PURSUIT
I could see no indication of a control in the first recess which I explored. But the wall was divided into panels or sections, framed in narrow strips of some dull white metal, and experience had taught me that any one of these might be a hidden door.
I groped hopelessly, as I had groped along the wall of the apartment which had been allotted to me, seeking for the hidden exit by which Fleurette and, later, Fah Lo Suee, had gone out.
A slight sound in that vast, silent room brought me twisting about.
As I turned, my down-stretched hands pressed against the glass panel behind me. I could see nothing to account for the sound which I had heard, or imagined I had heard...but I felt the glossy surface upon which my hand rested sliding away to the right!
I turned again—and looked up an uncarpeted staircase to where, far above, a silk-shaded lantern hung upon a landing.
Doubting, hesitating, I looked alternately at the stairway and back along the laboratory. This way led upward, and my route was downward to the sea. But, what was more important—I must leam the secret of these doors! There might be others yet to be negotiated. I determined to experiment.
The door had slid open to the right. I remembered that my hand had rested at a point about three feet from the floor. I pressed now right of the door, but there was no response. I pressed to the left. The door remained open. Baffled, I stepped back—and the door closed, swiftly and silently!
The principle was obscure, but the method I had solved.
I opened it again and stepped in to the foot of the stairs.
How did I close it now?
The solution of this problem evaded me. I began to mount the stairs—and as my foot touched the first step, the door closed behind me!
I mounted, silent in my rubber-soled shoes, reached the landing and looked about me, wondering what I should do next.
A short, dark passage opened to the right, and another, longer one, to the left. At the end of the latter I saw a green light burning. I could hear no sound. I determined to explore the shorter passage first. I began to tiptoe along it; then I paused and stood stock still.
The door at the foot of the stairs had opened, and someone had come through...
I was being followed!
A momentary panic touched me. Had the opium sleep of Dr. Fu Manchu been an elaborate pretence? Could it be that he, after all, had been watching me throughout?—that it was this dreadful being himself who was upon my track?
I hurried to the end of that narrow passage; but there were doors neither right nor left, nor at its terminus.
It was wood-panelled, and I looked about desperately for one of the control buttons. Suddenly I saw one, pressed it, and the door slid open.
I filled my lungs with sharp night air, and I looked upon the stars. I stood on a paved terrace bordered by a low parapet. Below me lay a rocky gorge cloaked in vegetation. Beyond was the sea, and instinct told me, the beach of Ste Claire.
Steps descended on the left. I made no attempt to close the door, but began hurrying down.
Rock plants, ferns, cacti, grew upon the wall. Moonlight painted a sharp angle of shadow upon the steps. I came to a bend and turned. The steps below were completely in shadow. I began to grope my way down.
And at the third step I pulled up sharply and listened.
Someone had come out onto the terrace above: he was following me!
I had yet to find my way to the sea; but having won freedom from the house of Dr. Fu Manchu and gained the clean free air, it would be a dead man that this tracker carried back again. And unless he shot me down before coming to close quarters, there would be a classic struggle at some point between this and the beach....
The insidious atmosphere of that secret place, as I realised now, had taken its toll of my spirit. But under the stars— free—free from that ghastly thralldom, my cold hatred of the Chinese doctor and of all his works and his creatures surged back upon me chokingly.
Fleurette!
The dark schemes of Fah Lo Suee could never save her. One hope only I had, and I included Fleurette in it optimistically, for no word of love had ever passed between us.
I must find Nayland Smith—surround this scorpion’s nest—and put an end to the menace which threatened the peace of the world.
Courage came to me: I felt capable of facing even Dr. Fu Manchu himself.
And throughout this time I had been groping my way down dark steps; and now I came to yet another bend. Thus far I had made no sound. I stood still, listening: and clearly I heard it...footsteps following me.
It was eerie—uncanny.
Whomever it might be, the Chinese doctor or one of his creatures, why had he not challenged me—why this silent pursuit? I could only suppose that a trap awaited me.]
Someone was on guard at the foot of the stairs, and the one who followed was content to make sure that I did not double back.
Some impassable obstacle lay between me and the beach. It might be—and the thought turned my heart cold—such an obstacle as I had once met with in the radio research room!
In that event, I should be trapped.
I pulled up, groping upon the wall beside the steps. Some kind of creeping plant grew there in profusion, indeterminable in the darkness. I pulled it aside and craned over, looking down.
Below, as I dimly saw, was a sheer descent of a hundred feet or more. These steps were built around the face of the gorge. Lacking ropes, there was no other means of reaching the beach.
This discovery determined my course.
Unknown dangers were ahead, but a definite enemy was on my trail. Even now, as I stood there listening, I could hear him cautiously descending, step by step.
He exercised great precaution, but in the silence of the night, nevertheless, I could detect his movements. I must deal with him first. Moreover, as I recognized, I must deal with him speedily. This stealthy pursuit was taking toll of my nerves.
I pictured to myself Dr. Fu Manchu, some strange death in his hand, stalking me—the man who had presumed to trick him—cat-like, cruel, and awaiting his own moment to spring.
I looked about me: my eyes were becoming used to semi-darkness. I taxed my brain for some scheme of dealing with the tracker.
And as I began again to grope my way down the steps and came to another bend, a possible plan presented itself. The next flight, branching away at a sharp angle, was palely lighted by the moon. A sharp shadow-belt cut anglewise across the first three steps.
Making as little noise as possible, I hauled myself up on the parapet; not without injury, for a spiny kind of cactus grew there. But I finally reached the desired position, squatting in dense shadow.
With the advantage which this take-off gave me, I aimed to wait until my follower reached the bend, and then to spring upon his back and hurl him down the steps, trusting to break his neck and to save my own....
I had no more than poised myself for the spring when I heard him on the last step of the shadowy stairs.
He paused for a long time—I could hear him breathing. I clenched my fists and prepared to spring....He took a pace forward.
For one instant I saw his silhouette against the light.
“My God!” I cried.
It was
chapter thirtieth
NAYLAND SMITH
“thank God I found you. Sterling,” said Nayland Smith when the first shock of that meeting was over. “It’s a
