“If I am not the rightful owner, there is no rightful owner in this country. I am an American, and I lost that stick. I presume you will give it to me, Mr. Merriwell?”
“It seems to me that it is Frank’s duty to return it to the society from which it was stolen in the first place,” said Dick grimly.
The stranger looked startled, but there came to his face an expression of sudden savage determination.
“I hope Mr. Merriwell will not agree with you,” he said instantly. “I have proved that I lost it, and——”
“You have confessed that it was stolen, in the first place.”
Frank saw that Dick was willing to get into trouble with the stranger—that he was seeking it. It is probable that the stranger understood this, also.
“You are going a little too far, Starbright,” said Merry sharply. “This gentleman has satisfied me that he lost the stick. Whether it rightfully belongs to him or not is not a question for me to decide. I know no members of the secret society——”
“May or may not be members. It is possible they are enemies of the society.”
“That is true,” nodded the stranger, “though it is not likely.”
“If enemies of the society,” pursued Frank, “they might wish to get hold of the stick in order to obtain a power over the rightful owners.”
“Even if they are members of the society,” said the stranger, “that is not a reason why Mr. Merriwell should return the stick to them.”
“Because that society stands for all that is bad in China. It has ever been opposed to Christianity, and is the persecutor of Christian missionaries. It was at the head of the late Boxer rising. It did its best—or its worst—to kill every missionary in China. The destruction of this society, which lives and thrives on all that is superstitious, magical, heathenish, and degrading, would aid in the advancement of Christianity in China more than any other thing possibly could. Without the aid of this little black stick their head men cannot work their most powerful charms or perform their most amazing feats of black magic. Now, decide whether the stick should be returned to them or not.”
“If not,” muttered Starbright, “it should be destroyed.”
“And the man who destroyed it would forever have a hideous shadow hanging over him, as such an act would doom him to strangulation by some member of the society, and every member is sworn to know no rest till the guilty one is found and punished. The persistence with which these men follow up such a hunt is terrifying. They are like bloodhounds on the scent.”