Dragon's blood

lay wearily in the upper chamber of Heywood's house. The host, with both his long legs out

silence, "those cocoan

d, drawled: "You might think I'd done a bit o' dueling myself, by the looks.--But I had some part

d pulling in his legs, rose

floor. Rudolph was on foot, clutching his

You did that!" He stoo

h the door, his yellow face wearing a placid a

e-man hab-

tched it as though glad of the interrup

a crabbed, antique

in danger. Um Gottes willen--" It straggled off, illegible.

wood. "You talkee

s an opium-smoker, he wore loose clothes of dirty blue,--one trousers-leg rolled up. The brown face, thin and comically small, wore a mask of inky shadow under a wicker bowl hat. His

t and surliest form of the colloquial "Cl

e civilly," retorted Heywo

the paper and a pencil, and choosing the darkest part of the wall, began to write. The lamp stood between him and the company: Heywood alone saw--and with a

ran in the sa

the othe

house; and then over his shoulder, "

r-table. The creature darted past him, blew out one candle, and thru

ween gasp and chuckle, "but der pak-wa goot, no? When der live dependt,

rful! You are a coolie"--Wutzler's conical wicker-hat du

igure pulled i

vernacular. "To-night I am a coolie-

door, and popped his head

, returning. "Wh

ll.' They kept asking, 'Do you follow the foreign dogs and goats?' But he would only answer, 'I follow the Lord Jesus.' So then they beat out his teeth with a heavy shoe, and cas

Heywood, "I coul

fearfully, as though the fl

with mangrove-bark water. You know this sign?" He patted his right leg, where the roll of trouse

Heywood whi

ltered, and

me, for safety.--We mean no harm, now, we of the Triad. But there is another secret band, having many of

ed his fingers. "Nonsense. E

se people? Does the knowledge come so cheap, or at a price? All these years--darkness--sunken--alone"--He trembled violently, but regained h

I believe you. But why come here

reast again. The varnished hat

not stay,

"The date, man! The day they set. You came away wit

y raised, shone with great tears

. I found a listening place--next door: a long roof. You can

ted his shoulder. "I didn't

a word, sniffing miserably; then of a sudden, as thou

u dare go to the place I show

visibly, pause

s the landing, and called out, "You chaps make yourselves at home, will you? Business, you know. What a bore! I

rried along a "goat" path, skirted the town wall, and stole through a dark gate into a darker maze of lone

o to pluck the White Lotus. These men hate it, they are Triad brothers, they will let you pass. You come from the East, where the Fusang cocks spit orient pearls; you stud

rried catechis

n hope. Do not forget. They will pass you through hidden wa

knock. Bars clattered within, and a strip of dim light widened. "Who

thers.--Go in, I can help no further. If you are caught, slide down, a

he opposite wall, and stared with cruel, unblinking eyes. If the stranger were the first white man to enter, this motionles

l in-the-c

said t

native with a halberd, who o

table. But here a twisted cripple, his nose long and pendulous with elephantiasis, pr

ond guard, in a soft and husky bass. As h

ginger," replie

our face

ce--a green face

ulled a cord--the nose quaking with th

imself. In the breath of his black fan, the lamplight tossed queer shadows leaping, and danced on the table of polished camagon

he said, with siniste

wood, in a sinking h

re the Fusang cocks

tudy?" The black fan

ed Flower

ok did y

his wits by his will, "the book

the t

low." "And what"--the aged voice rose

red Heywood, negligently.--"But," r

he examiner, "do y

ven has sent

re. It seemed a hopeful sign; but the

ou such a s

n under a

k from the mouth of a dark corridor, saw him, beside the table o

e crypt. A trap, a suffocating well, he thought; and rose filthy, choked with bitterness and disgust. Only the taunting justice of Wutzler's argument, the retort ad hominem, had sent him headlong into this dangerous folly. He had scolded a coward

head. Their pittance of light, as his eyesight cleared, showed a ladder rising flat against the wall. H

muffled, sounded