"I saved that slut's life! And what do I get? Nothing but a sour face! She got a good beating with a bit of rope, but a fat lot it helped!"

"A woman needs miles of rope across her behind before you get her sensible," Ma Joong remarked philosophically. Mao Loo rose and walked over to the foot of a large tree. He kicked a heap of leaves together and lay down. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai found a place among the dry leaves on the other side of the enclosure. Soon they were sound asleep.

Chiao Tai was awakened by someone blowing on his face. Ma Joong whispered close to his ear:

"I have been out reconnoitering, brother. Two large junks are moored in the main creek, all ready to sail tomorrow morning. There are no watchmen. We could tap our friend Mao Loo on his head, and put him and the girl on one of those junks. But you and I couldn't possibly get that heavy junk out of the creek onto the river. Quite apart from the fact that one has to know the fairway."

"Let's hide in the hold!" Chiao Tai whispered. "Tomorrow, after the bastards have got the junk out on the river, we come out and take them by surprise."

"Splendid!" Ma Joong said contentedly. "Either we get them, or they get us. That's the kind of simple proposition I like. Well, as a rule they don't start before dawn; we still have time for a good nap."

Soon they were snoring.

An hour before dawn Ma Joong got up. He shook Mao Loo by his shoulder. When he sat up, Ma Joong hit him unconscious with a hard blow on his temple. He bound Mao Loo's hands and feet tightly with the thin rope he carried round his waist, and gagged him with a strip of cloth he tore from his jacket. Then he woke up Chiao Tai, and together they went into the hut.

Chiao Tai took out his tinderbox and made light while Ma Joong woke up the girl.

"Me and my mate are from the tribunal in Han-yuan, Mrs. Djang," he said. "We have orders to take you back to the city."

Moon Fairy looked them up and down suspiciously in the faint light. She said curtly:

"You can tell me many things! If you as much as touch me I'll shout!"

Ma Joong sighed and took out Judge Dee's letter, which he had concealed in the fold of the rag round his hair. She read it through, nodded, and asked quickly:

"How do we get away from here?"

After Ma Joong had explained their plan, she remarked:

"The guards bring the morning rice shortly after dawn. They'll raise the alarm when they find us gone."

"I have been busy one hour during the night laying a false trail through the forest, in the opposite direction," Ma Joong replied. "You can trust us to know our job, dearie!"

"Keep a civil tongue in your mouth!" the girl snapped.

"A spirited wench!" Ma Joong said with a grin to Chiao Tai. They went outside. Ma Joong loaded Mao Loo on his shoulders. He was an expert in woodcraft; he led Chiao Tai and the girl unerringly through the dark forest to the creek. The black hulls of two large junks loomed up before them.

When they had gone aboard the one in front, Ma Joong went straight to the trap door aft and let Mao Loo slide down the steep ladder. Then he jumped down after him, and Chiao Tai and Moon Fairy followed. They were in a small kitchen. Forward the hold was filled to the ceiling with piles of large wooden boxes, with thick straw ropes wound round them.

"Climb up there, Chiao Tai," Ma Joong said, "and try to shove the upper boxes of the second row aside a bit. That'll be a good place to hide. I'll be back presently."

He grabbed the toolbox that was lying in a corner and climbed up the ladder. While the girl inspected the kitchen, Chiao Tai hoisted himself up on top of the pile of boxes, and crawled into the narrow space between them and the ceiling. As he set to work moving the upper boxes he muttered:

"They are uncommonly heavy; the fellows must have stuffed them with stones!"

When he had made sufficient room for the four of them, he heard Ma Joong come back.

"I have drilled a couple of holes in the other junk," he said contentedly. "By the time they notice that their hold is flooded, they won't find those holes so easily!" He helped Chiao Tai to hoist Mao Loo on top of the boxes. He had regained his senses and was wildly rolling his eyes. "Don't suffocate, please!" Chiao Tai said. "Remember that our magistrate wants to question you before you die!"

When they had deposited Mao Loo between two boxes, Ma Joong crawled over to the first row and stretched out his hands.

"Come up here!" he said to Moon Fairy. "I'll help you."

But the girl didn't respond; she was thinking, biting her lips. Suddenly she asked:

"How many men does the crew of such a junk consist of?"

"Six or seven," Ma Joong replied impatiently. "Get a move on!"

"I'll stay where I am!" the girl announced. Wrinkling her nose, she added: "I am not dreaming of crawling on those dirty boxes!"

Ma Joong cursed roundly.

"If you don't-" he began.

Suddenly heavy footsteps resounded up on deck; orders were shouted. Moon Fairy pushed open the hatch in the stern and looked outside. She stepped up to the pile of boxes and whispered:

"About forty armed men are boarding the junk behind us!"

"Come up here at once, I tell you!" Ma Joong hissed.

She laughed mockingly. She took off her jacket. With bare torso she started to wash the pans.

"Magnificent figure!" Ma Joong whispered to Chiao Tai. "But what in the name of Heaven does that bit of skirt think she's doing?"

Heavy ropes thudded down on the deck; the junk started to move. The sailors who poled it along began to sing a monotonous song.

Suddenly the ladder creaked. A hefty fellow remained standing halfway down, and stared openmouthed at the half-naked woman. She gave him a saucy look, then asked casually:

"Are you coming to help me?"

"I… I must inspect the cargo," the man brought out. His eyes were glued to the girl's round bosom.

"Well," Moon Fairy said with a sniff, "if you prefer the company of those dirty boxes, just suit yourself! I can manage very well alone!"

"Not on your life!" the man exclaimed. He quickly went down and up to the girl. "Aren't you a looker!" he said with a broad grin.

"I don't think you are so bad either," Moon Fairy said. She let him fondle her a moment, then pushed him away and said: "Pleasure comes after work! Get me a bucket of water!"

"Where are you, Liu?" a hoarse voice called down through the trap door.

"Busy inspecting the cargo!" the man shouted back. "I'll come up by and by! You look whether the sail is ready!"

"For how many fellows must I cook rice?" the girl asked. "Do we have soldiers on board?"

"No, those are on the junk behind us," the man called Liu replied as he handed her the bucket. "You just cook something nice for me, dearie; I am the mate and the boss here, you see! The helmsman and the four sailors can eat what's left over!"

A clatter of arms sounded on deck.

"Didn't you say we have no soldiers on board?" Moon Fairy asked.

"Those are the guards of our last outpost," Liu replied. "They come to search the ship before she goes out on the river."

"I like soldiers!" the girl said. "Get them down here!"

The man quickly climbed up the ladder again. He pushed his head through the trap door and called out:

"I have just searched the entire hold, men! It's hot as Hell down here!" There was some altercation; then he came down with a satisfied leer. "I got rid of those!" he said. "I have been a soldier too, dear; I'll do my best!" He put his arm round her waist and started fumbling with the cord of her trousers.

"Not here!" Moon Fairy said. "I am a decent woman. You go and look on top of those boxes there; maybe there's a little cozy corner up there for us!"

Liu hurriedly went to the pile of boxes, and hoisted himself up. Ma Joong grabbed him by his throat, pulled him on top and tightened his grip till the man was unconscious. Then he jumped down into the kitchen. Moon Fairy quickly closed the hatch and put on her jacket again.