returning to my guest, I said: "Do you smoke? I think I can give you a good cigar."
He took one from the box and lit it, puffing the smoke luxuriously through his nose. Presently the pegs were forthcoming, and when I had signed the chit I asked his business.
"You are a stranger in Hong Kong, I believe, Dr. De Normanville?" he began.
"Not only in Hong Kong, but you might say in the East generally," I answered. "I am out on a tour to study Asiatic diseases for a book I am writing."
"You have achieved considerable success in your profession, I believe. We have even heard of you out here."
I modestly held my tongue. But so pitiful is the vanity of man that from this time forward I began to look upon my companion with a more friendly air than I had hitherto shown him.
"Now, forgive my impertinence," he continued, "but how long do you contemplate remaining in the East?"
"It is very uncertain," I replied; "but I almost fancy another six weeks will find me upon a P. and O. boat homeward bound."
"And in that six weeks will your time be very importantly occupied?"
"I cannot say, but I should rather think not. So far as I can tell at present my work is accomplished."
"And now will you let me come to business. To put it bluntly, have you any objection to earning a thousand pounds?"
"Not the very least!" I answered with a laugh. "What man would have? Provided, of course, I can earn it in a legitimate manner."
"You have bestowed considerable attention upon the treatment of small-pox, I believe?"
"I have had sole charge of two small-pox hospitals, if that's what you mean."
"Ah! Then our informant was right. Well, this business, in which a thousand pounds is to be earned, has to do with an outbreak of that disease."
"And you wish me to take charge of it?"
"That is exactly what I am commissioned to negotiate."
"Where is the place?"
"I cannot tell you!"
"Not tell me? That's rather strange, is it not?"
"It is all very strange. But with your permission I will explain myself more clearly."
I nodded.
"It is altogether an extraordinary business. But, on the other hand, the pay is equally extraordinary. I am commissioned to find a doctor who will undertake the combating of an outbreak of small-pox on the following terms and conditions: The remuneration shall be one thousand pounds; the doctor shall give his word of honour not to divulge the business to any living soul; he shall set off at once to the affected spot, and he shall still further pledge himself to reveal nothing of what he may have heard or seen when he returns here again. Is that clear to you?"
"Perfectly. But it's a most extraordinary proposition."
"I grant you it is. But it is a chance that few men would care to let slip."
"How is the person undertaking it to find the place?"
"I will arrange that myself."
"And how is he to return from it again?"
"He will be sent back in the same way that he goes."
"And when must he start?"
"At once, without delay. Say twelve o'clock to-night."
"It is nearly eleven now."
"That will leave an hour. Come, Dr. De Normanville, are you prepared to undertake it?"
"I don't really know what to say. There is so much mystery about it."
"Unfortunately, that is necessary."
I paced the room in anxious thought, hardly knowing what answer to give. Should I accept or should I decline the offer? The thousand pounds was a temptation, and yet, supposing there were some treachery lurking behind it, that, in my innocence of the East, I could not fathom – what then? Moreover, the adventurous side of the affair, I must own, appealed to me strongly. I was young, and there was something supremely fascinating about the compliment and the mystery that enshrouded it.
"Look here," I said at length. "Pay me half the money down before I start, as a guarantee of good faith, and I'm your man!"
"Very good. I will even meet you there!"
He put his hand inside his coat and drew out a pocket-book. From this he took five one hundred pound Bank of England notes, and gave them to me.
"There, you have half the money."
"Thank you. Really, I must beg your pardon for almost doubting you, but – "
"Pray say no more. You understand the conditions thoroughly. You are not to divulge a detail of the errand to any living soul now or when you return."
"I will give you my word I will not."
"Then that is settled. I am much obliged to you. Can you arrange to meet me on the wharf exactly at midnight?"
"Certainly. I will be there without fail. And now tell me something of the outbreak itself. Is it very severe?"
"Very. There have already been nearly a hundred cases, out of which quite fifty have proved fatal. Your position will be no sinecure. You will have your work cut out for you."
"So it would appear. Now, if you will excuse me, I will go out and endeavour to obtain some lymph. We shall need all we can get."
"You need not put yourself to so much trouble. That has been attended to. To prevent any suspicion arising from your asking for such a thing, we have laid in a stock of everything you can possibly need."
"Very well, then. I will meet you on the wharf."
"On the wharf at twelve o'clock precisely. For the present, adieu!"
He shook me by the hand, picked up his hat and umbrella, and disappeared down the staircase, while I returned to my room to pack.
CHAPTER II
AN EVENTFUL VOYAGE
The last stroke of twelve was just booming out on the muggy night when I stepped on to the landing-stage to await my mysterious employer. The hotel servant who had carried my bag put it down, and having received his gratuity left me. The soft moonlight flooded everything, threw quaint shadows upon the wharf planks, shone upon the sleeping sampans beside it, and gurgled in oily wreaths on the placid water in the depths between them. Very few people were abroad, and those who were had no attention to spare for me. The Sikh policeman, who passed and repassed, alone seemed to wonder what a white lord could be doing in such a place at such a time. But doubtless he had had experience of the curious ways of Sahibdom, and, being a wise man, if he possessed any curiosity, he refrained from giving me evidence of the fact.
Suddenly the patter of naked feet behind me caught my ear. A Chinese chair, borne by two stalwart bearers, was approaching. Very naturally I settled it in my own mind that it contained the man whom I was to meet, and turned to receive him. But when the conveyance was set down, it was not the respectable Englishman I had seen before who stepped out of it, but a portly Chinaman of considerable rank and dignity. He was gorgeously clad in figured silk; his pigtail reached halfway to his heels and was adorned with much ornamentation; and I noticed that he wore large tortoiseshell spectacles which, while they completely hid his eyes, gave a curious effect to his otherwise not unhandsome countenance. Having descended from his equipage, he dismissed his bearers, and began to stump solemnly up and down the landing-stage, drawing closer and closer to me at every turn. Presently he summoned up courage enough to accost me. To my surprise he said:
"What for you come here one piecee look see?"
Not being an adept at pigeon English, I simply answered —
"I'm afraid I don't understand you."
"What for you come here look see?"
"I'm waiting for a friend."
"Your friend allee same Engleesman?"
"Yes,