A Chinese “boy” of indeterminable age, wearing a slop-shop suit and a cap, was waiting outside the door, and when Sin Sin Wa appeared, carefully locking up, he muttered something rapidly in his own sibilant language.
Sin Sin Wa made no reply. To his indoor attire6 he had added a pea-jacket and a bowler7 hat; and the oddly assorted8 trio set off westward9, following the bank of the Thames in the direction of Limehouse Basin. The narrow, ill-lighted streets were quite deserted10, but from the river and the riverside arose that ceaseless jangle of industry which belongs to the great port of London. On the Surrey shore whistles shrieked11, and endless moving chains sent up their monstrous12 clangor into the night. Human voices sometimes rose above the din5 of machinery13.
In silence the three pursued their way, crossing inlets and circling around basins dimly divined, turning to the right into a lane flanked by high, eyeless walls, and again to the left, finally to emerge nearly opposite a dilapidated gateway14 giving access to a small wharf15, on the rickety gates bills were posted announcing, “This Wharf to Let.” The annexed16 building appeared to be a mere17 shell. To the right again they turned, and once more to the left, halting before a two-story brick house which had apparently18 been converted into a barber's shop. In one of the grimy windows were some loose packets of cigarettes, a soapmaker's advertisement, and a card:
SAM TUK
BARBER
Opening the door with a key which he carried, the boy admitted Sir Lucien and Sin Sin Wa to the dimly-lighted interior of a room the pretensions19 of which to be regarded as a shaving saloon were supported by the presence of two chairs, a filthy20 towel, and a broken mug. Sin Sin Wa shuffled21 across to another door, and, followed by Sir Lucien, descended22 a stone stair to a little cellar apparently intended for storing coal. A tin lamp stood upon the bottom step.
Removing the lamp from the step, Sin Sin Wa set it on the cellar floor, which was black with coal dust, then closed and bolted the door. A heap of nondescript litter lay piled in a corner of the cellar. This Sin Sin Wa disturbed sufficiently23 to reveal a movable slab24 in the roughly paved floor. It was so ingeniously concealed25 by coal dust that one who had sought it unaided must have experienced great difficulty in detecting it. Furthermore, it could only be raised in the following manner:
A piece of strong iron wire, which lay among the other litter, was inserted in a narrow slot, apparently a crack in the stone. About an inch of the end of the wire being bent26 outward to form a right angle, when the seemingly useless piece of scrap-iron had been thrust through the slab and turned, it formed a handle by means of which the trap could be raised.
Again Sin Sin Wa took up the lamp, placing it at the brink27 of the opening revealed. A pair of wooden steps rested below, and Sir Lucien, who evidently was no stranger to the establishment, descended awkwardly, since there was barely room for a big man to pass. He found himself in the mouth of a low passage, unpaved and shored up with rough timbers in the manner of a mine-working. Sin Sin Wa followed with the lamp, drawing the slab down into its place behind him.
Stooping forward and bending his knees, Sir Lucien made his way along the passage, the Chinaman following. It was of considerable length, and terminated before a strong door bearing a massive lock. Sin Sin Wa reached over the stooping figure of Sir Lucien and unfastened the lock. The two emerged in a kind of dug-out. Part of it had evidently been in existence before the ingenious Sin Sin Wa had exercised his skill upon it, and was of solid brickwork and stone-paved; palpably a storage vault30. But it had been altered to suit the Chinaman's purpose, and one end—that in which the passage came out—was timbered. It contained a long counter and many shelves; also a large oil-stove and a number of pots, pans, and queer-looking jars. On the counter stood a ship's lantern. The shelves were laden31 with packages and bottles. Behind the counter sat a venerable and perfectly32 bald Chinaman. The only trace of hair upon his countenance33 grew on the shrunken upper lip—mere wisps of white down. His skin was shrivelled like that of a preserved fig28, and he wore big horn-rimmed spectacles. He never once exhibited the slightest evidence of life, and his head and face, and the horn-rimmed spectacles, might quite easily have passed for those of an unwrapped mummy. This was Sam Tuk.
Bending over a box upon which rested a canvas-bound package was a burly seaman34 engaged in unknotting the twine35 with which the canvas was kept in place. As Sin Sin Wa and Sir Lucien came in he looked up, revealing a red-bearded, ugly face, very puffy under the eyes.
“Friend,” murmured Sin Sin Wa complacently36. “You gotchee pukka stuff thisee time, George?”
“I allus brings the pukka stuff!” roared the seaman, ceasing to fumble37 with the knots and glaring at Sin Sin Wa. “Wotcher mean—pukka stuff?”
“Gotchee no use for bran,” murmured Sin Sin Wa. “Gotchee no use for tin-tack. Gotchee no use for glue.”
“Bran!” roared the man, his glance and pose very menacing. “Tin-tacks and glue! Who the flamin' 'ell ever tried to sell you glue?”
“Me only wantchee lemindee you,” said Sin Sin Wa. “No pidgin.”
“George” glared for a moment, breathing heavily; then he stooped and resumed his task, Sin Sin Wa and Sir Lucien watching him in silence. A sound of lapping water was faintly audible.
Opening the canvas wrappings, the man began to take out and place upon the counter a number of reddish balls of “leaf” opium38, varying in weight from about eight ounces to a pound or more.
“H'm!” murmured Sin Sin Wa. “Smyrna stuff.”
From a pocket of his pea-jacket he drew a long bodkin, and taking up one of the largest balls he thrust the bodkin in and then withdrew it, the steel stained a coffee color. Sin Sin Wa smelled and tasted the substance adhering to the bodkin, weighed the ball reflectively in his yellow palm, and then set it aside. He took up a second, whereupon:
“'Alf a mo', guvnor!” cried the seaman furiously. “D'you think I'm going to wait 'ere while you prods39 about in all the blasted lot? It's damn near high tide—I shan't get out. 'Alf time! Savvy40? Shove it on the scales!”
Sin Sin Wa shook his head.
“Too muchee slick. Too muchee bhobbery,” he murmured. “Sin Sin Wa gotchee sabby what him catchee buy or no pidgin.”
“What's the game?” inquired George menacingly. “Don't you know a cake o' Smyrna when you smells it?”
“No sabby lead chop till ploddem withee dipper,” explained the Chinaman, imperturbably41.
“H'm,” murmured Sin Sin Wa smilingly. “So fashion, eh? All velly proper.”
He calmly inserted the bodkin in the second cake; seemed to meet with some obstruction43, and laid the ball down upon the counter. From beneath his jacket he took out a clasp-knife attached to a steel chain. Undeterred by a savage44 roar from the purveyor45, he cut the sticky mass in half, and digging his long nails into one of the halves, brought out two lead shots. He directed a glance of his beady eye upon the man.
“Bloody liar,” he murmured sweetly. “Lobber.”
“Who's a robber?” shouted George, his face flushing darkly, and apparently not resenting the earlier innuendo46; “Who's a robber?”
“One sarcee Smyrna feller packee stuff so fashion,” murmured Sin Sin Wa. “Thief-feller lobbee poor sailorman.”
George jerked his peaked cap from his head, revealing a tangle47 of unkempt red hair. He scratched his skull48 with savage vigor49.
“Blimey!” he said pathetically. “'Ere's a go! I been done brown, guv'nor.”
“Lough luck,” murmured Sin Sin Wa, and resumed his examination of the cakes of opium.
The man watched him now in silence, only broken by exclamations50 of “Blimey” and “Flaming hell” when more shot was discovered. The tests concluded:
“Gotchee some more?” asked Sin Sin Wa.
From the canvas wrapping George took out and tossed on the counter a square packet wrapped in grease-paper.
“H'm,” murmured Sin Sin Wa, “Patna. Where you catchee?”
The cake of Indian opium was submitted to the same careful scrutiny52 as that which the balls of Turkish had already undergone, but the Patna opium proved to be unadulterated. Reaching over the counter Sin Sin Wa produced a pair of scales, and, watched keenly by George, weighed the leaf and then the cake.
“Ten-six Smyrna; one 'leben Patna,” muttered Sin Sin Wa. “You catchee eighty jimmies.”
“Eh?” roared George. “Eighty quid! Eighty quid! Flamin' blind o' Riley! D'you think I'm up the pole? Eighty quid? You're barmy!”
“Eighty-ten,” murmured Sin Sin Wa. “Eighty jimmies opium; ten bob lead.”
“I give more'n that for it!” cried the seaman. “An' I damn near hit a police boat comin' in, too!”
Sir Lucien spoke53 a few words rapidly in Chinese. Sin Sin Wa performed his curious oriental shrug54, and taking a fat leather wallet from his hip-pocket, counted out the sum of eighty-five pounds upon the counter.
“You catchee eighty-five,” he murmured. “Too muchee price.”
The man grabbed the money and pocketed it without a word of acknowledgment. He turned and strode along the room, his heavy, iron-clamped boots ringing on the paved floor.
“Fetch a grim, Sin Sin,” he cried. “I'll never get out if I don't jump to it.”
Sin Sin Wa took the lantern from the counter and followed. Opening a door at the further end of the place, he set the lantern at the head of three descending55 wooden steps discovered. With the opening of the door the sound of lapping water had grown perceptibly louder. George clattered56 down the steps, which led to a second but much stouter57 door. Sin Sin Wa followed, nearly closing the first door, so that only a faint streak58 of light crept down to them.
The second door was opened, and the clangor of the Surrey shore suddenly proclaimed itself. Cold, damp air touched them, and the faint light of the lantern above cast their shadows over unctuous59 gliding60 water, which lapped the step upon which they stood. Slimy shapes uprose dim and ghostly from its darkly moving surface.
A boat was swinging from a ring beside the door, and into it George tumbled. He unhitched the lashings, and strongly thrust the boat out upon the water. Coming to the first of the dim shapes, he grasped it and thereby61 propelled the skiff to another beyond. These indistinct shapes were the piles supporting the structure of a wharf.
“So-long,” muttered Sin Sin Wa.
He waited until the boat was swallowed in the deeper shadows, then reclosed the water-gate and ascended63 to the room where Sir Lucien awaited. Such was the receiving office of Sin Sin Wa. While the wharf remained untenanted it was not likely to be discovered by the authorities, for even at low tide the river-door was invisible from passing craft. Prospective64 lessees65 who had taken the trouble to inquire about the rental66 had learned that it was so high as to be prohibitive.
Sin Sin Wa paid fair prices and paid cash. This was no more than a commercial necessity. For those who have opium, cocaine67, veronal, or heroin68 to sell can always find a ready market in London and elsewhere. But one sufficiently curious and clever enough to have solved the riddle69 of the vacant wharf would have discovered that the mysterious owner who showed himself so loath70 to accept reasonable offers for the property could well afford to be thus independent. Those who control “the traffic” control El Dorado—a city of gold which, unlike the fabled71 Manoa, actually exists and yields its riches to the unscrupulous adventurer.
Smiling his mirthless, eternal smile, Sin Sin Wa placed the newly purchased stock upon a shelf immediately behind Sam Tuk; and Sam Tuk exhibited the first evidence of animation72 which had escaped him throughout the progress of the “deal.” He slowly nodded his hairless head.
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1
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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bowler
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| n.打保龄球的人，（板球的）投（球）手 | |
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8
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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9
westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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10
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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11
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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13
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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14
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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16
annexed
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| [法] 附加的，附属的 | |
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17
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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18
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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19
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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20
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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21
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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22
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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23
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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25
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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26
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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27
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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28
fig
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| n.无花果(树) | |
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29
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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30
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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31
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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32
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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33
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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34
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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35
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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37
fumble
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| vi.笨拙地用手摸、弄、接等，摸索 | |
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38
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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39
prods
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| n.刺，戳( prod的名词复数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳v.刺，戳( prod的第三人称单数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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40
savvy
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| v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的 | |
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41
imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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42
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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43
obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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44
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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45
purveyor
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| n.承办商，伙食承办商 | |
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46
innuendo
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| n.暗指，讽刺 | |
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47
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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48
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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49
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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50
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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51
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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52
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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53
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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54
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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55
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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56
clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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57
stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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58
streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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59
unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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60
gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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61
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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62
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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63
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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65
lessees
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| n.承租人，租户( lessee的名词复数 ) | |
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66
rental
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| n.租赁，出租，出租业 | |
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67
cocaine
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| n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂） | |
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68
heroin
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| n.海洛因 | |
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69
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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70
loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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71
fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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72
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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