Adrift in Pacific and Other Great Adventures – 17 Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Jules Verne
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to his great annoyance,—for he did not like moving from one place to another,—was obliged to accompany his master. But he did not venture to make any remarks, which would certainly have cost him a good bit of his braid.
As for Fry-Craig, like true Americans, they were always ready to travel, even were it to the end of the world; and they only asked one question.
“Where, sir”—said Craig.
“Are you going?” added Fry.
“To Nankin first, and to the devil next.”
The same smile appeared simultaneously on Craig-Fry’s lips. Both were delighted! “To the devil!” Nothing could please them better. They only took time to bid farewell to the Honorable Mr. Bidulph, and to array themselves in the Chinese costume, which would cause them to attract less attention during the journey through the Celestial Empire.
An hour later Craig and Fry, with their bags at their side, and revolvers in their belts, returned to the yamen.
At nightfall Kin-Fo and his companions cautiously left the port of the American concession, and took passage on the steamboat which plies between Shang-hai and Nankin.
This voyage is a mere excursion. In less than twelve hours a steamboat, profiting by the ebbtide, can ascend by the Blue River as far as the ancient capital of Southern China.
During this short passage, Craig-Fry, after having first scrutinized every passenger, paid the most minute attentions to their precious Kin-Fo. They were acquainted with the philosopher,—what inhabitant of the three concessions did not know that good and kindly face?—and they assured themselves that he had not followed them on board. Having taken these precautions, what constant attention they lavished on the patron of the Centenary!—feeling of every support on which he might lean; moving their feet over every bridge on which he sometimes stood, in order to ascertain if they were safe; drawing him away from the boiler, which they did not feel quite sure of; urging him not to expose himself to the fresh evening air, nor to get cold in the damp night-air; taking care that the port-holes in his cabin were hermetically closed; scolding Soun, the neglectful valet, who was never near when his master called him; taking his place, when necessary, by serving Kin-Fo with tea and cakes in the first period; and finally sleeping at his cabin-door, all dressed, with their belts provided with various articles for safety, and ready to come to his aid if, by an explosion or collision, the steamboat should sink beneath the deep waters of the river.
But no accident occurred to put the brave and ceaseless devotion of Fry-Craig to the test. The steamboat rapidly descended the Wousung, sailed into the Yang-Tze-Kiang, or Blue River, coasted along the island Tsong-Ming, left behind her the fires of Ou-Song and Lang-Chan, and ascended with the tide through the province of Kiang-Sou, and, on the morning of the 22d, landed her passengers safe and sound on the wharf of the ancient imperial city.
Thanks to the two body-guards, Soun’s braid had not grown shorter by the twelfth part of an inch during the voyage. Therefore the lazy fellow could have complained with very poor grace.
It was not without a motive that Kin-Fo, on leaving Shang-hai, stopped first at Nankin; for he thought there might be some chance of his finding the philosopher. Wang, perhaps, might be drawn to this unfortunate city by the memories of the past, since it was the principal centre of the rebellion of the Tchang-Mao. Was it not at that time occupied and defended by that modest schoolmaster, the formidable Rong-Sieou-Tsien, who became the chief of the Tai-ping, and so long held the Mandshurian authority in check? Was it not in this city that he proclaimed the new era of “Great Peace”?2 Was it not there that he poisoned himself in 1864, that he might not surrender himself alive to his enemies? Was it not from the ancient palace of the kings that his young son escaped, whom the Imperials were soon to behead? Were not his bones taken from their tomb beneath the ruins of the burned city, and thrown to the vilest animals? Finally, was it not in this province that one hundred thousand of Wang’s former companions were massacred in three days?
It was therefore possible that the philosopher, feeling a kind of homesickness after the change in his life, had taken refuge in these places so full of personal recollections; and in a few hours he could reach Shang-hai, and, when ready, deal his intended blow.
That is why Kin-Fo proceeded first to Nankin, and wished to stop at the first stage in his journey. If he could meet Wang there, every thing would be explained, and he could end this absurd situation. If Wang did not appear, he would continue his wanderings through the Celestial Empire till the expiration of the time when he would have nothing further to fear from his former teacher and friend.
Kin-Fo, accompanied by Craig and Fry, and followed by Soun, proceeded to a hotel, situated in one of the thinly populated localities, around which three-quarters of the ancient capital extends like a desert.
“I am travelling under the name of Ki-Nan,” said Kin-Fo to his companions; “and I desire that my real name shall not be spoken again for any reason whatever.”
“Ki”—said Craig.
“Nan,” finished Fry.
“Ki-Nan,” repeated Soun.
By this one will understand that Kin-Fo, who was running away from the annoyances of his fame at Shang-hai, did not wish to meet with them again on his journey. He said nothing to Fry-Craig of the possible presence of the philosopher at Nankin. These too particular agents would have used unnecessary precautions, which the pecuniary value of their charge justified, but which would have greatly annoyed him.
Indeed, if they had been travelling through a dangerous country, with a million dollars in their pocket, they could not have been more prudent. After all, was it not a million that the Centenary had confided to their care?
The whole day was passed in visiting the various localities, squares, and streets in Nankin; and from the gate at the west to the gate at the east, and from north to south, they rapidly traversed the whole city, which was now so shorn of its ancient splendor. Kin-Fo walked on quickly, talking little, but observing a great deal.
No suspicious face appeared, neither on the canals frequented by the masses of the people, nor in the paved streets, which were almost hidden under the ruins, and already overrun with weeds. No stranger was seen wandering through the partly demolished marble porticos and calcined walls, which mark the site of the imperial palace, the theatre of the final struggle, where Wang, no doubt, resisted till the last hour. No one was seen by the visitors around the yamen of the Catholic missionaries, whom the inhabitants of Nankin tried to massacre in 1870, nor in the neighborhood of the arsenal, which was newly built with the imperishable brick of the celebrated porcelain tower, and whose ground was strewn with the Tai-ping.
Kin-Fo, who seemed to feel no fatigue, kept moving on. Followed by his two acolytes, who did not falter, and outdistancing the unfortunate Soun, who was but little accustomed to this kind of exercise, he left by the eastern gate, and ventured out into the deserted country.
An interminable avenue, bordered by enormous animals of granite, now appeared at some distance from the enclosing wall; and Kin-Fo walked through it more rapidly still.
A small temple stood at the end of it, and behind rose a “tumulus,” as high as a hill. Under its turf reposed Roug-On the bonze, who had become an emperor, and who was one of the bold patriots, who, five centuries before, had struggled against the foreign power.
And might not the philosopher have come to refresh himself with these glorious memories on the tomb where rested the founder of the dynasty of the Ming?
The tumulus was deserted, and the temple abandoned. There were no other guardians than those giants faintly outlined on the marble, and the fantastic animals which people the long avenue.
But on the door of the temple Kin-Fo perceived, with emotion, several signs which some hand had engraved