boarded the plane, he looked up and there was Michiko jumping up and down on the observation deck waving a now wet handkerchief, and so afraid she would not be seen. Hazzard grinned, raised his arm and waved.
What Hazzard did not see was the dapper form of Mr. Brown, standing in the shade a few yards behind the waving crowd. As Hazzard's plane gained speed and left the runway, Chang walked up beside him.
"Well, he is on his way," said Mr. Brown.
Chang looked up into the sky and watched the disappearing plane. "Good," he said, "So far everything is right on schedule."
"Is everything else prepared?" asked Mr. Brown.
"Yes," replied Chang, "I leave by jet in two hours. I will arrive in Hong Kong three days before Mr. Hazzard. That will be ample time to complete all of the arrangements."
The flight to Formosa was routine, and the steady drone of the engines soon put Hazzard to sleep. He was gently wakened for supper by a shapely Chinese stewardess. He did not really want to eat, but the stewardess was pretty, and the food turned out to be better than he expected. The rest of the time he stayed awake and kept the girl running back and forth for Scotch and waters.
The plane landed on schedule, and Hazzard made arrangements to be taken to the port where the "Queen Wilhelmina III" was taking on cargo.
The ship was a tired relic of the once flourishing coastal trade, badly in need of paint, and rusting to an early grave.
The captain was an energetic, sea-dog type originally from Australia. He appeared to be somewhere in his late fifties, but the way he scurried about the ship giving orders to the Chinese crew made him seem much younger. He was big and tough, and the Chinese were frightened out of their wits by his booming voice. He was well aware of this, and despite the shabbiness of the ship's appearance, his Chinese crew jumped and ran about like sailors on a well-disciplined naval vessel.
The second day out Hazzard mentioned this, and the captain beamed. As always, the best way to reach a man is through his ego, and the captain was no exception.
There were only two other passengers. An Englishman named Redman, who came equipped with an over-done Oxford accent, and was constantly speaking of his military service in 'Injah' and the gentlemanly sport of polo.
The other was Reisenbaum, a rotund biermeister type from Germany.
They all ate together with the captain in the ship's lounge, and every night occupied themselves by playing poker. The captain usually winning the most, and Reisenbaum losing.
Occasionally Redman would engage Hazzard in conversation. It was strictly one sided, as Hazzard, even though he tried, found it almost impossible to understand what Redman was mumbling about, and limited himself to smiles and nods. Redman thought Hazzard to be the most intelligent one on board. No one else would listen to his ideas on Asia, and Hazzard seemed to agree with all of his views.
The German's conversation was limited to the ordering of drinks in the lounge and betting in the poker games. He seemed to have been born with a perpetual frown which gave him the appearance of distrusting everyone except himself.
When the "Queen Wilhelmina III" finally entered Hong Kong, she was only twenty hours late. This seemed to please the captain.
"Last time we were thirty-one hours behind schedule," he boasted.
The others went ashore, but Hazzard, having no business there, decided to remain on board. The ship would unload cotton waste and take on other cargo in the morning. The sailing time was not definitely set, and Hazzard could not afford to miss the ship.
The next day Hazzard busied himself watching the crew load packing cases in the hold of the ship. The cargo was brought up from lighters that surrounded the ship, and each one of the small boats was also the home of its crew. Children played on the small decks, garbage and latrine swill were tossed over the side, and washing fluttered between small masts.
In the evening, just before supper, Redman and Reisenbaum came back on board, loaded down with many boxes.
The captain grinned broadly when he saw them struggling up the rickety gangway that led down to the water's edge. "Look at 'em" he said to Hazzard, "Things are just so damned cheap, you can't afford not to buy 'em."
For a change there was no poker game, and everyone went to bed early after supper. Hazzard tried to sleep, but he was still awake when the ship began to move out of the harbor in the early morning.
By breakfast time there was no land in sight. The sea was calm and reflected the burning sun like a mirror. Even the breeze created by the motion of the ship was hot and dry. Each day the weather was becoming hotter than the last.
On the fourth day out of Hong Kong, just before dusk, they sighted land on the horizon. It was the coast of Indochina, and the captain told them that from now on they would be able to see land every day until the ship reached Saigon.
"If that's Indochina," ventured Hazzard, as he and the captain leaned on the ship's rail together and looked across the blue sea, "it must be Vietnam."
"Yes," replied the captain. "It's the old area called Tonkin. It's called Vietnam now. North Vietnam."
Hazzard gazed at the distant gray line of land and wondered about the people living there now under the rule of their communist masters. He was glad that it was not his destination. But the future is not ours to see.
After supper, they sat in the lounge playing poker. Hazzard was sitting with his back to the door that led out on deck, and did not see or hear the newcomer enter.
The captain was the first one to notice, and they all looked up as he said, "Oh, good evening Mr. Chang. Feeling better?"
"Yes," replied Chang. "Much better, thank you."
Hazzard tried not to show the searching interest on his face. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had the uneasy feeling that he had known this tall, lean Chinese before. Chang's face had the high cheek-boned look of northern China, but his eyes had a strange piercing look, that seemed to bore through your skull and calmly read your mind. It was the look of a man who could be either a deadly merciless enemy, or one who could be trusted beyond question with your life in time of danger. It was a face one would find difficult to forget, and Hazzard decided that he had never met the man before. Yet there was something familiar, and as the captain continued to speak, Hazzard filed the thoughts away for further reference.
"This is Mr. Chang," the captain explained. "He came aboard at Hong Kong. He hasn't been feeling too well and has been staying in his cabin." He looked at Chang and pointed to the cards on the table. "Care to join in? There's room for a fifth."
"I would be very happy to play," said Chang. He swung his gaze around the table and stopped for a second to study Hazzard. "If it is all right with everyone else," he added.
"Sure thing," said Hazzard. "Sit down. But I warn you, the captain is extremely lucky tonight. He's been winning all the big ones."
The captain beamed at this. He considered his knowledge of poker to be second only to his knowledge of the sea. Chang sat down, and the captain introduced the others, one by one. Reisenbaum was last, and the delay was almost too much for the robust German.
"Ja, ja, und deal da carts," he grumbled.
They resumed the game and the captain
