Reunion

THE room in which Nancy and Mr. Soong found themselves was small and dimly lighted. It contained nothing but a few crates stacked near a doorway. The two eavesdroppers hid behind them. Beyond was a large, better-lighted room. In this a wide workbench was arranged along one wall. On it lay tubes of paint and bowls of turpentine containing brushes.

Lined along the rear of the workbench were two neat rows of porcelain bowls, jugs, jars and vases, all glazed and beautifully decorated with Oriental designs. Above them on the wall were cabinets, their doors closed.

Eng Moy and his daughter Lei took their places at the workbench, their backs to the door. They picked up the delicate designing brushes and began working on two gracefully shaped potteries.

“Look at the vase Eng Moy just took from the cabinet! ” Nancy whispered.

“Why, it’s mine! ” Mr. Soong whispered excitedly. “The vase stolen from Milton’s shop! ”

“Exactly, ” confirmed Nancy. “And if you look closely, you’ll see why Manning-Carr wanted it. Eng Moy is copying it—and probably made the copy which Manning-Carr sold in New York.”

At that moment the Lavender Sister who had ordered Nancy away from the enclosure some days before entered the room through a far doorway. She gave the Engs a hostile glance, then bent to examine their work. Suddenly she pointed to a small jar and uttered a stream of Chinese.

Stepping swiftly toward Lei, before the father could intervene, she slapped the girl’s face. Then she turned abruptly and departed through the same doorway from which she had appeared.

Nancy caught a fleeting glimpse of the interior beyond, containing pottery-making equipment.

As the door closed, Nancy heard the sound of weeping. Once more Eng Moy attempted to comfort his daughter, but she resisted his soothing words.

Mr. Soong, listening to the exchange of Chinese, translated it to Nancy:

“Father, I cannot stand this hateful life any longer! ” Lei sobbed. “I wish I had never been born! ”

“You must not talk that way, my child, ” Eng Moy remonstrated gently. “You are too young to give up hope.”

“Hope! ” the girl replied bitterly. “Day after day, year after year I have lived because of that word! Hoping for rescue! Hoping for the capture and punishment of the men who keep us here! Hoping to see China and home again! I tell you, Father, it is no use! Hope for us is an empty word. I never want to hear it again! ”

His face eloquent with distress, Eng Moy turned away. “But what can we do? ”

“We have only one choice left, Father, ” Lei told him. “We must end it all, rather than spend our lives in misery. It is our only means of escape.”

“No! Never that! ” Mr. Soong cried out in Chinese.

He came from behind the crates and went quickly toward the Engs, followed by Nancy. Surprise flashed across Lei’s face, then she backed away in sudden fear.

Mr. Soong went directly to Eng Moy and embraced him. “My friend! My old friend! ” he murmured.

Eng Moy drew back and stared at the old gentleman. Then slowly a look of recognition dawned. “Soong! ” he whispered disbelievingly.

He blinked in bewilderment, as if unable to credit what he saw. Then he stepped forward with a happy cry and returned Mr. Soong’s embrace.

Introductions quickly followed. Smiling proudly at Nancy, Mr. Soong spoke rapidly to the Engs. When he had finished, they turned to Nancy, their faces reflecting gratitude and hope.

Eng Moy took Nancy’s hands in his and addressed her haltingly in Chinese, while Lei smiled in agreement.

Despite the barrier of languages—for the Engs could neither speak nor understand English—Nancy and the Chinese father and daughter became friends at once.

“What are they trying to tell me? ” Nancy asked.

“They wish to thank you for bringing me here, ” Mr. Soong replied.

“There’ll be enough time for that when we’re all safely out of the enclosure, ” Nancy said. “We must hurry away before we’re caught! ”

Nancy had Mr. Soong explain her plan, whereby all four of them would climb over the fence where she and her companion had hidden the ladder. The Engs nodded eagerly to show Nancy they understood.

Leading the way to the door, Nancy pulled it open a crack and cautiously peered outside. A second later she caught her breath.

Coming toward the old brick building was a man with black hair and dark skin. But the most striking thing about him was his eyes. They seemed to stare from his head like two glittering black marbles. Nancy, though she had never met him, was sure she knew his identity.

The Engs’ reply to Mr. Soong’s inquiry confirmed her suspicion. The man was David Carr! Nancy closed the door quickly.

“Tell the Engs they must hide us! ” Nancy said.

Eng Moy and Lei looked stunned at the turn of events.

“Let’s take a chance on that room beyond, ” Nancy suggested quickly.

Eng Moy said he would run ahead and see if anyone were in it. He reported two women were at work there.

Nancy glanced through the window. Carr had stopped to inspect something on the ground. A moment’s grace.

“Ask the Engs if they can let us have some old work clothes, Mr. Soong, ” she instructed. “We’ll take a chance getting past those women.”

The Chinese quickly translated. Hurrying to a row of hooks jutting from the wall, Lei brought back a clay-spattered apron for Nancy and a similarly messy pair of overalls for Mr. Soong.

“Hurry! ” Nancy said to him. “Carr may come in here any minute! ”

They swiftly slipped the garments over their own clothing and Nancy wound a scarf around her head.

“Let’s hope we avoid detection, ” she whispered to Mr. Soong.

“Let’s hope we avoid detection, ” Nancy whispered

She opened the door to the workshop. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped into the shop and started along the shadowy wall toward the opposite end of the room where there was still another door.

Nancy walked as casually as she could, her face slightly averted from the women, who stood at tables pounding clay. After a moment Nancy noted gratefully that Lei had slipped up beside her to help screen her from suspicious stares. Behind her were Eng Moy and Mr. Soong.

Two or three times the women workers looked up at them curiously but showed no signs of suspecting anything amiss. At last the four arrived at the end of the shop.

Going through a doorway into a short corridor, Nancy saw a large iron door. The Engs whispered something and Mr. Soong translated for Nancy.

“Behind the door is a brick vault containing genuine old Chinese porcelains, all of them stolen, ” he explained. “Only Carr and his brother possess keys to the vault.”

Nancy felt a twinge of excitement. The mystery was unraveling fast now! And this was the first real evidence that the swindler’s brother was working with him!

The group had stopped, safe for the moment. Then terror struck their hearts. Outside the wall where the four were huddled the horrible mastiff began to bay.

Had an alarm been given?