CHAPTER VI
The Professor makes a Suggestion
'So you've been fighting again, have you?' quizzed Mr. Jones, when he came to visit David in the accident ward of the general hospital, to which he had been conveyed straight from the store. 'And this time there has been real bloodshed. Do you know that you have lain here precisely four weeks, two days short of a complete month?'
'And a precious long time it does begin to feel,' came the joking answer, for the patient so ill but a short while before was now well on the high road to recovery. 'I'm just longing to be out again. To-morrow I get up; in a week I am to be allowed out in the park. In two I shall be back at my lodgings.'
'Perhaps,' agreed Mr. Jones, drawling the word in a manner decidedly professional. 'If you are well enough. If not – well, no matter for the moment. But you are strong enough to sign your name; listen to what I read, and sign if you agree. Of course, I am not going to bother you with a number of details. You can rely upon me implicitly; I will manage things for you.'
He rapidly intimated certain matters to David in connection with the letter he had had from his father, and the will which Mr. Ebenezer Clayhill was so anxious to have settled. Then he obtained our hero's signature.
'The next thing you will hear about the matter will be from the papers,' said Mr. Jones, as he bade farewell. 'I hope we shall be successful.'
Imagine the interest of the public when it leaked out that the hero of the burglary near Bond Street was also the claimant through his solicitor to have the execution of a certain will delayed. The papers rapidly obtained the whole story; for Mr. Jones, though accustomed, as a rule, to professional taciturnness and silence, now opened his lips with a will, and told the whole story as he knew it.
'Not that the tale will affect the judgment of this matter,' he told his friends. 'British justice is too evenly balanced for such a thing; but it will gain more friends for the boy. It will put his case as it is, not as others might garble it, and will obtain the sympathy of all.'
And sympathy it did gain for our hero. Not only that; for information having been received he would be out of hospital very shortly, the case was put back for trial on a later date, no special reason being given.
'Unless, of course, the Judge and jury are anxious to see you,' laughed Mr. Jones, coming to see David again, and quizzing as was his wont. 'But I'm glad to hear you are doing so well. In a week you come home.'
'Home,' said David. 'Yes, to Constable Hemming's. He's been here to arrange.'
'Home with me,' interrupted Mr. Jones, placidly. 'You must understand that you are an invalid as yet. You require care and comfortable surroundings. Not that I assert that Constable Hemming would deny you those; but you will obtain them to greater degree where I live, in the country, outside London. Hemming knows of the suggestion and approves. By the way, he's Sergeant Hemming now – promoted for his share in the work of capturing those men. Now I'll see the House Surgeon and get his report.'
'Oh, David?' said the latter, cheerily, when accosted by the solicitor. 'Davie is going strong; we've had him examined under the Roentgen Rays. The bullet struck the fourth rib on the left side, and ought to have killed him outright. But he has luck; he was born to be lucky it seems. The bullet turned along the rib, left it half way back, and emerged. The trouble with him is that the rib was fractured, and one of the broken ends pierced the lung. Hence bleeding from the mouth and other nasty and troublesome symptoms; but he'll do now if he takes it easy for another month. When can he go out, Mr. Jones? Let us say in a week's time.'
Accordingly David was driven away from the hospital at the termination of that period, deeply grateful for all the care and kindness shown him, and leaving many a friend behind. A motor car conveyed him to Mr. Jones' house, and thereafter he came under the care of that gentleman's wife. Three weeks later he attended the inquest on Henricksen, and there for the first time gave a description of how he had seen the burglars come into the store, and of how he had been forced to hide himself. Then followed the trial of the Admiral and of Spolikoff and Ovanovitch, the latter two having by then recovered from their wounds. Needless to say both Judge and jury highly commended the behaviour of our hero.
'Of course, we don't expect that you will care to come back to us,' said the manager of the store, when the trial was finished, 'though if you wish to come, we shall be glad to have you. But you are so well off now that you can look for something better. To begin with, our directors have handed me a cheque for one hundred pounds, to be paid at once to you.'
David coughed at the intimation. It made him breathe so deeply that his already healed wound pained him. 'One hundred pounds,' he gasped. 'That's enough to take me to China.'
'Hardly, I think; but there is some more. Spolikoff and Ovanovitch were much wanted by the police for extradition to their own country. They are a dangerous class of criminal who have infested this country of late. In Russia they were Anarchists, and are known to have held up and robbed a train. Russia became too hot for them, and so they came to these hospitable shores to continue robbing. There was a reward offered for their apprehension. You, of course, obtain that. The sum is three hundred pounds.'
Little wonder that David gasped again. When he agreed to remain on watch at the store he was almost penniless. True, he had a few pounds by him, as well as a bicycle, while there was always the small allowance which was due to him; but the prospect of earning much was by no means brilliant. And here were four hundred pounds – four hundred shining sovereigns, to do with as he liked, to pay his passage to China if he wished it.
'Then off I go to China!' he cried, when he had recovered from his astonishment at such good fortune. 'I'll sail on the first opportunity.'
'Which means that you will go when I, as your appointed guardian, allow you to do so,' exclaimed Mr. Jones, severely, endeavouring to hide a smile; for David's eagerness and enthusiasm delighted this gentleman. Mr. Jones was the sort of man whom a stranger would imagine never even smiled, much less laughed outright. David had himself always considered him somewhat of a wet blanket; but he did not know him so well then. As a matter of fact the solicitor was the prince of good fellows, and kind-hearted to a degree. And it was true that he had constituted himself David's guardian.
'Till the court has put me in that position officially,' he said, 'and, of course, till you are fit again; for then I am well aware that you will kick over the traces, and put up with no interference. Now, David, hand over that money to me. I'll give you a formal receipt for it, and when you need money you can have it, and without a question. For the moment I'll take care of it. Golden sovereigns have a way of burning holes in the pockets of young people.'
When at length the case in which our hero was so interested came before the courts, he was perfectly restored to health; and his straightforward evidence, the narrative of how he had set out from home to make his own way in the world, and his adventures en route won for him the good-will of hosts of people. The whole case read like a romance, and proved wonderfully attractive, while Mr. Ebenezer, who was compelled to give evidence, as was also his wife, provided the villains to this all-absorbing drama. Then came the intimation that David had decided to go to China, there to make inquiries and search for his father's will.
'As a sensible man I suppose I ought to throw cold water on that scheme,' declared the judge, 'but, honestly, it has my sympathy. I like the pluck of the claimant.'
It appeared that others did also. For while Mr. and Mrs. Ebenezer Clayhill were thoroughly exposed, and held up to public execration, David became more of a hero, and the following day received a most important letter.
'Dear Sir' – it ran – 'Having read the facts of your appeal to the courts, and being, moreover, an old friend of your father's, I have the pleasure to offer you a post on the staff I am collecting to take to China. We go to investigate old Mongolian Cities, the ruins of which have been long since located. I understand that your father was also interested in this work. We sail in rather less than a month, and should you accept this proposal, your passage will be paid, as also the return, while the question of salary can be arranged in the immediate future. Kindly write by return.'
David telegraphed. 'Coming. Delighted,' he sent, laconically, though he was not given as a rule to such abruptness, while the following morning found him at the address which headed the letter he had received. A short, stout, clean-shaven man rose from a seat as he was announced and advanced towards him with outstretched hand.
'David Harbor?' he asked, with a welcoming smile.
'Yes, sir. Come on the receipt of a letter from Professor Padmore. Is – er – are you – ?'
The little gentleman laughed outright now, beaming on our hero, while his fleshy chin shook visibly. 'Am I the Professor?' he shouted, putting a hand on David's shoulder. 'You don't think I look like one, now do you? Admit to that. As a Professor I should be as bald as a coot, wear enormous goggles, stutter a trifle, and be somewhat deaf. Eh! isn't that it?'
David couldn't help laughing; the little man's good temper was strangely infectious. Nor did he attempt to deny what had been said; it was true enough. Professors were often enough the class of individual painted by this gentleman. 'You're so different, sir,' he blurted out. 'You're – '
'I'm Professor Padmore, a terrible person, I do assure you,' chuckled the little man, 'and I happen also to have been a friend of your father's. A fine man, David, a gallant fellow, but rash, a trifle rash. Trusted the Chinese too far. That was the cause of the whole trouble. Well now, sit down. Smoke?'
He held out a cigarette case, but David shook his head.
'Never mind then,' smiled the Professor. 'No harm if you don't. You may later on. You're plenty young enough yet – too young, in fact. Boys who smoke are fools, fools, sir, with a capital F to it. But I wrote you, yes, I saw the name in the paper, and was attracted by the case. It was so unusual, the majority of such disputes are so commonplace. All are sordid; this one had peculiar features. It so happened, too, that I was wanting a young fellow, a gentleman, you understand, to come out to China with me. Well then, there you were, openly stating your desire to go to China. You were just the man for my situation, while I was just the opportunity you were looking for. Good; I wrote. You are coming; there'll be danger and hardships innumerable.'
He had lit a cigarette by now, and turned on the hearth rug at his final words to stare hard at David. He found the latter laughing.
'Eh? What?' he asked pleasantly.
'Nothing, sir,' declared David, 'only everything is so jolly and so pleasant I was just thinking then that you were just the reverse of the usual Professor. You ought to be very severe and unbending to young fellows.'
'Whereas I am not. Exactly so; to tell the truth I feel young myself, as young as you do, and try hard to forget that the years are going along, and that I am getting stouter as they go. But I can be severe. David, there will be many dangers to be faced, and many hardships. I want you to know that I want you to be fully prepared. And though I am pleasant enough as a general rule, there is one thing to learn – without discipline, without one recognised leader, and one only, no expedition can be a success. This expedition must succeed. I have led several others, but this is more important than all. Absolute obedience to my orders must be the rule, and you must be prepared to give it.'
For a few brief seconds the character of the little man seemed to have entirely changed, while certainly his facial appearance had done so. For of a sudden he became stern. Lines wove themselves across his forehead, while the half-closed eyes regarded David in a manner which impressed him. He realised then, if he had not done so before, that Professor Padmore could be a very different gentleman to the jolly individual who had welcomed him a few minutes earlier, could be stern and dictatorial, and could lead men whenever needed, and however pressing the danger.
'I am prepared to give the same obedience I should give in the army,' said David, soberly. 'As for the dangers and hardships, they come in in the day's work. I do not look for ease and enjoyment out in China. My business is serious. I shall not succeed with it until I have travelled far and had many an adventure.'
'Then you will do for me. Sit down there; now for your salary.'
It took but a few moments to decide that item, and then the Professor proceeded to outline his project.
'There are these Mongolian cities,' he said. 'Well, I have already done some excavating, and have brought some rare objects home with me; but there are thousands still lying buried for every one we have unearthed. We go to find them. Our ship carries us to Hong-Kong. There we disembark and remain for a while till we have obtained the necessary servants, some of whom I have employed before. Then we take steamer for Shanghai, and finally travel to Pekin. When we leave the city for the north, our real work will begin. You still wish to come? You are not frightened?'
David laughed again. He could not help himself; for the Professor was once more the jovial, pleasant comrade, treating the young fellow as if he himself were one also. 'I will come, and only too happy to be one of the party, sir,' he said. 'How many do you take?'
'We shall be four sailing from England. When we march from Pekin there should be twenty of us all told. Labourers for the task of digging can be obtained at the various spots we visit. Now for an outfit I shall purchase that for you; I have a list by which I always go. Long experience has taught me what is wanted.'
It was no use for David to exclaim at such generosity, and to mention the fact that he had plenty of money. The Professor silenced him at once.
'Put it away, sir,' he said. 'Put it into a safe investment. Don't worry about it till you come home. By then it will have grown wonderfully. But come along now; we'll drive to the house which always provides my equipment.'
When David returned to Mr. Jones' roof that evening he had been measured for a couple of thick tweed suits, of a brownish, khaki colour. Likewise for two pairs of strong boots and gaiters.
'The shirts and things of that description we can get ready made,' the Professor said. 'In the hot weather you will wear cotton only, and that sort of thing is best obtained in China. In the very cold weather, and often at other times, we shall wear native costume. Now you will want a magazine pistol, of the same pattern as carried by us all, thus necessitating only one class of ammunition for that sort of weapon, a rifle, and a gun. Those, with a compass, will complete your equipment. Come here in a week's time, and we will see the clothes tried on.'
Those were busy days for our hero. There seemed a thousand and one things to be done, so much so that the hours flew. But at last the most exciting day of all arrived. He bade farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Jones, and went over the river to see Sergeant Hemming and his wife. Then he joined the Professor, and together they drove to the docks. It was not till the following morning, when they were well away at sea, that David was introduced to the two who were, besides the Professor, to be his travelling companions, and who went to complete the staff of the expedition going to China to investigate Mongolian ruins.
'David,' shouted the Professor, unceremoniously, as he leaned against the ship's rail talking with a passenger, 'come along and meet one of the band. Dick, this is David. David, Dick. Shake hands.'
'You! Why, this beats me altogether!'
The passenger who had been conversing with the Professor swung round, smiling, as the words were spoken, and stretched out his hand; but the instant his eyes fell on our hero he started back in amazement. The next second he had leaped forward, and was shaking David's hand as if he would never cease.
'You! David Harbor of all people! You and I to be travelling companions, on the staff of the same expedition. This is too good!'
It was Dick Cartwell, the young fellow to whom David had taken such a fancy on his eventful ride up to London, the son of the lady who had so narrowly escaped an accident in a runaway brougham.
'Ripping!' ejaculated David on his part, delighted beyond anything. 'I never asked the name of the other fellow. Just fancy it's being you! What a time we shall have together!'
'Perhaps,' said the Professor, smiling at the keenness and the friendship displayed by the two, and delighted beyond measure to find that they knew one another, 'perhaps you will have the goodness to explain. When Dick Cartwell came to me and begged of me to take him on this trip, I hesitated.'
He looked severely at the handsome young fellow, though there was a smile on his lips.
'I say!' exclaimed Dick, protesting.
'I hesitated,' went on the Professor, silencing Dick with uplifted finger. 'I said to myself, I want a man, a steady man, used to expeditions. Besides, I had just read about a certain David Harbor, quite a youngster, and I conceived that one young fellow would be ample trouble and to spare. But I gave way, and here I find you known to one another. Did David tell you to come to me, sir?'
Dick protested again, amid much laughter, and then turned abruptly on the Professor. 'It's just all chance, sir,' he said. 'But the happiest chance imaginable. David and I became acquainted only a little while ago. He made my mother's acquaintance on the high road to London. There was almost a nasty accident. He stepped in in the nick of time.'
'As he did in the case of the burglars. Tell me all about it,' asked the professor, in the peculiar jerky way he had. 'And so you saved those ladies, David,' he said, a little later, becoming serious. 'I'm glad; you have shown now on more than one occasion that you have a cool head on your shoulders, and that is just what is wanted out in China. I hope Dick will cultivate similar coolness, and joking apart, I'm delighted to have you both with me. Now to introduce you to the other member of our party. He has been with me once before, and is perfectly invaluable. Here he comes. Alphonse, mon cher.'
The jovial Professor had set his eyes on the quaintest figure of a man imaginable, and called to him as he promenaded the deck. And at his summons the passenger approached David and Dick and their employer in the most humorous manner. A little man, smaller in fact than the Professor, Alphonse was remarkably broad. His shoulders were extraordinary in their width, while one was struck by the fact that his head – a tiny, bullet-like head, covered with the shortest, bristly crop of hair, which stood upright everywhere – was sunk deep between the shoulders. For the rest, an extremely ample waistcoat expanse, short, thick legs, which nevertheless moved very swiftly, and a most engaging face made up the personality of Alphonse. From the long, pointed toes of his French boots, to the crown of his stubble-covered head, the passenger was an oddity, while voice and jesture added to his eccentricity.
'Monsieur, I have the honour to hear you call,' said the little man, advancing at the Professor's summons, with little prancing steps which might have been employed by a professor of dancing, while he bowed deeply, flourishing a cap with a mighty peak, again, like his boots and his whole person, entirely and convincingly French in origin. 'You called Alphonse.'
'To make him known to these two gentlemen. Alphonse, these are the two who accompany us. I trust that they may be as well pleased with you when our travels are over as I have been. Alphonse Pichart, David, Dick.'
The three shook hands eagerly, with vast enthusiasm in the case of the Frenchman. Indeed, David found himself unconsciously wondering at the little man, and marvelling whence came all his energy. And how the face of Alphonse attracted him. Beneath the stubbly, shock head of hair was a wide forehead, a pair of honest, sparkling, blue eyes, a good nose, and strong mouth and chin.
Not a hair was visible on this shining, healthy-looking countenance till one arrived at the chin, from which depended a peaky little beard, cut very narrow and curling forward at the tip.
'I shall have the honour and the pleasure to serve all three, then. Eh?' said Alphonse, backing and bowing once more, and replacing his hideous hat with a flourish. 'Monsieur can rely on me. I shall see to every one's comfort. And now, if Monsieur will permit, I go to the cabins to unpack.'
The Professor dismissed him with a nod and a smile.
'The best of fellows,' he exclaimed. 'Came last expedition as cook and valet.'
'Cook and valet!' exclaimed David, surprised that such individuals should be necessary, when the members of the expedition were obviously going to a part where they would have to rough it. 'I thought we should do our own cooking, or have a Chinaman for the job. As for a valet, why, clothes won't trouble us much I should think.'
'Perhaps not,' came the answer. 'But then, Alphonse is more cook than valet. I shall tell you something. An army, it is said, lives on its stomach. An exploring party does so, but in a different sense. The work is sometimes arduous, and all our attention will be required. Very well, one might have a good native cook. On the other hand one might very well have a villainous one. See the result – uncooked food, dyspepsia; you and I and Dick unfit for really good work. Lost time. Lost opportunities. Besides, Alphonse does more than cook or valet. He is shrewd, and has an abundance of courage. But you will see. He is the life and soul of the expedition. He keeps us and himself all going.'
Before the ship had been at sea a whole week, Dick and David found this to be very true; for Alphonse was always smiling, always humorous. And if there happened to be nothing in his actual words to make one laugh, his comical antics, his bows and flourishes always drew a smile, if not a roar of laughter, at which the little man beamed, for he was never angered.
No need to describe the voyage as far as Hong-Kong. It passed as other voyages do, with numerous deck games amongst the passengers, an occasional dance or concert, and one terrific gale, which swept the decks clear of all but the crew and confined the passengers to the saloon. Dick and David revelled in the movement of the ship. Not once did they shy from the saloon when the hours for meals arrived, nor feel squeamish.
'Just the lads for me,' the Professor told himself, rubbing his hands together, his face shining with enjoyment and good health. 'Nothing mamby pamby about them. They will prove excellent companions.'
At Hong-Kong the party transhipped to a coaster, and having reached Shanghai chartered a native boat.
'Our journeying may be said to begin here,' said the Professor, as he watched Alphonse arranging their belongings in the huge, roomy cabin aft. 'We run up the coast to a certain spot abutting on a portion of the Gulf of Pechili. Then we land and inspect certain ruins of which I have heard. From thence we can return to Shanghai, and take the train to Pekin, or we can journey overland. My lads, to-morrow we shall don our rougher clothing.'
That cruise up the Gulf of Pechili proved to be a most enjoyable experience, and David and his friend Dick made the most of every hour of it. They fell in with the four native hands whom the Professor had engaged at Hong-Kong, Chinese whom he had had in his service before, and helped the crew of the huge, wide-built boat haul at the ropes, and hoist extra canvas on her. Then, at the Professor's wish, they studied the language for three hours every day, sitting amongst the men, or more often with the four engaged with the expedition. And even a week, they found, saw some improvement in their knowledge.
'You have only to stick to it and you will become excellent linguists,' declared the Professor, 'and will find the power to converse most valuable. As for your instructors, a Chinaman when he takes an interest in anything is not to be beaten, and those servants of mine seem to have made up their minds that you shall both learn to speak in a record short time.'
Head and baffling winds delayed the progress of the boat immensely, so that ten days after leaving Shanghai, she was only half way toward her destination. Then there came a fair wind, lasting two whole days, which bore her a long way in the right direction. But towards evening it fell away altogether, leaving the huge native vessel wallowing in an oily yellow swell, and slowly drifting landward.
'Nothing to do but wait and hope for a change for the better,' said Alphonse. 'Monsieur the Professor can sleep; the other gentlemen can work at the language. Already they know more than I, who have been months and months in the country.'
But there were other things to attract the attention of our hero and his friend beside the Chinese language. Indeed, that very night there was an interruption. Awakening in the small hours David listened for a moment to the flop of the swell as it heaved against the side of the vessel. Then he heard a chain rattle, while, an instant later, a gentle hail came across the water. Throwing off the mosquito curtain, under which all now slept, he slid out of the deck cabin, and went to the rail. There was a figure already there dimly seen against the places where the swell broke at its summit and washed in white froth across the surface. 'Hist!' David heard, and a moment later realised that it was Alphonse.
'Ah, ha, that is Monsieur David? Good,' he heard the little Frenchman whisper. 'I can trust Monsieur David. He has been in danger before; he understands caution.'
'But – what is it? Why is there need for caution?' asked our hero, careful to keep his voice low, and wondering what the Frenchman could mean. 'I heard someone hail us; there must be another ship.'
At once Alphonse's arm swung out, he became as rigid as a board, while he pointed towards the bows of the vessel.
'See there, Monsieur. You are right; there is a boat. She has come alongside, and so silently that few of us have heard her. Does Monsieur know what she is here for?'
David could not even guess, but then he had never been in the Gulf of Pechili before. However, Alphonse knew the part, and had an idea of its dangers.
'Listen, Monsieur,' he whispered. 'I saw a boat three days ago, and thought I detected signals passing between us and her. She sailed right out of sight, but that night a lantern flashed right ahead of this vessel. To-night I detected the same, but knowing that there was a calm I felt sure that none could approach us without our hearing, for they would have to employ sweeps. Bien! I would not sleep. I crawled out on deck. I waited and watched. And presently a gentle breeze got up. Our men made no movement; they made no effort to put the vessel on her course, though they were moving about on the deck. Again I saw a lantern flash, and then, just a few minutes ago, I caught sight of a stranger approaching us. Monsieur, that is a Chinese pirate. She comes to take our weapons, and to loot those boxes the Professor carries with him.'
'Then the sooner he is warned the better,' said David, his voice hardly audible. 'This is serious.'
'Monsieur will perhaps go to the cabin and wake the two gentlemen,' suggested Alphonse, not a tremor in his words. 'I will remain and watch.'
'Listen to this,' whispered David, eagerly. 'I will warn the two in the cabin, and will then go to the four Chinese who form part of our staff. I will bring them back to our quarters as soon as possible. Meanwhile, if there is a movement in this direction, retire to the cabin yourself, and close the door firmly. It is the only means of entrance, except by way of a large port under the companion ladder leading to the roof of the cabin.'
'And that?' asked Alphonse, still as cool as ever, as if this were an everyday matter.
'Will do for me and the four men,' declared David. 'If the main door is shut we will slip in there. Warn the others about it.'
He was gone in a moment, and within the space of half a minute had awakened the Professor and Dick. In a few words he related what was happening.
'Stand by the door and admit Alphonse,' he said. 'I am going for the men we engaged at Hong-Kong; they are to be trusted.'
He took his magazine pistol from the rack in which all the weapons were housed, and slid out on to the deck again. Then, bending low, he ran towards the hatchway which led to the quarters occupied by the men attached to the expedition. He was just disappearing down it when his eyes fell upon some two dozen bent and dusky figures creeping along the deck. A moment later one of them gave a sharp order, and at once, with shouts and cries, the whole party dashed toward the stern of the vessel. The attack on the Professor's party was about to begin. David's retreat was entirely cut off by the enemy.