The Golden Scorpion Read online

  CHAPTER IV

  MISKA'S STORY _(concluded)_

  "Of course, I did not know that this was his name at the time; I onlyknew that a tall Chinaman had entered the room--and that his face wasentirely covered by a green veil."

  Stuart started, but did not interrupt Miska's story.

  "This veil gave him in some way a frightfully malign and repellentappearance. As he stood in the doorway looking down I seemed to _feel_his gaze passing over me like a flame, although of course I could notsee his eyes. For a moment he stood there looking at me; and much ashis presence had affected me, its affect upon the slave-dealer and mypurchaser was extraordinary. They seemed to be stricken dumb. Suddenlythe Chinaman spoke, in perfect Arabic. 'Her price?' he said.

  "Mohammed Abd-el-Bali, standing trembling before him, replied:

  "'Miska is already sold, lord, but----"

  "'Her price?' repeated the Chinaman, in the same hard metallic voiceand without the slightest change of intonation.

  "The _harem_ agent who had bought me now said, his voice shaking sothat the words were barely audible:

  "'I give her up, Mohammed--I give her up. Who am I to dispute with theMandarin Fo-Hi;' and performing an abject obeisance he backed out ofthe room.

  "At the same moment, Mohammed, whose knees were trembling so that theyseemed no longer capable of supporting him, addressed the Chinaman.

  "'Accept the maiden as an unworthy gift,' he began--

  "'Her price?' repeated Fo-Hi.

  "Mohammed, whose teeth had begun to chatter, asked him twice as muchas he had agreed to accept from the other, Fo-Hi clapped his hands,and a fierce-eyed Hindu entered the room.

  "Fo-Hi addressed him in a language which I did not understand,although I have since learned that it was Hindustani, and the Indianfrom a purse which he carried counted out the amount demanded by thedealer and placed the money upon a little inlaid table which stood inthe room. Fo-Hi gave him some brief order, turned and walked out ofthe room. I did not see him again for four years--that is until mynineteenth birthday.

  "I know that you are wondering about many things and I will try tomake some of them clear to you. You are wondering, no doubt, how sucha trade as I have described is carried on in the East to-day almostunder the eyes of European Governments. Now I shall surprise you. WhenI was taken from the house of the slave-dealer, in charge of ChundaLal--for this was the name of the Hindu--do you know where I wascarried to? I will tell you: to _Cairo!"_

  "Cairo!" cried Stuart--then, perceiving that he had attractedattention by speaking so loudly, he lowered his voice. "Do you mean totell me that you were taken as a _slave_ to Cairo?"

  Miska smiled--and her smile was the taunting smile of the East, whichis at once a caress and an invitation.

  "You think, no doubt, that there are no slaves in Cairo!" she said."So do most people, and so did I--once. I learned better. There arepalaces in Cairo, I assure you, in which there are many slaves. Imyself lived in such a palace for four years, and I was not the onlyslave there. What do British residents and French residents know ofthe inner domestic life of their Oriental neighbours? Are they everadmitted to the _harem?_ And the slaves--are they ever admittedoutside the walls of the palace? Sometimes, yes, but never alone!

  "By slow stages, following the ancient caravan routes, and accompaniedby an extensive retinue of servants in charge of Chunda Lal, we cameto Cairo; and one night, approaching the city from the north-east andentering by the Bab en-Nasr, I was taken to the old palace which wasto be my prison for four years. How I passed those four years has nobearing upon the matters which I have to tell you, but I lived theuseless, luxurious life of some Arabian princess, my lightest wishanticipated and gratified; nothing was denied me, except freedom.

  "Then, one day--it was actually my nineteenth birthday--Chunda Lalpresented himself and told me that I was to have an interview withFo-Hi. Hearing these words, I nearly swooned, for a hundred timesduring the years of my strange luxurious captivity I had awakenedtrembling in the night, thinking that the figure of the awful veiledChinaman had entered the room.

  "You must understand that having spent my childhood in a _harem,_the mode of life which I was compelled to follow in Cairo was not soinsufferable as it must have been for a European woman. Neither was mycaptivity made unduly irksome. I often drove through the Europeanquarters, always accompanied by Chunda Lal, and closely veiled, andI regularly went shopping in the bazaars--but never alone. The deathof my mother--and later that of my father, of which Chunda Lal hadtold me--were griefs that time had dulled. But the horror of Fo-Hi wasone which lived with me, day and night.

  "To a wing of the palace kept closely locked, and which I had neverseen opened, I was conducted by Chunda Lal. There, in a room of akind with which was part library and part _mandarah,_ part museumand part laboratory, I found the veiled man seated at a greatlittered table. As I stood trembling before him he raised a longyellow hand and waved to Chunda Lal to depart. When he obeyed and Iheard the door close I could scarcely repress a shriek of terror.

  "For what seemed an interminable time he sat watching me. I dared notlook at him, but again I felt his gaze passing over me like a flame.Then he began to speak, in French, which he spoke without a trace ofaccent.

  "He told me briefly that my life of idleness had ended and that a newlife of activity in many parts of the world was about to commence.His manner was quite unemotional, neither harsh nor kindly, hismetallic voice conveyed no more than the bare meaning of the wordswhich he uttered. When, finally, he ceased speaking, he struck a gongwhich hung from a corner of the huge table, and Chunda Lal entered.

  "Fo-Hi addressed a brief order to him in Hindustani--and a fewmoments later a second Chinaman walked slowly into the room."

  Miska paused, as if to collect her ideas, but continued almostimmediately.

  "He wore a plain yellow robe and had a little black cap on his head.His face, his wonderful evil face I can never forget, and his eyes--Ifear you will think I exaggerate--but his eyes were green as emeralds!He fixed them upon me.

  "'This,' said Fo-Hi, 'is Miska.'

  "The other Chinaman continued to regard me with those dreadful eyes;then:

  "'You have chosen well.' he said, turned and slowly went out again.

  "I thank God that I have never seen him since, for his dreadful facehaunted my dreams for long afterwards. But I have learned of him, andI know that next to Fo-Hi he is the most dangerous being in the knownworld. He has invented horrible things--poisons and instruments, whichI cannot describe because I have never seen them; but I have seen ...some of their effects."

  She paused, overcome with the horror of her memories.

  "What is the name of this other man?" asked Stuart eagerly. Miskaglanced at him rapidly.

  "Oh, do not ask me questions, please!" she pleaded. "I will tell youall I can, all I dare; what I do not tell you I cannot tell you--andthis is one of the things I dare not tell. He is a Chinese scientistand, I have heard, the greatest genius in the whole world, but I cansay no more--yet."

  "Is he still alive--this man?"

  "I do not know that. If he is alive, he is in China--at some secretpalace in the province of Ho-Nan, which is the headquarters of whatis called the 'Sublime Order.' I have never been there, but there areEuropeans there, as well as Orientals."

  "What! in the company of these fiends!"

  "It is useless to ask me--oh! indeed, I would tell you if I could, butI cannot! Let me go on from the time when I saw Fo-Hi in Cairo. Hetold me that I was a member of an organization dating back to remoteantiquity which was destined to rule all the races of mankind--theCelestial age he called their coming triumph. Something which they hadlacked in order to achieve success had been supplied by the dreadfulman who had entered the room and expressed his approval of me.

  "For many years they had been at work in Europe, secretly, as well asin the East. I understood that they had acquired a quantity ofvaluable information of some kind by means of a system of opium-housessit
uated in the principal capitals of the world and directed by Fo-Hiand a number of Chinese assistants. Fo-Hi had remained in China mostof the time, but had paid occasional visits to Europe. The otherman--the monster with the black skull cap--had been responsible forthe conduct of the European enterprises."

  "Throughout this interview," interrupted Stuart, forgetful of the factthat Miska had warned him of the futility of asking questions, "andduring others which you must have had with Fo-Hi, did you never obtaina glimpse of his face?"

  "Never! No one has ever seen his face! I know that his eyes are abrilliant and unnatural yellow colour, but otherwise I should notknow him if I saw him unveiled, to-morrow. Except," she added, "by asense of loathing which his presence inspires in me. But I must hurry.If you interrupt me, I shall not have time.

  "From that day in Cairo--oh! how can I tell you! I began the life ofan adventuress! I do not deny it. I came here to confess it to you. Iwent to New York, to London, to Paris, to Petrograd; I went all overthe world. I had beautiful dresses, jewels, admiration--all that womenlive for! And in the midst of it all mine was the life of thecloister; no nun could be more secluded!

  "I see the question in your eyes--why did I do it? Why did I lure meninto the clutches of Fo-Hi? For this is what I did; and when I havefailed, I have been punished."

  Stuart shrank from her.

  "You confess," he said hoarsely, "that you knowing lured men to_death?"_

  "Ah, no!" she whispered, looking about her fearfully--"never! never!I swear it--never!"

  "Then"--he stared at her blankly--"I do not understand you!"

  "I dare not make it clearer--now: I dare not--dare not! But _believe_me! Oh, please, please," she pleaded, her soft voice dropping to awhisper--"believe me! If you know what I risked to tell you so much,you would be more merciful. A horror which cannot be described"--againshe shuddered--"will fall upon me if _he_ ever suspects! You think meyoung and full of life, with all the world before me. You do not know.I am, literally, _already dead!_ Oh! I have followed a strange career.I have danced in a Paris theatre and I have sold flowers in Rome; Ihave had my box at the Opera and I have filled opium pipes in a den atSan Francisco! But never, never have I lured a man to his death. Andthrough it all, from first to last, no man has so much as kissed myfinger-tips!

  "At a word, at a sign, I have been compelled to go from Monte Carlo toBuenos Ayres; at another sign from there to Tokio! Chunda Lal hasguarded me as only the women of the East are guarded. Yet, in hisfierce way, he has always tried to befriend me, he has always beenfaithful. But ah! I shrink from him many times, in horror, because Iknow _what_ he is! But I may not tell you. Look! Chunda Lal has neverbeen out of sound of this whistle"--she drew a little silver whistlefrom her dress--"for a moment since that day when he came into thehouse of the slave-dealer in Mecca, except----"

  And now, suddenly, a wave of glorious colour flooded her beautifulface and swiftly she lowered her eyes, replacing the little whistle.Stuart's rebellious heart leapt madly, for whatever he might thinkof her almost incredible story, that sweet blush was no subterfuge,no product of acting.

  "You almost drive me mad," he said in low voice, resembling the tonesof repressed savagery. "You tell me so much, but withhold so muchthat I am more bewildered than ever. I can understand yourhelplessness in an Eastern household, but why should you obey thebehests of this veiled monster in London, in New York, in Paris?"

  She did not raise her eyes.

  "I dare not tell you. But I dare not disobey him."

  "Who is he!"

  "No one knows, because no one has ever seen his face! Ah! you arelaughing! But I swear before heaven I speak the truth! Indoors hewears a Chinese dress and a green veil. In passing from place to place,which he always does at night, he is attired in a kind of cowl whichonly exposes his eyes----"

  "But how _can_ such a fantastic being travel?"

  "By road, on land, and in a steam yacht, at sea. Why should _you_doubt my honesty?" She suddenly raises her glance to Stuart's face andhe saw that she had grown pale. "I have risked what I cannot tell you,and more than once--for you! I tried to call you on the telephone onthe night that he set out from the house near Hampton Court to killyou, but I could get no reply, and----"

  "Stop!" said Stuart, almost too exited to note at the time that shehad betrayed a secret. "It was _you_ who rang up that night?

  "Yes. Why did you not answer?"

  "Never mind. Your call saved my life. I shall not forget." He lookedinto her eyes. "But can you not tell me what it all means? What orwhom is 'The Scorpion'?"

  She flinched.

  "The Scorpion is--a passport. See." From a little pocket in the coatof her costume she drew out a golden scorpion! "I have one." Shereplaced it hurriedly. "I dare not, dare not tell you more. But thismuch I had to tell you, because ... I shall never see you again!"

  "What!"

  "A French detective, a very clever man, learned a lot about 'TheScorpion' and he followed one of the members to England. This mankilled him. Oh, I know I belong to a horrible organization!" shecried bitterly. "But I tell you I am helpless and _I_ have neveraided in such a thing. You should know that! But all he found out heleft with you--and I do not know if I succeeded in destroying it. I donot ask you. I do not care. But I leave England to-night. Good-bye."

  She suddenly stood up. Stuart rose also. He was about to speak whenMiska's expression changed. A look of terror crept over her face, andhastily lowering her veil she walked rapidly away from the table andout of the room!

  Many curious glances followed the elegant figure to the door. Thenthose glances were directed upon Stuart.

  Flushing with embarrassment, he quickly settled the bill and hurriedout of the hotel. Gaining the street, he looked eagerly right and left.

  But Miska had disappeared!