Page:Ballinger Price--Fortune of the Indies.djvu/175

 direction, separated from them only by a matter of a few thousand miles of salt water.

"Now," Mark said, "comes the real adventure. Wish Jane was along. Wouldn't she be keen on it? Poor little kid, kicking her heels in Resthaven!"

So spoke Mark, on the deck of the Nangpoo boat. He had no idea how truly he spoke when he said that now came the real adventure.

The estate of the descendants of T'ang Min lay on the outskirts of Nangpoo, beyond the walled city, in the midst of an ancient and beautiful garden. From the climbing terraces mulberry-trees drooped and shimmered; pomegranates flashed globes of smoldering crimson; chrysanthemums swayed in drowsy masses. In water-worn marble pools blue lotus swung on dark water. Beyond the paved courtyard the mansion itself slept among tall, wide-spreading trees. It was all very ancient and very still. Small, worn steps led upward among dark, twisted cedars; carved sandstone bridges spanned tiny polished waterways that a stride might cross. The servant who had