SINCE Nayland Smith's return from Burma I had rarely taken up a paper without coming upon evidences of that seething1 which had cast up Dr. Fu-Manchu. Whether, hitherto, such items had escaped my attention or had seemed to demand no particular notice, or whether they now became increasingly numerous, I was unable to determine.
One evening, some little time after our sojourn2 in Norfolk, in glancing through a number of papers which I had brought in with me, I chanced upon no fewer than four items of news bearing more or less directly upon the grim business which engaged my friend and I.
No white man, I honestly believe, appreciates the unemotional cruelty of the Chinese. Throughout the time that Dr. Fu-Manchu remained in England, the press preserved a uniform silence upon the subject of his existence. This was due to Nayland Smith. But, as a result, I feel assured that my account of the Chinaman's deeds will, in many quarters, meet with an incredulous reception.
I had been at work, earlier in the evening, upon the opening chapters of this chronicle, and I had realized how difficult it would be for my reader, amid secure and cozy3 surroundings, to credit any human being with a callous4 villainy great enough to conceive and to put into execution such a death pest as that directed against Sir Crichton Davey.
One would expect God's worst man to shrink from employing—against however vile5 an enemy—such an instrument as the Zayat Kiss. So thinking, my eye was caught by the following:—
EXPRESS CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK.
"Secret service men of the United States Government are searching the South Sea Islands for a certain Hawaiian from the island of Maui, who, it is believed, has been selling poisonous scorpions6 to Chinese in Honolulu anxious to get rid of their children.
"Infanticide, by scorpion7 and otherwise, among the Chinese, has increased so terribly that the authorities have started a searching inquiry8, which has led to the hunt for the scorpion dealer9 of Maui.
"Practically all the babies that die mysteriously are unwanted girls, and in nearly every case the parents promptly10 ascribe the death to the bite of a scorpion, and are ready to produce some more or less poisonous insect in support of the statement.
"The authorities have no doubt that infanticide by scorpion bite is a growing practice, and orders have been given to hunt down the scorpion dealer at any cost."
Is it any matter for wonder that such a people had produced a Fu-Manchu? I pasted the cutting into a scrap-book, determined11 that, if I lived to publish my account of those days, I would quote it therein as casting a sidelight upon Chinese character.
A Reuter message to The Globe and a paragraph in The Star also furnished work for my scissors. Here were evidences of the deep-seated unrest, the secret turmoil12, which manifested itself so far from its center as peaceful England in the person of the sinister13 Doctor.
"HONG KONG, Friday.
"Li Hon Hung, the Chinaman who fired at the Governor yesterday, was charged before the magistrate14 with shooting at him with intent to kill, which is equivalent to attempted murder. The prisoner, who was not defended, pleaded guilty. The Assistant Crown Solicitor15, who prosecuted16, asked for a remand until Monday, which was granted.
"Snapshots taken by the spectators of the outrage17 yesterday disclosed the presence of an accomplice18, also armed with a revolver. It is reported that this man, who was arrested last night, was in possession of incriminating documentary evidence."
Later.
"Examination of the documents found on Li Hon Hung's accomplice has disclosed the fact that both men were well financed by the Canton Triad Society, the directors of which had enjoined19 the assassination20 of Sir F. M. or Mr. C. S., the Colonial Secretary. In a report prepared by the accomplice for dispatch to Canton, also found on his person, he expressed regret that the attempt had failed."—Reuter.
"It is officially reported in St. Petersburg that a force of Chinese soldiers and villagers surrounded the house of a Russian subject named Said Effendi, near Khotan, in Chinese Turkestan.
"They fired at the house and set it in flames. There were in the house about 100 Russians, many of whom were killed.
"The Russian Government has instructed its Minister at Peking to make the most vigorous representations on the subject."—Reuter.
Finally, in a Personal Column, I found the following:—
"HO-NAN. Have abandoned visit.—ELTHAM."
I had just pasted it into my book when Nayland Smith came in and threw himself into an arm-chair, facing me across the table. I showed him the cutting.
"I am glad, for Eltham's sake—and for the girl's," was his comment. "But it marks another victory for Fu-Manchu! Just Heaven! Why is retribution delayed!"
Smith's darkly tanned face had grown leaner than ever since he had begun his fight with the most uncanny opponent, I suppose, against whom a man ever had pitted himself. He stood up and began restlessly to pace the room, furiously stuffing tobacco into his briar.
"I have seen Sir Lionel Barton," he said abruptly21; "and, to put the whole thing in a nutshell, he has laughed at me! During the months that I have been wondering where he had gone to he has been somewhere in Egypt. He certainly bears a charmed life, for on the evidence of his letter to The Times he has seen things in Tibet which Fu-Manchu would have the West blind to; in fact, I think he has found a new keyhole to the gate of the Indian Empire!"
Long ago we had placed the name of Sir Lionel Barton upon the list of those whose lives stood between Fu-Manchu and the attainment22 of his end. Orientalist and explorer, the fearless traveler who first had penetrated24 to Lhassa, who thrice, as a pilgrim, had entered forbidden Mecca, he now had turned his attention again to Tibet—thereby signing his own death-warrant.
"That he has reached England alive is a hopeful sign?" I suggested.
Smith shook his head, and lighted the blackened briar.
"England at present is the web," he replied. "The spider will be waiting. Petrie, I sometimes despair. Sir Lionel is an impossible man to shepherd. You ought to see his house at Finchley. A low, squat25 place completely hemmed26 in by trees. Damp as a swamp; smells like a jungle. Everything topsy-turvy. He only arrived to-day, and he is working and eating (and sleeping I expect), in a study that looks like an earthquake at Sotheby's auction-rooms. The rest of the house is half a menagerie and half a circus. He has a Bedouin groom27, a Chinese body-servant, and Heaven only knows what other strange people!"
"Chinese!"
"Yes, I saw him; a squinting28 Cantonese he calls Kwee. I don't like him. Also, there is a secretary known as Strozza, who has an unpleasant face. He is a fine linguist29, I understand, and is engaged upon the Spanish notes for Barton's forthcoming book on the Mayapan temples. By the way, all Sir Lionel's baggage disappeared from the landing-stage—including his Tibetan notes."
"Significant!"
"Of course. But he argues that he has crossed Tibet from the Kuen-Lun to the Himalayas without being assassinated30, and therefore that it is unlikely he will meet with that fate in London. I left him dictating31 the book from memory, at the rate of about two hundred words a minute."
"He is wasting no time."
"Wasting time! In addition to the Yucatan book and the work on Tibet, he has to read a paper at the Institute next week about some tomb he has unearthed32 in Egypt. As I came away, a van drove up from the docks and a couple of fellows delivered a sarcophagus as big as a boat. It is unique, according to Sir Lionel, and will go to the British Museum after he has examined it. The man crams33 six months' work into six weeks; then he is off again."
"What do you propose to do?"
"What CAN I do? I know that Fu-Manchu will make an attempt upon him. I cannot doubt it. Ugh! that house gave me the shudders34. No sunlight, I'll swear, Petrie, can ever penetrate23 to the rooms, and when I arrived this afternoon clouds of gnats35 floated like motes36 wherever a stray beam filtered through the trees of the avenue. There's a steamy smell about the place that is almost malarious37, and the whole of the west front is covered with a sort of monkey-creeper, which he has imported at some time or other. It has a close, exotic perfume that is quite in the picture. I tell you, the place was made for murder."
"Have you taken any precautions?"
"I called at Scotland Yard and sent a man down to watch the house, but—"
"What is Sir Lionel like?"
"A madman, Petrie. A tall, massive man, wearing a dirty dressing-gown of neutral color; a man with untidy gray hair and a bristling39 mustache, keen blue eyes, and a brown skin; who wears a short beard or rarely shaves—I don't know which. I left him striding about among the thousand and one curiosities of that incredible room, picking his way through his antique furniture, works of reference, manuscripts, mummies, spears, pottery40 and what not—sometimes kicking a book from his course, or stumbling over a stuffed crocodile or a Mexican mask—alternately dictating and conversing41. Phew!"
For some time we were silent.
"Smith" I said, "we are making no headway in this business. With all the forces arrayed against him, Fu-Manchu still eludes42 us, still pursues his devilish, inscrutable way."
Nayland Smith nodded.
"And we don't know all," he said. "We mark such and such a man as one alive to the Yellow Peril43, and we warn him—if we have time. Perhaps he escapes; perhaps he does not. But what do we know, Petrie, of those others who may die every week by his murderous agency? We cannot know EVERYONE who has read the riddle44 of China. I never see a report of someone found drowned, of an apparent suicide, of a sudden, though seemingly natural death, without wondering. I tell you, Fu-Manchu is omnipresent; his tentacles45 embrace everything. I said that Sir Lionel must bear a charmed life. The fact that WE are alive is a miracle."
He glanced at his watch.
"Nearly eleven," he said. "But sleep seems a waste of time—apart from its dangers."
We heard a bell ring. A few moments later followed a knock at the room door.
"Come in!" I cried.
A girl entered with a telegram addressed to Smith. His jaw46 looked very square in the lamplight, and his eyes shone like steel as he took it from her and opened the envelope. He glanced at the form, stood up and passed it to me, reaching for his hat, which lay upon my writing-table.
"God help us, Petrie!" he said.
This was the message:
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1
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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cozy
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| adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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6
scorpions
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| n.蝎子( scorpion的名词复数 ) | |
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scorpion
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| n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭 | |
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8
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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9
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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13
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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14
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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16
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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17
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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18
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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21
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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22
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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23
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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24
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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25
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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hemmed
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| 缝…的褶边( hem的过去式和过去分词 )； 包围 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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28
squinting
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| 斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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29
linguist
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| n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者 | |
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30
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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31
dictating
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的现在分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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32
unearthed
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| 出土的（考古） | |
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33
crams
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| v.塞入( cram的第三人称单数 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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34
shudders
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| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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35
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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malarious
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| （患）疟疾的，（有）瘴气的 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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40
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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41
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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42
eludes
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的第三人称单数 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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43
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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44
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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45
tentacles
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| n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛 | |
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46
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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