the room was silence, while Ardzrouni cut the bonds of the brown man.
"I know you," he said. "You are Ninh Bang, the head boy of that man Smith."
Ninh Bang nodded, and worked his members, since the bonds and his wounds had stiffened his whole body. Again there was silence. The dead priest sprawled back in his chair; the others watched with impassive faces.
Outside the room there sounded a clash of arms, a cry, another clash. A moment afterward a door opened, and Colonel Chou appeared in his common soldier's garb. Ardzrouni made a gesture, and he vanished again; but now certain of the priests glanced one at another, and the fear deepened in their faces.
Ardzrouni looked at them, and his eyes darkened stormily.
"Regard these men, Ninh Bang!" he said, touching the brown hunter on the shoulder. "Two of them are honest priests and worthy men, who are masters of this temple; they are my friends. The other three, with him who lies there dead, come from the college of fang shi within the inner city. They are allied with the eunuch Liu Ku, meaning to kill me and to seize upon Ngong for themselves. Wizards though they be, however, it is evident that they have not the power to resist bullets!"
At this speech Ninh Bang grinned. Three of the priests turned pale. Two of them smiled slightly, and to these Ardzrouni beckoned. They rose and prostrated themselves. He ordered them to get up.
"Lead these three brethren of yours outside," he ordered, "and give them to the guards who are waiting there."
The priests left the room in silence. When the door had closed behind them, Ardzrouni tucked away his revolver and turned to the Tais hunter.
"Your message," he said.
Ninh Bang squatted down, thrust a pill of opium into his mouth, and spoke.
"My master said that you were his friend. He is detained by guards, but he sent me to you with a message. When he comes here, there are two things which you must be prepared to do. First, you must punish those who killed the French resident and the mandarin Wang Ling. Second, you must pay a sum of money for the dead resident and make a treaty with the French."
Ardzrouni sat down in one of the temple chairs, lighted a cigarette, and surveyed the brown man curiously.
"These things shall be done," he said briefly.
"My master wished to let you know in advance of his coming, that you might be prepared to do them," said Ninh Bang.
Ardzrouni chuckled.
"Is your master a hunter of horn, or an agent of the French?"
"He is both," said the hunter solemnly. "Also, he ordered me to find out what I could here in the town, and inform you of it. Shall I speak?"
"Speak," said Ardzrouni.
"I reached her late last night and listened to many men speaking. I heard that certain men were leaving the town to-day with their arms. To-morrow a caravan of mules and porters goes forth. This caravan, they said, bears gold which you are sending away, having stolen it from the treasury. They mean to fall upon the caravan, kill those who accompany it, and return the gold to Liu Ku. After I had learned these things, I tried to enter the inner town, but was denied, and some one found I was a stranger. Then I was followed and captured. That is all."
Ardzrouni threw a cynical glance at the fragments of the lattice, where Florence Wemyss was listening. He beckoned, and she came into the room with the two guards.
"You heard?" he asked. "It appears that our friend the eunuch has set a very pretty trap for you and your father. I do not think you will leave here to-morrow, after all."
"No," she assented quietly. "Good evening, Ninh Bang! You remember me?"
The hunter grinned and nodded.
Ardzrouni sent one of the guards for Colonel Chou. After a moment the latter appeared, and saluted respectfully.
"I gave you orders at the feast," said the dark man, "to fetch that white stranger who is held at one of the watchtowers. What did you do about it?"
"I sent my brother for him, son of heaven, with an escort of fifty men. He will arrive here to-morrow."
"Very well! See that this brown man is cared for, and let him join the stranger when the latter arrives. Those three priests are outside?"
"They are under guard."
"Good! Return to the palace, take a force of men whom you can trust, and seize every wizard who is in the college. Turn over the buildings to the archers as quarters. At dawn, strip those priests and set them at work cleaning the streets of the outer city. Let us see if their magic can avail them or not! If any one interferes, slay him."
A slight smile appeared upon the stern face of Chou. It was evident that he had no love for the fang shi.