SINCE Nayland Smith's return from Burma I had rarely taken up a paper without coming
upon evidences of that seething which had cast up Dr. Fu-Manchu. Whether, hitherto,
such items had escaped my attention or had seemed to demand no particular notice, or
whether they now became increasingly numerous, I was unable to determine.
One evening, some little time after our sojourn in Norfolk, in glancing through a number
of papers which I had brought in with me, I chanced upon no fewer than four items of
news bearing more or less directly upon the grim business which engaged my friend and
I.
No white man, I honestly believe, appreciates the unemotional cruelty of the Chinese.
Throughout the time that Dr. Fu-Manchu remained in England, the press preserved a
uniform silence upon the subject of his existence. This was due to Nayland Smith. But, as
a result, I feel assured that my account of the Chinaman's deeds will, in many quarters,
meet with an incredulous reception.
I had been at work, earlier in the evening, upon the opening chapters of this chronicle,
and I had realized how difficult it would be for my reader, amid secure and cozy
surroundings, to credit any human being, with a callous villainy great enough to conceive
and to put into execution such a death pest as that directed against Sir Crichton Davey.
One would expect God's worst man to shrink from employing-- against however vile an
enemy--such an instrument as the Zayat Kiss. So thinking, my eye was caught by the
following:--
"Secret service men of the United States Government are searching the South Sea Islands
for a certain Hawaiian from the island of Maui, who, it is believed, has been selling
poisonous scorpions to Chinese in Honolulu anxious to get rid of their children.
"Infanticide, by scorpion and otherwise, among the Chinese, has increased so terribly that
the authorities have started a searching inquiry, which has led to the hunt for the scorpion
dealer of Maui.
"Practically all the babies that die mysteriously are unwanted girls, and in nearly every
case the parents promptly ascribe the death to the bite of a scorpion, and are ready to
produce some more or less poisonous insect in support of the statement.
"The authorities have no doubt that infanticide by scorpion bite is a growing practice, and
orders have been given to hunt down the scorpion dealer at any cost."
