Chiao Tai looked embarrassed. He muttered something about consulting Captain Nee first, then went on hastily:
'If you have no other work for us tonight, sir, Tao Gan and I might have a look around for Mansur. I have a lump on my head as big as an egg; I'd love to get my hands on that sneaky bastard! At the same time we might try to locate the blind girl. It's true that the constables are looking for them too, but I have a very personal reason for getting Mansur, and brother Tao knows exactly what the girl looks like.'
'All right. But whether you achieve anything or not, both of you come back here before turning in. I am still hoping that the secret letter from the Grand Council will arrive tonight, and its contents may necessitate immediate action.'
The two friends bowed and took their leave.
When they were standing outside in the street waiting for an empty litter, Chiao Tai said:
'We'll just have to trust to luck in our search for Mansur. It's no use having a second look in the Arab quarter: they know me there by now, we don't speak their blasted language, and anyway I don't think he would hide there. We might board the Arab ships in port, and make a search for him there. Got any ideas about where to look for the girl?'
'Well, she's got to hide not only from the constables, but also from her own people, who are out to kill her. That means inns or lodging-houses are out. I think she'd hide in a deserted house. Since she told me that she's thoroughly familiar with the market quarter, we might start there. We could narrow that down further by finding out which spots in that neighbourhood are known to be frequented by crickets, for those are the places she knows best, of course.'
'Good,' Chiao Tai said. 'Let's go to the market first.' He hailed a passing litter, but it was occupied. Fingering his small moustache, he went on, 'You had a long talk with that wench, brother Tao. You don't know a thing about women, but you can give me at least a general idea of what kind of girl she is, I suppose.'
'The kind that makes trouble,' Tao Gan replied crossly, 'for everybody including herself. The silly kind — too silly to be allowed to walk around on two legs! Believes everybody is just too kind, everybody means well, really — so help me! Heaven preserve me from that goody-goody type! Look what she's doing now, getting herself in heaven knows what trouble by hobnobbing with the Censor's murderers! Probably believes they poisoned the Censor as a kind afterthought, as the only permanent cure for his hangover. For heaven's sake! Sends me a croaking little cricket instead of coming to me herself and telling me what it's all about. If we find her,' he added venomously, 'I'll have her clapped in jail at once, just to keep her from getting herself into more trouble!'
'Quite some speech, brother Tao!’ Chiao Tai said dryly. 'Ha, here comes a litter!'
XVIII
They stepped down in front of the ornamental gate that marked the west entrance of the market. Inside, the crowd had not yet thinned, and all the passages were brightly lit by oil lamps and coloured lampions.
Peering over the heads of the crowd, Chiao Tai noticed a pole from which hung a number of small cages. He halted and said:
'There's a cricket dealer ahead. Let's ask him for a good place hereabouts to catch crickets.'
'You don't expect him to tell us the tricks of his trade, do you? He'll say he catches them in the mountains thirty miles up river, and then only on the third day of the waning moon! We'd better cross the market, leave by the south gate, and have a look at that deserted place where they are pulling down old houses. It's there that I met her.'
When they were passing the cricket stall, they heard violent curses followed by agonized screams. They elbowed the onlookers aside and saw that the dealer was pulling a boy of about fifteen hard by his ears. Then he slapped him soundly and shouted, 'Now you go and get those cages you forgot, you lazybones!' He sent the boy outside with a well-aimed kick.
'After him!' Tao Gan hissed.
In the next passage Tao Gan overtook the boy who was stumbling along holding his hands over his ears. He put his hand on his shoulder and said:
'Your boss is a first-class bastard; last week he cheated me out of a silver piece.' As the boy wiped his tear-stained face, Tao Gan went on, 'My friend and I were thinking of catching a few good fighting-crickets tonight. What place would you suggest, as an expert?'
'Catching a good fighter is no work for amateurs,' the boy declared importantly. 'They change their places ever so often, you see. Until a couple of days ago, you had a good chance near the Temple of the War God. Lots of people still go there. Nothing doing! We insiders know. It's the Examination Hall you have to go to now!’
'Thanks very much! Put a centipede in your boss's boot tomorrow morning. That's always a nice surprise.'
As he was guiding Chiao Tai to the east gate of the market, Tao Gan resumed contritely:
'I ought to have thought of that! The Examination Hall is two streets to the east and takes up an entire block. There are several hundred cells there, since candidates for the Autumnal Literary Examinations gather here in Canton from all over the province. This time of the year the Hall is empty — an ideal place to hide! And for catching a few good crickets into the bargain!’
'But isn't the compound guarded?'
'There'll be a caretaker, but he won't take much care! No vagabonds or beggars would dare to take shelter there. Don't you know that Examination Halls are always haunted?'
'Good heavens, that's true!’ Chiao Tai exclaimed. He remembered that every year, during the public literary examinations held all over the Empire, many poor students committed suicide. They had to toil at the Classics day and night, often pawning their belongings or contracting debts at atrocious interest, in order to be able to continue their studies. If they passed, they got an official post at once, and their troubles were over. Failure, however, meant at best another year of gruelling work, often financial ruin, and sometimes utter disgrace. Therefore, when a student had been locked into his cell for the day and saw that the examination papers were too difficult for him, he often ended his life then and there, in despair. Chiao Tai unconsciously slackened his pace. He halted at a stall and bought a small lantern. 'It'll be pitch-dark inside!’ he muttered to Tao Gan.
They left the market by the east gate. A brief walk brought them to the Examination Hall.
The blind wall of the compound ran the entire length of the dark, deserted street. Round the corner a high red gatehouse marked the one and only entrance. The double doors were closed, but the narrow side gate stood ajar. When Chiao Tai and Tao Gan had gone inside, they saw a light behind the window of the caretaker's lodge. They slipped past it, and hurriedly entered the paved road that crossed the compound from north to south.