Daughter of Fu Manchu

Chapter Second

RIMA

It was bumpy travelling, and I had never been a good sailor. Jameson Hunter stuck pretty closely to the river, but saved miles, of course, on the many long bends, notably on that big sweep immediately below Luxor, where, leaving the Nile Valley north of Farshut, we crossed fifty miles of practically arid desert, heading east-south-east for Kurna.

I was in poor condition, what with lack of sleep and lack of meals; and I will not enlarge upon my state of discomfort beyond saying that I felt utterly wretched. Sometimes I dozed; and then Rima's grave eyes would seem to be watching me in that maddeningly doubtful way. Once I dreamed that the slender ivory hands of Madame Ingomar beckoned to me....

I awoke in a cold perspiration. Above the roar of the propeller I seemed to hear her bell-like, hypnotic voice....

Who was this shadowy figure, feared by Petrie, by his wife--by Weymouth? What had he to do with the chief's sudden death? Were these people deliberately mystifying me, or were they afraid to tell me what they suspected?

Forester was convinced that Barton was dead. I could not doubt it. But in the incom- prehensible message scribbled at the last, Petrie seemed to have discovered a hope which was not apparent to me. Weymouth's words had reinforced it.

"A race to save a man from living death."

Evidently he, too, believed... believed what?

It was no sort of problem for one in my condition, but at least I had done my job quicker than I could have hoped. Luck had been with me.

Above all, my own personal experience proved that there was something in it. Who had sent the telegrams? Who had uttered that cry in the courtyard? And why had I been followed to Cairo and followed back? Thank heaven, at last I had shaken off that leering, oblique-eyed spy.

Jameson Hunter searched for and eventu- ally found the landing-place which he had in mind--a flat, red-grey stretch east of the old caravan road.

I was past reliable observation, but personally I could see nothing of the camp. This perhaps was not surprising as it nestled at the head of a wadi, represented from our present elevation by an irregular black streak.

However, I was capable of appreciating that the selected spot could not be more than half a mile west of it. Hunter brought off a perfect landing, and with a swimming head I found myself tottering to the door.

When I had scrambled down:

"Wait a minute," said Petrie. "Ah, here's my bag. You've been through a stiff time, Greville. I am going to prescribe."

His prescription was a shot of brandy. It did me a power of good.

"If we had known," said Hunter, "some sandwiches would have been a worthy effort. But the whole thing was so rushed--I hadn't time to think."

He grinned cheerfully.

"Sorry my Phantom-Rolls isn't here to meet us," he said. "Someone must have mislaid it. It's a case of hoofing, but the going's good."

Carrying our baggage, we set out in the moonlight. We had all fallen silent now, even Jameson Hunter. Only our crunching foot- steps broke the stillness. I think there is no place in the world so calculated to impress the spirit of man as this small piece of territory surrounding those two valleys where the quiet dead of Egypt lie. At night, when the moon sails full, he would be a pitiful soul who. passing that way, failed to feel the touch of eternity.

For my own part, as familiar landmarks appeared, a dreadful unrest compounded of sorrow and hope began to take possession of me. Above all, selfishly no doubt, I asked myself again and again--had Rima returned?

We were not expected until morning when the Cairo train arrived. Consequently I was astounded when on mounting the last ridge west of the wadi I saw Forester hurrying to meet us. Of course, I might have known, had I been capable of associating two ideas, that the sound of our approach must have aroused the camp.

Forester began to run.

Bad news casts a long shadow before it. I forgot my nausea, my weariness. It came to me like a revelation that something fresh had occurred--something even worse than that of which I had carried news to Cairo.

I was not alone in my premonition. I saw Weymouth grasp Petrie's arm.

Forester began shouting:

"Is that you, Greville? Thank God you've come!"

Now, breathless, he joined us.

"What is it?" I asked. "What else had happened? "

"Only this, old man," he panted. "We locked the chiefs body in the big hut, as you remember. I had serious doubts about noti- fying the authorities. And to-night, about dusk, I went to... look at him."

He grasped me by both shoulders.

"Greville!" Even in the moonlight I could see the wildness in his eyes. "His body had vanished. "

"What!" Weymouth yelled.

"There isn't a trace--there isn't a clue. He's just been spirited away!"

2

"If only Nayland Smith could join us," said Weymouth.

Dr. Petrie, looking very haggard in the lamplight, stared at him.

"The same thought had just crossed my own mind," he replied. "I am due to sail for England on Thursday. I had been counting the days. He's meeting me in..."

I knew that I could never again be present at so singular a scene. The hut was in part a laboratory, one end being devoted to Forester's special province, and containing a table laden with jars, test tubes, and other chemical paraphernalia. In part it was a museum. There were plans, diagrams, and photographs--Rima's photographs--pinned on the walls: lumps of stone bearing labels stacked upon the floor; and in open cases were all sorts of fragments found during the earlier stages of our excavation and duly tabu- lated in the same way.

There was a very dilapidated mummy case at the farther end of the hut, which we had taken over from the Egypt Exploration people and had not troubled to remove. The lid rested against the wall. Then there was a long, bare table, very stoutly built, upon which finds were stacked at the end of the day, examined, and sorted according to their value. This, particularly, was my job. But at the moment, as I have said, the table was empty. When I had seen it last before leaving for Cairo, the body of Sir Lionel Barton lay upon it, covered by a grey blanket.

Now, in almost complete silence, for twenty minutes or more, I had watched a one-time chief inspector of Scotland Yard carrying out a detailed investigation in that strangest of settings.

Weymouth had not confined his inquiries to the hut alone; but, assisted by a flash-lamp, had exam- ined the lock of the door, the windows, the path outside; but had finally returned and stared at the table.

Now he fixed his eyes upon me, and: "Mr. Greville," he said, "you are not prej- udiced by certain suspicions of mine which are shared by Dr. Petrie. I asked Mr. Forester to see to the comfort of Jameson Hunter because I wanted just the three of us alone here. Now, you look pretty well whacked, but I know how you feel about this thing; so I am going to ask you a few questions. "

"As many as you like," I replied.

Superintendent Weymouth sat down on the bench just beside the door and knitted his brows; then: "Where is the headman Alt Mahmoud?" he asked.

"Forester tells me he sent him across to Luxor to-night with a letter for our friend the manager of the Winter Palace. Forester asked him, in the letter, to call you. Superintendent, in Cairo, and to explain what had happened. Alt should be back now."

Weymouth nodded thoughtfully.

"Leaving out for the moment the circum- stances of Sir Lionel's death," said he, "how long a time elapsed between your finding him in his tent and the removal of his body to this hut? "

"Roughly, two hours," I replied after a few moments' thought.

"During those two hours someone was always in sight of the tent? "

"Certainly. "

"When was it decided he should be moved? "

"When I made up my mind to go to Cairo. I gave instructions for his body to be placed in this hut... I am second in command, you know. Forester agreed, although he swore that life was extinct. I personally super- intended the job. I locked the hut, handed the keys to Forester, and turned in, hoping for some sleep before starting for Luxor. "

"Did you sleep? "

"No; I lay awake right up to the time I had to set out. "

"Did anything unusual occur during the night?"

I thought hard, and then: "Yes," I replied; "there was a queer howling of dogs. Ali Mahmoud turned out. He said the sound had not been made by dogs; but of course he was rather strung up. We all were. We searched but found nothing. "

"H'm! What time was this? "

"I am afraid I can't tell you; but some time before dawn.

"Did you open this hut? "

"No. "

"Ah!" said Weymouth meditatively. "That was a pity. And now, Mr. Greville, there's another point I'm not clear about. You spoke of Sir Lionel's niece. Where is she, and where was she at the time of the tragedy?"

I had expected the question, of course. Nevertheless I didn't quite know how to meet it. I saw Dr. Petrie regarding me curiously, and at last:

"I don't know where she is!" I replied-- and recognized how strange the words must sound.

"What!" Weymouth exclaimed. "But I thought she was official photographer? "

"She is; but... Well! we had a quarrel. She went across to Luxor on Tuesday at midday. I haven't seen her since! "

"Oh, I see," said Weymouth. "Forgive me. I hadn't grasped the position. Sir Lionel knew of her absence? "

"He treated it as a joke. That was his way. She often stayed in Luxor and worked here during the day. "

"Did he approve of the--understanding? "

"Yes; at least I think so. "

"I suppose, as she hasn't come back, that she doesn't know what's happened? "

"I suppose so; but I am very anxious.... "

"Naturally." Weymouth looked suddenly grave; and then:

"Perhaps, Mr. Greville," he said, "you would ask Forester to come in?"

I opened the door and walked out in the dense shadow of the wadi. A new atmosphere invested it, an atmosphere to which, even mentally, I didn't like to give a name, but which nevertheless was an atmosphere of terror.

What was the meaning of the disappear- ance of Sir Lionel's body? Whom could it benefit? Most damnable mystery of all-- what was the information clearly shared by Weymouth and Petrie which they were suppressing?

So my thoughts ran as I walked through the shadows. The moon was out of sight from the wadi, but the stars were wonderful; and suddenly the natural law of things had its way. I began to think ofRima, to the exclu- sion of everything else.

Her empty tent--the tent which she occu- pied when she spent the night in camp--was on the slope directly ahead. Moonlight touched it at one point, but the front was in shadow.

"If I am in the way," I seemed to hear her voice saying again, "I can go--"

If she was in the way! What had she meant? I had had no chance to find out. She had gone. Undoubtedly she was labouring under some strange delusion. But where was she-- and did she know what had happened?

I was abreast of her tent, now, and some- thing--an empty longing, no doubt-- prompted me to peep inside. As I did so, an incredible thing happened--or, rather, two incredible things.

The mournful howling of a dog arose, apparently quite close to the camp. And in the darkness of the tent something stirred! I suppressed a cry, bent forward with outstretched arms... and found a slim soft body in my embrace!

Even then, I couldn't believe what was true, couldn't appreciate the nature of my capture, until: "Shan! Shan!" came a stifled cry. "You're hurting me dreadfully! "

"Rima!" I exclaimed--and wondered if my heart or hers throbbed the more wildly.

I said not another word. Stooping, I kissed her with a desperation which probably sprang from a submerged fear that she would never give me an opportunity of kissing her again.

But, thank heaven, that doubt was groundless. She threw her arms around my neck, as the mournful howling died away, and:

"Shan," she said, "I'm terrified, Shan dear!"

But her kisses had given me the right to console her, and when we presently reverted to sanity; "When did you arrive, darling?" I asked.

"I came back with Alt. He told me-- everything about it. So, of course, I had to come. "

"But what made you go?"

She nestled her adorable little tousled head against me.

"I won't be scolded," she said--"although I am to blame! No, please, Shan. I truly meant what I said. I did really think I was in the way. "

"In whose way? "

"If you talk to me like that I won't answer. Besides, there isn't time now. I should have come back to-night even if I had had to come alone. I have something most extraordinary to tell you...."

But now came the sound of voices.

"I tell you it wasn't a dog," I heard Forester say.

"It wasn't either!" Rima whispered. "But you must go, Shan. I'm all right, now. Who is in the big hut? "

"Dr. Petrie and Superintendent Weymouth-- "

"They were old friends... weren't they-- "

"Yes, darling. Don't despair. It sounds absurd to say so, but they have a theory that the chief-- "

"Please tell me. "

"It's hardly fair, Rima. I don't believe it, myself. But they think he may be alive!"

She clung to me very tightly, and then: "But I think so, too!" she whispered.

3

"Do you know, Greville," said Forester. "I never liked this job. Lafleur's Tomb has a bad name."

We were walking back to the hut.

"What do you mean? "

"Well, you know as much as I do. Nobody has tackled it since Lafleur's time. But old Zeitland was planning to come out. "

"He died recently in London. "

"I know! And what about the Frenchman-- "

"Do you mean Lafleur? "

"Yes, somewhere in 1908--or 1909, wasn't it? Well, I may be wrong"--Forester halted just as we reached the hut--"but didn't Lafleur disappear?"

I racked my memory for some moments. Lafleur was before my time and the facts were hazy. But at last:

"Yes," I replied slowly. "I believe there was some mystery, Forester. Though oddly enough it had never occurred to me before. "

"It never occurred to me until we made that astounding discovery to-night. Why should it? But in view of what's happened, it's more than odd, don't you think?"

"We must tell Weymouth."

We went into the hut. Weymouth was sitting where I had left him, his brows still Wrinkled in thought.... Dr. Petrie was pacing slowly up and down. As we entered, Weymouth raised his kindly blue eyes to Forester, and:

"Did you catch that dog?" he asked.

"No," said Forester, staring hard. "Did it sound like a dog to you? "

"It wasn't a dog," Weymouth replied simply. "This camp is being watched! Has anything occurred which might account for this signalling? "

"Yes," I broke in; "Alt Mahmoud has returned--and Rima Barton is with him. "

"Ah!" Weymouth murmured. "I am glad to hear it.... "

"Greville and I have been thinking--" Forester began, when: "One moment!" Weymouth raised his hand. "We shall get muddled. You can help me most. Forester, by letting me plod through the inquiry in my own way. I have the facts up to the time Mr. Greville left last night; now I want to know what happened afterwards. "

"It's painfully simple," Forester replied. "Everything we might be likely to want was moved from here, naturally; so there was no occasion for anyone to enter the place. But death, of course, in the climate up here ought to be notified and dealt with promptly."

Weymouth nodded.

"Greville got me to agree to be quiet for the present, and nobody else knew, except Ali. "

"You're sure no one else knew? What about the men? "

"They live in Kuma. None were in camp. We removed the chief in the darkness-- didn't we, Greville? and next morning I gave out that he had gone across to Luxor with Greville, here, and was proceeding down to Cairo. I stopped all work, of course. "

"Yes, I see. "

"At about dusk to-night--I should say last night--I thought it advisable to--er--inspect the body. "

"Quite! "

"I opened the door, looked in, and... the hut was as you see it now. "

"What about the blanket? "

"The blanket had disappeared, as well as the body. "

"You're sure the door was locked? "

"Perfectly sure. I unlocked it. "

"The window? "

"Fastened on the inside as you found it. "

"Thank you," said Weymouth quietly.

He stared across at Dr. Petrie and there was a silence of some seconds' duration; a very odd silence, in which I sensed a mental communion going on between these two men, based upon some common knowledge which Forester and I didn't share. But at last it was broken by Dr. Petrie.

"Strangely like his handiwork!"

I began to be a bit ruffled. I thought the time had come for pooling of the known facts. Indeed I was about to say so, when Weymouth spoke again.

"Was there anyone in the habit of visiting this camp? "

"No," said Forester; "the chief wouldn't allow a soul past the barriers." He stared across at me. "I except Madame Ingomar," he added. "But Greville can tell you more about the lady than I can. "

"Why do you say that?" I cried angrily.

"Evidently because he thinks so," said Weymouth in a stem voice. This is no time, gentlemen, for personal matters. You are assisting at an official inquiry. "

"I am sorry." Forester replied; "my remark was quite out of place. The truth is, Superintendent, that neither Greville nor I know very much about Madame Ingomar. But she seemed to favour Greville's society, and we used to pull his leg about it...."

My thoughts began to stray again. Had I been blind? And where I had been blind, had Rima seen?

"Who is this woman?"

Weymouth's terse query brought me back to the job in hand.

Forester laughed dryly, and: "A question I have often put to Greville," he replied; "but which I know he was no more able to answer than anyone else, except the chief. "

"Oh, I see. A friend of Sir Lionel's?"

I nodded. Weymouth was staring in my direction.

"What nationality?"

I shook my head blankly.

"I always said Hungarian," Forester declared; "simply because of her name. Greville thought she was Japanese. "

"Japanese!" Dr. Petrie rapped the word out with startled suddenness. "Why Japanese? "

"Well," said Forester, "it isn't an unrea- sonable guess, because her eyes did slant slightly."

Weymouth exchanged a rapid glance with Dr. Petrie and stood up.

"An attractive woman--young?" he chal- lenged--for the words were spoken almost like a challenge.

"Undoubtedly," I replied. "Smart, cultured and evidently well-to-do. "

"Dark? "

"Very. "

"What coloured eyes? "

"Jade-green," said Forester.

Again I detected a rapid exchange of glances between Petrie and Weymouth.

"Tall?" asked the former.

"Yes, unusually tall. "

"An old friend of Sir Lionel's? "

"We were given to understand," said Forester "that she was the widow of a certain Dr. Ingomar, whom the chief knew well at one time. "

"Was she staying at one of the Luxor hotels?" Weymouth asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you," I replied. "She wasn't staying at the Winter Palace. "

"You mean neither of you know. Does Miss Barton know? "

"I have never asked her. "

"When was she last here? "

"On Monday," Forester answered promptly; "the day the chief switched the quarters around and put up barricades. "

"But did Sir Lionel never speak other?" asked Dr. Petrie.

"No," I said. "He was a man who gave few confidences, as you are aware. "

"Was there any suggestion of intimacy between them?" Weymouth was the speaker. "Did Sir Lionel show any jealousy, for instance? "

"Not that I ever noticed," Forester replied. "He treated her as he treated every- body--with good-humoured tolerance! After all, the chief must have said good-bye to sixty, Weymouth! "

"Stranger things have happened," Petrie commented dryly. "I think, Weymouth, our next step is to establish the identity of this Madame Ingomar. Do you agree with me? "

"I do," said Weymouth; "absolutely"-- and his expression had grown very grim.

He stared from me to Forester, and: "You're both getting annoyed," he said. "I can see it. You know that the doctor here and I have a theory which we haven't shared with you. Very well, you shall know the facts. Ask Miss Rima Barton to join us, and arm Ali Mahmoud. Tell him to mount guard and shoot anything he sees moving!" "What on earth does this mean?" Forester demanded. "It means," said Petrie, "that we are dealing with agents of Dr. Fu Manchu...."

Dr. Fu Manchu! When that story was told, the story which Weymouth unfolded in the hut in the wadi, whilst I can't answer for Forester, personally I was amazed beyond belief.

Rima's sweet face, where she sat half in shadow, was a fascinating study. She had ridden up from Kuma with Ali Mahmoud. In the tent, when I had found her in my arms, she had worn riding kit; but now she had changed into a simple frock and had even made some attempt to straighten the tangle other windblown hair. The night ride had whipped a wild colour into her tanned cheeks; her grave Irish eyes seemed even brighter than usual as she listened spell- bound.

Some of the things Weymouth spoke of aroused echoes in my memory. I had been too young at the time to associate these events one with another. But I remembered having heard of them. I was considering the advantages of a legal calling when the war disturbed my promising career. The doings of this great and evil man, some of whose history I learned that morning, had reached me merely as rumours in the midst of alto- gether more personal business.

But now I grasped the fact that if these two clever and experienced men were correct in their theories, a veritable plague was about to be loosed upon the world.

Dr. Fu Manchu!

"Sir Lionel and I," said Dr. Petrie, "and Nayland Smith were last of those on the side of the angels to see him alive. It's possible he survived; but I am not prepared to believe it. What I am prepared to believe is that someone else may be carrying on his work. What was a dacoit--probably a Burman--a professional robber and murderer, doing in the courtyard of my house in Cairo last night? We know now, Greville, he was following you. But the cry points to an accomplice. He was not alone! The old net, Weymouth"--he turned to the latter --"closing round us again! Then--this camp is watched. "

"I have said it before," Weymouth declared, "but I'll say it again; if only Nayland Smith could join us! "

"You refer, of course, to Sir Denis Nayland Smith," said Forester, "one of the assistant commissioners at Scotland Yard? I know people who know him. Used to be a police official in Burma? "

"He did," Petrie replied. "He also saved the British Empire, by the way. But if we have many unknown enemies, we have at least one unknown friend. "

"Who is that?" I asked.

"The well-informed stranger," Petrie replied, "who wired me in Cairo--and who wired Weymouth. Whoever he may be, he takes no chances. Dr. Fu Manchu was master of a method for inducing artificial catalepsy. It was one of the most dangerous weapons in his armoury. I alone, as I believe, possess a drop of the antidote. The man who sent that telegram knew this! "

"So much for unknown friends," said Weymouth. "As to unknown enemies, either you have a Dacoit amongst your workmen or there was a stranger in camp last night. "

"You've found a clue!" Rima cried.

"I have, Miss Barton. There's only one fact of which I have to make sure. If I am wrong in that, maybe all my theory falls down. "

"What's the fact?" Forester asked, with an eagerness which told how deeply he was impressed.

"It's this," said Weymouth. He fixed a penetrating gaze upon me. "Was Sir Lionel completely undressed when you found him? "

"No," I replied promptly. "It was arranged that we all turned out at four to work on the job. "

"Then he was fully dressed? "

"Not fully "

"Did he carry the key of this hut? "

"He carried all the keys on a chain. "

"Was this chain on him when you found him? "

"Yes. "

"Did you detach it? "

"No; we laid him here as we found him. "

"Partially dressed? "

"Yes."

Weymouth slowly crossed to the mummy case at one end of the hut. The lid was detached and leaned against the wall beside the case.

"Both you, Greville," he went on, turning, "and Forester were present when Sir Lionel's body was brought in here? "

"Ali and I carried him," Forester returned shortly.

"Greville supervised. "

"Did Ali leave when you left? "

"He did. "

"Good," Weymouth went on quietly; "but I am prepared to swear that not one of you looked into the recess behind this sarcoph- agus lid."

I stared blankly at Forester. He shook his head.

"We never even thought of it," he confessed.

"Naturally enough," said Weymouth. "Look what I found there."

A lamp stood on the long table; and now, taking a piece of paper from his pocket, and opening the paper under the lamp, the super- intendent exposed a reddish, fibrous mass. Rima sprang forward and with Forester and myself bent eagerly over it. Petrie watched.

"It looks to me like a wad of tobacco," said Forester, "chewed by someone whose gums were bleeding!"

Petrie bent between us and placed a lens upon the table.

"I have examined it," he said. "Give me your opinion, Mr. Forester. As a physician you may recognise it."

Forester looked, and we all watched him in silence. I remember that I heard Ali Mahmoud coughing out in the wadi and real- ized that he was keeping as close to human companionship that night as his sentry duties permitted.

Shrugging, Forester passed the glass to me. I peered in turn, but almost immediately laid the glass down.

Petrie looked at Forester; but: "Out of my depth!" the latter declared. "It's vegetable; but if it's something tropical, I plead ignorance. "

"It is something tropical," said Petrie. "It's betel nut."

Weymouth intruded quietly, and: "Someone who chewed betel nut," he explained, "was hiding behind that sarcoph- agus lid when you brought Sir Lionel's body into this hut. Now, I'm prepared to hear that before that the door was unlocked? "

"You're right," I admitted; "it was. We locked it after his body had been placed here. "

"As I thought."

Weymouth paused; then: "Someone who chewed betel nut," he went on, "must have been listening outside Sir Lionel's tent when you decided to move his body to this hut. He anticipated you, concealed himself, and, at some suitable time later, with the key which Sir Lionel carried on his chain, he unlocked the door and removed the body!"

I entirely agree," said Forester, staring very hard, "and I compliment you heartily. But--betel nut? "

"Perfectly simple," Petrie replied. "Many dacoits chew betel nut."

At which moment, unexpectedly: "Perhaps," came Rima's quiet voice, "I can show you the man! "

"What!" I exclaimed.

"I think I may have his photograph... and the photograph of someone else!"