The Boy Fortune Hunters in China by L. Frank Baum

After being profusely fed we were ready for an important interview with Wi-to; an interview that was to determine our standing in the Royal House of Kai.

The governor had left us in the hall and we had not seen him since; but as it was now to be open warfare between us we did not care what his future intentions might be.

The Chief Eunuch had forborne to question us while we ate, and appeared unusually thoughtful; but when we rose he ushered us into a little room on the main floor which seemed to be his private office. It was luxuriously furnished and we were given comfortable chairs.

Nux and Bryonia accompanied us here, as they did everywhere; but Wi-to seemed to disregard the precaution of having any of his own men present at the interview.

He offered us cigars, and when we refused he lighted one himself and leaned back in his chair.

"What proof have you that the ring of Prince Kai was not stolen? " he asked.

For answer I took the Prince's letter of authority from my pocketbook and handed it to him to read.

He perused it carefully and with a grave countenance; then folded the paper, pressed it to his forehead and returned it to me.

"The Prince is my master, whether he is here in the flesh or wandering in the land of the Genii," said the eunuch. "He has given to you, Sam Steele, the power to command his servants, and I, as one of the most faithful of these, will obey you, even for the term of one year. But much has happened since my noble master died, and Mai Lo has told me strange things about you, which, if true, would annul even the authority of the great Prince Kai. Let us talk together; tell me all that I do not know."

"You have heard how the Prince was injured, and how we brought him to our ship and cared for him until he died," said I.

"Now, before Prince Kai died, there were certain matters he wished to attend to. At his palace in Kai-Nong were some possessions he wanted taken to England and America and given to friends in those countries, that they might cherish his memory. There were some papers in his yamen here that he wished to destroy, that no eyes might read them. There were some of his servants here that he wished to reward for faithful service. All this he asked me and my two friends to do for him, in his name and by his authority; and we promised Prince Kai Lun Pu it should be done."

The eunuch had listened carefully, and I had tried to be as direct in speech as I could, realizing that to make any blunder at this time would prove fatal to our plans.

"Why did not the Prince ask his governor to do all this? Has not Mai Lo been a faithful servant and followed his master to the ends of the earth? " asked Wi-to.

"The Prince was very wise," I said.

"He was very wise," repeated Wi-to, nodding.

"He had traveled far and learned many things."

"It is true."

"Also he had learned how to read men's hearts, and he saw that the heart of Mai Lo had changed since he had mixed with foreign people, and become acquainted with foreign ways. Therefore the Prince no longer trusted Mai Lo."

"Yet Mai Lo has been faithful and brought the body of his master many thousand li, that it may rest in peace in the halls of his ancestors," remarked Wi.

"True," I acknowledged.