The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu

lleyway as Smith lurched in hulking fashion to the door of

YAN, B

and rolls of twist which lay untidily in the window ere Smith kicked the door open, clatte

air. A Yiddish theatrical bill of some kind, illustrated, adorned one of the walls, and another bill, in what may have been Chinese, completed the decorations. From behind a

hion, squinting from one to the other of us wit

ss, and shook an artificially dirtied fist under the Chinaman's nose. "Get insi

eyes with a vindictiveness that amazed me, unfami

the Chinaman's yellow paw. "Keep me waitin' an' I'll

pipee-" bega

is fist, and Y

said. "Full up-no

. Never before had I experienced anything like it. Every breath was an effort. A tin oil-lamp on a box in the middle of the floor dimly illuminated the horrible place, about the walls of which ten or twelve bunks were ra

Yan, complacently testing Smith's shi

ropped cross-legged, on the fl

"Plenty room. Two piecee pi

from one of t

arlie, curse yer! an

a needle in the flame, he dipped it, when red-hot, into an old cocoa tin, and withdrew it with a bead of opium adhering to the end. Slowly

and rose on his knees with the assum

h he promptly put to his lips

inhale any," came Smit

t I took the pipe and pretended to smoke. Taking my cue from my friend, I allowed my head gradually to sink

ed a voice from one of the

my fellows-from the whole of the Western world. My throat was parched with the fume

like the worst, And there ain't no Ten C

n to whisp

ind you, half concealed by a ragged curtain. We are near that, and well in the dark. I have seen nothing suspicious so far-or n

d eyes I perceived a shadowy form near the curtain to which he ha

igure moved forward into the roo

ings in far-away voices-an uncanny, animal chorus. It was like a glimpse of the Inferno seen by some Chinese Dante. But so close to us stood the newcomer that I was able to make out a ghastly parchment face, with small, oblique eyes, and a mi

of some kind told me that we were on the right scent-that this was one of the doctor's servants. How I came to that conclusion, I cannot explain; but

watch

s from the surrounding bunks. The presence of the crouching figure had created a sudden semi-silence in the den

lay prone and still, but watched the evil face bending lower and lower,

hat was coming, I rolled my eyes up, as the lid was

as glad. For just a moment I realized fully how, with the place watched back and front, we yet were cut off, were in t

. He took me on trust after that. My God! what an awful face. Petrie, i

man had scrambled down from one of the bunks an

curious, lithe gait, and the other, an impassive Chinaman, following.

r," whispe

n him, and he communicated it to me.

e floor, and went out. The little, bent man went over to another

"A dacoit! They come here to report and to ta

ll we do?

s sure to have some other exit. I will give the word while the little yellow devil is down here.

his departure. A third man, whom Smith identified as a Malay, ascended the mysterious stairs, descended, and went out; and a fourth, who

for further delay was dangerous

te darkness. A chorus of brutish cries clamored from behind, with a muffled scream rising above them all. But Nayland Smith was close behind a

lamp swung by a brass chain above, and a man sitting behind the table. But from the moment that my gaze rested upon th

nce. His hands were large, long and bony, and he held them knuckles upward, and rested his pointe

at ever reflected a human soul, for they were narrow and long, very slightly oblique, and of a brilliant green. But their unique horror lay in a certain filminess (it made me think of t

my experience. He was surprised by this sudden intrusion-yes, but no trace of fear showed upon that wonderful face

er, in a voice that was almost a scream. "IT

of that sentenc

beside the table, and the f

a scream I was unable to repress I dropped, dropped, drop

o the surface impenetrable darkness enveloped me; I was spitting filthy, oily liquid from my mouth, and fighting down the black terror that had me by the thr

cried.… "

mind and all my failing courage, I recognized that I had better employment of my energies, and began to s

hrough the darkness and hiss

ite my resolution

ery drop-a

hed one bound of my watery prison. More fire fell from above,

difficulty in my heavy garments, I t

it was merely a question of time for the floor to co

bove me wa

rough the cracks in the crazy flooring, which had fallen abou

erhead. Shortly that cauldron would be loosed upon my head. The glow of the flames grew brighter … and showed me the half-r

hames. By that duct, with the outgoing tide, my body would

of the walls communicating with a t

g the oily water and adding a new dread to the whispering, clammy horror of the pit. But somethin

" I breathed. "Ha

, all but irresistible force. I knew what it

, every stroke an agony, approached the beam. Nearer I swam … nearer. Its shadow fell black upon the water, which now had all the seeming of a p

eam sounded

touch the beam! For God's sake DON'T TOUCH THE BEAM!

econds! Was t

bing head; and I saw the strangest s

ung … supported by the hideous, crook-back

't rea

and pull it off! With it came the wig to which it was attached; and the ghastly yellow mask, deprived of its fa

ss this strange lifeline to Smith; and I think it was my wonder at knowing her

ned to that beautiful, flushed face, and my eyes f

rm round me I realized that exhaustion was even nearer than I had supposed. My last distinct memory is of the bursting of the floor above and the big burning joist hissi

ingers-" I sai

oke and flames of the narrow passage it opened upon. My next recollection is of sittin

owd surged about us, and a clangor a

bewilderment. "Shen-Yan's is in flames. It was your sh

erybod

r as w

Manc

ugged his

im. There was some

think

until I see him lying dead b

ed its sway. I st

s she?" I cried

know," he

Mr. Singapore Charlie-and, I'm afraid, somebody else. We've got six or eight all-sorts, some awake and some asleep, but I suppose we sha

o poor Cadby had brought life to me, and I seemed to remember, too, that Smith had dropped it as he threw his arm abou

d shell of what had been Shen-Yan's opium-shop, and Smith and I were speeding

bring the pigtail with you

hoped to mee

ou got

met the

of the big pea-jacket lent to me by In

far too sentimental. I knew what it meant to us, Petrie, what it meant to the w