"She would cut off my head," replied Lo-Keong quietly, "so now you see why I thought it best to conceal them. I wished to preserve the papers so as to keep myself in favour with the Emperor, when he became supreme, and I wished to conceal them from the Empress Dowager and her spies, while she ruled China. You understand?"
"We do," said the young couple. "So you used the means of the fan to tell where they were hidden?" asked Rupert.
The Mandarin assented. "I did. I spoke to your father about this plan of concealment. I knew the papers would not be safe in China, as the emissaries of Hop Sing would find them, and I should be ruined, so on the suggestion of your father, I decided to hide them in England."
"Mr. Markham Ainsleigh's suggestion, sir. He said that this place had been in the possession of his family for years and would likely continue to remain under the Ainsleigh--"
"Not at all, sir," was Lo-Keong's brisk reply, "you will have enough money to keep this place I assure you. But to continue--your father, whose health was very bad, arranged to take his money back to this place, and to take also the papers I wished to hide. We arranged that they should be concealed in the third tree and then I hit upon the plan of an invisible picture on the fan with the assistance of the beads to identify the hiding-place."
"But was that necessary when you knew the hiding-place?"
"I wished my heirs to benefit by my services to the Emperor during the Boxer rising; and they were not to know of the existence of these papers till I died. So you will understand--"
"Yes! It's very interesting, so please go on."
"Well while we were arranging these things Forge went to Pekin, and got a concession to work the mine from the Empress through the influence of Hop Sing. Meanwhile, I arranged to enter the service of my Imperial Mistress, and left your father ill of dysentery."
"No," said the Mandarin decisively, "he was recovering. He had the packet and the fan which he was to take to this place. Hwei was to go with him, and design the invisible picture and hide the packet. I went to see about letting your father have the money which I had invested for him. All was ready and he was winding up his affairs. Then the emissary of Hop Sing strangled your father--"