It flashed across my mind that I hadn't
observed the 'Speedwell' in harbor.
"'The fact is, the successful Captain Wilbur has retired from active
service on the sea,' Lee Fu explained with a quizzical smile, when I put
the question. 'He is now a ship owner alone, and has favored Hong Kong
above all other ports as the seat of his retirement. He resides in a
fine house on Graham Terrace, and has chairmen in white livery edged
with crimson. Captain Nichols, you should steal a ship.'
"'Who goes in the "Speedwell"?'
"'An old friend of ours, one Captain Turner,' said Lee Fu slowly,
without looking in my direction.
"'Not Will Turner?'
"'The same.'
"I pursed up my mouth in a silent whistle. Will Turner in the
'Speedwell!' Poor old chap, he must have lost another ship. Hard luck
seemed to pursue him, gave him no rest on land or sea. A capable sailor
and an honest man, yet life had afforded him nothing but a succession of
black eyes and heavy falls. Death and sorrow, too; he had buried a wife
and child, swept off by cholera, in the Bay of Bengal. Turner and I had
landed together in the China Sea; I knew his heart, his history, some of
his secrets, and liked him tremendously for the man he was.
"Watching Lee Fu in silence, I thought of the relationship between Will
Turner and this extraordinary Chinaman.
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