to all outward appearances, the little bird-fancier's shop in gray's inn road was innocent enough, and no doubt the police would have given the tenant of the shop a good character if they had been asked about his antecedents. the proprietor was a born naturalist and was too much devoted to his studies to make his business a success. he was a dried-up little man who lived behind the shop where he did entirely for himself, for he had a morbid horror of everything in the shape of woman. he cared little or nothing for the litter and confusion which marked his sitting-room, and as long as he could pay his rent was satisfied to pass a monotonous existence. it was, therefore, a stroke of luck for mr. giles when a somewhat obese foreigner walked into his shop one day and asked if he had a couple of rooms to spare. giles had the rooms to spare, but there was no furniture in them, and he could not depart from his rule that no woman should ever set foot on the premises. instead of regarding these statements as drawbacks, the would-be lodger affected to receive them with every demonstration of approval.
"ah, my friend," he said, "this is just what i want. i am an old traveller. i have seen a great deal of the world and have always been accustomed to do for myself. if i pay ten shillings a week for these rooms and bring my own furniture, will that satisfy you, eh? i will not interfere with you and you will not interfere with me. i will cook my own food and do my own cleaning and everything. what i want is quiet, for i am writing a book on my travels, and must not be interrupted."
there was only one reply to such an offer, and that was to close with it with alacrity. ten shillings a week would make all the difference between affluence and poverty to the naturalist. it would pay his rent and enable him to buy such books as his soul coveted. within a week jansen was established in his new quarters. it was no empty boast that his landlord and he would see little of one another, for weeks passed at a time without their exchanging a word.
meanwhile, jansen was conquering a certain shyness with which he had been afflicted during the earlier part of his tenancy. at first he hardly left the house except at night, but now he walked in and out, whistling blithely to himself as if he had no care or trouble in the world.
so far as his sitting-room was concerned, there was no reason to disregard his statement that he was writing a book. one or two tables were littered with papers, but maps and strange-looking plans which could have only been properly understood by an engineer were most in evidence.
one night, jansen had cooked his frugal supper over a spirit-lamp, and then put his cooking utensils on one side and lighted a big dutch pipe. from time to time he glanced at the noisy little clock on the mantel-piece as if anxious he should not forget some important appointment. he drew from his pocket a bundle of letters which he spread out on his ample knee. the contents of the letters appeared to give him satisfaction, for he chuckled again and again as he read them.
"strange what mistakes clever men make sometimes," he muttered. "there is flower, who thinks he has deceived everybody. well, he has not hoodwinked me. ah, it is true that, as the philosopher says, everything comes to him who knows how to wait, and my three years have not been wasted. within a few weeks there will no longer be either samuel flower nor cotter to stand in the way. and all i shall have to do is to go down to maldon grange and help myself, and spend the rest of my life in ease and pleasure."
jansen glanced at the clock again, which now indicated the half hour after nine. he rose from his seat and walked on tip-toe towards the door. despite his great weight he made no more noise than a cat. he could hear his landlord bustling about in the back of the shop as he crept down the stairs and opened the front door. he stood there just a moment with the light of the gas behind him, looking up and down the street as if searching for some one. then, presently, out of the shadows emerged a slight figure wearing a long overcoat and tall silk hat. as the figure passed jansen the latter held out a detaining hand.
"all right, my friend," he said. "i am waiting for you. come this way."
the figure made no demur; no remark whatever crossed his lips. he followed jansen quietly upstairs into the sitting-room, the door of which was then carefully closed. no word was spoken till jansen produced the materials for the filling and smoking of an opium pipe which he handed to his companion. the latter had discarded his hat and overcoat. he looked out of place in his european costume as he squatted on the floor with the pipe between his lips.
"you know why you are here?" jansen asked.
"i know very well," the oriental said stolidly. "i come because you are willing to help me. you will tell me how, and when it is all over you are going to show me that which i can take back to my country whence your countryman stole it. that is why i am here to-night."
"quite right," jansen said cheerfully. "but you are moving too fast. we don't do things so rapidly in this country. do you know that your man has gone again? do you know that he left london to-night?"
the eastern looked up and his beady eyes gleamed like stars. cold-blooded man of the world as he was jansen shuddered as he noticed the glance.
"what i am telling you is the truth," he went on. "he has gone. they have spirited him away, and no doubt they fancy he is out of harm's reach."
"he is not," the malay said unconcernedly. "were he at the end of the world he would not be safe from us. have we not waited and watched and travelled all these years, and did not the star of luck shine upon us at last? you know whether it is true that that man is safe."
"oh, we know," jansen said cheerfully. "but the point is this, my friend; you are in a civilized country where the police have peculiar ideas. if they can lay hands upon you they won't care a rap about your religious scruples. you will find yourself within the walls of an english gaol and the two of you will be hanged to a certainty. what about your revenge then? your prey will escape you, secure in the knowledge that he has no longer anybody to fear. he will be able to enjoy his ill-gotten gains with a light heart. you are taking this thing too easily. now suppose i can show you a way——"
once more the oriental's eyes glistened.
"you are bound to show us a way," he said. "you are pledged to it. are you not one of us? have you not taken the sacred vows? and if you should dare to play us false——"
"come, come, don't talk like that," jansen said in an injured tone. "do be reasonable. didn't i ask you here to-night on purpose to show you a way. but it will be useless unless i can see both of you together. if you are not going to trust me, you had better go your own way and there will be an end of it."
jansen shrugged his shoulders as if he washed his hands of the whole transaction. out of the corners of his narrow eyes the man squatting on the floor watched him intently. by and by he laid down his pipe with a sigh and produced from his pocket a flimsy bit of paper on which he proceeded to scribble something with a charcoal pencil. even then he hesitated before he handed it over to jansen. the latter assumed an attitude of indifference which he was very far from feeling.
"there," the malay said, "that is where you will find him at twelve of the clock to-night. i have trusted everything into your hands, and if you fail us—but you will not fail us. you must see him and bring him here so that we may talk this matter over."
jansen thrust the paper carelessly into his pocket as if it were of no importance. he began to talk of other matters likely to interest the oriental. he spoke of the latter's country and people whilst the little man nodded drowsily over the opium pipes which his host was preparing for him. finally his head fell back upon the carpet and he lay in the deep sleep which the drug produces.
"good," jansen muttered. "it is better luck than i anticipated. i did not expect to get two birds with one stone. and now to sweep the other into the net."
