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Page 19
Clutching the framework of the trap with his hands, he moved his
head cautiously, so that presently he was enabled to see the two
Chinamen. They were standing beside the lacquered coffin upon
its dragon-legged pedestal. Durham stifled an exclamation.
One end of the ornate sarcophagus had been opened in some way!
Now, to the watcher's unbounded astonishment, Ah Fu placed the
birdcage in the opening, and apparently reclosed the trap in the
end of the coffin. He made other manipulations with his bony
yellow fingers, which Durham failed to comprehend. Finally the
birdcage was withdrawn again, and as it was passed before the
light of the lantern he saw that it was empty, whereas previously
it had contained a number of tiny birds all huddled up together!
The light gleamed upon the spectacles of Huang Chow. Watching
him, Durham saw him take out from a hidden drawer in the pedestal
a long, slender key, insert it in a lock concealed by the ornate
carving, and then slightly raise the lid which had so recently
defied his own efforts.
He raised it only a few inches, and then, taking up the lantern,
peered into the interior of the coffin, at the same time waving
his hand in dismissal to Ah Fu. For a while he stood there,
peering into the interior, and then, lowering the lid again, he
relocked this gruesome receptacle and, lantern in hand, began to
mount the stair.
Durham inhaled deeply. He realized that during the last few
seconds he had been holding his breath. Now, as he began to
creep back down the slope, he discovered that his hands were
shaking.
He dropped down into the court again, and for several minutes
leaned against the wall, endeavouring to reason out an
explanation of what he had seen, and in a measure to regain his
composure.
There was a horror underlying it all which he was half afraid to
face. But the real clue to the mystery still eluded him.
Whether what he had witnessed were some kind of obscene ceremony,
or whether an explanation more vile must be sought, he remained
undetermined. He must repeat his exploit, if possible, and once
more gain access to the room which contained the lacquer coffin.
But the adventure was very distasteful. He recollected the smell
of the place, and the memory brought with it a sense of nausea.
He thought of Lala Huang, and his ideas became grotesque and
chaotic. Yet the solution of the mystery lay at last within his
grasp, and to the zest of the investigator everything else became
subjugated.
He walked slowly away, silent in his rubber-soled shoes.
IX
THE PICTURE ON THE PAD
Lala Huang lay listening to the vague sounds which disturbed the
silence of the night. Presently her thoughts made her sigh
wearily. During the lifetime of her mother, who had died while
Lala was yet a little girl, life had been different and so much
brighter.
She imagined that in the mingled sounds of dock and river which
came to her she could hear the roar of surf upon a golden beach.
The stuffy air of Limehouse took on the hot fragrance of a tropic
island, and she sighed again, but this time rapturously, for in
spirit she was a child once more, lulled by the voice of the
great Pacific.
Young as she was, the death of her mother had been a blow from
which it had taken her several years to recover. Then had
commenced those long travels with her father, from port to port,
from ocean to ocean, sometimes settling awhile, but ever moving
onward, onward.
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