The boy slipped into the narrow space between two houses. Ma Joong had difficulty squeezing his large frame through. When he passed underneath a small window-opening of about two feet square he reflected that if somebody inside would choose this moment to crush his skull there was very little he could do about it.
A nail ripped his robe. Ma Joong stood still and ruefully looked at the large tear. Then he shrugged his shoulders; after all this was an additional touch to his disguise.
Suddenly he heard a soft voice calling from above:
"Yoong Bao, Yoong Bao!"
He looked up. The girl Tulbee was looking out of the small window just above his head.
"How are you, my wench?", Ma Joong said pleasantly.
Tulbee seemed very excited. She started to whisper some words looking fixedly at Ma Joong with her large eyes.
Ma Joong shook his head.
"I don't know what is your trouble, my girl, but I am in a hurry just now. I'll come back later!"
As he made to go on Tulbee stuck her bare arm through the window and clutched the collar of Ma Joong's robe. She pointed in the direction the urchin had gone to, shaking her head emphatically. Then she drew her forefinger across her throat.
"Yes, that they are cutthroats I know!", Ma Joong said with a smile. "But don't you worry, I can take care of myself!"
Tulbee quickly drew him near to the window. For a moment her cheek touched his. There was a slight smell of lambsfat about her but Ma Joong still thought it was rather pleasant.
Then he softly loosened her arm and went on. When he emerged from the passage the urchin came to meet him. He jabbered excitedly, apparently he had feared that he had lost Ma Joong.
They scrambled over a heap of refuse, then climbed over a broken down wall.
The boy pointed to a neat plaster hut standing all by itself among tumble-down shacks. Then the urchin ran away.
Ma Joong now recognized the small house he had visited the night before with The Hunter. He knocked on the door.
"Come in!", a voice shouted from inside.
Ma Joong opened the door. He stood stock still.
A tall, spare man was standing with his back against the wall opposite. Ma Joong kept his eyes riveted on the long, evil-looking knife that rested on the palm of the man's right hand. It was poised for the throw.
After a tense moment the man said:
"So it is you, Yoong Bao! Sit down!"
He put the knife back in a leather sheath and sat down on one of the low footstools. Ma Joong followed his example.
"Last night", Ma Joong began, "The Hunter directed me to come here, and…"
"Shut up!", the other interrupted, "if I had not known all about you, you would be dead now. I never miss when I throw my knife!"
Ma Joong thought to himself that that was probably very true. The Uigur spoke excellent Chinese, Ma Joong took him for a minor chieftain.
Ma Joong smiled ingratiatingly.
"I was told that you, Sir, could help me to a job with a little money in it!"
"You are a traitor", the other said disdainfully, "and traitors think only of money. Yet you may be useful. But before I give you my instructions I want to make one point very clear. It will be good for your health to avoid even a semblance of double-dealing. At the slightest sign you will find a knife in your back!"
"Certainly, Sir!", Ma Joong said hurriedly. "You know my situation. I…".
"Enough!", the other said imperiously, "Listen carefully, I never repeat my instructions.
Three tribes are assembling in the plains over the river. Tomorrow, at midnight, they will occupy this city. We could have taken this town any time we liked, but we want to avoid excessive bloodshed. Your Chinese authorities are self-satisfied and lazy, and this is a distant outpost. If the fall of this town does not create too much interest in the capital, the authorities will not be in too much of a hurry to send an army here. Fortunately for us the route to the west no longer passes through this town. So the central authorities need not worry that we shall interfere with the tribute caravans from the western tributary kingdoms. By the time they decide to take action we shall have established our kingdom here and be in a position to ward off any attack.
The point is that we want to take this town by surprise. Everything has been prepared for taking over the tribunal and killing the magistrate and his men. But we need a few more Chinese to dispose of the guards on the gates."
"Ha!", Ma Joong exclaimed, "that is very fortunate! It so happens that I have a friend here who is the very man for you. He was a sergeant in our regular army who had to desert and hide himself because he got into trouble with the new magistrate here. That fellow Dee is a nasty man!"
"You Chinese are always afraid of those magistrates!", the Uigur said with a sneer. "I am not afraid of any of them! A couple of years ago I slit the throat of one with my own hands!"
Ma Joong gave his host an admiring look.
"Well", he said, "you had better contact my friend. He is a firstclass swordsman and knows all about the passwords and military routine."
"Where is he?", the other asked eagerly.
"Not far from here, Sir!", Ma Joong replied. "We found a perfect hiding place for him. He only goes out at night, during the daytime he sleeps on the third floor of the Drum Tower."
The Uigur laughed.
"That is not a bad idea!", he said. "Nobody would look for him there! Go and bring him here!"
Ma Joong looked doubtful. He said with a frown:
"As I just remarked, Sir, he cannot risk going out by daylight. Could not we go there ourselves? It is quite near! "
The Uigur shot Ma Joong a suspicious look. He thought for a while. Then he rose, transferring his knife from his girdle to his sleeve.
"I hope for you, my friend", he said, "that you are not planning some trick. You walk ahead. At the first suspicious move I shall throw my knife in your back and nobody will even guess where it came from!"
Ma Joong shrugged his shoulders.
"There is no need for all those warnings", he remarked. "Don't you know that we are entirely in your hands? One word to the tribunal and my friend and I are lost!"
"So long as you don't forget that, my friend!", the other said.
They went out into the street, the Uigur following Ma Joong at some distance.
As Ma Joong entered the market place he saw Chiao Tai standing with his back to a stone memorial tablet. His arms folded in his sleeves, he leisurely surveyed the crowd. His pointed cap, his brown robe with the black sash together with his air of authority clearly marked him as an officer of the tribunal.
Ma Joong halted in his steps.
This was where Ma Joong had to take his chance. Every moment the expected to feel the knife of the Uigur landing in his back.
Yet he could not move too quickly for he had to make sure that Chiao Tai saw him. With cold sweat on his brow Ma Joong carefully played his role.
He made as if he hesitated for a moment. When Chiao Tai lifted his hand and slowly smoothed his moustache, Ma Joong turned round and made a detour behind the stone tablet.
As soon as he was safely under the dark arch of the Drum Tower the Uigur joined him.
"Did you see that bastard leaning against the stone tablet?", Ma Joong whispered excitedly. "That is an officer of the tribunal!"
"So I saw", the other said dryly. "Hurry up!"
Ma Joong climbed the stairway to the second floor. He waited till the Uigur had come up too. Pointing to the broken seal on the gate Ma Joong said:
"Look! That is where my friend went up!"