by Sax Rohmer
CHAPTER XIX. THE TRAFFIC
Sir Lucien came out into the alley wearing a greasy cloth cap pulleddown over his eyes and an old overall, the collar turned up about a redwoollen muffler which enveloped the lower part of his face. The odor ofthe outfit was disgusting, but this man's double life had brought him sofrequently in contact with all forms of uncleanness, including that ofthe Far East, compared with which the dirt of the West is hygienic, thathe suffered it without complaint.
A Chinese "boy" of indeterminable age, wearing a slop-shop suit anda cap, was waiting outside the door, and when Sin Sin Wa appeared,carefully locking up, he muttered something rapidly in his own sibilantlanguage.
Sin Sin Wa made no reply. To his indoor attire he had added a pea-jacketand a bowler hat; and the oddly assorted trio set off westward,following the bank of the Thames in the direction of Limehouse Basin.The narrow, ill-lighted streets were quite deserted, but from the riverand the riverside arose that ceaseless jangle of industry which belongsto the great port of London. On the Surrey shore whistles shrieked, andendless moving chains sent up their monstrous clangor into the night.Human voices sometimes rose above the din of machinery.
In silence the three pursued their way, crossing inlets and circlingaround basins dimly divined, turning to the right into a lane flankedby high, eyeless walls, and again to the left, finally to emerge nearlyopposite a dilapidated gateway giving access to a small wharf, on therickety gates bills were posted announcing, "This Wharf to Let." Theannexed building appeared to be a mere shell. To the right again theyturned, and once more to the left, halting before a two-story brickhouse which had apparently been converted into a barber's shop. Inone of the grimy windows were some loose packets of cigarettes, asoapmaker's advertisement, and a card:
SAM TUK BARBER
Opening the door with a key which he carried, the boy admitted SirLucien and Sin Sin Wa to the dimly-lighted interior of a room thepretensions of which to be regarded as a shaving saloon were supportedby the presence of two chairs, a filthy towel, and a broken mug. SinSin Wa shuffled across to another door, and, followed by Sir Lucien,descended a stone stair to a little cellar apparently intended forstoring 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 heapof nondescript litter lay piled in a corner of the cellar. This Sin SinWa disturbed sufficiently to reveal a movable slab in the roughly pavedfloor. It was so ingeniously concealed by coal dust that one who hadsought it unaided must have experienced great difficulty in detectingit. Furthermore, it could only be raised in the following manner:
A piece of strong iron wire, which lay among the other litter, wasinserted in a narrow slot, apparently a crack in the stone. About aninch of the end of the wire being bent outward to form a right angle,when the seemingly useless piece of scrap-iron had been thrust throughthe slab and turned, it formed a handle by means of which the trap couldbe raised.
Again Sin Sin Wa took up the lamp, placing it at the brink of theopening 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 inthe mouth of a low passage, unpaved and shored up with rough timbers inthe manner of a mine-working. Sin Sin Wa followed with the lamp, drawingthe slab down into its place behind him.
Stooping forward and bending his knees, Sir Lucien made his way alongthe passage, the Chinaman following. It was of considerable length,and terminated before a strong door bearing a massive lock. Sin Sin Wareached 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 inexistence before the ingenious Sin Sin Wa had exercised his skill uponit, and was of solid brickwork and stone-paved; palpably a storagevault. But it had been altered to suit the Chinaman's purpose, and oneend--that in which the passage came out--was timbered. It contained along counter and many shelves; also a large oil-stove and a numberof pots, pans, and queer-looking jars. On the counter stood a ship'slantern. The shelves were laden with packages and bottles. Behind thecounter sat a venerable and perfectly bald Chinaman. The only trace ofhair upon his countenance grew on the shrunken upper lip--mere wisps ofwhite down. His skin was shrivelled like that of a preserved fig, and hewore big horn-rimmed spectacles. He never once exhibited the slightestevidence of life, and his head and face, and the horn-rimmed spectacles,might quite easily have passed for those of an unwrapped mummy. This wasSam Tuk.
Bending over a box upon which rested a canvas-bound package was a burlyseaman engaged in unknotting the twine with which the canvas was keptin place. As Sin Sin Wa and Sir Lucien came in he looked up, revealing ared-bearded, ugly face, very puffy under the eyes.
"Wotcher, Sin Sin!" he said gruffly. "Who's your long pal?"
"Friend," murmured Sin Sin Wa complacently. "You gotchee pukka stuffthisee time, George?"
"I allus brings the pukka stuff!" roared the seaman, ceasing to fumblewith the knots and glaring at Sin Sin Wa. "Wotcher mean--pukka stuff?"
"Gotchee no use for bran," murmured Sin Sin Wa. "Gotchee no use fortin-tack. Gotchee no use for glue."
"Bran!" roared the man, his glance and pose very menacing. "Tin-tacksand 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 andresumed his task, Sin Sin Wa and Sir Lucien watching him in silence. Asound of lapping water was faintly audible.
Opening the canvas wrappings, the man began to take out and place uponthe counter a number of reddish balls of "leaf" opium, varying in weightfrom 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 oneof the largest balls he thrust the bodkin in and then withdrew it,the steel stained a coffee color. Sin Sin Wa smelled and tasted thesubstance adhering to the bodkin, weighed the ball reflectively in hisyellow 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 goingto wait 'ere while you prods about in all the blasted lot? It's damnnear high tide--I shan't get out. 'Alf time! Savvy? Shove it on thescales!"
Sin Sin Wa shook his head.
"Too muchee slick. Too muchee bhobbery," he murmured. "Sin Sin Wagotchee 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,imperturbably.
"Lead!" shouted the man. "There ain't no bloody lead in 'em!"
"H'm," murmured Sin Sin Wa smilingly. "So fashion, eh? All vellyproper."
He calmly inserted the bodkin in the second cake; seemed to meet withsome obstruction, and laid the ball down upon the counter. Frombeneath his jacket he took out a clasp-knife attached to a steel chain.Undeterred by a savage roar from the purveyor, he cut the sticky mass inhalf, and digging his long nails into one of the halves, brought out twolead 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, andapparently not resenting the earlier innuendo; "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 tangle ofunkempt red hair. He scratched his skull with savage vigor.
"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 thecakes of opium.
The man watched him now in silence, only broken by exclamations of"Blimey" and "Flaming hell" when
more shot was discovered. The testsconcluded:
"Gotchee some more?" asked Sin Sin Wa.
From the canvas wrapping George took out and tossed on the counter asquare packet wrapped in grease-paper.
"H'm," murmured Sin Sin Wa, "Patna. Where you catchee?"
"Off of a lascar," growled the man.
The cake of Indian opium was submitted to the same careful scrutiny asthat which the balls of Turkish had already undergone, but the Patnaopium proved to be unadulterated. Reaching over the counter Sin Sin Waproduced a pair of scales, and, watched keenly by George, weighed theleaf and then the cake.
"Ten-six Smyrna; one 'leben Patna," muttered Sin Sin Wa. "You catcheeeighty 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 apolice boat comin' in, too!"
Sir Lucien spoke a few words rapidly in Chinese. Sin Sin Wa performedhis curious oriental shrug, and taking a fat leather wallet from hiship-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 ofacknowledgment. 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 jumpto it."
Sin Sin Wa took the lantern from the counter and followed. Opening adoor at the further end of the place, he set the lantern at the head ofthree descending wooden steps discovered. With the opening of thedoor the sound of lapping water had grown perceptibly louder. Georgeclattered down the steps, which led to a second but much stouter door.Sin Sin Wa followed, nearly closing the first door, so that only a faintstreak of light crept down to them.
The second door was opened, and the clangor of the Surrey shore suddenlyproclaimed itself. Cold, damp air touched them, and the faint light ofthe lantern above cast their shadows over unctuous gliding water, whichlapped the step upon which they stood. Slimy shapes uprose dim andghostly from its darkly moving surface.
A boat was swinging from a ring beside the door, and into it Georgetumbled. He unhitched the lashings, and strongly thrust the boat outupon the water. Coming to the first of the dim shapes, he grasped it andthereby propelled the skiff to another beyond. These indistinct shapeswere the piles supporting the structure of a wharf.
"Good night, guv'nor!" he cried hoarsely
"So-long," muttered Sin Sin Wa.
He waited until the boat was swallowed in the deeper shadows, thenreclosed the water-gate and ascended to the room where Sir Lucienawaited. Such was the receiving office of Sin Sin Wa. While thewharf remained untenanted it was not likely to be discovered by theauthorities, for even at low tide the river-door was invisible frompassing craft. Prospective lessees who had taken the trouble to inquireabout the rental 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 acommercial necessity. For those who have opium, cocaine, veronal, orheroin to sell can always find a ready market in London and elsewhere.But one sufficiently curious and clever enough to have solved the riddleof the vacant wharf would have discovered that the mysterious owner whoshowed himself so loath to accept reasonable offers for the propertycould well afford to be thus independent. Those who control "thetraffic" control El Dorado--a city of gold which, unlike the fabledManoa, actually exists and yields its riches to the unscrupulousadventurer.
Smiling his mirthless, eternal smile, Sin Sin Wa placed the newlypurchased stock upon a shelf immediately behind Sam Tuk; and SamTuk exhibited the first evidence of animation which had escaped himthroughout the progress of the "deal." He slowly nodded his hairlesshead.
