Free Emperor Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer Page B

without you, Yueh Hua?”
    They started without delay. It was very hot, and Tony welcomed his large sun hat, gift of the lama. He worked hard, and Yueh Hua insisted upon taking her turn at the oar. There was no sign of pursuit.
    In the late afternoon Yueh Hua found a perfect spot to tie up; a little willow-shadowed creek. There was evidence, though, that they were near a village, for through the trees they could see a road along which workers were trudging homeward from the fields.
    “It will do,” Tony agreed, “for we shall never be noticed here. But soon I’m going to explore a little way to try to find out just where we are!”
    When they had moored the sampan they shared a meal, and Tony went ashore to take a look around.
    He discovered that they were moored not more than a few hundred yards from the village, which only a screen of bamboos concealed from them. It was an insignificant little group of dwellings, but it boasted an inn of sorts which spanned the road along which they had seen the peasants walking homeward. He returned and reported this to Yueh Hua.
    “I think we should start for Lung Chang at once,” she advised. “The fields are deserted now, and soon dusk will come. I believe I can find the way if we go back a mile or so nearer to Niu-fo-tu.”
    Tony loved her more and more every hour they were together. Her keen intelligence made her a wonderful companion. Her beauty, which he had been slow to recognize, had completely conquered him.
    “Let’s wait a little while longer, Yueh Hua,” he said yearningly. “I want to tell you how much I love you.” He took her in his arms. “Kiss me while I try.”
    * * *
    His try was so successful that dusk was very near when Yueh Hua sighed, “My dear one, it is time we left here.”
    Tony reluctantly agreed. They pushed the boat out again to the canal and swung around to head back toward Niu-fo-tu.
    Tony had dipped the blade of the oar and was about to begin work when he hesitated, lifted the long sweep, and listened.
    Someone was running down to the canal, forcing a way through undergrowth, and at the same time uttering what sounded like breathless sobs. It was a man, clearly enough, and a man in a state of blind panic.
    “Chi Foh.” Yueh Hua spoke urgently. “Be quick. We must get away. Do you hear it?”
    “Yes. I hear it. But I don’t understand.”
    A gasping cry came. The man evidently had sighted the boat. “Save me! Help, boatman!”
    Then Tony heard him fall, heard his groans. He swung the boat into the bank. “Take the oar, Yueh Hua, while I see what’s wrong here.”
    Yueh Hua grasped him. “Chi Foh! You are mad. It may be a trap. We know we are being followed.”
    Gently, he broke away. “My dearest—give me my gun—you know where it is.”
    From the locker Yueh Hua brought the .38. She was trembling excitedly. Tony knew that it was for his safety, not for her own, that she was frightened. He kissed her, took the pistol, and jumped ashore.
    Groans and muffled hysterical words led him to the spot. He found a half-dressed figure writhing in a tangle of weeds two to three feet high; a short, thickset man of Slavonic type, and although not lacking in Mongolian characteristics, definitely not Chinese. He was clutching a bulging briefcase. He looked up.
    “A hundred dollars to take me to Huang-ko-shu!” he groaned. “Be quick.”
    Tony dragged the man to his feet. He discovered that his hands were feverishly hot. “Come on board. I can take you part of the way.”
    He half carried the sufferer, still clutching his leather case, onto the sampan.
    “Chi Foh, you are insane,” was Yueh Hua’s greeting. “What are we to do with him?”
    “Put him ashore somewhere near a town. He’s very ill.” He dragged the unwanted passenger under the mat roof and took to the oar.
    But again he hesitated, although only for a moment. There were cries, running footsteps, swiftly approaching from the direction of the hidden village.

CHAPTER NINE

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