Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 33: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

of my own race. By means of exposing its whole history, I obtained it from the shop- keeper, and found that the man who had pawned it, and who expected to redeem it, was a priest in the temple here Tan Tock by name. He was the man who had stolen it in Singapore and had then fied to America. ““ Now that I had obtained the dragon I set about letting my friends know of it. They were not satisfied merely to obtain the thing back; they desired punishment. It was intimated to Tan Tock that I had the dragon. He sent word that he wished it back and grould buy it, for he had lately won largely in the lottery. So the adver- tisement was put in the paper.” The captain nodded knowingly. ‘‘ And he came, and you croaked him, eh?” “ John Duck smiled. It was a smile of gentle pity. “No,” he said briefly. ‘“ Not at all.” “Well, damn it!” ejaculated the officer. “Then who did?’ | “Two men. One of them, Hip Sing, is also a priest in the temple. The other, Lui Yen Yuan, is his friend. They were not of our party at all. They murdered Tan Tock to get his money, which he always carried on his-person. That is why I am telling you the whole thing. They had heard of the brazen serpent, and they also wanted to get hold of it for the local temple. They now desire to kill me, in order to get it. This strip of skin was sent me as a threat, you understand?”’ The. officer swore under his breath. At this point Thornton intervened. | “In view of these facts,” he said, ac- cepting John Duck’s story as true, “ you will aid us in obtaining a conviction of the murderers?” . “Very gladly,” said John Duck, with ad- mitable promptitude. ‘They are no friends of mine. Lui Yen Yuan is an eater of opium, and finds it hard to obtain the drug. If you wish, I will send him a note now offering him seme opium and also the brazen serpent at a certain price. He will come to get it. You will arrest him. By offering him opium, he will be unable to refuse—and will confirm all I have said.” “It’s against the law to have dope in THE BRAZEN SERPENT. 315 your possession,” said the captain roughly. ‘““ How ’d you get itp” ‘““Y have a permit,” and John Duck smiled. ‘I am a chemist.” There was nothing in his proposal that seemed unlikely. If Lui Yen Yuan were a murderer, and were also an opium fiend, the chances were that in order to get the drug he would- confess very fully. Those who smoke opium cannot eat it, and vice versa. Pellets are very difficult to obtain. One who has been deprived of them for some time will go through hell to get a supply. The captain of detectives glanced at Thornton, who nodded imperceptibly. “All right,” said the officer. ‘ Write your note. Thornton, phone for a messen- ger, will you? I'll watch this guy.” Thornton departed to his telephone down-stairs, for John Duck had none. Under the watchful eye of the officer, John Duck opened a desk, laid out brushes and ink and paper, and rapidly got off several lines if ideographs. Thornton re- turned in time to look over the letter, but it was written in Mandarin, of which he knew almost nothing. “Tf this story is true,” said Thornton, « then—’”’ ° “Then we get the guys who croaked Tan Tock,” added the officer. ‘ That’s what I’m interested in! How soon will the man get here?” | ‘T think he will come immediately,’ said John Duck, smiling. IV. THE message was sent. Thornton took one of John Duck’s cigarettes, which were of English make and extraordinarily good; it occurred to him that as yet he had no explanation of the red drip which had first drawn his attention to the entire affair. He said nothing of it at the moment, however. The. most important thing now was to sub- stantiate the story told by John Duck. As the three men waited, the two visitors gradually became impressed with the fact that their host must have told the truth. John Duck had personality. He chatted with them lightly, keenly, giving them both some very interesting information in re- Orig it a L£ fas moo JOO S C@ TLIC SC — ( )