Nevertheless, when through the whorls of the shell at his ear he heard the familiar voice, so far away and so long unheard, his eyes lit up again. "You have done better than my fondest hopes, Christopher, my boy," came Mr. Wicker's voice. "I cannot commend you enough for the success of your difficult journey, and the manner in which with courage, quick wit, and fortitude you met every danger. Amos is much to be praised too. He is a loyal friend and I am proud of him as well as of you." Chris, kneeling by the brass-studded chest with the shell held to his ear, could easily bring before his inner eye the cosy room in Georgetown, the crackling logs upon the hearth, and the voice of Becky Boozer raised in lusty song coming from the direction of the kitchen. He missed it. Much as he loved the _Mirabelle_, and much as he prized the friendship of all aboard her, still, Mr. Wicker and Becky held an especial place in his heart and he longed all at once, with almost intolerable sharpness, to be at home once more. That his mother was getting better he had never doubted, but kneeling there alone, he suddenly wanted to have done with adventure for a while. "My boy--are you listening?" came Mr. Wicker's words, and Chris's thoughts brought him back with a jolt to the cabin of a ship sailing the China seas. "Christopher, my poor lad," Mr. Wicker said at his ear, "had you forgotten the _Vulture_? "No," he answered for the boy, "not altogether, but perhaps just a little. Yet make no mistake--the Captain of the _Vulture_ has not forgotten _you_. Nor is he under any misapprehension as to who it was who so skillfully crippled his ship so that he did not reach Peking before you." Mr. Wicker's voice took on the edge it always held when he spoke of Claggett Chew. "Claggett Chew waits for you beyond Shanghai in the East China Sea. Be wary, and be rested, Christopher, for you will have a battle such as you have never dreamed of, and even I cannot tell how it will end. It will depend on your quickness and ingenuity. And do not forget the leather pouch!" The voice of his friend hesitated, and then said so faintly and from so far that it was all Chris could do to hear it: "I repeat, be wary, Christopher. He will do everything in his power--" The voice faded away, and Chris with heavy gestures replaced the shell, shut the lid of his sea chest, and unlocking the door, went with dragging feet to tell Captain Blizzard of what awaited them. [Illustration] The wind was only moderately fair so that the _Mirabelle_ took some time passing beyond the Yellow Sea. During those days Chris practised his magic with more concentration than ever before. He rested and slept, ate hugely, and exercised by climbing up the masts of the _Mirabelle_, so that by the time a long dark line was sighted on their starboard side on the Chinese coast and the approach to Shanghai, Chris was fit and well as he had never been before.