Adrift in Pacific and Other Great Adventures – 17 Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Jules Verne
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Lao-Shen?” asked Kin-Fo.
“Lao-Shen the Tai-ping?”
“Yes.”
“Indeed there is nothing to fear from him on this side of the Great Wall,” said the guide. “He would not venture on the imperial territory; for his band wanders around outside the Mongolian provinces.”
“Does any one know where he is at present?” asked Kin-Fo.
“He was heard from lately in the environs of Tsching-Tang-Ro, only a few leagues from the Great Wall.”
“And what is the distance from Fou-Ning to Tsching-Tang-Ro?”
“About fifty leagues.”
“Well, I accept your services.”
“To take you to the Great Wall?”
“To take me to Lao-Shen’s encampment.”
The guide could not restrain a certain movement of surprise.
“You will be well paid,” added Kin-Fo.
The guide shook his head, as if to signify that he did not wish to pass the frontier.
“As far as the Great Wall, will do very well,” he answered, “but not beyond; for that would be risking one’s life.”
“Set a price on yours, and I will pay it.”
“Very well,” replied the guide.
Kin-Fo, turning round to the two agents, added,—
“You are free, gentlemen, not to accompany me.”
“Where you go,”—said Craig.
“We will go,” said Fry.
The patron of the Centenary had not yet ceased to be worth two hundred thousand dollars to them.
After this conversation the agents seemed to be perfectly easy in regard to the guide.
But, to believe them, one would meet the greatest dangers beyond that barrier which the Chinese have raised against the incursions of Mongolian hordes.
The preparations for departure were immediately made. They did not ask Soun if it would be agreeable to him to make the journey; for he could not help himself.
Conveyances, such as carriages and wagons, were absolutely wanting in the little town of Fou-Ning, nor were there horses or mules; but there was a certain number of Mongolian camels, which are used for business purposes by the natives of Mongolia. These adventurous traders, driving their innumerable flocks of sheep with long tails, travel in caravans on the road from Pekin to Kiatcha. They thus establish communication between Asiatic Russia and the Celestial Empire. However, they only ventured across these long steppes in numerous and well-armed troops. “They are a ferocious, haughty race, to whom the Chinaman is only an object of scorn,” says M. de Beauvoir.
Five camels, with their very primitive harness, were purchased. They loaded them with provisions, supplied themselves with arms, and set out on their journey under the lead of the guide.
But these preparations had consumed much time, and they would not be ready to leave before one o’clock in the afternoon; but in spite of this delay the guide relied on reaching the foot of the Great Wall before midnight. There he would organize an encampment; and the next day, if Kin-Fo persevered in his imprudent resolution, they would pass the frontier.
The country in the environs of Fou-Ning was elevated. Clouds of yellow sand rolled in thick columns along the roads, which ran between cultivated fields; and one still saw the productive territory of the Celestial Empire. The camels went at an even and steady, though not rapid, pace. The guide preceded Kin-Fo, Soun, and Craig and Fry, who were perched between the two humps of their steeds. Soun greatly approved of this style of travelling, and would have gone to the end of the world in this position.
Though the journey was not fatiguing, the heat was great. The most curious effects of a mirage were produced in the atmosphere, that was heated by the reflection from the ground. Vast watery plains, as large as a sea, were seen at the horizon, but soon vanished, to the great satisfaction of Soun, who feared some new voyage was to be his fate.
Although this province was situated at the extreme limits of China, it must not be supposed that it was deserted. The Celestial Empire, vast as it is, is still too small for its constantly increasing population; and therefore the inhabitants are numerous even on the border of the Asiatic desert.
Men were working in the fields; and Tartar women, who could be recognized by their red and blue dresses, attended to out-door work. Flocks of yellow sheep with long tails—which Soun could not look upon without envy—were grazing here and there under the eye of the black eagle. Woe to the unlucky ruminant which went astray! for these birds of prey are formidable and carnivorous, and wage a terrible war on sheep, rams, and young antelopes, and even serve as hounds to the Kirghis in the steppes of Central Asia.
Flocks of feathered game were flying about everywhere, and a gun would not have been idle in this portion of the territory; but the true hunter would not have looked favorably upon the nets, traps, and other methods of destruction, worthy of a poacher at most, and which covered the ground between the furrows of wheat, millet, and maize.
Kin-Fo and his companions travelled on through the whirlwinds of this Mongolian dust, and stopped neither in the shade at the roadside, nor at the few scattered farms in the province, nor in the villages which they could here and there descry by the funereal towers which were erected to the memory of heroes of Buddhic legends. They marched in file, leaving the lead to their camels, which are accustomed to walk one behind the other, while a red bell at their neck keeps time with their measured step.
Under these circumstances no conversation was possible. The guide, who was but little of a talker by nature, kept ahead of the small party, looking around the country in a circle whose extent was constantly diminished by the thick dust. He never was at a loss as to the road to take, even where a landmark was wanting at some crossings. So Fry-Craig, no longer feeling mistrustful of him, gave all their vigilance to the precious patron of the Centenary. Through a very natural sentiment, they felt their anxiety increase as they approached the end; for, at any moment, without being able to warn him, they might find themselves in the presence of a man, who, with one well-applied blow, would make them lose two hundred thousand dollars.
As for Kin-Fo, he found himself in that state of mind in which the memory of the past predominates over the anxieties of the present and future. He reviewed his life for the past two months, and the continuance of his misfortunes did not fail to disturb him very seriously; for, since the day when his San Francisco correspondent sent him the news of his pretended failure, had he not had a series of truly extraordinary ill luck? and would there not be some compensation between the second part of his life and the first, whose advantages he had been so foolish as to disregard? Would this succession of adverse experiences end by his getting possession of the letter which was in Lao-Shen’s hands, if perchance he should succeed in getting it away from him without striking a blow? Would the amiable Le-ou, by her presence, love, and charming gayety, ever be able to drive away the evil spirits which pursued him? Yes: the memory of the past was returning to him, filling his thoughts and disturbing him. And Wang! he certainly could not blame him for having tried to keep his oath; but Wang the philosopher, the constant guest in the yamen at Shang-hai, would no longer be there to teach him wisdom.
“You will fall!” cried the guide just then, whose camel had just knocked against that of Kin-Fo, who came near tumbling in the middle of his revery.
“Have we arrived?” he asked.
“It is eight o’clock,” answered the guide, “and I intend to halt for dinner.”
“And afterwards?”
“Afterwards we will resume our journey.”
“It will be dark.”
“Oh,