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Page 57
"We are indebted to you, Mr. Knox, for some of the data upon
which we have reconstructed the foregoing and also for the next
link in the narrative. A fireman ashore from the Jupiter
intruded upon the scene at Suez and deprived Ah Fu of the fruits
of his labours. Hi Wing Ho seems to have been badly damaged in
the scuffle, but Ah Fu, the more wily of the two, evidently
followed the fireman, and, deserting from his own ship, signed on
with the Jupiter."
While this story was enlightening in some respects, it was
mystifying in others. I did not interrupt, however, for Durham
immediately resumed:
"The drama was complicated by the presence of a fourth
character--the daughter of Cohenberg. Realizing that a small
fortune had slipped through his fingers, the old moneylender
dispatched his daughter in pursuit of Hi Wing Ho, having learned
upon which vessel the latter had sailed. He had no difficulty in
obtaining this information, for he is in touch with all the
crooks of the town. Had he known that the diamond had been
stolen by an agent of Huang Chow, he would no doubt have
hesitated. Huang Chow has an international reputation.
"However, his daughter--a girl of great personal beauty--relied
upon her diplomatic gifts to regain possession of the stone, but,
poor creature, she had not counted with Ah Fu, who was evidently
watching your chambers (while Hi Wing Ho, it seems, was
assiduously shadowing Ah Fu!). How she traced the diamond from
point to point of its travels we do not know, and probably never
shall know, but she was undeniably clever and unscrupulous. Poor
girl! She came to a dreadful end. Mr. Nicholson, here,
identified her at Bow Street to-night."
Now the whole amazing truth burst upon me.
"I understand!" I cried. "This"--and I snatched up the pigtail--
"That my pigtail," moaned Hi Wing Ho feebly.
Mr. Nicholson pitched him unceremoniously into a corner of the
room, and taking the pigtail in his huge hand, clumsily
unfastened it. Out from the thick part, some two inches below
the point at which it had been cut from the Chinaman's head, a
great diamond dropped upon the floor!
For perhaps twenty seconds there was perfect silence in my study.
No one stooped to pick the diamond from the floor--the diamond
which now had blood upon it. No one, so far as my sense informed
me, stirred. But when, following those moments of stupefaction,
we all looked up--Hi Wing Ho, like a phantom, had faded from the
room!
THE HOUSE OF GOLDEN JOSS
I
THE BLOOD-STAINED IDOL
"Stop when we pass the next lamp and give me a light for my
pipe."
"Why?"
"No! don't look round," warned my companion. "I think someone
is following us. And it is always advisable to be on guard in
this neighbourhood."
We had nearly reached the house in Wade Street, Limehouse, which
my friend used as a base for East End operations. The night was
dark but clear, and I thought that presently when dawn came it
would bring a cold, bright morning. There was no moon, and as we
passed the lamp and paused we stood in almost total darkness.
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