Chapter 8

DR. GAYLORD’S PROPOSAL.

The doctor and I had an important interview with Mai Lo that very evening. The man was evidently on guard before the door of his dead master’s room; for, the moment one of us approached the state cabin, there was Mai Lo confronting him, although the mandarin had been seen at quite another part of the ship a short time before. At such times the expressionless face and unfathomable beady eyes were turned toward us like those of a basilisk, and they impressed me with an uneasy sensation in spite of the fact that I felt that he alone was helpless to oppose us in anything we might decide to do.

But it was not our cue at present to antagonize Mai Lo, but to win his confidence. My father had already loudly declared in the Manchu’s hearing that the body of Prince Kai must be buried at sea, and considering Mai Lo’s prejudices it was not unreasonable to suppose that he looked upon us as his enemies.

Our first act in the comedy we were playing was to send Uncle Naboth to explain to the attendant that Captain Steele regretted the necessity of disposing of the body of his master at sea; but because the Seagull’s medicine chest contained no drugs or chemicals with which to embalm or preserve the body, there was no way to avoid this sea-burial if we wished to preserve the health of all on board.

Mai listened in apparent apathy to this explanation, which he had doubtless understood before, and the doctor and I waited a couple of hours to give him time to think it over before we sought him out and with mysterious gestures beckoned him to follow us to my own cabin. This he did, but would not close the door and sat in a position where he could keep an eye upon the locked door of the state cabin.

“Mai Lo,” said I, “you know that Prince Kai and I became friends before he died, and that he wished me to go to his palace at Kai-Nong and there perform for him certain services, the details of which are secret and must not be confided to anyone—even to you, his most faithful servant.”

He listened to me calmly, and then nodded his head.

“The Prince well knew his body would be lowered into the waters of the sea,” I continued, “and he was resigned to the necessity. We Americans do not care very much what becomes of our bodies when we are dead, but I know you Chinese feel differently about it, and it has made me unhappy to think I could not take the body of my friend Kai to China and place it in the burial-halls of his ancestors. Dr. Gaylord and I were conversing upon this subject, a short time ago, when he informed me that his science had taught him a way to preserve a body for a long period without the use of the usual drugs; but it is a method that requires great skill and labor, and constant watching, and is, moreover, very expensive.”

By this time Mai Lo was intensely interested; there was no doubt of that. His gaze was fixed steadfastly upon my face and I thought there was a faint gleam of curiosity in his eyes.

He was silent at first; but I intended he should speak, and after a long pause he did so.

“The expense,” said he, in a harsh, guttural voice, but fair English, “is not to be considered. The estates of Prince Kai are ample to meet any demand.”

“Just so,” I replied easily. “Were it not so, my own fortune would willingly be devoted to the honor of my friend. The question is not one of money, but whether we can prevail upon Doctor Gaylord to give us his time and services. He says the task is a difficult one; and, if he undertakes to preserve the body of my friend and your master, he must watch over it constantly and escort it in person to the halls of Prince Kai’s ancestors. I have promised to go with him and to take two of my own friends to assist him and guard him; but the doctor knows something of China and fears he will be molested and perhaps lose his life during the long journey to the province of Kwang-Kai-Nong and back again to Shanghai. It is this that makes him refuse the undertaking, so I have decided to ask you if you cannot help us, and relieve Doctor Gaylord of his fears.”

I spoke slowly, so that each word might be fully understood by the Chinaman, and it was not long before he answered me.

“China is a safe country at all times,” said Mai Lo, and I noticed that his raspy, guttural tones were as expressionless as his face. “But on this mission, when one is in the service of Mai Lo, and favoring the powerful family of Kai, the person of Doctor Gaylord would be sacred from harm.”

There were several things about this brief assertion that I did not like. The mandarin, so humble and subservient to his Prince that I had come to regard him as a mere valet, now assumed that we would be “in the service of Mai Lo” during our journey into the interior. Then, again, our return trip was not assured; it would only be of interest to Mai Lo to see that we arrived safely at the capital of Kai-Nong with the body.

This struck the doctor, too; for he said, in his positive way:

“If I go in safety I must return in safety. It won’t do, Mai Lo, to give me empty promises. Either you must show me, without the shadow of a doubt, how I am to return to Shanghai with my American escort, or I don’t stir a step and the body of Prince Kai goes overboard.”

Mai Lo took a silver box from inside his richly embroidered robe and abstracted some betel-nut and lime leaves, which he placed in his mouth.

“What assurance do you demand?” he asked.

“This,” said the doctor. “You will yourself remain on board the Seagull as an hostage, until we return from Kai-Nong.”

Mai Lo remained silent a long time, while we watched him anxiously. At last he spoke, as deliberately as before.

“You imperil your own safety by this request,” said he. “Without me to protect you, your party might be attacked and slain.”

“I thought you said China was perfectly safe!” I exclaimed, contemptuously.

“It is perfectly safe wherever I go,” he answered.

We were both greatly disappointed at this position of Mai Lo, for we had thought that by leaving him on board the ship we could carry out our plans safely. China might be a dangerous country to travel in, but we feared this incomprehensible mandarin more than anything else.

“Oh, well,” said the doctor, carelessly, “let us abandon the idea altogether. I don’t want the job, to be frank with you both, and I won’t run my head into danger if I can help it. So we’ll say no more about it.”