Then, as we stood there, Yu touched my arm and pointed to the back trail. Had it been clear daylight, I suppose we could have overlooked winding portions of that trail for miles. As it was, I perceived, through the rain, occasional flashes of light.
“Hello!” I exclaimed. “Looks as though somebody were using an electric torch back there, Yu.”
“Schneider,” he observed. “Ready, master?”
We mounted and set off, connected by a line about our waists; Yu left the lead to me, since I rode Miss French’s mule, and the animal presumably knew the road. I did not care particularly whether or not Schneider were really coming. In any event, he would find himself too late.
When at length the slow gray dawn stole over us, it found us struggling along the mountain trail through a steady rain. Everything was sodden and dismal. Either the path was slippery and dangerous, or it was slimy with mud and yet more dangerous. No beast but a mule could have negotiated that road through the dawn-darkness. Indeed, we came to one narrow place where one of O’Grady’s mules had slipped and slid from the edge; not so long before, either, since the tracks of the dismounted Jap were visible among the hoof-marks that went onward.
There is nothing so lonely as a trail among desolate mountains in the pouring rain. These hills were desolate enough, too. Before the gray morning had fully come up, the path ahead of us was suddenly bisected by a tremendous flash of tawny color; a huge tiger had gone across the trail like a streak. Perhaps we had frightened him away from some kill made during the night.
Now the trail become dangerous in the extreme, for it wound along a narrow shelf of rock that followed a hill shoulder for a mile or more. The rain and storm had brought down occasional falls of earth and rock; twice O’Grady’s men had been forced to chop a path through huge fallen trees. Once the mule ridden by Yu went clean over the edge with both hind feet, and only our line saved Yu, while he managed to pull up the poor brute after he was out of the saddle. Taken all in all, it was not a pleasant journey.
We had reached the end of that narrow strip, thank fortune, when I made out somewhere ahead of us the very thing I had been half hoping and half dreading to see. It was the thin smoke of a fire trailing up through the rain, and as nearly as I could tell it was not very far distant. I pulled up at once, and pointed it out to Yu.
“I thought they wouldn’t go on for ever, through this storm! Miss French has been on the trail since yesterday noon, and she’s had to give in. Now, she’s safe enough with O’Grady; it’s a question whether we can slip past them or not.”
Yu shook his head in dissent, eyeing the smoke with puckered-up eyes. Then he took out a tiny sleeve-pipe, filled it with black native tobacco, and lighted it. He puffed for a moment until the little steel bowl was empty, and knocked it out.
“You are both right and wrong, master. I think I know what lies ahead; it is a place of which the guides told me last night. There is a deep chasm in the earth, and they expected that the rain might wash away the rickety old bridge that spanned the gap. They told me, however, that a half mile to the right there is a place where a man may jump across. If O’Grady does not know about this, he may go in the other direction to find a passage. There is another bridge, but it is several miles away over the hill.”
“But Miss French came this way during the night!” I objected.
“Yes, master; and the bridge probably went down this morning with the rain. She may not know about the jumping-place. We may as well leave the mules here and go ahead on foot. They will follow us slowly.”
In the light of Yu’s information, I assented, and we started cautiously forward, while the two animals slowly followed after us.
Fortunately, from here on we had a straight and fairly open trail ahead, so that it was not difficult to see what waited us. I reckoned that we were not more than half an hour behind O’Grady, since he must have made slow progress along that bad stretch of trail.
To right and left of us lay forest, and the dark shoulders of hills lifting into the gloomy sky. Directly ahead, and slightly below us, we could see a huge chasm or fault in the rock—a great rent thirty feet in width, which had been bridged by a bamboo suspension affair. This bridge now was gone.
Near what had been the bridge-head, two Japs were hard at work finishing up a little brush shelter. Miss French, obviously, had given up here. She was sitting under a tree, near the mules. Since O’Grady and his three remaining men had vanished, we knew that they had left the girl here while he sought a way of crossing the rift in the rock.
“Circle around to the left,” I told Yu. “When I get close, tell those fellows to put up their hands. No need of murdering ’em.”
He nodded and darted in among the trees.
I stole forward with some caution, but the sturdy little Japs were expecting no one and were working too hard to exert much of a lookout. When I was close enough to cover them with the rifle, I heard Yu’s voice ring out, and I ran forward openly. The Japs both started for the mules, but I put a bullet over their heads and they gave up. Yu came from his shelter and, pistol in hand, took charge of them.
I turned to the girl. She was standing staring at me in blank amazement.
“Good morning, Miss French!” I took off the wide woven hat as I spoke, and her eyes widened. “Yes, it’s the gentleman whom you were told last night was stark mad, but don’t be alarmed. My name’s Breck, and Mr. James Sze Kohler sent me up here to see your brother. O’Grady is a competitor, and rather caught me off guard last night. You were quite right in thinking that I did not have the opium pallor!”
That fetched her, and a slight smile came to her lips. Yet she was incredulous, startled, uncertain of me.
“You say—you come from Mr. Kohler?”
“Yes, Miss French. Now, I beg you, accept the matter without further question. To tell you the truth, I have to reach Kiuling ahead of O’Grady, before he can impose on your brother. My purpose is to buy that lacquer formula. There’s another chap behind us, an agent of Dubonnet & Cie., and we’ve had quite a race of it from the coast. I’m ready to pay your brother whatever price he asks, and to secure his services in future on behalf of Kohler. But I must get ahead of O’Grady. Did he go to right or left?”
A sudden laugh came to her lips.
“You’re an American all right, Mr. Breck. Strict attention to business!” she exclaimed. “Why, Mr. O’Grady went to the left.”
“Good! Then he’s missed the crossing,” I said delightedly. “There’s a place over to the right where the gap can be jumped. How far is it to Kiuling from here?”
“About ten miles, I think.”
At this I grimaced. Ten miles on foot, over these roads, through storm!
“Well, it has to be done. O’Grady drugged my whole outfit last night, but my number one boy was suspicious, and escaped. He let me free after you had gone, and we followed. Now, if you’re not equal to the tramp ahead, I’ll leave Yu here with you. He’ll take good care of you—”
“Wait a minute, please! Don’t be so breathless!” she begged, laughingly. All the while, she had been scrutinizing me closely, and had probably convinced herself of my honesty and sanity. “I only remained here because I knew it was miles over the hill to the next bridge, and that road circles back on the other side of the gorge. O’Grady is coming back here, rig up a line, and get me across, to save that long trip.”
“Good for him,” I said. “He’s a generous foe, and no mistake! Well, then you want me to leave you here—”
“Not at all! I’ll go with you.”
I stared at her, dumfounded.
“But, my dear girl! We’ll have to tramp on to Kiuling on foot, and you must be dead weary this minute.”
“I’ve been asleep under this tree ever since O’Grady departed,” she said. “Besides, I’m quite equal to it, I assure you! And I would sooner be with you than alone here. And you can tell me all about your journey here and your race, as we go along.”
Already I was thinking
ahead. If O’Grady came back and heard from those two Japs what had happened, it would never do; I wanted to get to Kiuling first, and trap him. If he came back and found everyone gone, he would perforce have to go on to Kiuling at once, and a little anxiety over Miss French would do him good. Perhaps he would think that Schneider had come up, had brought her along, and had followed him the roundabout way to the other bridge.
I turned and walked out to where Yu stood guard over the two Japs. I explained the situation rapidly to him. Janet French, from her tree-shelter, listened.
“Now,” I went on, “we can’t murder these fellows, Yu. Suppose you take ’em out there fairly close to the gorge, and tie ’em up good and hard, each to a separate tree. Not close enough so that they can shout across, but just so O’Grady can see them from the other side. You might gag them to make sure. Then he’ll send one of his three men back to release them, and go on to Kiuling with the other two Japs. Eh?”
“Excellent, master!” approved Yu, much to my satisfaction. “Will Miss French go with us, then?”
I nodded and returned to her. She eyed me smilingly.
“That boy of yours speaks very good English, Mr. Breck!”
“Mission trained, I presume,” was my reply. “Since you have a fire going, we’ll stop and make some tea and get a meal. I don’t know very much about surgery, but I can make your brother comfortable until O’Grady gets there—and he’ll do the rest.”
“Poor Mr. O’Grady!” she said, her lips twitching. “He’s really very nice!”
“He’s straight enough, and a square enemy,” I admitted. “Well, I’ll see about the tea while Yu is attending to those chaps.”
I got to work and made some tea, stiffening it from my brandy flask. While doing this, an idea came to me, and I summoned Yu. Inquiring from him, I discovered that the narrow portion of the gorge of which he had heard was no more than eight feet wide. So, vastly encouraged, I told him to get the mules saddled and we would try to get them over.
Ten minutes afterward, warmed and heartened by the food and hot drink, we rode off among the trees to the right, taking with us the hand-axes of the two hapless Japs.
What followed, in view of our gloomy forecast, was absurdly easy. We found the narrow place without trouble. Yu and I felled three small trees and trimmed them, and laid them across the opening. Over these, the mountain-trained mules picked their way without a speck of protest, their delicate little hooves guiding them surely. Then, mounting, we headed back for the main trail and Kiuling.
The game was won.
As we rode, I talked with Janet French, and not only imparted information, but learned many things. It appeared that, some months previously, Kohler had written her brother in regard to the lacquer formula on which he was then working. French had agreed to sell Kohler the secret, but since then all communication had been broken off—due, of course, to the activity of the Japs and the Dubonnet company, Kohler had not been able to buy in the Fuchow lacquer factories without much opposition, and in that fight, the chemist away off in the hills had been rather lost to sight.
The Frenches had gone broke; I conjectured as much from little things the girl said, as well as from a remark that O’Grady had previously made. I could see, too, how she had nursed and cared for her brother, helping him with his work, keeping the ménage running smoothly, making their little money go as far as it would. Gradually his health had come back to him, and every day they had hoped that a message would come from Kohler. None had come. Letters sent down to the river had been unanswered.
So at last they prepared to leave Kiuling, borrowing what they could from native merchants. And, during the preparations, French got in the way of a fractious mule. It must have seemed like a final blow from evil fates. Getting her brother into bed, Janet had taken two of their mafus, and started in desperation to find someone who could attend to the injured man.
We fell to talking again of O’Grady, and it was then that Yu intervened quietly, during a lull in our conversation.
“Master,” he said, “we can take care of O’Grady, I think. But be careful! That man Schneider will be dangerous. He will have native guides. He will know of that crossing by which we came. He will know we are ahead of him. Do not forget Schneider, master!”
I nodded, and smiled at Janet French.
“All right, Yu! I’ll bear him in mind. Hello! Looks like the rain is clearing off, eh? There’s a touch of sunlight on the hills ahead.”
The girl lifted her hand and pointed, eagerly.
“And there’s Kiuling, there on the hillside.”
VII
Kiuling was nothing but a straggling cluster of houses, barely a village, ranged along a bare hill-slope. It was gloriously situated, however, with a view of fifty miles across the hills; the rain had quite cleared off by the time we reached the place, and the air was like wine in the blood. No wonder French had won back health in such atmosphere!
There were few people in the place; our advent was scarcely noticed. The Frenches occupied a formerly ruinous old shrine of the mountain-god, a few hundred yards this side of the town itself. Two apathetic servants met us in the courtyard. A tiger had carried off a woman during the night, and the whole town was gone on the hunt, it appeared.
Having instructed Yu to dispose of the mules and remove all signs of our arrival, I accompanied Miss Janet into the main building. One of the usual partitions was in place, dividing the room into two. French lay here, propped up on pillows, and greeted us with a wan smile. He had suffered frightfully, and had been tremendously worried about his sister. His eyes lighted up when Janet introduced me.
“Glad to meet you, Breck. From Kohler, eh? Well, that can wait. Good thing you met Janey—sis, what made you run off that way? I got all fixed up last night. Had those boys come in and set the fracture. It’s the shoulder-blade. They made a rotten job of binding it up, though. D’you suppose you could get me a bite to eat? Haven’t had a thing, and I’m famished—”
With an exclamation, Janet disappeared. French asked for his pipe, which I found and filled. Then he gave me an appraising glance, and spoke.
“Breck, I’ve had hell here all night. I’m about done in, what with worrying over Janey and the hurt of this cursed shoulder. Can you get me into splints or something to ease it?”
“I don’t know enough about it,” I told him frankly. “But O’Grady will be along in an hour or so and he can do the job right. Better wait for him.”
“Who’s O’Grady?”
I told him the story, in few words, and finished by the time Janet appeared with broth and food. Then, taking charge of French, I sent her into the adjoining room behind the partition to get some sleep; almost forced her to go, in fact. She had held up nobly, but she badly needed rest.
The same was true of French. I changed his blankets and pajamas, and he immediately dropped off into a sleep of exhaustion. The poor chap must have been on a tremendous strain through the night, what with the tiger-alarm in the village and the storm, and knowing that Janet had only two men with her. Those two, by the way, had never returned.
Finding the two servants dismissed and Yu in charge of the courtyard, I went across to a smaller building and inspected it. This proved to be French’s workshop and laboratory. As French had packed up everything in preparation for his trip out, the place was fairly well cleaned, and I got it straightened up to use as my abode. French could not travel for some little time, so that I would stay here temporarily.
The day had cleared off in fine shape. Joining Yu, at the entrance, I sat smoking for a while, feeling no particular need of sleep, and enjoying in anticipation what was going to take place. We had secured a pair of field-glasses from French’s equipment, and passed an hour in idle pleasure of relaxation. A party of native hunters had returned to the village, gongs beating and horns blowing, and I was watching them when Yu, who had the glasses, touched my arm. He was smiling.
“Just as you thought, master! O’Grady sent back one of
his Japs to release those we bound to trees!”
“The glasses!” I seized them and focused on the back trail. There, half a mile distant, had appeared three mules; O’Grady and his two remaining Japs.
“You can’t stay here; he’d recognize you,” I told Yu. “Come into the main building with me, and we’ll both catch him. He’ll leave his men in the courtyard while he investigates. As soon as we have him, you go and attend to the two Japs.”
We went inside and waited, watching the deep breathing of French on his bed. I recall noticing, then, the rich perfume of the beams of nanmu-wood which pillared the old shrine.
O’Grady overshot the mark and rode past the place into the village, naturally. He soon ascertained where French was located, and came riding back again. Instead of bringing his men into the courtyard, however, as I had hoped, he left them outside the entrance of the shrine and himself came in alone.
“Hallo, French!” came his cheerful hail. “Are ye here, man?”
At this, French stirred and opened his eyes, I made him a sign of caution, and he understood, for a slight smile touched his lips. O’Grady called again, then came striding into the room. He found me on one side of him and Yu on the other, our pistols out.
For a moment he was absolutely paralyzed with incredulous amazement. He stared at me with fallen jaw, his eyes widening on mine.
“Up with ’em, O’Grady,” I said. “Yu, take his gun.”
He knew that I was real enough. For an instant, desperate resolve flickered in his eyes; he was weighing the chance that I would not shoot if he tried for his gun. But I meant to shoot, and he saw it plain enough. He took one deep breath, and lifted his hands. Yu stepped forward and took his automatic away.
“By the rock o’ Doon!” he ejaculated. “Is it real ye are, Breck, or a ghost?”
“Your drugged tea failed to reach Yu,” I said. “We took Miss French from your two men and came along by another and shorter route, that’s all. You’d better attend to those two Japs outside, Yu.”
O’Grady started. His eyes flashed, and for a moment I thought he was about to leap at me barehanded. Instead, he turned his head and shouted something, evidently in Japanese; it was quite incomprehensible to me. There was no way of checking him, short of shooting, which I would not do. Yu went darting away, and I took O’Grady by the shoulder and whirled him about.
The H. Bedford-Jones Pulp Fiction Megapack Page 13
