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Authors: Ron Miller, Darrell Funk
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process of doing that very thing. He tossed back a tumblerful of the amber liquid and said, “Yup, Mongolia. Got tossed out cause old Tang Yulin was gettin’ kinda antsy bout the Japs who was movin’ in. Sure like to get back in there, though!”
“So would I,” agreed Frank. “I’ve got a standing order for three Manchurian tigers and half a dozen cases of carbines ready to trade for ‘em.”
“So,” I said, “the difficulty would be getting overland into Mongolia?”
“That’s about it,” replied Roy. “The Japs have all the routes pretty much sewn up. They’re keeping a sharp eye on anyone heading into the territory.”
“What about the Luan Ho?”
“Well, that’s there’s a real thought. That’d circumvent the Jap-held territory, I reckon. The province of Jehol is held by Tang and it borders on the river. I suppose if we could get that far up the river, we could meet him at, oh, somewhere near Changteh, say.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I think I might be able to work out something for you boys that would be to our mutual advantage.”
I told them about the Venture . I didn’t mention its cargo of seaplanes, but hinted that we were pretty anxious to get ourselves in touch with the Chinese as soon as possible. If we could say we were part of a Frank Buck expedition, we could probably go anywhere we wanted. Both Roy and Frank were tactful enough not to press me on the details. My hour was about up, so I told them I was staying at the Cathay, at Bund and Nanking, where they should meet me in the morning.
I got back to the hotel around four o’clock with a song in my heart.
“Roy Chapman Andrews?” was the first thing Pat asked me when I got back and told her what I’d learned.
“I have no idea. He didn’t tell me his middle name.”
“Well, it must be him. Who else could it be?”
“I have no idea. Who is Roy Chapman Andrews?”
“He’s a paleontologist—maybe the most famous one in the whole world.”
I didn’t even know there were such things as paleontologists, let alone famous ones, and told her so.
“He looks for dinosaur bones. And finds them, too.”
“Dinosaur bones?” Well, that was okey dokey by me. The only good dinosaur, so far as I was concerned, was a dead dinosaur. If I never saw one with meat on its bones again, it’d be too soon.
“No one thought there’d be fossils in Mongolia, but Andrews proved them all wrong. He’s famous for his discoveries.”
“Well, that’s nice.”
“Nice?’ Do you have any idea what he had to go through to find those fossils? When the whole story comes out, it’s going to be one of the great adventures of all time.”
“I suppose it was pretty rough going . . .”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
That seemed to be Pat’s usual assessment of me, but I let it pass. Instead, I said, “Whoever he is, the point is that Englehorn can take the Venture up the Luan Ho with Frank Buck’s charter. Chapman will then take over, since he knows all the local warlords. He’ll help you to unload your planes onto the hapless Chinese.”
“Well, I have to admit, I don’t see anything wrong with that plan.”
“Of course not! What could go wrong?”
Nothing either of us could think of, anyway, until the hotel blew up.
CHAPTER EIGHT
When we got to the street, the place was in ruins. Autos were strewn around like toys and rubble, still smoldering, was everywhere. Sirens were screaming and explosions were still going off in the distance. Three Chinese planes, I learned later, had tried to bomb the Jap flagship, the Idumo . Instead, they had missed entirely, hitting the wharves of the NYK line instead. Which was just as well, I suppose, since had they missed in the other direction they would have wiped out the US consulate, which would have been a pretty damn serious mistake. The Chinks might have taken their first serious poke at the Japs, but they’d done a mighty poor job of it. Aside from the 1000-pound bomb
“So would I,” agreed Frank. “I’ve got a standing order for three Manchurian tigers and half a dozen cases of carbines ready to trade for ‘em.”
“So,” I said, “the difficulty would be getting overland into Mongolia?”
“That’s about it,” replied Roy. “The Japs have all the routes pretty much sewn up. They’re keeping a sharp eye on anyone heading into the territory.”
“What about the Luan Ho?”
“Well, that’s there’s a real thought. That’d circumvent the Jap-held territory, I reckon. The province of Jehol is held by Tang and it borders on the river. I suppose if we could get that far up the river, we could meet him at, oh, somewhere near Changteh, say.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I think I might be able to work out something for you boys that would be to our mutual advantage.”
I told them about the Venture . I didn’t mention its cargo of seaplanes, but hinted that we were pretty anxious to get ourselves in touch with the Chinese as soon as possible. If we could say we were part of a Frank Buck expedition, we could probably go anywhere we wanted. Both Roy and Frank were tactful enough not to press me on the details. My hour was about up, so I told them I was staying at the Cathay, at Bund and Nanking, where they should meet me in the morning.
I got back to the hotel around four o’clock with a song in my heart.
“Roy Chapman Andrews?” was the first thing Pat asked me when I got back and told her what I’d learned.
“I have no idea. He didn’t tell me his middle name.”
“Well, it must be him. Who else could it be?”
“I have no idea. Who is Roy Chapman Andrews?”
“He’s a paleontologist—maybe the most famous one in the whole world.”
I didn’t even know there were such things as paleontologists, let alone famous ones, and told her so.
“He looks for dinosaur bones. And finds them, too.”
“Dinosaur bones?” Well, that was okey dokey by me. The only good dinosaur, so far as I was concerned, was a dead dinosaur. If I never saw one with meat on its bones again, it’d be too soon.
“No one thought there’d be fossils in Mongolia, but Andrews proved them all wrong. He’s famous for his discoveries.”
“Well, that’s nice.”
“Nice?’ Do you have any idea what he had to go through to find those fossils? When the whole story comes out, it’s going to be one of the great adventures of all time.”
“I suppose it was pretty rough going . . .”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
That seemed to be Pat’s usual assessment of me, but I let it pass. Instead, I said, “Whoever he is, the point is that Englehorn can take the Venture up the Luan Ho with Frank Buck’s charter. Chapman will then take over, since he knows all the local warlords. He’ll help you to unload your planes onto the hapless Chinese.”
“Well, I have to admit, I don’t see anything wrong with that plan.”
“Of course not! What could go wrong?”
Nothing either of us could think of, anyway, until the hotel blew up.
CHAPTER EIGHT
When we got to the street, the place was in ruins. Autos were strewn around like toys and rubble, still smoldering, was everywhere. Sirens were screaming and explosions were still going off in the distance. Three Chinese planes, I learned later, had tried to bomb the Jap flagship, the Idumo . Instead, they had missed entirely, hitting the wharves of the NYK line instead. Which was just as well, I suppose, since had they missed in the other direction they would have wiped out the US consulate, which would have been a pretty damn serious mistake. The Chinks might have taken their first serious poke at the Japs, but they’d done a mighty poor job of it. Aside from the 1000-pound bomb
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