by Sax Rohmer
“Respecting Fire-Tongue himself, his origin, his appearance, she was resolutely silent, a second Acte, faithful to the last. That the ends of this cult were not only religious but political, she did not deny, but upon this point she was very reticent. An elaborate system of espionage was established throughout the East, Near and Far, and death was the penalty of any breach of fidelity.
“Respecting the tests to which candidates were put, she spoke with more freedom. Those who, having reached the second grade, aspired to the first, were submitted to three very severe ones, to make trial of their courage, purity, and humility. Failure in any of these trials resulted in instant death, and the final test, the trial by fire, which took place in a subterranean chamber of the great temple, resulted in a candidate whose courage failed him being precipitated into that lake of flame which I have already described — a dreadful form of death, which by accident I had witnessed.
“Gentlemen, realizing what the existence of such an organization meant, what a menace to the peace of the world must lie here, what dreadful things were almost hourly happening about me at behest of this invisible monster known as Fire-Tongue, I yet confess — for I am here to speak the truth — that, although I had now fully recovered my strength, I lingered on in a delicious idleness, which you who hear me must find it hard to understand.
“I have the reputation of being a cold, hard man. So had Antony before he met Cleopatra. But seven years ago, under the Indian moon, I learned tolerance for the human weakness which forgets the world for the smiles of a woman.
“It had to end. Sooner or later, discovery was inevitable. One night I told Naida that I must go. Over the scene that followed I will pass in silence. It needed all the strength of a fairly straight, hard life to help me keep to my decision.
“She understood at last, and consented to release me. But there were obstacles — big ones. The snow on the lower mountain slopes had begun to melt, and the water-gate in the valley by which I had entered was now impassable. As a result, I must use another gate, which opened into a mountain path, but which was always guarded. At first, on hearing this, I gave myself up for lost, but Naida had a plan.
“Removing a bangle which she always wore, she showed me the secret mark of Fire-Tongue branded upon the creamy skin.
“‘I will put this mark upon your arm,’ she said. ‘In no other way can you escape. I will teach you some of the passwords by which the brethren know one another, and if you are ever questioned you will say that you were admitted to the order by the Master of the Bombay Lodge, news of whose death has just reached us.’
“‘But,’ said I, ‘how can I hope to pass for an Oriental?’
“‘It does not matter,’ Naida replied. ‘There are some who are not Orientals among us!’
“Gentlemen, those words staggered me, opening up a possibility which had seemed only shadowy before. But Naida, who had tremendous strength of character, definitely refused to discuss this aspect of the matter, merely assuring me that it was so.
“‘Those who have successfully passed the ordeal of fire,’ she said, ‘are put under a vow of silence for one month, and from moon to moon must speak to no living creature. Therefore, once you bear the mark of the Fiery Tongue, you may safely pass the gate, except that there are certain signs which it is necessary you should know. Afterward, if you should ever be in danger of discovery anywhere in the East, you will remember the passwords, which I shall teach you.’
“So I was branded with the mark of Fire-Tongue, and I spent my last night with Naida learning from her lips the words by which members of this order were enabled to recognize one another. In vain I entreated Naida to accompany me. She would allow herself to love and be loved; but the vows of this singular priesthood were to her inviolable.
“She exacted an oath from me that I would never divulge anything which I had seen or heard in the City of Fire. She urged that I must leave India as quickly as possible. I had already learned that this remote society was closely in touch with the affairs of the outside world. And, because I knew I was leaving my heart behind there in the Indian hills, I recognized that this dreadful parting must be final.
“Therefore I scarcely heeded her when she assured me that, should I ever be in danger because of what had happened, a message in the Times of India would reach her. I never intended to insert such a message, gentlemen. I knew that it would need all my strength to close this door which I had opened.
“I will spare you and myself the details of our parting. I passed out from the City of Fire in the darkest hour of the night, through a long winding tunnel, half a mile in length. I had protested to Naida that the secret mark might be painted upon my arm and not branded, but she had assured me that the latter was a necessity, and this now became evident; for, not only three times was it subjected to scrutiny, but by the last of the guards, posted near the outer end of the tunnel, it was tested with some kind of solution.
“Silence and the salutation with the moistened finger tips, together with the brand upon my arm, won me freedom from the abode of Fire-Tongue.
“From a village situated upon one of the tributaries of the Ganges I readily obtained a guide, to whom such silent, yellow-robed figures as mine were evidently not unfamiliar; and, crossing the east of Nepal, I entered Bengal, bearing a strange secret. I found myself in an empty world — a world which had nothing to offer me. For every step south took me farther from all that made life worth living.”
CHAPTER XXXIV. NICOL BRINN’S STORY (CONCLUDED)
“The incidents of the next seven years do not concern you, gentlemen. I had one aim in life — to forget. I earned an unenviable reputation for foolhardy enterprises. Until this very hour, no man has known why I did the things that I did do. From the time that I left India until the moment when fate literally threw me in the way of the late Sir Charles Abingdon, I had heard nothing of the cult of Fire-Tongue; and in spite of Naida’s assurance that its membership was not confined to Orientals, I had long ago supposed it to be a manifestation of local fanaticism, having no political or international significance.
“Then, lunching with the late Sir Charles after my accident in the Haymarket, he put to me a question which literally made me hold my breath.
“‘Do you know anything of the significance of the term Fire-Tongue?’ he asked.
“I am not accustomed to any display of feeling in public, and I replied in what I think was an ordinary tone:
“‘In what connection, Sir Charles?’
“‘Well,’ said he, watching me oddly, ‘I know you have travelled in India, and I wondered if you had ever come in contact with the legend which prevails there, that a second Zoroaster has arisen, to preach the doctrine of eternal fire.’
“‘I have heard it,’ I replied, guardedly.
“‘I thought it possible,’ continued Sir Charles, ‘and I am tempted to tell you of a curious experience which once befell me during the time that I was a guest of my late friend Colonel Banfield in Delhi. My reputation as an osteologist was not at that time so fully established as it later became, but I already had some reputation in this branch of surgery; and one evening a very dignified Hindu gentleman sought an interview with me, saying that a distinguished native noble, who was a guest of his, had met with a serious accident, and offering me a fee equivalent to nearly five hundred pounds to perform an operation which he believed to be necessary.
“‘I assured him that my services were at his disposal, and blankly declined to accept so large a fee. He thereupon explained that the circumstances were peculiar. His friend belonged to a religious cult of an extremely high order. He would lose caste if it became known that he had been attended by a Christian surgeon; therefore my visit must be a secret one.
“‘It made no difference,’ I replied. ‘I quite understood; and he might rely upon my discretion.
“‘Accordingly I was driven in a car which was waiting to some house upon the outskirts of the city and conducted to a room where the patient had bee
n carried. I saw him to be a singularly handsome young man, apparently about twenty-three years of age. His features were flawless, and he possessed light ivory skin and wavy jet-black hair. His eyes, which were very dark and almond-shaped, had a strange and arresting beauty. But there was something effeminate about him which repelled me, I cannot say in what way; nor did I approve of the presence of many bowls of hyacinths in the room.
“‘However, I performed the operation, which, although slight, demanded some skill, and with the nature of which I will not trouble you. Intense anxiety was manifested by the young man’s attendants, and one of these, a strikingly beautiful woman, insisted on remaining while the operation was performed.
“‘She seemed more especially to concern herself with preserving intact a lock of the young man’s jet-black hair, which was brushed in rather an odd manner across his ivory forehead. Naturally enough, this circumstance excited my curiosity and, distracting the woman’s attention for a moment — I asked her to bring me something from a table at the opposite side of the room — I lightly raised this wayward lock and immediately replaced it again.
“‘Do you know what it concealed, Mr. Brinn?’
“I assured him that I did not.
“‘A mark, apparently natural, resembling a torch surmounted by a tongue of fire!’
“I was amazed, gentlemen, by Sir Charles’s story. He was given his fee and driven back to his quarters. But that he had succeeded where I had failed, that he had actually looked upon Fire-Tongue in person, I could not doubt. I learned from this, too, that the Prophet of Fire did not always remain in his mountain stronghold, for Delhi is a long way from the Secret City.
“Strange though it must appear, at this time I failed to account for Sir Charles confiding this thing to me. Later, I realized that he must have seen the mark on my arm, although he never referred to it.
“Well, the past leapt out at me, as you see, and worse was to come. The death of Sir Charles Abingdon told me what I hated to know: that Fire-Tongue was in England!
“I moved at once. I inserted in the Times the prearranged message, hardly daring to hope that it would come to the eye of Naida; but it did! She visited me. And I learned that not only Sir Charles Abingdon, but another, knew of the mark which I bore!
“I was summoned to appear before the Prophet of fire!
“Gentlemen, what I saw and how I succeeded in finding out the location of his abode are matters that can wait. The important things are these: first, I learned why Sir Charles Abingdon had been done to death!
“The unwelcome attentions of the man known as Ormuz Khan led Sir Charles to seek an interview with him. I may say here and now that Ormuz Khan is Fire-Tongue! Oh! it’s a tough statement — but I can prove it. Sir Charles practically forced his way into this man’s presence — and immediately recognized his mysterious patient of years ago!
“He accused him of having set spies upon his daughter’s movements — an accusation which was true — and forbade him to see her again. From that hour the fate of Sir Charles was sealed. What he knew, the world must never know. He had recorded, in a private paper, all that he had learned. This paper was stolen from his bureau — and its contents led to my being summoned to the house of Fire-Tongue! It also spurred the organization to renewed efforts, for it revealed the fact that Sir Charles contemplated confiding the story to others.
“What were the intentions of the man Ormuz in regard to Miss Abingdon, I don’t know. His entourage all left England some days ago — with three exceptions. I believe him to have been capable of almost anything. He was desperate. He knew that Ormuz Khan must finally and definitely disappear. It is just possible that he meant Miss Abingdon to disappear along with him!
“However, that danger is past. Mrs. McMurdoch, who to-day accompanied her to his house, was drugged by these past-masters in the use of poisons, and left unconscious in a cottage a few miles from Hillside, the abode of Ormuz.
“You will have observed, gentlemen, that I am somewhat damaged. However, it was worth it! That the organization of the Fire-Worshippers is destroyed I am not prepared to assert. But I made a discovery to-day which untied my hands. Hearing, I shall never know how, that Naida had had a secret interview with me, Fire-Tongue visited upon her the penalty paid seven years ago by my informant in Nagpur, by Sir Charles Abingdon, recently, by God alone knows how many scores — hundreds — in the history of this damnable group.
“I found her lying on a silken divan in the deserted house, her hands clasped over a little white flower like an odontoglossum, which lay on her breast. It was the flower of sleep — and she was dead.
“My seven years’ silence was ended. One thing I could do for the world: remove Fire-Tongue — and do it with my own hands!
“Gentlemen, at the angle where the high road from Upper Claybury joins the Dover Road is the Merton Cottage Hospital. Mr. Harley is awaiting us there. He is less damaged than I am. A native chauffeur, whose name I don’t know, is lying insensible in one of the beds — and in another is a dead man, unrecognizable, except for a birthmark resembling a torch on his forehead, his head crushed and his neck broken.
“That dead man is Fire-Tongue. I should like, Mr. Commissioner, to sign the statement.”
DAUGHTER OF FU MANCHU
This is the novel, published in 1931, that Rohmer wrote to herald the return of his most famous character, Dr Fu Manchu.
The story opens in Egypt, with a Mr Shan Greville (the narrator of this tale) seeking out our old friend — and Fu Manchu’s enemy — Dr Petrie in Cairo. We find Dr Petrie happily married now to the long held object of his desires, the beautiful Karamaneh, who at last, free from the clutches of Fu Manchu, accepted the man who longed to love and take care of her. Greville tells Petrie that he and his colleagues have been excavating an ancient tomb, the one known as Lafleur’s Tomb, at the head of the Valley of the Kings. The tomb is considered by many archaeologists to be an unlucky one, and was in fact named after the Egyptologist Lafleur, who disappeared from the site soon after discovering it. Sir Lionel Barton, a mutual friend of both men, was the team leader of the new excavation, and it seemed to Greville from Barton’s characteristically eccentric behaviour that a breakthrough was close. However, before this could be achieved Greville finds Barton dead in his tent. Right from the beginning there is a puzzle, with a dispute over whether Barton died of a heart attack or is suffering catalepsy. Whilst this is a mystery indeed, it is only the start. Petrie becomes aware that the heinous Dacoits of Burma are in Egypt and on his trail, and the hand of none other than Fu Manchu – thought up to now to be dead – can be seen in Barton’s collapse which Petrie now rushes to turn around with a special potion. Karamaneh calls upon an old ally, Weymouth, now retired from the police, and he joins the investigation as the party travels to the site of the tragedy – only to be told that Barton’s body has disappeared. Rima, niece of the “dead” man, is the official photographer for the dig and shows the investigators a photograph of Mme Ingomar, a mysterious visitor to the dig, who seems strangely familiar to Petrie. It is soon apparent why Petrie feels she is familiar – Mme Ingomar is one of the disguises of Lady Fa Lo Suee, the brilliant and ruthless daughter of Fu Manchu. They now realise what her interest in the dig is — she craves the secret of the nearby Tomb of the Black Ape in order to bring to fruition her plans for international domination. Matters are now so serious that Nayland Smith travels to Egypt to be part of the team. Now that the most gifted anti-Fu Manchu detectives are back together, the chase is on to stop Fah Lo Suee and to undermine her evil plans, whilst all the while in the background floats the question: is her father, the deadly Dr Fu Manchu, alive or not?
On the eve of the growth of the fascist regimes of the 1930’s, this novel has a storyline that is nothing short of prescient. Fah Lo Suee is of mixed race – her father Oriental, her mother Russian – hence her ambition to rule both Russia and China as dictator, and then take over Europe and Asia as a whole, and create an authoritarian empire al
l of her own. Rohmer also uses new plot devices, such as flying his heroes around in aeroplanes — not an option in the early stories — and references to American films, all of which his readers would expect. If the plots have moved with the times, so has Rohmer’s writing style — it is more streamlined and modern, less breathless and more matter of fact. This can be accounted for either by having a new narrator, or by the fact that Rohmer felt the need to mirror the writing style of the day and not continue the Fu Manchu stories in a style that harked back to Empire and honour. This was post-war Britain, more street wise, less trusting of authority and bruised by a brutal conflict that had left its mark. Possibly Rohmer thought it was time to abandon the old and try to embrace modernism, up to a point.
The first edition
CONTENTS
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
PART TWO
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
PART THREE
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
PART FOUR
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
PART ONE
CHAPTER ONE
THE LIVING DEATH
Just in sight of Shepheard’s I pulled up.
I believe a sense of being followed is a recognized nervous disorder. But it was one I had never experienced without finding it to be based on fact.
Certainly what had occurred was calculated to upset the stoutest nerves. To lose an old and deeply respected friend, and in the very hour of the loss to be confronted by a mystery seemingly defying natural laws, is a test of staying power which any man might shirk.
I had set out for Cairo in a frame of mind which I shall not attempt to describe. But this damnable idea that I was spied upon — followed — asserted itself in the first place on the train.
