CIO-CIO-SAN BETRAYED
Very alert, Johnny Thompson at the stroke of eight the next night crept
from a narrow runway between two buildings and walked briskly down the
street. He had reached the runway by a route known only to himself. He
was sure that for a time, at least, he would not be followed. At last he
reached the bridge which was coming to harbor many mysteries for him.
Halfway across the span he paused, and sinking into the shadow of an
iron girder, began watching the surface of the water.
He was, in fact, attempting to understand those murky depths. From his
room he had detected a strange light. Either reflected on the water or
shining up through it, this light appeared a pale yellow glow, such as
he had often seen given off by the jelly fish in the Pacific. That there
was no such jelly fish to be found in fresh water he knew quite well.
And he had never in his life noticed that glow in the river.
Now, as he surveyed the surroundings, he realized that the light could
not have been reflected from any illumination in street or building. The
glow from the water had appeared close to the wall of the empty building
through which his four assailants of the night before had made good
their escape.
As he stood there, slouching in the shadows, Johnny gave a great start;
the light had appeared again. Beyond question it was beneath the water,
not shining upon it. From this vantage point the light seemed stronger.
It appeared for a few seconds, then disappeared again. Johnny scratched
his head. What could it mean? For some time he stood in a brown study,
then he laughed silently to himself.
"Probably phosphorescent substances being sent out from the drainpipe of
a factory or chemical laboratory," he decided.
At that instant he was all alert. His hand closed on his automatic. A
stealthy footfall had sounded on the bridge.
"Oh! It's you," he whispered a moment later.
Hanada grinned as he gripped Johnny's hand. "Thought I might miss you,"
he whispered.
The two were soon engaged in animated conversation. Their talk had to do
with Johnny's adventure of the night before and the information
regarding the Radicals furnished by Jerry the Rat. Hanada appeared
unduly excited at the news.
"It seems," said Johnny, "that there must be a national conference of
Radicals meeting somewhere near this river. Perhaps our old friend, the
Russian of Vladivostok, is a delegate."
Hanada shot him a swift glance, as if to say: "How much do you know
about this matter anyway?"
But for some time the Japanese did not speak; then it was concerning an
entirely different affair. Cio-Cio-San had been visited by a fellow
countryman who, although wholly unknown to her, had appeared to know a
great deal about her private business. He had informed her that she had,
within the last year, been robbed of some very valuable property and
professed to have a knowledge of its whereabouts. If she would accompany
him he would see that it was restored to her. The actions of the man had
aroused her suspicions and she had refused to go. However, she had asked
him to give her a day to think it over. He was to return at nine this
night.
"Some nifty little mind reader, that Jap," smiled Johnny. "Tell him to
come round and locate my long lost uncle's buried treasure."
However, though he passed the matter off as a jest, he was doing some
very serious thinking about this rather strange affair. He had never
told Hanada about the diamonds. Neither had he told of the note which
had been thrust under the door. Now he remembered that Jerry the Rat had
spoken of a Jap as a member of the Radicals, and he wondered if
Cio-Cio-San's visitor was the same man. If that were so, then what was
his game? Was he planning to lead Cio-Cio-San into a trap? Certainly if
the treasure the strange Jap had spoken of as having been stolen from
the Japanese girl was the envelope of diamonds, and they had hoped to
recover them from Johnny that night, they would have no intention of
restoring them to Cio-Cio-San.
"I'd advise her, if I were you," said Johnny slowly, "to find out as
much as she can, and not take too many chances. The man may be one of
the Radicals, and he may be using the supposed treasure as a decoy. At
the same time, if she handles the affair discreetly enough, she may be
able to assist you in locating the Russian and his band, which, I take
it, is your chief end and aim in life just now."
Hanada sent him another penetrating glance. "You have guessed that
much," he admitted. "Well, soon I may be able to tell you all. In the
meantime, if you need more money to pay this Jerry--Jerry, what was it
you called him?"
"Jerry the Rat."
"Yes, yes, Jerry the Rat. If you need more money for him, I can get you
more, plenty more. But," the lines of his face grew tense, "we must find
them and soon, or it may be too late. We must act quickly."
Hanada had not said one word of his affairs of the night before, nor
did he now as they were about to part.
Dull and heavy, there came the tread of feet on the bridge.
"The police!" whispered Johnny.
Hanada seemed distinctly nervous.
As the two patrolmen came abreast of them one of them flashed his light.
Hanada cringed into the shadows.
"Well," said a deep voice, "here's luck! Youse guys come with us. Youse
guys is wanted at the station."
"What for?" Johnny demanded.
"Youse guys know well enough. Treason, they call it."
"Treason?" Johnny gave a happy laugh. "Treason? They'll have hard work
to prove that."
* * * * *
Had one been privileged to see Cio-Cio-San at the moment Johnny Thompson
and his friend were arrested, he might easily have imagined that she was
back in Japan. The room in which she paced anxiously back and forth was
Japanese to the final detail. The floor was covered thickly with
mattings and the walls, done in a pale blue, were hung everywhere with
long scrolls of ancient Japanese origin. Here a silver stork stood in a
pool of limpid blue; there a cherry orchard blossomed out with all the
extravagant beauty of spring, and in the corner a pagoda, with sloping,
red-tile roof and wide doors, proclaimed the fact that the Japanese were
a people of art, even down to house building. Silk tapestries of varying
tints hung about the room, while in the shadows a small heathen god
smiled a perpetual smile.
But it was none of these things that the girl saw at that moment. This
room, fitted up as it had been by rich Japanese students, most certainly
had brought back fond memories of her own country. But at this instant,
her eyes turned often to a screen behind which was a stand, and on that
stand was a desk telephone.
Hanada had promised to consult Johnny Thompson regarding the strange
proposition of the unknown Japanese. He had promised to call her at
once; by eight-thirty at the latest. The stranger was to return for his
answer at nine. It now lacked but ten minutes of that hour, and no call
had come from Hanada. She could not, of course, know that the men on
whom she depended for counsel were prisoners of the police. So she paced
the floor and waited.
Five minutes to nine and yet no call. Wrinkles came to her forehead, her
step grew more impatient.
"If he does not call, what shall I do?" she asked herself.
Then there came the sharp ring of the telephone. She sprang to the
instrument, but the call was for another member of the club.
Three minutes in which to decide. She walked thoughtfully across the
floor. Should she go? Her money was now almost gone. It was true that a
treasure, which to many would seem a vast fortune, had disappeared from
her father's house over night. It had been taken by force. And she knew
the man who had taken it; had followed him thousands of miles. Now there
had come to her a man of her own race, who assured her that the treasure
was not in the possession of the man who had stolen it, but in the
possession of an honest man who would willingly surrender it to her,
providing only he could be made certain that it was to go directly into
her hands. That this might be, he demanded that she meet him at a
certain place known to the strange Japanese. There she might prove her
property. The story did seem plausible--and her need was great. Soon she
would be cast out upon the world without a penny. So long as she had
money she was welcome at this club; not longer.
There came the purring of a muffled bell in the hall. He had come.
Should she go? A mood of reckless desperation seized her.
"I will," she declared.
The next instant she was tucking a short, gleaming blade beneath her
silk middy and then drawing on a long silk coat.
The man waited in the hallway. He was doubtless prepared for another
extended argument, but none came. Instead, the girl walked down the
steps with him and into a waiting taxi.
It was a rather long ride they took. First speeding along between rows
of apartment houses they at last dashed into the business section of
the city. The stranger sat in one corner of the cab, not saying a word.
Passing through the business section, they approached the river. It was
then that Cio-Cio-San's heart began to be filled with dread. She had
heard of many dark deeds done down by the river. But after all, what
could they want of her, a poor Japanese girl, almost without funds?
The cab came to a stop with a jolt. A tall building loomed above them.
The strange Japanese held the door open that she might alight. She
stepped to the sidewalk, and, at that instant, strong arms seized her,
pinning her arms to her sides, while a coarse cloth was drawn tightly
over her mouth. She then felt herself being pushed through space, and
the next moment heard the muffled echoes of the footsteps of her
captors. They were in the basement of some great deserted building, the
sound told her that.
"Betrayed! Betrayed!" her mind kept repeating. "Betrayed by one of my
own people!"