"True enough," admitted Ainsleigh impatiently, "but what has this to do with the death of my father?" "Patience, Mr. Ainsleigh. I arranged to leave the Boxers. We were fighting for the Emperor, who was then being crushed by the Empress Dowager. I had many papers showing my devotion to the Boxer cause and to His Imperial Majesty. These papers I intended to destroy: but remembering that some day the Emperor might overcome the Empress, I decided to keep the papers. They would show that I had worked for the Emperor, and thus my fortunes would be secure should His Imperial Majesty reign alone. As yet," added Lo-Keong with a shrug, "he has not reigned alone and my august mistress still rules the destinies of the middle kingdom." "Ah. And if she got those papers?----" "She would cut off my head," replied Lo-Keong quietly, "so now you see why I thought it best to conceal them. I wished to preserve the papers so as to keep myself in favour with the Emperor, when he became supreme, and I wished to conceal them from the Empress Dowager and her spies, while she ruled China. You understand?" "We do," said the young couple. "So you used the means of the fan to tell where they were hidden?" asked Rupert. The Mandarin assented. "I did. I spoke to your father about this plan of concealment. I knew the papers would not be safe in China, as the emissaries of Hop Sing would find them, and I should be ruined, so on the suggestion of your father, I decided to hide them in England." "But why in the Abbey?" "Mr. Markham Ainsleigh's suggestion, sir. He said that this place had been in the possession of his family for years and would likely continue to remain under the Ainsleigh--" "Alas--alas," sighed Rupert. "Not at all, sir," was Lo-Keong's brisk reply, "you will have enough money to keep this place I assure you. But to continue--your father, whose health was very bad, arranged to take his money back to this place, and to take also the papers I wished to hide. We arranged that they should be concealed in the third tree and then I hit upon the plan of an invisible picture on the fan with the assistance of the beads to identify the hiding-place." "But was that necessary when you knew the hiding-place?" "I wished my heirs to benefit by my services to the Emperor during the Boxer rising; and they were not to know of the existence of these papers till I died. So you will understand--" "Yes! It's very interesting, so please go on." "Well while we were arranging these things Forge went to Pekin, and got a concession to work the mine from the Empress through the influence of Hop Sing. Meanwhile, I arranged to enter the service of my Imperial Mistress, and left your father ill of dysentery." "Of which, according to Forge, he died."