In Macao | Page 7

well armed." Adams glanced down at his own empty sleeve
and a cruel smile passed over the face of Dom Pedro as he noticed his
comrade's pain.
The 22nd of May will be long remembered in Macao and never
forgotten by the family of de Amaral. Early in the morning Robert
Adams was up and impatiently waiting for Dom Pedro, who appeared a
little before eight o'clock and the two, after a hurried breakfast, went to
the Praca de Luiz de Camoens where a Chinese sailor met them. They
followed him to the shore where a sampan was waiting in which they
seated themselves and were soon gliding rapidly toward a huge junk of
fine build which lay at anchor some distance beyond the Portuguese
man-of-war, in the direction of Taipa. The tide was very low and the
vessel did not seem far from shore.
The Sampan reached and made fast to the junk, and Adams followed by

Dom Pedro climbed upon the deck.
Quick as a flash Adams' arm was seized and bound to his side while
Dom Pedro stepped before him. "Fool!" he cried, "you have stepped
into the trap with little trouble. It was I who stabbed you, Dom Robert,
it was I, who took the bride who rightfully belonged to me, as it is I
who will use you for my own good till I may throw you away. You of
Northern blood are fools."
"I thought you my friend, Dom Pedro, and I thought you a man," was
the only reply.
Every appointment of the junk was of exquisite finish, such as is
seldom seen, and kept scrupulously clean. The men at work on deck,
with usual Mongolian nonchalance, went about their business without
giving the least notice to the events occurring. "The lady Priscilla waits
you in the cabin," said Dom Pedro. "She knows my plans and though I
shall not intrude upon you I have a Chinese on guard who will kill you
if any attempt is made to free you. Enter." Adams stepped toward the
cabin at the stern, where the usual shelf-like arrangements of a junk had
been transformed into a cabin suited to European taste, with comfort
and luxury. Adams entered and the door was closed. By it stood a
guard with drawn sword; in the farther corner sat a woman at a table
with her face buried in her hands.
"Robert, as you love me stay where you are. Do not move a step, but sit
down where you are." Her voice was so full of pleading that Adams
forgot his first impulse and obeyed her. "I know all that has occurred
dear Robert, your sacrifice and pain and the pain of all my friends
during these sad weeks. Do not move toward me or you will be killed. I
will not look up, dare not look up. On that Sunday, which now seems
so long ago, when I bid you good-night at the library door, when you
and he went to the fan-tan house, I followed you with his valet and my
maid, for I had been fearful of his intentions toward you, and when his
valet told me that he had seen him secrete a dagger in his coat that
morning, and when I found one missing from the case, I had my fears
confirmed. We followed and sat in the floor above you and tried to call
your attention. When I won at the table at last I put in a warning note

and then overturned the basket. You did not see the paper but he did,
and read it. For the rest, you were followed at once by him, and we as
quickly as possible followed both, but only in time to see you fall and
to be seized and carried away in a closed chair to the yellow house in
the Marcos square where, till yesterday, I have been confined to the
court and inner rooms, with only my maid as company and a daily visit
from him at which I learned the news of your progress toward recovery.
Last night we were removed to this vessel, and I have expected your
arrival with hope and fear. His idea is to force a marriage with me by
threats against your life, or to sail for Hainan or Formosa and
accomplish his designs where law and justice for us are unknown."
Hurried cries from the deck and a call at the door in Chinese were
heard and the guide sheathing his sword rushed from the cabin. In a
moment the lovers were together. The bonds which held Adams' arm
were cut and Priscilla pointing to the little window cried, "Robert, God
is with us!" With his one arm encircling Priscilla they looked from the
window. Apparently a