“What does the Tuan Muda now, Captain?” asked Baka, daring, now that the evil was safely hidden, to come to the edge of the hatch.
“He puts upon the cloth the mystic sign of our own belief so that good may guard against evil — ”
“That too is a good thought, Tuan Bezar. Is it permitted that we do likewise? Then the ghost which put it here cannot come to trouble us again. Indeed, it is a most excellent thought — ”
He turned to his fellows at van Bleeker's nod of agreement and began an excited speech, but the captain beckoned to the passengers.
“That was a good idea, van Norreys, it will occupy their minds for a time. Which will give us a chance to do a little witch hunting. Better get your arms,” he said to the Americans.
“You need our help?”
“If you care to give it. “I’ll take oath that no one of my men put that thing in place. They've all been with me for years, and if a man dabbles in that sort of nastiness he can't or won't make a secret of it for long. That wsn't there before we sailed from Manila; it must have been put in place before the watch was changed. Therefore — ”
“You have a stowaway?” suggested Sam.
“If I have, I’ll soon rout him out!” promised the captaia “That staff could have wrecked us. The crew would have jumped ship at Jolo if any one of us had willfully or accidently touched it As it is, it'll cost me enough to have the Sumba ritually cleansed. And, if I don't, no native will come aboard her! Somebody means trouble — bad trouble!”
Sam and Kane broke out the Reisings, inserting the twenty-cartridge clips with the ease of long practice. With a proved range of three hundred to six hundred yards, the small submachine guns would be raw murder in the close confines of the Sumba. No dealer in ghosts would care to try and outface them. Balancing the seven-pound weight easily across their forearms and hips the two Americans joined van Bleeker and Lorens on the bridge.
The Netherlanders eyed the Reisings with respect and some envy. Lorens had a Luger and the captain a Smith and Wesson.
“Where do we begin?” Sam wanted to know.
“At the bottom and work up. I have given the officers their orders to hold anyone or anything we manage to flush in our drive. Are we ready?”
For the next hour Kane and Sam learned more about the interior of a freighter than they had ever believed it possible to know. No hole was too cramped or too dark to admit van Bleeker's task force. But they started nothing except a rat or two. Even the small black copra bugs which were supposed to be a permanent fixture on island steamers were not to be seen. If there was a Guru on board he had the very useful knack of becoming invisible at will.
When they came out again on the deck van Bleeker's eyes were narrow, and the line of his jaw showed a stern set
“I don't like it Unless he has gone into the water there is no stowaway on board. Then who — “ He glanced at the white patch on the hatch. There were other symbols scrawled upon it now and a variety of queer objects tied to the nailheads at the four corners. Apparently the crew had contributed most of their lucky pieces to the good cause of holding down the devil.
“Are you sure, Chief, that no one got past here?” Van Bleeker turned back to Bridger.
“Nary a one, Ca'n. Lady came ‘long an’ I popped her into th’ radio cabin t’ be outta th’ way. Didn't want nobody t’ use her for a target an’ Sparks likes cats — ”
“But it is impossible!” the captain snapped. “A man can't vanish into thin air, I tell you!”
“Maybe he ain't aboard any more.” The chief hitched a sagging gunbelt to an easier rest across his paunch.
“If he went overboard, he's no concern of ours. And I hope that is just what happened to him. Well, gentlemen, it seems our hunt is over. Only I will ask all of you to keep watch for anything which seems to you to be out of the ordinary. I do not like this — I do not like it one little bit”
“What do you think?” Kane demanded when he and Sam reached their own cabin.
“I'd swear that there wasn't a stowaway. Only — ”
“Only what?”
“Well, I agree with van Bleeker. I don't like the set-up. If someone is hiding out on board, he's darned slick about it — as slick as if he knows the ship extra well. Someone who did that could have kept one step ahead of us this morning and beaten us in the end That's just a guess, of course. But it's plain someone wants to gum the works and gum them good. Maybe because we're on board — ”
“What!”
“Have you forgotten our visitor in Manila? Suppose we'd found that staff first and touched it We probably would if we hadn't been warned. Van Bleeker would have pitched us off in Jolo. He couldn't afford to keep us on board after that. And what native would have had dealings with us when the story spread that we'd meddled with a taboo? You know what the bamboo telegraph is — ”
“I don't know. That’s leaving a lot to just plain chance. How would this Guru, or whatever he is, know that we would be the ones to find the thing?”
“Well, anyway around it makes trouble for the Sumba, slows her up. Van Bleeker will have to go through this ceremony to get rid of the curse — and even after that it will be easy for some bright boy to hint around that maybe all the bad luck hasn't left us. I’ll bet that that comforting thought is riding van Bleeker right now. And just how much trade will he have if a tale like that gets out? No, the guy who planted that devil-infested hunk of tree on the hatch knew what he was doing — and it was a very smart idea Only — we'll have to find out why it was so smart and who had it”
“And how are we going to do that, my bright little man?”
“We might consult tea leaves or — ”
But a pillow in the face stopped that pure flow of reason — very effectively.
4
ABDUL HAKROUN, MERCHANT-PIRATE
“Welcome to Jolo, once the capital of a pirate empire, ancient seat of the Moro sultans, frontier post of the Sulu Sea — ”
Kane pinched his nose. “What a smell! There's something dead around here — maybe a whale.”
Sam, his guide's harangue so rudely interrupted, sniffed once and reached for a handkerchief.
The three passengers from the Sumba stood on the Chinese pier of Jolo, a structure which was really a wide street extending some distance into the sea. It was a jumble of odorous nipa-thatched huts, a shabby and disintegrating tenement district. From the left, where the Moro village perched on high stilts, the mud flats, left slimy and bare by the tide's retreat, added other smells to the already great accumulation cast off by the town. Somewhere inland were the broken walls of the old Spanish city, held for generations as a fort against those unsubdued fighting pirates who hurled the name of ‘Moro’ as a ferocious challenge to all comers. There one could find the two-story wooden houses which had been planned and built under European direction. But it was to the native nipa huts that Lorens turned now.
“Ah, here we have the tienda of one Lao Keh-Min, junk shop extraordinary, I would say.” Sam studied the characters painted in gold down a strip of scarlet cloth which fluttered beside an uncurtained doorway.
“Come and see his brand of ‘junk’,” suggested Lorens.
They ducked the low lintel and came into a dusk which set them blinking before they were able to identify any of the queer assortment of goods heaped around the walls. A small, spider-thin gnome crawled out of the clutter and began a weird singsong which only Lorens seemed able to understand.
While Kane picked out of the general mess an old portable phonograph, an empty bird cage, and a practically new bicycle, the Netherlander interrupted the salesman sharply.
“It is the Tuan van Norreys who speaks. May I have word with the most honorable Lao?”
The spider scuttled off. And after a long moment another man, his decent merchant's robe of dull blue silk whispering as he moved, came out of the inner quarters. With the calm arrogance of one accustomed to absolute authority in his own domain, he eyed the three. Kane he dismissed
with a single glance, Sam he studied a moment longer, but when his eys reached Lorens’ worn face and too-thin person, they narrowed. Then he bowed, his hands politely hidden within his sleeves.
“You will excuse please” — his English was without accent — “this most miserable and rude welcome. Rumor has spoken lies again. I see that the House of Norreys is not dead. Enter, if you will be so kind, this uncomfortable and barren room of my own. There is doubtless much to be said.”
Lao guided them through a narrow passageway walled with a patchwork of rotting boards, into a room which was as bare as the outer chamber was cluttered. Straight-backed, hard-seated chairs stood in stiff rows around the wall, and a cream-colored matting was soft under foot. When they were seated Lao clapped his hands, and the spider man trotted in to hand around tea bowls. Kane rubbed his fingers appreciatively over the one he had taken. It was of a clear, rich turquoise shade with a surface of fine satin.
Surprisingly it was Lao who brushed aside the usual formal compliments to say directly, “Since the honorable and high-born Jonkheer van Norreys has joined his ancestors, is it your desire to carry on the dealings of his gem-buying House, young lord?”
“It is. For many years did I learn from my grandfather such wisdom as was within my feeble power to absorb. Now I would carry on, though I cannot achieve his greatness — ”
“That is so. He was such a one as is seldom born in any land. We who knew him were honored by his regard. But I have now on hand several pieces such as even he would have deigned to examine. Have I your permission to display these unworthy bits which I have gleaned?”
Lorens showed no undue eagerness to see Lao's offerings, but a second clap of his master's hands brought the misshapen servant back into the room lugging a small teakwood table which he set down before the Netherlander. Then he dragged out a box which Lao unlocked.
A square of white silk was unfolded on the dull black of the teak before Lao lifted from the chest a long narrow bundle wrapped in dull brocade. As carefully as if he were dealing with a time bomb the Chinese merchant plucked off the coverings and placed the glittering thing they concealed on the silk-covered table.
Even Lorens’ breath came unevenly from between half-open lips when he caught full sight of the treasure. And Sam did not try to stop an exclamation of wonder.
A four-inch skeleton of a lizard, perfect to the last tiny bone lay there — but it was not ivory or dull white — it was afire with blue and red, green and yellow — it was an opal!
“Carved from opal?” Kane asked.
“No. It is an opal itself.” Lorens leaned forward but he did not venture to touch. “There was one like this found once before — in Australia back in 1909. It is in a museum now. But here in the Orient such a find is priceless. As well you know, Lao.” He turned almost accusingly to the Chinese. “Perhaps one of the Rajahs of India might be able to pay your price — Norreys cannot”
Lao smiled. “Truly a great find. It was brought to me by a man once very rich. The war had ruined him. He sold it— for all the cash I could raise and borrow. Oh, he knew its value, even as you and I do. But who am I to approach the great ones? I have no big name, no honor among the lords of India They would say that I had stolen it, and maybe I would find the law held against me. No, if Norreys does not wish to buy it, then I wish the House to act for me in this matter, bringing buyer and seller together.”
“There must be proof of its origin,” warned the Netherlander.
“That I know, and I am prepared to give it. This, too, was found in Australia, even as was that other you mentioned. But it was found in the early days before those of your race were interested in such gems. It was brought to Batavia by its discoverer who was one of those convicts escaping from the English colonies. He sold it for bread to a Rajah who sent it north as part of the bride gift of his daughter who sailed to marry a Malay princeling. That ship was captured by the pirates of the Straits, and the jewel came into the hands of the Sultan. One of his descendants gave it as a mark of favor to Datu Cooms — ”
“ Cooms! But he's been dead for thirty years or more.”
“Yes, dead without a son to follow him. But he left much of his treasure to one of his captains, and it was from that man that I bought the wonder. He had it by right — ”
“Did he?” Lorens’ eyebrows rose quizzically. “It's true that Cooms had no heir, but it is also true that his island palace was sacked as soon as his men knew that the old man was truly dead. Well, I suppose your captain had as good a right to it as any. So you want Norreys to find a customer for you?”
“If possible. See, I have made preparation in such hope.” He took from the chest an envelope of reptile skin and opened it to display a set of clear photographs, one full-size color drawing of the opal lizard, and a page of figures. “Here is all there is to be known, pictures, size, weight, history. Will the House of Norreys act for me?”
Lorens shuffled through the papers and regarded the opal lizard thoughtfully. “I can promise no sure sale — ”
“Who can in this world? But if Norreys will accept the commission, then am I sure of fair dealing.”
“All right, Lao, I’ll do my best for you.”
The Chinese showed no elation. He rewrapped his treasure in its covering, and having put it aside, he set before van Norreys three bracelets intricately fashioned of silver and set with stones which Kane was unable to identify even when Lorens handed him one of the pieces to examine.
“Your price?” And Netherlander and Chinese fell to bargaining.
Kane turned to Sam. “What is this, anyway?”
The Nisei squinted at the setting and tried it with his thumbnail. “Black coral — peculiar to these waters. Odd-looking stuff, isn't it? But, boy, that skeleton — that's really something! Bet a fortune will change hands over that! Like to have it myself if I could afford that sort of a paperweight.”
“Safield might. Wonder if Lao could give us a tip on the lower islands. Wait until Lorens gets through with his shopping, and we'll ask”
But when questioned the Chinese could give them no news.
“It is true that a man might be cast away on some forgotten island and never be found again. Many times has it happened, and nowadays there is much confusion in those seas. But I have heard nothing from those who come to trade, nothing which might be of assistance to you. Trade — “ his attention flickered from Kane to Lorens — “trade has not been so good of late.”
“Is that so, my friend? And you have a reason, perhaps, for its failure?”
Lao sipped his tea When he put down his bowl it was to smile politely at the three of them.
“Trade ebbs and flows. It is the tide which comes to cover the mud flats of a man's thin purse. You are visiting other friends of your esteemed grandfather?”
“Those I can find — yes.”
“You will be able to discover the honorable Abdul Hakroun still in business.”
“That is good hearing.”
Kane watched Lorens and the trader narrowly. In that exchange of bland sentences information had been asked for and given. And he intended to be let in on the secret as soon as possible.
But Lorens didn't keep the secret long. “So that's it,” he muttered as they came out of Lao's shop. “Abdul Hakroun is abroad — ”
“I don't care to appear unduly stupid,” cut in Sam, “but just who is Abdul Hakroun?”
The half smile Kane had learned to watch for quirked Lorens’ lips.
“Some men in these latitudes would tell you — quite seriously — that Abdul Hakroun is the Devil. I would hesitate before going so far as to state that. But he does — as you Americans so aptly say — have a finger in every pie up and down the Indies. A very shrewd and clever gentleman As far as I have ever heard he was only bested once in a bargain. But, of course, any man who would go up against Datu Cooms was asking for failure — ”
“Datu Cooms — the former owner of the opal lizard?” inquired Kane.
&nbs
p; “The same. He is one of the legends of these parts. According to the most reliable account he was first mate of a Confederate commerce raider starting a cruise in these waters just as your War Between the States came to an end. Cooms chose to remain in this part of the world and drifted to the Sulus. He turned Mohammedan after a time and won the favor of the current sultan, to whom he became a sort of military and naval adviser. The Moros were, as you have doubtles heard, in a constant state of rebellion against their Spanish overlords. Cooms was highly successful and was able to cut out an island kingdom of his own. He lived to be an old man, but to the end of his life he was a fighter few cared to dispute. Abdul Hakroun had a trading war with him once — I believe that there was a pearl fishery in question — and lost.
“Rumor says that Abdul is of the old line of Sulu sultans, and his power hereabouts is unquestioned. Apparently even the Japanese dared not interfere with him. And so now he's busy again, is he? I wonder — ”
Abruptly Lorens turned and started back along the wharf at a pace which caught the Americans napping. He headed for the place where the ship's boat which had brought them ashore was still tied up.
“Give,” panted Kane as he caught up. “What's the trouble?”
“If it is as I now think, it is trouble! Hakroun or his agents may wish to keep other traders out of the southern waters for a while. The Sumba is the first independent trader to sail for the Banda region —”
“You mean that this Hakroun guy may be behind the Guru joke?” asked Sam. “But what would be his object — he can't hope to keep traders out indefinitely. Unless he has a Hitler complex. What reason —”
“I can think of at least four. But van Bleeker must know of this. Do you wish to return to the Sumba with me or remain here?”