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Sin, he called, and the manikin stalked out of the dining
room toward him.
Where s Litefoot? whispered the Doctor.
In the hall, I think. He went out to look for an enemy
outside the window. They must have ambushed him when he
got back.
And then you jumped through the window?
I had to. There was this thing...
Before Leela could explain, the Doctor whispered, Stay
here. He slipped away through the shrubbery.
As soon as Mr. Sin was near enough, Chang snatched
him up and began backing away from the house.
The Doctor forced the kitchen window and climbed
swiftly through.
Crouching in the shrubbery, Leela heard the clatter of
hooves in the road. A carriage came tearing along and
stopped outside the house. Chang ran down the front path,
Mr. Sin in his arms. He jumped into the carriage and it sped
away.
Unable to bear the thought of their enemy escaping,
Leela acted purely by instinct. She dashed after the carriage
and leaped for the back step, clinging on as the carriage
rattled away. It vanished from sight just as the Doctor ran
through the house and out onto the front step. He looked
around in astonishment. Chang had gone, and there was no
sign of Leela. Only Litefoot was left, groaning feebly just
inside the door.
Reflecting that this seemed to be his night for lugging
bodies about, the Doctor picked Litefoot up and carried him
into the dining room. He put him on the couch, fetched water
and a towel from the back kitchen, and bathed the Professor s
forehead until he recovered consciousness. Litefoot came
around with an indignant groan. The sheer criminal
effrontery of it! Things have come to a pretty pass when
ruffians attack a man in his own home.
Chinese ruffians, by any chance, Professor?
That s right. I wonder what they intended.
The Doctor looked around the cluttered room.
Robbery, perhaps?
It s very probable. I ve quite a few valuable things here.
That K ang-hsi vase, for instance. Family brought that back
from Peking. Or that Chinese cabinet.
The Doctor went over to the cabinet and examined it.
He tried the door, but it refused to move.
I m afraid it doesn t open. I spent ages looking for a
secret spring, but it s no use.
Fused molecules, Professor.
No, no, Doctor. Lacquered bronze.
The cabinet seemed to fascinate the Doctor. You re sure
this is from this planet?
Of course it is. It comes from Peking a gift from the
Emperor himself.
The Doctor was staring into space. Then what was a
piece of technology as advanced as this doing in nineteenth-
century China? He stared in-tensely at Litefoot. Of course!
That must be the answer...
Litefoot dabbed the bruise on his forehead. What are
you babbling about, Doctor?
Weng-Chiang!
Litefoot groaned. Not him again.
As soon as it s light, Professor, we must try to find Leela.
I think she followed our Chinese friends and by now she
could be in serious trouble.
Chang rapped three times on the cellar flagstones, the
trapdoor opened and he climbed down into the darkness.
Leela watched, fascinated, from her hiding place near the
cellar door. She felt her impulse to jump on to the cab had
been justified, since she had been able to track the enemy to
his lair. Blissfully unaware that the Doctor already knew about
the cellar hideout, Leela settled down to wait, with all the
patience of a hunter outside the den of some dangerous wild
beast.
In the secret chamber, Chang was bowing his head
beneath the fury of his lord. Greel was occupied in hacking
the carcass of a sheep into bloody chunks of raw meat. Chang
winced as the cleaver thudded down. Such was Greel s fury
that Chang felt his own neck might be the cleaver s next
target. I will not tolerate failure, roared Greel.
There has been no failure, Lord.
Then where is the Cabinet?
Chang did not dare to confess that he had tried to
obtain the Time Cabinet, and failed. Instead he told Greet
that he had deliberately chosen to wait for a better
opportunity, The house is marked and watched, Lord. When
night returns, your servants of the Tong will descend and
take the Cabinet.
I put no trust in your opium-ridden scum, snarled
Greel. He gathered the chunks of raw meat into a pile and
carried them across the chamber, dropping them in a heap by
the far wall. Greel pulled a lever and a section of wall drew
baek to reveal a barred gap, beyond which was the dank
blackness of a sewer tunnel. One by one Greel tossed the
chunks of meat through the bars. He struck the gong that
hung nearby, and a low booming note echoed through the
cellar. Chang made another attempt to placate his Master. I
promise, Lord, you shall have the Cabinet of Weng-Chiang
before the next sunset!
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