dded.

"Right. Also, I want to know why that motorboat appearing on the scene
and flashing a searchlight made the junk gang jump us."

"I'm only speculating," Zircon replied, "but mightn't that have been a
police boat on regular patrol? The junk gang would know it, I presume,
and they might decide to get us tied up and under cover, just in case
the police came too close."

"That's reasonable," Rick agreed. "We'll probably never know for sure,
and that's as good an answer as any. Now, my next question is: Who was
the Eurasian who got together with Keaton-Yeats?"

"You don't suppose it was Chahda?" Scotty suggested.

"Couldn't have been," Zircon replied. "Chahda wouldn't have faded away
as soon as we got to shore. I can't imagine who the stranger was, except
that he apparently was a friend. Also, I think it's clear that Canton
Charlie certainly is not a friend, since our asking for Chahda resulted
in our being kidnaped, or close to it."

Rick nodded. "Clear as air. Anyway, Bert's prediction was wrong. We
didn't get our throats cut in Charlie's."

"He could have been only too right," Scotty reminded. "If we had gone
there alone and hung around until the mob got wilder, it could have
happened. What a wonderful crew of cutthroats! And they were on the way
to getting set for a few fights among themselves when we left."

Rick glanced at big Hobart Zircon. "Having the professor along probably
helped, too. Even the toughest thug would think twice before tackling
him."

Zircon chuckled. "I must admit I've found it some advantage to be so
sizable. What do you boys think of this strange shadow?"

"Strange is right." Rick stifled a yawn. "Keaton-Yeats thought he was
unfriendly, and so did the Eurasian. But he didn't do anything very
unfriendly, I guess. He just stood in a doorway."

"Chahda's cable said to beware of the long shadow," Scotty remembered.

"Which is a good reason to think that the man who cast the shadow is an
enemy who now knows of our presence in Hong Kong," Zircon added. He
glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. If the phone call our unknown
friend mentioned to Rick doesn't come soon, it'll find me asleep when it
does."

"Same here," Rick agreed. "Let's go up to bed."

Zircon paid the check and they took the elevator. As they walked down
the long corridor to their room, Scotty scratched his head. "Mighty
funny how everything was arranged for us at Canton Charlie's, wasn't it?
We drop in, ask for