'I'm glad I had the good fortune to be in this direction,' he said, when Dick had finished; for no persuasion would induce David to tell of his own exploits in the prison. 'Very glad indeed, for had the question been left to the city's governor he would have found it difficult to decide how best to act. To be candid, foreign devils are still foreign devils to the majority of my countrymen, and more so at a time such as this is, when plague is stalking through Manchuria, and threatening to reach Pekin. I assure you that the people are driven frantic, and that I am here and am patrolling the province, solely with a view to making arrangements to stop all travellers who may come from infected areas, and to arrest, if possible, the course of the disease. But, as I said, Europeans are not much loved. The Chinese do not understand them, and in a case such as this, with such an exalted personage as Tsu-Hi implicated, the governor here could only hold him in prison till orders came from Pekin; that might take months. I have known years to elapse, so that the course of justice does not run either smoothly or for the benefit of the people. However, I am here, and will sift the matter. An example must be made of these wretches.'
Let the reader imagine the terror of Chang on the following morning when he was brought into the presence of Twang Chun, the governor who had once before condemned him. Little by little the whole story leaked out, so that David learned that this heartless rascal had been engaged in the murder of his father. In any case, there was no doubt of his guilt on this occasion. He had been taken red-handed, while the letter which he had had the boldness to write to Ebenezer Clayhill condemned him. Justice might be slow and lagging when the authorities at Pekin controlled it; but here it was swift--terribly swift--for the wrong-doer. Chang was beheaded that very morning, and thus Ebenezer Clayhill's rascally scheme came to an ending.
'To-night I shall be in the city of Hatsu,' said Twang Chun, when the sentence on Chang had been carried out. 'Perhaps you will accompany me.'
David and his friend agreed with the greatest pleasure, for seeing that they had now met the governor of the province, the very individual to whom the Professor had sent them, and had delivered their letter, it appeared hardly necessary to proceed.