Read Online The Hand of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer - Free Book Online
Authors: Sax Rohmer
Tags: Mystery
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said, bowed to us both, and retired.
When the door was closed—
"You see, Petrie," said Smith, beginning to stuff tobacco into his
briar, "if we are ever short of funds, here's something"—pointing to
the Tûlun-Nûr box upon the table—"which would retrieve our fallen
fortunes."
He uttered one of his rare, boyish laughs, and began to pace the
carpet again, his gaze always set upon our strange treasure. What did
it contain?
The manner in which it had come into our possession suggested that it
might contain something of the utmost value to the Yellow group. For
we knew the house of John Ki to be, if not the head-quarters, certainly
a meeting-place of the mysterious organization the Si-Fan; we knew
that Dr. Fu-Manchu used the place—Dr. Fu-Manchu, the uncanny being
whose existence seemingly proved him immune from natural laws, a
deathless incarnation of evil.
My gaze set upon the box, I wondered anew what strange, dark secrets
it held; I wondered how many murders and crimes greater than murder
blackened its history.
"Smith," I said suddenly, "now that the mystery of the absence of a
key-hole is explained, I am sorely tempted to essay the task of
opening the coffer. I think it might help us to a solution of the
whole mystery."
"And I think otherwise!" interrupted my friend grimly. "In a word,
Petrie, I look upon this box as a sort of hostage by means of which—
who knows—we might one day buy our lives from the enemy.
I have a sort of fancy, call it superstition if you will, that
nothing—not even our miraculous good luck—could save us if once
we ravished its secret."
I stared at him amazedly; this was a new phase in his character.
"I am conscious of something almost like a spiritual unrest," he
continued. "Formerly you were endowed with a capacity for divining
the presence of Fu-Manchu or his agents. Some such second-sight would
appear to have visited me now, and it directs me forcibly to avoid
opening the box."
His steps as he paced the floor grew more and more rapid. He
relighted his pipe, which had gone out as usual, and tossed the
match-end into the hearth.
"To-morrow," he said, "I shall lodge the coffer in a place of greater
security. Come along, Petrie, Weymouth is expecting us at Scotland Yard."
Chapter XI - In the Fog
*
"But, Smith," I began, as my friend hurried me along the corridor, "you
are not going to leave the box unguarded?"
Nayland Smith tugged at my arm, and, glancing at him, I saw him
frowningly shake his head. Utterly mystified, I nevertheless
understood that for some reason he desired me to preserve silence for
the present. Accordingly I said no more until the lift brought us down
into the lobby and we had passed out from the New Louvre Hotel,
crossed the busy thoroughfare and entered the buffet of an
establishment not far distant. My friend having ordered cocktails—
"And now perhaps you will explain to me the reason for your mysterious
behavior?" said I.
Smith, placing my glass before me, glanced about him to right and left,
and having satisfied himself that his words could not be overheard—
"Petrie," he whispered, "I believe we are spied upon at the New Louvre."
"What!"
"There are spies of the Si-Fan—of Fu-Manchu—amongst the hotel
servants! We have good reason to believe that Dr. Fu-Manchu at one
time was actually in the building, and we have been compelled to draw
attention to the state of the electric fitting in our apartments, which
enables any one in the corridor above to spy upon us."
"Then why do you stay?"
"For a very good reason, Petrie, and the same that prompts me to
retain the Tûlun-Nûr box in my own possession rather than to deposit
it in the strong-room of my bank."
"I begin to understand."
"I trust you do, Petrie; it is fairly obvious. Probably the plan is a
perilous one, but I hope, by laying myself open to attack, to
apprehend the enemy—perhaps to make an important capture."
Setting down my glass, I stared in silence at Smith.
"I will anticipate
When the door was closed—
"You see, Petrie," said Smith, beginning to stuff tobacco into his
briar, "if we are ever short of funds, here's something"—pointing to
the Tûlun-Nûr box upon the table—"which would retrieve our fallen
fortunes."
He uttered one of his rare, boyish laughs, and began to pace the
carpet again, his gaze always set upon our strange treasure. What did
it contain?
The manner in which it had come into our possession suggested that it
might contain something of the utmost value to the Yellow group. For
we knew the house of John Ki to be, if not the head-quarters, certainly
a meeting-place of the mysterious organization the Si-Fan; we knew
that Dr. Fu-Manchu used the place—Dr. Fu-Manchu, the uncanny being
whose existence seemingly proved him immune from natural laws, a
deathless incarnation of evil.
My gaze set upon the box, I wondered anew what strange, dark secrets
it held; I wondered how many murders and crimes greater than murder
blackened its history.
"Smith," I said suddenly, "now that the mystery of the absence of a
key-hole is explained, I am sorely tempted to essay the task of
opening the coffer. I think it might help us to a solution of the
whole mystery."
"And I think otherwise!" interrupted my friend grimly. "In a word,
Petrie, I look upon this box as a sort of hostage by means of which—
who knows—we might one day buy our lives from the enemy.
I have a sort of fancy, call it superstition if you will, that
nothing—not even our miraculous good luck—could save us if once
we ravished its secret."
I stared at him amazedly; this was a new phase in his character.
"I am conscious of something almost like a spiritual unrest," he
continued. "Formerly you were endowed with a capacity for divining
the presence of Fu-Manchu or his agents. Some such second-sight would
appear to have visited me now, and it directs me forcibly to avoid
opening the box."
His steps as he paced the floor grew more and more rapid. He
relighted his pipe, which had gone out as usual, and tossed the
match-end into the hearth.
"To-morrow," he said, "I shall lodge the coffer in a place of greater
security. Come along, Petrie, Weymouth is expecting us at Scotland Yard."
Chapter XI - In the Fog
*
"But, Smith," I began, as my friend hurried me along the corridor, "you
are not going to leave the box unguarded?"
Nayland Smith tugged at my arm, and, glancing at him, I saw him
frowningly shake his head. Utterly mystified, I nevertheless
understood that for some reason he desired me to preserve silence for
the present. Accordingly I said no more until the lift brought us down
into the lobby and we had passed out from the New Louvre Hotel,
crossed the busy thoroughfare and entered the buffet of an
establishment not far distant. My friend having ordered cocktails—
"And now perhaps you will explain to me the reason for your mysterious
behavior?" said I.
Smith, placing my glass before me, glanced about him to right and left,
and having satisfied himself that his words could not be overheard—
"Petrie," he whispered, "I believe we are spied upon at the New Louvre."
"What!"
"There are spies of the Si-Fan—of Fu-Manchu—amongst the hotel
servants! We have good reason to believe that Dr. Fu-Manchu at one
time was actually in the building, and we have been compelled to draw
attention to the state of the electric fitting in our apartments, which
enables any one in the corridor above to spy upon us."
"Then why do you stay?"
"For a very good reason, Petrie, and the same that prompts me to
retain the Tûlun-Nûr box in my own possession rather than to deposit
it in the strong-room of my bank."
"I begin to understand."
"I trust you do, Petrie; it is fairly obvious. Probably the plan is a
perilous one, but I hope, by laying myself open to attack, to
apprehend the enemy—perhaps to make an important capture."
Setting down my glass, I stared in silence at Smith.
"I will anticipate
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