Page:Guy Boothby--A Bid for Fortune.djvu/292

282 watching me from the other side of the road. There and then I returned to my hotel, bade Phyllis pack with all possible despatch, and that same afternoon we started to return to Australia. The rest you know. Now what do you think of it all?"

"It's an extraordinary story. Where is the stick at the present moment?"

"In my pocket. Would you like to see it?"

"Very much, if you would permit me to do so."

He unbuttoned his coat, and from a carefully contrived pocket under the arm drew out a little piece of wood, exactly of the length and shape he had described. I took it from him and gazed at it carefully. It was covered all over with Chinese writing, and had a piece of gold silk attached to the handle. There was nothing very remarkable about it, but I must own I was strangely fascinated by it when I remembered the mistery it had caused, the changes and chances it had brought about, the weird story told by China Pete, and the efforts that had been made by Nikola to obtain possession of it. I gave it back to its owner, and then stood looking out over the smooth sea, wondering where Phyllis was and what she was doing. Nikola, when I met him, would have a heavy account to settle with me, and if my darling reported any cruelty on his part I would show no mercy. But why had Mr. Wetherell brought the curio with him now? I turned and put the question to him.

"For one very good reason," he answered. "If it is the stick Nikola is after, he may demand it as a ransom for my girl, and I am quite willing to let him have it. The wretched thing has caused enough misery to make me only too glad to be rid of it."

"I hope we shall be able to get her without that," I said. "Now let us go aft to lunch."