THE SECRET CAVERN.--THE PRINCESS SAVED BY THE BOYS.
"Thou hast had a narrow escape, O most prudent master," said Chow,
coming forth when he saw the coast clear.
"Had I been taken, it would have been a just punishment for missing my
mark; but by what fortunate chance did that savage beast escape from his
cage, O Chow?" replied Nicholas, descending the tree.
"That chance, O my master was the foresight of thy servant, who
unfastened the door of the cage of that four-footed brother of Yen-Vang,
neither knowing nor caring whether he might not himself be the first
meal, so that the noble Nicholas escaped."
"It was well done, my brave Chow; yet surely that rebel rogue must be
protected by some demon to have escaped so narrowly both arrow and lion;
but let us haste to the cavern, or they may return."
Now, although the whole of this adventure had not occupied more than an
hour, Nicholas was greatly in fear for what might have happened to the
princess, an anxiety reciprocated by the princess, who, as soon as she
saw them again, exclaimed, "Thank heaven, the noble youth is saved;"
then added reproachfully, "But he has not performed his promise, for he
brings not the sacred remains of his royal master;" when, however,
Nicholas related the adventure, although in great anguish of mind at
being denied the sacred right of paying the last office of respect to
the corpse of her parent, she was overjoyed at their escape.
"Escape, O great princess; thy small servant is not clever and gifted,
like the mole, or he would eat a hole through the end of this rat-trap;
for to attempt it by the entrance would be to submissively ask the
traitor Li-Kong to cut us all into ten thousand pieces," said Chow.
"The words of the brave Chow are reasonable, for truly this cavern is
but a trap," said Nicholas.
"It is not so; push thou against the end of the cavern," said the
princess.
"Truly we are fortunate," said Nicholas with astonishment, as he found
the end giving way, and disclosing to his vision a long narrow passage.
"It was made by the great Tait-sou, and leads to an unfrequented suburb
of the city; by this means he could leave the palace alone, and by
mixing among the people judge for himself how the mandarins were
respected by them," said the princess.
"Surely they will follow us here," said Nicholas.
"Not so, noble youth; for the secret is known but to few. It was the
sole vile act of the great Tait-sou's reign that he caused this passage
to be made by condemned prisoners, whom he afterward slew, that they
might not divulge the secret," said the princess, adding, "Let us trace
its course."
Then, helping the wounded girl to walk, they proceeded down the passage
for a considerable distance, till their progress was arrested by a door;
pushing this, however, they found themselves in a small cavern, lighted,
like the one at which they had entered, by a small grating from above.
"How is it possible, O noble Nicholas, that we can pass through the
roaring rebels, who are, doubtless, without?" said Chow.
"It is a reasonable question, O noble youth; truly we had better remain
here till night," said the princess.
But, having considered for a minute, Nicholas said, "Not so, great
princess; remain thou here with Chow, and thy servant will find some
means of deliverance;" whereupon he borrowed from Chow his less
conspicuous cap, robe, and boots, then felt his way up a flight of
narrow steps, till his head struck against a trap-door; lifting this
gently, he found himself in a small stone room, the door of which stood
open; passing this, he came into an oblong court, and saw at once that
the place had been erected as a tomb, and, moreover, that he was at the
most remote end of a valley of tombs. So far he believed the princess to
be in a place of safety, for none, even in those rebellious days, would
dare to enter the ancestral tomb of another.
Crossing this valley of sepulchres with inverted face, as if in deep
contemplation after visiting the tomb of his ancestors, he came into the
open road, where a vast crowd were floating onward into the city, mad
with excitement, and shouting, "Many years' life to the heaven-sent
Emperor!" he mixed with them, and so, safely passed onward to the house
of the merchant Yang, who no sooner saw him than he ordered an incense
table, and returned thanks to Fo for his safety. "For," said he, "thy
servant made but little doubt that the son of the great Chin-Chi-Loong
had been slain."
"The son of the merchant of the south lives to avenge the death of his
Emperor," said Nicholas.
"Hist! hist!" said the merchant, pale with fear, lest some servant might
hear the words; adding, "Truly Wey-t-song but merited his fate."
"Art thou also a traitor, O Yang?" exclaimed Nicholas, indignantly.
"The rich need be cautious, for is it not a maxim, that a successful
rebel is more to be feared than a dead Emperor, O noble Nicholas?"
Indignant as he was at this disloyalty, Nicholas, remembering the
necessity of the princess, dissembled his anger, and said, "Is the
worthy Yang under sufficient obligation to Chin-Chi-Loong to serve his
son?"
"Even to the extent of his life and fortune."
"Then I will trust thee," said Nicholas, dropping the usual formality of
speech, and telling him the whole of his adventure of the morning.
"Truly, O youth, this is a dangerous affair; but Yang dares not break
faith with the great chief who may some day be master of us all," said
the merchant, trembling with fear.
"This, then, is just; I would have the head-dress and mourning garb of a
widow, and the coarse robes of two Coolies."
"This is a cautious method of proceeding, and shall be done," said Yang,
who left the room, leaving the impatient youth walking to and fro with
great anxiety. The articles, however, not being very difficult to obtain
in that part of the city, the merchant soon returned with them packed up
in a small bale; then, hastily thanking Yang, Nicholas took the bale
with him some little distance from the house, and paid two Coolies to
carry him in their sedan to the gate of the valley of tombs; having
arrived there, he jumped out of the chair, and paid the Coolies
handsomely, telling them to leave it near the gate, and to fetch him
again in two hours' time; when, not in the least doubting the honesty of
so generous a customer, the Coolies went off to spend their earnings at
a wine-shop, and Nicholas proceeded cautiously to the cavern.
Having explained his scheme to the princess, he left her in the cavern
to attire herself in the widow's weeds, while he and Chow proceeded to
the tomb above, to assume the garbs of Coolies.
This being done, he gave Chow some silver and sent him off to the
wine-shop, after which he assisted the princess up the steps, and,
supporting her, they slowly walked through the valley, till they came
within a short distance of the gate, when, to the delight of Nicholas,
Chow came up to them and said:--
"I found the two sots drinking like fishes, and when I told them a
merchant wished to hire them, they laughed heartily, saying, that they
had already been engaged by too good a passenger to stir for the next
two hours."
Then, assisting the princess into the chair, Nicholas and Chow took the
place of the Coolies, and so carried it to the house of Yang.
As Yang had prepared the ladies of his family to receive a young girl,
who, he said, was about to be taken into a distant province by her
brother, as soon as the troubles had subsided, the princess was warmly
received in the Hall of Ancestors, and immediately conducted to the
inner apartments of the house. Cleverly as this was managed, Nicholas
now trembled for the safety of the princess; indeed, she could be safe
no where, but with the Lady Candida, or the Prince Yong-Li, both of whom
he believed to have fled to Woo-san-Kwei, in Leao-tong, therefore,
difficult as was the task, he determined to take her to that province.
As for Yang, whose loyalty was stronger toward the family of Nicholas
than to the imperial line, and who really wished a person likely to
prove so dangerous as the princess out of his house, he offered his
advice and assistance; and as a small junk belonging to him was about to
proceed to Tien-sin, on the banks of the Pei-ho (or white river) with a
cargo of goods in exchange for salt, he offered to place it at the
command of Nicholas, who, when at the mouth of the river, would find it
no difficult matter to make a voyage through the gulf of Pe-tche-Lee,
and of Leao-tong, to some town upon the coast.
This being arranged, they determined that the junk should start as soon
as she was laden, and that the princess should embark as a young widow,
whose husband having been killed in the rebellion, was returning to see
her friends in Leao-tong. But then the princess could not travel without
a female attendant,--and whom could they trust? that seemed their
greatest difficulty. It was surmounted, however as you will see in the
next chapter.