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Page 92
Then all the wonders I had heard of this man became possible,
and with an awe which any other physician who had examined
Aziz must have felt, I admitted him a miracle-worker. For
as I watched, all but breathless, the dead came to life!
The glow of health crept upon the olive cheek--the boy moved--
he raised his hands above his head--he sat up, supported by
the Chinese doctor!
Fu-Manchu touched some hidden bell. A hideous yellow man with a scarred
face entered, carrying a tray upon which were a bowl containing
some steaming fluid, apparently soup, what looked like oaten cakes,
and a flask of red wine.
As the boy, exhibiting no more unusual symptoms than if he had just
awakened from a normal sleep, commenced his repast, Karamaneh drew me
gently along the passage into the room which we had first entered.
My heart leaped wildly as the marmoset bounded past us to drop hand
over hand to the lower apartment in search of its master.
"You see," said Karamaneh, her voice quivering, "he is not dead!
But without Fu-Manchu he is dead to me. How can I leave him
when he holds the life of Aziz in his hand?"
"You must get me that flask, or some of its contents," I directed.
"But tell me, how does he produce the appearance of death?"
"I cannot tell you," she replied. "I do not know. It is something
in the wine. In another hour Aziz will be again as you saw him.
But see." And, opening a little ebony box, she produced a phial
half filled with the amber liquid.
"Good!" I said, and slipped it into my pocket. "When will be the best
time to seize Fu-Manchu and to restore your brother?"
"I will let you know," she whispered, and, opening the door, pushed me
hurriedly from the room. "He is going away to-night to the north;
but you must not come to-night. Quick! Quick! Along the passage.
He may call me at any moment."
So, with the phial in my pocket containing a potent preparation unknown
to Western science, and with a last long look into the eyes of Karamaneh,
I passed out into the narrow alley, out from the fragrant perfumes
of that mystery house into the place of Thames-side stenches.
CHAPTER XXII
"WE must arrange for the house to be raided without delay," said Smith.
"This time we are sure of our ally--"
"But we must keep our promise to her," I interrupted.
"You can look after that, Petrie," my friend said.
"I will devote the whole of my attention to Dr. Fu-Manchu!"
he added grimly.
Up and down the room he paced, gripping the blackened briar between
his teeth, so that the muscles stood out squarely upon his lean jaws.
The bronze which spoke of the Burmese sun enhanced the brightness
of his gray eyes.
"What have I all along maintained?" he jerked, looking back at me across
his shoulder--"that, although Karamaneh was one of the strongest weapons in
the Doctor's armory, she was one which some day would be turned against him.
That day has dawned."
"We must await word from her."
"Quite so."
He knocked out his pipe on the grate. Then:
"Have you any idea of the nature of the fluid in the phial?"
"Not the slightest. And I have none to spare for analytical purposes."
Nayland Smith began stuffing mixture into the hot pipe-bowl,
and dropping an almost equal quantity on the floor.
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