ve him no rest on land or sea. A capable sailor
and an honest man, yet life had afforded him nothing but a succession of
black eyes and heavy falls. Death and sorrow, too; he had buried a wife
and child, swept off by cholera, in the Bay of Bengal. Turner and I had
landed together in the China Sea; I knew his heart, his history, some of
his secrets, and liked him tremendously for the man he was.

"Watching Lee Fu in silence, I thought of the relationship between Will
Turner and this extraordinary Chinaman. I won't go into the story, but
there were overwhelming reasons why they should think well of each
other; why Lee Fu should respect and honor Turner, and why Turner should
hold Lee Fu as his best friend.

"'I did not know of the plan until he had accepted,' Lee Fu was saying.
'I did everything in my power to dissuade him.'

"'Didn't Wilbur do the right thing?'

"'Oh, yes. But it is unthinkable, Captain, that he should command the
"Speedwell." The jealous gods have not yet shown their hand.'

"'Nonsense, Lee Fu!' I exclaimed, a little irritated. 'Since the thing
is done, hadn't we better try to be practical?'

"'Exactly,' said Lee Fu. 'Let us be practical. Captain, is it impossible
for the Caucasian to reason from cause to effect? There seems to be no
logic in your design; which explains many curious facts of history. I
have merely insisted that a man who would do one thing would do another,
and that, sooner or later, life would present to him another thing to
do.'

"'But I've known too many men to escape what you call destiny,' I argued
peevishly.

"'Have you?' inquired Lee Fu.

"That year I went into the Malay Archipelago for an extended cruise, was
gone seven months among the islands, and reached Hong Kong just ahead of
a bad blow. Typhoon signals were flying from the Peak as I came in; the
sky to the eastward had lowered and darkened like a shutter, and the
breeze had begun to whip in vicious gusts across the harbor. I carried
important communications for Lee Fu, so went ashore at once. The outer
office was full of gathering gloom, although it was still early
afternoon. Sing Toy immediately took in my name; and soon I was ushered
into the familiar room, where my friend sat beside a shaded lamp, facing
a teakwood desk inlaid with ivory, and invariably bare, save for a
priceless Ming vase and an ornament of old green bronze.

"'I am glad to see you, Captain,' he said dispassionately. 'Sit down. I
have bad n