PUTTING TWO AND TWO TOGETHER.
With a sudden thought, Matt stepped to the motor cycle McGlory had
used, and gave the front wheel a critical examination.
"What's that for?" asked the cowboy.
"I'm only putting two and two together, Joe," Matt answered, returning
to his place at his chum's side.
"I reckon they make five, this inning," said McGlory.
"I believe I've got the hang of it," went on Matt. "You're just getting
back to your natural self, Joe. Ever since we awoke in those hammocks,
and up to this minute, you've been a trifle 'flighty.'"
"Well," acknowledged McGlory, "I felt as though I'd been browsing on
loco weed."
"How do you account for it?"
"I don't. You're doing this sum in arithmetic. What's the answer?"
"Glass balls," said Matt.
"Speak to me about those glass balls! That webfoot threw two of them,
and they smashed right in front of us! And--and---- But, say, pard,
it's not in reason to think that two things like those balls could lay
us out."
"Remember how the Eye of Buddha was stolen? The one-eyed sailor and
the Englishman broke one of the glass balls in the temple, and all the
priests were laid out."
"Oh, well, if you're going to take any stock in that fat Chinaman and
his yarn, I reckon you----"
"Now, listen," continued Matt earnestly. "Strange as it may seem, Joe,
there _are_ balls like those Tsan Ti was telling us about. We have had
an experience with them, and we _know_. I suppose the glass spheres are
filled with some powerful narcotic fumes which are set free the moment
the balls are broken."
"It's not in reason," protested Joe.
"It's a hard thing to believe that such objects exist, I'll admit,"
proceeded Matt, "but we have got to credit the evidence of our senses.
While one of the balls was enough to overcome the priests, in the
temple, it was necessary for the sailor to use two against us, there
in the open. The air, naturally, would soon dissipate the fumes. I
shouldn't wonder," Matt added reflectively, "but those balls were
invented by the Chinese. They seem to have a knack for that sort of
thing."
"Queerest knock-out drops I ever heard of."
"When you and I recovered sufficient strength to get up out of the
road," continued Matt, "we hadn't yet recovered full possession of our
wits. You remember, Joe, your front tire was punctured. Well, that
puncture was neatly mended, and the air pump must have been used to
inflate the tire again. You and I must have done that, then rode up
here and taken possession of the hammocks."
The cowboy whistled.
"Able to make repairs, and to navigate, but plumb locoed for all that,
eh?" he remarked.
"That's my idea, Joe. When we finally recovered our senses, in these
hammocks, all that had happened seemed to have been a dream."
"Seems so yet, pard. What's become of Tsan Ti? And the other hatchet
boy that brought the yellow cord? They don't know anything about Tsan
at the hotel, so he must have been overworking his imagination when
he told us he had been having tea there. And that other yarn about
seeing the man with the yellow cord and ducking on a borrowed wheel
to get away from him! Say, I reckon they'd have known something about
a commotion of that sort if it had happened here." McGlory wagged
his head incredulously. "The fat chink is up to something, Matt," he
finished, "and he's been talking with the double tongue."
"I'll admit," said Matt, "that there are some parts of the problem that
look rather dubious, but, on the whole, Tsan Ti's story holds together
pretty well. That story of the ruby was corroborated, in a way, by the
sailor. From the fellow's actions, he must have known a good deal about
the Eye of Buddha. Why did he throw the glass balls at us? Simply to
keep us from following him. If the sailor hadn't been guilty of some
treacherous work, he wouldn't have done that."
"I'm over my head," muttered McGlory. "But, if the mandarin is so
hungry to have us help him, what's the reason he's making himself
absent? Why isn't he here?"
"Let's give him time to get here. We weren't on that mountainside for
more than two hours. It was nine when we left Catskill Landing, and
about half-past ten, I should say, when we met Tsan Ti. It's nearly
one, now."
"Well, what's the next move, pard? Are you going to that Purling place
and ask for Pryne at the general store?"
"Not right away. We'll give Tsan Ti a chance to present himself, first."
"You don't think"--and here McGlory assumed a tragic look--"that Tsan
would go off into the timber and use that yellow cord, do you?"
"He has two weeks before he has to do that."
"_Has_ to do it! Why, he don't have to do it at all, except to be
polite to that squinch-eyed boss of the Flowery Kingdom. Honest, these
chinks are the limit."
Matt got up and pulled his motor cycle away from the tree.
"Let's go into the hotel, and have dinner, Joe," he suggested. "If we
don't hear anything from Tsan Ti by four, this afternoon, we'll return
to Catskill."
"And not do anything about that paper you got out of the sailor's hat?"
asked the cowboy.
"If Tsan Ti doesn't think we're worth bothering with, after we've come
all the way from Grand Rapids to lend him a hand, we'll let him do his
own hunting for the ruby."
"Keno, correct, and then some," agreed the cowboy heartily. "I've
thought, all along, there'd be some sort of bobble about this Eastern
trip. But let's eat. I've been hungry enough to sit in at chuck-pile
any time the last three hours."
The boys left their wheels in charge of a man who looked after the
motor cars belonging to guests, and went into the office for the second
time. The clerk surveyed McGlory with pronounced disfavor while Matt
was registering. The cowboy met the look with an easy grin, and, after
he and Matt had washed their faces, brushed their hair, and knocked the
dust out of their clothes, they went into the big dining room and did
full justice to an excellent meal.
Neither had much to say about Tsan Ti. Matt was half fearing the
mandarin's business was a good deal of a wild-goose chase, and that
the ponderous Celestial, for reasons of his own, had absented himself
permanently.
Following the meal, the boys went out to sit on the veranda. They had
hardly taken their chairs when a big red automobile, with a rumble seat
behind in place of a tonneau, sizzled up to the front of the hotel and
came to a stop.
There was one man in the car. As soon as the dust had settled a little,
a black cap with a red button, a long queue, and a yellow blouse
emerged with startling distinctness upon the gaze of the two boys.
McGlory sat in his chair as though paralyzed.
"It's Tsan Ti!" he murmured feebly, switching his eyes to Matt.
"Tsan Ti, and no mistake," answered Matt.
"First he rides a bike," said the cowboy, rapidly recovering, "and now
he blows in on us at the steering wheel of a gasoline cart. He's the
handiest all-around heathen I ever met up with. And look at him! He
acts just as though nothing had happened. Well, let me know about that,
will you?"
Tsan Ti turned sidewise in the driver's seat, and swept his gaze over
the front of the hotel. He was less than half a minute getting the
range of the motor boys. Lifting a hand, he beckoned for them to come.
"He wants us," said Matt grimly. "We'd better go, and hear what he has
to say for himself."
"That's the talk!" agreed McGlory.
A bland smile crossed the flabby face of the Chinaman as the boys came
close.
"Embark, distinguished friends," said he.
After all the rough and tumble of the morning, Tsan Ti now appeared in
perfect condition. He was entirely at his ease, and as well groomed a
mandarin as ever left the Chinese Empire.
"Just a minute, Tsan Ti," returned Matt coldly. "There are a few things
we would like to have explained before we go any farther in this
business of yours."
"All shall be made transparent to you, most excellent youth," was the
reply, "only just now embark, so that we may proceed on our way."
"You said you were stopping at the Mountain House," said Matt severely.
"A play upon words, no more. I was staying at the Kaaterskill. What
says the great Confucius? 'The cautious seldom err.' I was cautious.
Time passes swiftly, and----"
"Get out and explain everything to us, Tsan Ti," broke in Matt firmly.
"If you want us to help you, you've got to take time to set us right
on a few important matters. We hadn't talked twenty minutes with you
before we jumped in to give you a helping hand--and succeeded in
getting ourselves into trouble. As you say, 'the cautious seldom err.'
That means us, you know, as well as you."
The mandarin heaved a sigh of disappointment, floundered out of the
machine, and accompanied the boys in the direction of the three trees
and the swinging hammocks.