It might be much or little, but judging from the
wealth and magnificence of the palace the treasure buried in the vaults
was likely to be ample to satisfy us.
After all, I think it was the adventure that charmed us, more than the
longing for gain. We had been set a difficult task, and boylike we
determined to accomplish it.
Deciding it would not be wise to make any important move for the first
few days, we passed the time wandering about the palace or in the
grounds. We found that Wi-to trusted us fully now, and we were allowed
to do whatever we pleased without being annoyed by the watchful
attendance of the eunuchs.
Wi asked me if we wanted a guard at the door of our chamber, and I
promptly answered No. There was no one in the palace except ourselves
and the eunuchs, and it was not necessary for them to guard us against
themselves. So we were left free to come and go as we pleased; but when
we wandered as far as the outer walls of the palace enclosure we found
eunuchs stationed at every gateway. We did not know whether we would be
allowed to pass these guards or not, but we made no attempt to do so,
preferring not to trust ourselves to the mercies of our enemy the
governor.
Once in awhile we encountered Mai Lo in our walks, but he kept near to
the Ancestral Halls and paid no attention to us. He was supposed to be
settling up the estate of his dead master, but according to our
observations he seemed chiefly occupied in pacing the paths, in deep
thought. However, we let him alone and kept out of his way.
It was while we were exploring an end of the garden where a thicket of
fruit trees grew that we met our first real adventure.
The trees formed a regular jungle; but there seemed a well worn path
between them, so we followed on, winding this way and that, until the
sound of voices and laughter arrested our attention. The voices were
sweet and fresh and the laughter ringing and merry.
While we paused to listen, hesitating whether to retreat or advance, a
sentence in English caught our ears, and we looked at one another in
surprise. Broken English it was, very quaintly and prettily uttered, and
in a girl’s voice; but after hearing it none of us cared to run away.
“Seen them I have—a peep—a view only—but they were young and handsome,
these foreign devils,” said the voice.
A peal of laughter greeted the remark, and the chatter went on in lower
tones.
“We must be near the harem,” whispered Archie.
“Nonsense,” cautiously replied Joe. “The harem’s way back by the palace.
That’s a sort of summer-house ahead of us.”
It was merely a circle of willows, with their branches mingling and
interlacing to form a roof.
“If they’ve had a peep at us, whoever they are, I mean to have a peep at
them,” said I; and without waiting for a reply I softly tip-toed toward
the willows.
The others followed, but I did not heed them. Really I was hungry for
the sight of a girl, merely to relieve the monotony of our intercourse
with the harsh-featured eunuchs; but more than all I was curious.
Halting at the circle of trees I found a place where I could see the
interior between the trunks, and then I paused spell-bound.
A table of woven reeds was in the center of the leafy bower, and around
it were low chairs and settles of the same material. Seated at the table
were three young and pretty Chinese girls—and if you think a Chinese
girl cannot be pretty you should have seen this group as I saw it.
One maid was leaning on her dainty elbows over the table, on which lay
an open book. She was not reading it, but looking earnestly at another
maid half reclining upon a bench opposite. Her eyes were dark and
smiling, her teeth white as pearls, her cheeks like rose leaves and her
hair had a wonderful arrangement of bows and knitting-needles—or some
such things—stuck this way and that to hold it all together.
The girl reclining was even prettier, and wore a wonderful pink gown,
all embroidery and fluffy silk trimmings. I may not be describing all
this properly, but I am doing my best to tell you what I saw.
There was a third girl sitting upon a stool and doing a bit of
embroidery—at least she had a needle and some work in her hands; but she
was not paying much attention to the work, for when I got to my
peep-hole it was this maid—a tiny, dainty, dimpled bit of a roguish
looking thing—who was engaged in talking.
“I’ll do it, Mai Mou—even if they beat me, or kill me!” she was saying,
impetuously; “I’ll have a glance myself, this very evening, from my
window, and see what they are like.”
“But why need you care, Nor Ghai?” asked the reclining beauty, in a
soft, subdued voice. “What if Ko-Tua has seen these foreign devils, and
praises their beauty—what to you is it all?”
“To me!” returned the impetuous one; “they knew my brother, who has gone
to join the Genii. I loved well our Lun Pu, who never knew me or cared
for me. Perhaps the fearful, handsome strangers will tell me of him.”
I knew who they were now—at least, two of them. Nor Ghai was the little
sister of the Prince—she was the girl with the embroidery. Mai Mou was
the daughter of our enemy the governor; she was well named the Pearl of
Kai-Nong. As for the third, the beauty with the book, who had been
called Ko-Tua and who claimed to have had a peep at us, I had no idea
where she belonged.
But what I had overheard decided me upon a bold step. It would have been
bold even in America; here in China it was actually audacious.
I saw the opening in the willows that formed the entrance to this leafy
pavilion, and crept toward it, motioning the boys to follow. When near
enough I boldly stepped out, walked into the pavilion and then paused as
if astonished at what I had discovered there. Archie and Joe were with
me, and we were greeted by a panicky chorus of muffled screams. Lucky it
was they were muffled, or the cries might have brought the eunuchs upon
us. Perhaps the frightened girls remembered this and screamed just loud
enough to show they were properly scared.
“Pardon us, ladies, for intruding,” I said, removing my cap and making a
low bow. “We are the foreign devils, and we’re glad to make your
acquaintance.”