However, there is at least a
fighting chance."
Little more was said from that moment until the end of the drive,
both my companions seeming to be consumed by an intense eagerness
to reach our destination. At last the cab drew up in a deserted
street. I had rather lost my bearings; but I knew that we were
once more somewhere in the Chinatown area, and:
"Follow us until we get into the house," Harley said to Inspector
Wessex, "and wait out of sight. If you hear me blow this
whistle, bring up the men you have posted--as quick as you like!
But make it your particular business to see that no one gets
out!"
Into a pitch-dark yard we turned, and I felt a shudder of
apprehension upon observing that it was the entrance to a wharf.
Dully gleaming in the moonlight, the Thames, that grave of many a
ghastly secret, flowed beneath us. Emerging from the shadow of
the archway, we paused before a door in the wall on our left.
At that moment something gleamed through the air, whizzed past my
ear, and fell with a metallic jingle on the stones!
Instinctively we both looked up.
At an unlighted window on the first floor I caught a fleeting
glimpse of a dark face.
"You were right!" I said. "Ali of Cairo has forestalled us!"
Harley stooped and picked up a knife with a broad and very
curious blade.
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