ews.'

"'Yes?' I queried, more than a little alarmed.

"Folding his hands across his stomach and slightly bowing his head, he
gazed at me with a level upturned glance that, without betraying
expression, carried by its very immobility a hint of deep emotion. 'It
is as I told you,' he said at last. 'Now, perhaps, you will believe.'

"'For heaven's sake, what are you talking about?' I demanded.

"'We had another typhoon this season, a very early one. It was this
typhoon into whose face our late friend Captain Turner took his ship,
the "Speedwell," sailing from Hong Kong for New York some four months
ago. Three days after sailing, he met the typhoon and was blown upon a
lee shore two hundred miles along the China coast. In this predicament,
he cut away his masts and came to anchor. But his ship would not float,
and accordingly sunk at the anchors.'

"'Sunk at her anchors!' I exclaimed. 'How could that be? A tight ship
never did such a thing.'

"'Nevertheless, she sunk in the midst of the gale, and all on board
perished. Afterwards the news was reported from shore, and the hull was
discovered in ten fathoms of water. There has been talk of trying to
save the ship; and Captain Wilbur himself, in a diver's suit, has
inspected the wreck. Surely, he should know if it is possible to salve
her! He says no, and it is reported that the insurance companies are in
agreement with him.' Lee Fu's voice dropped to a rasping tone. 'The
lives, of course, he cannot save.'

"I sat for some moments gazing at the green bronze dragon on the desk,
stunned by what I had heard. Turner gone? Even between us, who had seen
each other seldom in late years, there had been a bond. Weren't we known
as the two Eastern wanderers?

"'That is not all,' said Lee Fu suddenly. 'What more?' I asked.

"'Listen, Captain, and pay close attention. Some weeks after the loss of
the "Speedwell," it came to my ears that a man had a tale worth hearing.
He was brought; he proved to be a common coolie who had been employed in
the loading of the "Speedwell." This coolie had been gambling during the
dinner hour, and had lost the small sum that he should have taken home
as the result of several days' labor. Likewise, he feared his wife, and
particularly her mother, who was a shrew. In a moment of desperation, as
the lighter was preparing to leave for the night, he escaped and
secreted himself in the hold of the vessel.

"'He had long been asleep that night when he w