CHAPTER XX
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHINESE JAR
The events which succeeded upon my escape from the _Fair Haven_ ofWapping have come to assume in my mind a significance and singularquality of completeness that hath, therefore, moved me to bestow uponthem the name of the "Adventure of the Chinese Jar;" for, detached fromevery circumstance, there yet stands out, clear and hard against mybackground of memory, that odd, fantastic shape of a blue-painted jar,with its dragon-guarded lid, its flowered panels, and a hauntingremnant scent of the spices it had once enclosed.
I left the ooze and filthy slime of the river-bank when I had gone somefurlong or so, and, turning inland up a row of squalid cabins, got atlength into the Minories, and entered through the wall by Aldgate.Methought that some of the guard I encountered about the gatehouseregarded me with looks of surprise and ill-will, which, indeed, thedisorderliness of my clothing necessarily invited, as well, perhaps, asa no very restrained gait and behaviour, for I was in a fever to beforward upon my errand, and dreaded the least hindrance therein.However, none accosting me, I passed by into the City, and was alreadyproceeding at a great rate towards Tower Royal, when I came upon agroup of persons that were talking eagerly and in loud voices, so thatI could not but hear a part of their discourse.
"He will certainly be apprehended before nightfall," said one, amerchant by his habit; "so close a watch do they keep in these daysupon all suspected malefactors."
"I know not the man by either the names he goeth by; neither Skene norCleeve," said another.
"It is not likely you should," said the first, with a twinkle of hisgrey eyes, "that are inquest-man of this wardmote, and brother to acanon."
I stepped close to the man had spoken last, and, doffing my cap, said:"Sir, I am but just arrived in this town, but overhearing something ofthat hath been made mention of betwixt you, I imagined that I heard thename of one Cleeve in question."
"You did," said the merchant; "Cleeve or Skene, for 'tis all one. But,why? Do you know the fellow?"
"It is my own name," I replied modestly; "at least, Cleeve is, and soif you were inquiring after me, I am here to serve you."
A great laughter moved the whole party at my seeming ingenuousness, andthe merchant replied--
"No, no, honest Mr. Cleeve; go your ways and keep your innocence. Butthis other Cleeve is one grown old in treachery; a harbourer of Jesuitsand Spanish spies, against whom a writ runs for his immediateattachment, and upon whose crafty head there is a price set."
"Is he escaped away then?" said I.
"He hath no settled habitation," replied one that held a paper in hishands, upon which he continually looked, "but was last seen at acertain great ruined house over against the Galley Quay, from which heis now fled, no man knows whither. But from manifest evidence itappeareth he is engaged in deep and secret designs against the State,in which moreover he works not singly."
"Now, I marvel how, if his abode were so positively known and hisconduct anyways dubious, he came to be allowed such freedom to go inand out, as the sequel shows was done," I returned with some study ofresentment.
"Why, as to that, it is but since he is gone that the case is provedagainst him; for upon a search which was then made of all the chambersof that house, there was discovered a very nest of those he was intreaty with, whose names be here set down, and themselves are broughtto-day before the Council to be examined." He handed me the paper ashe spoke, wherein I read the list of them. There were three Spanishmen of high-sounding titles, and two or three alleged to be malignantPapists. Here was answer enough to Master Malpas, I thought, and witha vengeance! I returned the paper, and presently saluting, took myleave.
Very full of thought, I went forward until I had come into that web ofmean streets I spoke of, below Tower Royal, which was where Idonia hadsaid her guardian should probably be found. But although I spent thegreater part of the afternoon in that quarter, I saw him not, nor any Idared trust, to inquire after him. Indeed, the longer I stayed, themore ill-considered and absurd did my precipitancy to this businessappear, so that at last I gave it over altogether, and being by thengot as far as to the Three Cranes Wharf, I stood idly there a greatwhile, watching the wharfingers at their task of ordering the heavygoods that were there piled up and stored. Against the wharf lay abarge or lighter moored, which I perceived had but lately dischargedthe cargo of some great galley that rested below bridge in the fairway.
There is ever something that fascinates a man in this his own carelessregarding of other men at work; and I had already stayed upon the quayno small while, before I bethought myself to return; though, when I hadso determined, it came upon me that 'twas one thing to get out ofprison (I mean mine Inn), but altogether a different matter to get inagain, and so fell to considering whether I should make my entranceboldly by the ordinary door, or whether creep in after nightfall, bythe vent in the cellar-wall I had escaped by.
Now I had not altogether decided this matter, when I found myself inthat steep little lane I had inadvertently descended so many monthssince in the fog, of which the houses upon both sides stood almost allof them closed up and shuttered as though (to repeat what I then said)the place had been visited by the plague; which deathlike and stealthycharacter it yet maintained. There was nobody, man nor child, in thestreet as I slowly mounted it, a strange sense of abhorrence andforeboding gathering about my heart: while to this distress of my mindwas now added the annoyance of a smart squall of rain and wind, that,suddenly breaking, had soon wetted me through, but for my crouchingclose beneath the shallow porch of a door upon the right hand, where Iavailed myself of such shelter as it afforded.
I had stood so about a quarter of an hour, as I suppose, and waslistening to a long roll of thunder that seemed to shake the veryfoundations of these palsied buildings when, as if answering to thecall of the storm, there arose within the house behind me a cry soagonized, so hopeless, and withal so horribly inhuman, as even now myhair stirs to remember it. To avoid this cursed spot and begone was myinvoluntary and half-acted purpose, checked, however, on the instant bya blinding flash of lightning that seared my very eyes, while my brainseemed all shattered in by the accompanying peal. Painfully wroughtupon as I have ever been by any loudness of sound, it was some momentsbefore I could recover myself, and indeed I was still reeling from theshock, when the door was flung wide and the figure of a manoutlandishly clothed, and of a yellowness of skin such as I had neverbefore seen, hurried by me into the midst of the road, where it fellquash in the kennel. The man was dead. It was evident from the meresight of him, and from the formless clutter of gaudy rags he was; Iturned about, and within the gap of the door ere it was shut-to, I sawthe delicate, handsome features of my uncle, Botolph Cleeve.
How the storm went thereafter I know not, but I know that for a fullhalf-hour I stood wrenching at the door that callous fiend had lockedin my face, but could nowise move it. Then, with a thrill of disgust,I went to the dead outcast, where he lay all wet and smirched, and drewfrom between his shoulders the long thin knife that was stuck there tothe haft. This I cleaned and put up in my jerkin. It was my onlyweapon. The body was of a man stout and of great strength, though nottall, and as well by the cast of his features as by his clothing I knewhim for one of them they name Cataians, or Chinese, that perhaps hadbeen led to this inhospitable asylum by rascally allurements ofadventurers upon some Eastward voyage; as I had once seen two Indians,that sat huddled on the ground in the Exchange, with a ring of laughingapprentices about them, and of whom I heard it said that they wereprinces in their own land. But by what marches of fate this poorChinese had been defeated, and sent down from his home in the East todeath in our inexorable London, I could by no means conjecture; nor yetcould I determine (which imported me more) what course it were fittestI should herein follow. Howbeit, a certain strange faintness thenassailing me, partly from sheer hunger, but more by reason of thehorror of this murder, I saw my dilemma settled for that while; and so,staggering forth of the
lane into Royal Street, where is a good tavern,I there made shift to eat, but principally drank, until I had ridmyself at least of the extremity of distress into which I had fallen.
In that place I stayed a good hour, there being a merry company cometogether of players and other (for which I was indeed glad, and itcheered me more than all else), when the day beginning to fail, theguests departed their several ways, and I also, upon my own.
"The watch will certainly have been notified by this time," I said tomyself, "for 'tis impossible that a dead body should lie so long in thestreets unperceived. Well, my uncle will have got hence scot-free, ashe is accustomed to do in despite of all justice, and of writs ofattachment, or of black Malpas either; which saveth my conscience atoll, and so I hope there's an end of my dealings with him."
Nevertheless I could not refrain from going part way down the hillagain, to see whether the body were indeed removed. And so it was, asI had looked that it should be; though it occasioned me some surpriseto note that the door of the house now stood wide, while a littlewithin the threshold two other Chinese hung wailing and wringing theirhands in the most abject misery.
Excited at this opportunity to learn the cause of the outrage I hadbeen so close a witness to, I went over to the men, and accosting them,demanded whether the dead man were their friend; but to my questionthey replied by never a word, at least not in English, but continued tolament as before. I then made signs that I knew all that had befallen,and at that they ceased, and soon nodded, making eager signs that Ishould tell them more; whereupon I drew forth the knife from my bosomand handed it to the man I stood closest to, who received it with anexclamation of fury, passing it to the other with the one significantword--_Skene_! The other Chinese now came forward, and in the intensehatred that twisted his yellow face, I read the recompense that shouldbe meted out to the murderer if ever they two should meet. "Skene," herepeated twice or thrice, tapping his long fingers upon the blade; andthen with a gesture, pointing inward to the house, whispered,"Here--house;" by which I understood that this was a favouritelurking-place of my uncle's, who no doubt hoped, upon any domiciliaryinquisition, to divert the vigilance of the officers by making paradeof these uncouth strangers as alone inhabiting there; or in the lastevent, perhaps, intended to disguise himself in their clothing, and sosteal off. I could not but admire the ingenuity of the man, for all mydisgust of his countless villainies.
Meanwhile, the two Chinese were engaged upon a ceremony that at first Icould not come by the meaning of, though I soon perceived it to be asolemn vow they made upon the dagger, to avenge their dead comrade.Which concluded, they gave me back my knife, and seemed to wait myfurther direction. All passion had left their faces, that now appearedserene and patient, as I think the features of those of that nation dogenerally, so that it quite overtasks an observer to guess their mood,whether it be bloody or peaceable.
"Have you any English?" I asked after a pause, at which one shrunk uphis shoulders as meaning he had not; but the other replied with suchchildlike boastfulness, "English--much--yes, yes--English," that Icould not forbear laughing.
"Do you propose to return home by ship?" I asked slowly, and made amotion with my hands as of a ship sailing. But this neither seemed atall to comprehend.
"China--Cathay," said I, somewhat at a loss how to suggest my meaning,but immediately the one who had so much English, replied vehemently--
"Skene--yes, yes--kill!"
There could be no question then that it was to be revenge at all costs,for the other Chinese, taking up the word, cried out too:"Skene--kill," which he followed up with a peck of his own Romany cantthat I made no pretence to attend. However, the upshot was that theystood upon the fulfilment of their vow, and fully expected I shoulddirect them therein. Now, that I was equally determined I would not;for little as I cared how it should go with my uncle Botolph, I had nostomach to set two bloodthirsty strangers at his throat, to dispatchhim in cold blood. So, turning to my interpreter, I bade him in thesimplest terms I might find, to have a care what he did, for that welived under a just and peace-loving Queen, whose constables and guardswere sworn to prevent such private revenges as they planned; in thewhich if they proceeded, they would themselves certainly be broughtinto confinement. But in truth I might have spared my breath, for Isaw that no intelligence of my warning reached them, though they hadevidently strained their apprehensions to the limit to receive it.
"Skene--kill," they said, when I had done, and without more ado wentinto one of the rooms where they kept their stuff, and took each ofthem a small curved sword with a marvellous long haft, which, thoughthey made no pretence to conceal them from me, they carefully hidwithin the folds of their loose silken coats.
"This must be thwarted," I said to myself, and debated how it shouldbest be done. At length I hit on a plan that promised, I thought,fairly, which was that I should contrive to divide their forces;sending forth him that had no word of our language by himself, one way,to search (and lose himself amidst) the streets thereabout; but as tothe other that was perhaps the more dangerous by reason of his capacityto put such sloven-mumbled questions as might nevertheless lead to hisdiscovering Botolph Cleeve (though it was indeed hardly possible): thatI should take him with me as far as to Wapping, where I might easilyfob him off with any tidings of Skene I should profess then to gather;and so be rid of him.
It needed no small skill of mine to put the case before them in suchsort as they should not guess the motive, but rather should approve theadvantage, of my design; and in the result I brought them to my view.By this time it was perfectly dark without, though the room where weremained was faintly illumined by a little bronze lamp fashioned like abeast with a fish's tail, that one of the men had already lit. By theuncertain light it afforded, I gazed in admiration of the scene, so dimand vague, yet so deeply charged with purpose. We had left conversingtogether, for the two men had things to do that needed no speech toforward them. It was manifest that they would not return to the house,and therefore they applied themselves silently to the selection of sucharticles as seemed at once necessary and portable. So engaged, theymoved about the shadowed chamber, their silken dresses slightlyrustling, and their yellow, peering faces now and again bent towardsthe lamp, as they examined some piece of worth that they would carryaway: caskets of sweet-smelling wood, or trinkets of silver, or elsesome mere idle toy they had bought in an English shop, not of a groat'sworth but by them infinitely prized. What a satire was in this theirso contemptible a fardel, who would lightly toss away another man'sdear life! Amongst the many treasures they thus overlooked, and eitherkept or rejected, was a jar of about fifteen or eighteen inches height,six-sided, and very gay with painted devices of flowers and leaves; andupon this jar one of the Chinese dwelt long in doubt, as it seemed,whether it should be saved, for it was something cumbersome, althoughnot of any groat burden. However he took it up at last with the rest,or rather exchanged it for some other trifles that might be of lessvalue, and so ended his preparation.
"Let us begone," said I, and holding open the door, signed to the oneof them to leave the house, which he did; and after, we, that is theman with the jar and I, left it likewise, directing our course towardsWapping and the _Fair Haven_ Inn.
For a considerable time we trudged along together in this way throughthe deserted streets; I already more than a little weary of anenterprise in which I had, as it were, enlisted under force and withoutreason. The tumult of the storm, the murder, the strangeness of thehabits and Eastern features of the two men, the disability to conversein a common tongue, by which one seemed to be pleading with the maskedpresences of some horrid dream, all these circumstances combined todeject my mind to a degree I have never since experienced; and Ideplored this new plan for my uncle's safety more even than I did theone upon which I had set forth. I stole a glance or two at mycompanion, but wrapped in his placid reserve he never so much as raisedhis dull eyes to mine, nor showed himself scarce aware of my presence,save by the precision w
ith which he paced by my side. Once and againhe would shift the weight of the Chinese jar he carried in the slack ofhis coat, or finger the hilt of his sword.
As we approached near to the gate in the City wall, I became suddenlyapprehensive of the danger we ran into, and cast about in my mind howto avoid the guard that, howsoever in ordinary times one might look tobe passed through without much question, yet now in these times ofsuspicion would be sure to detain so irregular a pair as we that werethus about to present ourselves. Accordingly I turned off suddenlyupon the right hand towards the river, and coming to one of the quays(I think Smart's Quay), was lucky enough to find a skiff there moored,which I loosed, and motioning the Chinese to get in, followed him andpushed off. The tide was again on the ebb, having passed its heightabout an hour since, and so without use of oars we drifted easily downstream, until in a pretty short while we got to Wapping, where I ranthe boat ashore and leapt out. I could see the _Fair Haven_ about ahundred paces ahead, and, although there was no light in Idonia'schamber, as in precaution she had doubtless left it dark, yet could Isee the dim square of the window frame, and pleased myself with thehope that she was yet waking, and thought upon me.
A little path of turfs laid upon the piles that here restrain theriver-course led right forward to the Inn, and trusting to the securitywhich had so far attended us, I perhaps diminished something of thewariness I should have used; but at all events, we had gone a barescore of paces when I stumbled upon a man that lay crouched in the rankgrass of the turfs. Recovering myself speedily, for I had not quitefallen, I accosted him angrily, who, without replying, but yetobstructing the narrow path so that I could not get past him, drewforth a lantern he held concealed in his cloak, and lifting it high,regarded the pair of us, but me especially, closely.
"One at a time is better than neither," he said coolly, and I heard hisblade grate in the scabbard.
But even as he fetched it forth, the Chinese had his crooked shortsword out, and leaping past me with the swiftness of a cat, brought ouropponent down. Against the starry sky I could see his arm work forwardand back, as he plunged in and withdrew the steel. The lantern rolledfrom the dead man's hand, but, not immediately extinguished, threwexaggerated shadows of the grass-bents along the path.
Horrified at the fury of his onslaught, I flung myself upon thegrovelling heathen, crying out--
"This is not your man, you fool! This is not Skene."
"No, my nephew," he replied quietly enough and in perfect English, "butit is that black thief, Malpas, that would have done the same for me."And without awaiting my reply, he took up the Chinese jar, which in theassault he had necessarily relinquished, and having carefully wiped it,went whistling softly down the causeway to the silent Inn.