NICHOLAS AGAIN TAKEN PRISONER.
With the wild whirling of the waters ringing in his ears, and the great
painted eye before his vision, Nicholas stared around. Where could he
be? He was lying upon a mat, in a small low room; he sat up, endeavored
to comprehend his position, and the san-pan, the bore, the torrent, the
whirlpool, all flashed across him--but where could he be? There before
him stood a copper god, hideously grinning at a pan of burning incense.
Surely it must be the cabin of a junk--but what?--whose? Possibly the
yah-yu's. It must be so; and, brave as he was, he shuddered. Then,
looking out of the window, he could see nothing but a vast extent of
paddy (rice in the husks) fields. Then he saw the junk was passing along
a canal, which, from its width, he knew must be the great Imperial
Canal. Then Chow--poor Chow--and as he believed him to have been
swallowed up in the waters, the gallant boy burst into tears; and this
great grief banished every selfish thought from his mind. Then he
trembled for the safety of his letters; but, feeling beneath his robe,
he found them secure. Again he wept for Chow, and, happening to look at
the god, the hideous little brute seemed to be rejoicing at his
troubles, and in momentary rage he knocked the deity off its perch with
his fist, with such violence that the pain and blood upon his lacerated
knuckles immediately reminded him of the stupidity of the act, and he
laughed at his folly; but reflecting that the captain of the vessel
might visit such an insult to the image upon himself he replaced it in
its original position.
At that moment the door opened, and Chow entered with a tray, upon which
were two cups, a jar, and other materials for a meal, and in his
surprise exclaiming "Chow!" the latter was so much startled that he
nearly dropped the tray.
"May Tien be thanked; my master is far from Yen-Vang."
"Where are we, O Chow?" said Nicholas, recovering from his surprise; but
the boy would answer no questions until Nicholas had partaken of the
meal.
As soon as by eating and drinking, he had satisfied Chow that he was
really alive, the latter said, "Truly the gods must have been favorably
disposed toward the noble Nicholas, to have kept him alive for so many
days and nights, without brains in his head or food in his mouth."
"What words are these, O Chow?" said Nicholas, placing his hand to his
forehead, as if making an effort to decipher the boy's meaning.
"Let my master open his ears," said Chow; adding, "Worn out with my
exertions in the boat, I no sooner perceived the terrible eye than I
loosened my hold of the pole, and either from fright or fatigue, became
insensible; the water, however, revived me, and looking for my master, I
saw him lying by my side upon a shelving edge of rock, for, thanks be to
Fo, we had dashed upon the rock, the servant with out harm, but the
master receiving such a blow that it deprived him of his senses; when,
alarmed for his life, I shouted to the crew of the junk for help, and
begged of them to take us on board, but the rats refused, saying, that
as the gods had evidently reserved us for drowning, to resist would be
to provoke Ma-tsoo-po. Then, as my only hope, I shouted to them that I
had secured a traitor for whose head fifty taels were offered."
"Surely thou art not a rogue." But not noticing this, Chow continued,
"The hope of so much silver made the rogues carry us on board, and then
poor Chow could have swallowed fire, for when he begged of them to use
means to recall thee to thy senses, the dog of a captain said, 'Know
thou rat of a boy, that if fifty taels are offered for the rascal's
head, it will save trouble to lop it off at once.' Then Fo sent a
thought into my brainless head, and falling at the captain's feet, I
told him that so great were thy crimes, that although fifty taels would
be given for thy head, five hundred and a mandarin's button would be
given for thy whole body.
"Then said the captain, 'the dog utters words of wisdom,' and fearing to
lose the silver, if you died, he commanded a physician who happened to
be on board to make thee sound and whole, and moreover, promised to
reward me with ten taels if I helped to bring thee round."
But as they heard approaching footsteps, Chow said softly, "Get thee to
thy mat, it is the physician; do not let him bring thee to thy senses,
or we are lost."
By the time Nicholas had lain down, an elderly man, with a small funnel
and a porcelain cup in his hands, entered the cabin, and with as much
meaningless mystery of manner as one of our doctors, knelt by his side
and commenced the comical operation of feeling his pulse, or rather
pulses, for the physician's hands and fingers traveled up and down the
boy's body like a flea in search of a choice bite. Having gone through
this performance, he placed the funnel in the patient's mouth, and
poured down his throat a decoction of the gen-seng root, a plant which
the Chinese believe will cure all ills; and, disagreeable and difficult
as it was, Nicholas swallowed it, which so delighted the old gentleman
that he left the cabin chuckling, but telling Chow on no account to
attempt to awake him for the next three hours, as he was assured that
nature was bringing him to by her own means.
"Verily the old cheat believes I have a fever," said Nicholas, jumping
up as soon as the doctor had left the cabin.
Chow, who had been gazing from the window of the cabin while the
physician was present, no sooner saw him leave than he said, "We shall
leave the dogs now;" adding, "Let the noble Nicholas remain senseless
till Chow returns," and without another word he left the cabin.
For some time Nicholas remained quiet upon the mat, but getting tired he
arose, and looking out of the window he saw that the junk was in the
middle of the canal, and from the great quantity of boats knew they were
near to some great city. He had not, however, been looking long, when to
his surprise he saw one of these san-pans come alongside the junk, and
taking Chow on board, paddled off to the shore, where he remained for
some time, and then was brought back to the junk. What could that mean?
Surely Chow was not playing him false. No he was ashamed of the thought.
The boy must be concocting some scheme for his benefit; but hearing
footsteps he resumed his position upon the mat, and in another minute
the physician and Chow entered. This time the doctor only went through
the pulse performance, saying, "Now if the rascal would but move a limb
it would show that Fo and the immortal drug had sent the blood into his
muscles."
A comical notion came into the patient's head; it was dangerous, but it
might prevent the necessity of the funnel being put in his throat, and
so with a slight yawn he suddenly gave the old gentleman such a kick on
the shins that he started with surprise, but delighted that his
treatment had succeeded, he said, "Truly the rogue is getting his
strength," and hopped out of the room, uttering maledictions upon the
sailors for robbing him of his gen-seng.
"What meant the rat by those words?" said Nicholas, and he was more
than satisfied when Chow told him the following story: The doctor placed
implicit faith in the wonderful curative powers of the famous gen-seng,
a quantity of which he carried about with him, ready for any accident
that might happen. Knowing this, Chow had managed to secure the whole,
and, as he anticipated, when the old gentleman discovered his loss he
grew furious, and told the captain that Nicholas would die. The captain
being in fear of losing his reward, had all the men searched, and not a
few beaten with the bamboo. It was all of no use. What was to be done?
Chow offered to go ashore and procure some; the captain agreed, a signal
was made for a boatman, who, as we have seen, came off to the junk, took
Chow ashore, from whence he returned with the much-prized plant, which,
by the way, he had no greater trouble in obtaining than putting his hand
in a hole in the lining of his outer garment.
While in the boat Chow had made good use of his time, for he had bribed
the boatman to bring his little craft alongside the junk about the
middle of the third watch.
The night is divided into five watches; the first begins at seven and is
distinguished by a single stroke, which is repeated every minute till
the second watch, when two blows are given, and so with the third,
fourth, and fifth.
Anxiously did they await the treble sound; at length it came,--one, two,
three,--and they stood with breathless expectation; about the tenth
minute of the third watch there was a tap at the paper window, when
pulling out his knife, Chow ran the blade around the paper, and the next
moment the end of a rope was thrown through. Making this fast to a hook
within the cabin, Nicholas crept legs foremost through the hole, and
catching hold of a rope swang himself into the san-pan. Chow followed,
and they crawled into the little cabin, when the san-pan glided away,
not, however, without arousing one of the sailors, who believing that
the boat had crept alongside with some nefarious design upon the
property of the vessel, sharply warned the boatman of the danger of any
such attempt, as he was on the _qui vive_. The boatman, however, having
given a satisfactory reply, he pushed onward, and after passing through
a little world of junks, san-pans, and barges, they managed to effect a
landing without being noticed. After which, the man having fastened his
boat led them through the suburbs till they reached a small mud hut,
from the top of which issued a wreathing column of flame and smoke.
"It is the hut of a sentry," exclaimed Nicholas, who knew that the
signal huts were distributed at distances of about a mile apart
throughout the interior, as a warning to all would-be depredators that
the police were on the alert, and this being precisely the kind of place
they should have avoided, he said, "For what purpose has the worthy
boatman brought us to this hut."
"Truly, my master, we are in safe hands, for the man on duty is the
boatman's brother and will let us hide here till morning," said Chow,
and the next moment they were within the hut partaking of a portion of
the soldier's fare of hot tea and rice bread.
After some little time the boatman said, "Truly it is not often that
brothers meet, and it is well that we should have a fraternal
conversation."
When the men left the hut Chow took a paper from his robe, leant over a
fire, and having perused it, said, "The dog is a rogue, he would give us
shelter to-night but to betray us in the morning."
"What words are these? Truly the boatman knew us as nought but two poor
travelers."
"My master's thoughts are generous," replied Chow; adding, as he handed
Nicholas the paper, "Let the noble man-boy read for himself."
Taking the paper, Nicholas read, "Let the noble commander offer a
handsome reward, and the rascals who have escaped shall be again placed
in his hands."
"Truly this is villainy; but how fell this paper into thy hands, O
Chow."
"Is it not a maxim that wickedness defeats its own ends?" said Chow;
adding, "As thy servant was getting from the window of the junk into the
san-pan, that paper fell into his hand. Doubtless the rascal boatman
threw it upon the deck, from whence by accident, it fell into my hands."
"Truly it must have been thrown by the hand of Heaven," said Nicholas.
"We will defeat the rascals, for fortunately I have saved one of the
thieves' pastiles," said Chow, pulling one of the pyramids from beneath
his robe.
Then as they heard the footsteps of the soldier they squatted before the
fire, pretending to be in earnest conversation. The man joined them, and
having poured some hot water into a cup, took a pinch of tea-dust from a
little packet and made himself a cup of that beverage. But while the
soldier was drinking, and probably chuckling at the good round sum he
should obtain in the morning for Chow and Nicholas, the latter pulled
his arms behind, and held them till Chow tore enough of his coarse loose
garment to form a ligature, with which he secured them; then throwing
him upon his back, and leaving Nicholas to prevent his rolling over, he
pulled from his robe a portable lantern, unfolded it, lit the wick, then
lighting the pastile, at arm's length he held it beneath the soldier's
nostrils till he became stupid, and indeed, until he became insensible,
when, rolling him over and leaving the pastile burning, they left the
hut, taking good care to secure it from the outside.