The Kingdom of Slender Swords

  CHAPTER XXIII

  THE DEVIL PIPES TO HIS OWN

  Doctor Bersonin, huge and white-flanneled, with Phil by his side,strolled away through the swarming crowd.

  Not a word, not a glance of the younger man that evening, had escapedhim--he had been studying him with all the minute attention of thatgreat, overweening brain that, from an origin of which he never spoke,had made him one of the foremost experimenters in Europe. The swiftgleam in Phil's eye as he watched the _geisha_, the eager drinking in ofthe girlish daintiness, the colors and perfumes to which he stretchedhimself like a cat--the watchful, impassive eyes took note ofeverything. All Bersonin's talk had held an evil lure. It had touched onthe extravagant and sensual vagaries of luxury, the sybaritic pleasuresof the social _gourmet_, subjects appealing to the imagination of theyouth whom he was examining like a slide under the microscope. They hadstopped once at a _chaya_ for tea, but Phil had called for the hotnative _sake_, and as its musty, sherry-like fumes crept into his bloodhe talked with increasing recklessness. Beneath their veiledcontemptuousness, Bersonin's feline eyes began to harbor a stealthysatisfaction. He had guessed why Phil had suggested coming to Mukojima.The latter's restlessness, his anxious surveillance of the passers-by,might have enlightened a less observant spectator.

  Phil's new passion had, in fact, a strong hold on him. That long-agopicture of Haru, barefooted in the surf, frequent recollection hadstamped on his brain and the sight of her fresh beauty to-day had fannedthe coal to a flame. Those stolen kisses in the bamboo lane had roused alurking devil that counted nothing but his own desires. For this hour,while the _sake_ ran in his pulses, the flame overshadowed evenBersonin.

  "Well, my boy," said the latter at length quizzically, "when you findher, just give me the hint and I'll go."

  Phil flushed, then laughed shortly. "So you are a mind-reader, too?" hesaid.

  "It's written all over you," said Bersonin. "Why didn't you tell me? Wecould have postponed our dinner and left you free for the chase. It _is_a chase, eh?"

  "Yes," said Phil. "I--I haven't had much luck with her yet. I justhappened to know she was to be here to-night. She's a pretty littledevil," he added, "the prettiest I've seen in Japan."

  "The Japanese type is the rage in Paris now," said the other. "Take herthere, dress her in jewels, and drive her through the _Bois_ someafternoon and you'll be the most talked-of man in France next morning."

  The red deepened in Phil's cheek. The prospect drew him. He looked atBersonin. Paris and jewels!

  He drank more _sake_ at the next tea-house. It had begun to show in ashaking of the hand, a louder voice. Suddenly Phil sprang to his feet."There she is!" he exclaimed.

  Bersonin looked. "Lovely!" he said, "I congratulate you. I'll walk backto the motor-car--the sights amuse me. You can come along when youplease. Dinner will wait. And, anyway, what's dinner to a pretty woman?"

  Phil plunged into the crowd and the expert spoke quickly to the servant,who was staring after him. "Better keep him in sight," he said. "You cancome when he does."

  Bersonin was sauntering on, when a turmoil behind him made him turn. Awoman's cry and an angry oath in English rang out, startlingly clearabove the low murmur of the multitude. He caught a glimpse of a Japaneseform leaping like a tiger--of Phil lying in the dust of the road--of agirl vanishing swiftly into the shadows.

  As the expert hurried forward, Phil stumbled to his feet. Lights weredancing before his eyes and his neck felt as if he had been garroted.With his first breath he turned on Ishida, incoherent with rage andcurses. The big man caught his arm.

  "The honorable sir make mistake," said the Japanese smoothly. "Man havedone that who have ranned away."

  "He lies!" said Phil fiercely. "There was no one else near me but thegirl. He did it himself! He tried to _ju-jits'_ me!"

  The fingers of the Japanese were clenched, but his face was impassive ashe added: "I think he have been snik-thief."

  "That's no doubt the way it was, Phil," said Bersonin. "Why on earthwould Ishida touch you? That's an old thieves' trick. The fellow triedto get your watch, I suppose. But we must move on. The police will behere presently, and we don't want our names in the papers."

  They went rapidly through the close ranks that had been watching withthe decorous, inquisitive silence so typically oriental.

  "I suppose you're right," said Phil sulkily. "I--I beg your pardon,Ishida."

  The Japanese bowed gravely.

  "Only a mistake," he said, "which honorable sir make."