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"What do you want? " he asked of Nikola, who was nearest to him.
"That which only peace can give," said Nikola.
The man bowed low.
"Your Excellency has been long expected," he said.
If you will be honourably pleased to step inside, all that my house contains
is yours."
We followed him through the dwelling into a room at the rear. Then Nikola
bade him call in the chief Mafoo, and when he appeared, discharged his
account and bade him be gone."
"We are how in Pekin," said Nikola to me as soon as we were alone, " and it
behooves us to play our cards with the utmost care. Remember, as I have so
often told you, I am a man of extreme sanctity, and I shall guide my life and
actions accordingly. There is, as you see, a room leading out of this. In it
I shall take up my abode. You will occupy this one. It must be your business
to undertake that no one sees me. And you must allow it to be understood that
I spend my time almost exclusively in study and upon my devotions. Every
night when darkness falls I shall go out and endeavour to collect the
information of which we stand in need.
You will have charge of the purse and must arrange our commissariat."
Half an hour later our evening meal was served, and when we had eaten it,
being tired, we went straight to bed. But I was not destined to prove of much
assistance to my friend, for next morning when I woke my old sickness had
returned upon me, my skin was dry and cracked, and my head ached to
distraction. I could eat no breakfast, and I could see that Nikola was
growing more and more concerned about my condition.
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Chapter VI. On The Road To Pekin
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After breakfast I went for a walk. But I could not rid myself of the
heaviness which had seized me, so returned to the house feeling more dead
than alive. During the afternoon I lay down upon my bed, and in a few minutes
lost consciousness altogether.
Chapter VII. A Serious Time
It was broad daylight when I recovered consciousness, the sunshine was
streaming into my room, and birds were twittering in the trees outside. But
though I sat up and looked about me I could make neither head nor tail of my
position; there was evidently something wrong about it. When I had fallen
asleep, as I thought, my couch had been spread upon the floor, and was
composed of Chinese materials. Now I lay upon an ordinary
English bedstead, boasting a spring mattress, sheets, blankets, and even a
counterpane. Moreover, the room itself was different. There was a carpet upon
the floor, and several pretty pictures hung upon the walls. I felt certain
they had not been there when I was introduced to the apartment. Being,
however, too weak to examine these wonders for very long, I laid myself down
upon my pillow again and closed my eyes. In a few moments
I was once more asleep and did not wake until towards evening.
When I did it was to discover some one sitting by the window reading. At
first I looked at herfor it was a womanwithout very much interest. She seemed
part of a dream from which I should presently wake to find myself back again
in the Chinese house with Nikola. But I was to be disabused of this notion
very speedily.
After a while the lady in the chair put down her book, rose, and came across
to look at me.
Then it was that I
realized a most astounding fact; she was none other than Miss Medwin, the
girl I had rescued in Tientsin!
She touched my hand with her soft fingers, to see if I were feverish, I
suppose, and then poured into a medicineglass, which stood upon a table by my
side, some doctor's physic. When she put it to my lips I
drank it without protest and looked up at her.
"Don't leave me, Miss Medwin," I said, half expecting that, now I was awake,
she would gradually fade away and disappear from my sight altogether.
"I am not going to leave you," she answered; " but I am indeed rejoiced to
see that you recognise me again."
"What is the matter with me, and where am I? " I asked.
"You have been very ill," she answered, " but you are much better now. You
are in my brotherinlaw's house in Pekin."
I was completely mystified.
"In your brotherinlaw's house," I repeated. " But how on earth did I get
here? How long have I been here?
and where is Nikola? "
"You have been here twelve days tomorrow," she answered; " you were taken ill
in the city, and as you required careful nursing, your friend, Dr. Nikola,
had you conveyed here. Where he is now I cannot tell you;
we have only seen him once. For my own part I believe he has gone into the
country, but in which direction, and when he will be back, I am afraid I have
no idea. Now you have talked quite enough, you must try and go to sleep
again."
I was too weak to disobey her, so I closed my eyes, and in a few minutes was
in the land of Nod, once more.
Next day I was so much stronger that I was able to sit up and partake of more
nourishing food, and, what was
Dr. Nikola Returns
Chapter VII. A Serious Time
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still more to my taste, I was able to have a longer conversation with my
nurse. This did me more good than any doctor's physic, and at the end of half
an hour I was a different man. The poor girl was still grieving for her
father, and I noticed that the slightest reference to Tientsin flooded her
eyes with tears. From what I
gathered later the Consul had acted promptly and energetically, with the
result that the ringleaders of the mob which had wrecked the house had been
severely punished, while the man who had gone further and murdered the
unfortunate missionary himself had paid the penalty of his crime with his
life.
Miss Medwin spoke in heartfelt terms of the part I had played in the tragic
affair, and it was easy to see that she was also most grateful to Nikola for
the way in which he had behaved towards her. Acting on his employer's
instructions, Williams had taken her in and had at once communicated with the
Consul. Then when Mr. Medwin had been buried in the English cemetery and the
legal business connected with his murder was completed, trustworthy servants
had been obtained, and she had journeyed to Pekin in the greatest comfort.
During the morning following she brought me some beeftea, and, while I was
drinking it, sat down beside my bed.
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