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    <s id="1:1">Trinket accompanied Big Beaver, Brother Li, and the other leaders to the main gate.</s>
    <s id="1:2">Outside they found the members of the Lodge already waiting, between two and three hundred of them, spread out in V-shaped formation on either side of the gate, all with eager, expectant looks on their faces.</s>
    <s id="1:3">After a while the same two big fellows came out carrying Whiskers between them in his hammock.</s>
    <s id="1:4">'Mao, old fellow,' said Brother Li, 'you don't need to wait out here with us.</s>
    <s id="1:5">You're our guest.'</s>
    <s id="1:6">'Just hearing about the Helmsman has always been an inspiration to me,' said Whiskers.</s>
    <s id="1:7">'Now that there's a chance to actually see him, I wouldn't miss it for the world.'</s>
    <s id="1:8">Because of his extreme weakness his voice was still faint, but there was a flush of excitement on his pallid cheeks.</s>
    <s id="1:9">Presently the sound of galloping grew nearer and a party of some ten or so horsemen could be seen approaching in a little cloud of dust.</s>
    <s id="1:10">The three foremost of them jumped lightly from their horses while they were still at some distance from the gate.</s>
    <s id="1:11">Brother Li and the other leaders went forward to meet them and there was much exchange of handclasps and friendly greetings.</s>
    <s id="1:12">Trinket overheard one of the horsemen saying that the Helmsman was waiting somewhere 'ahead' and wanted Brother Li, Big Beaver, and one or two other seniors to come and see him.</s>
    <s id="1:13">After standing there some minutes in discussion, six leading members of the Lodge—Brother Li, Big Beaver, Tertius, Father Obscurus, and two others whom Trinket didn't know by name—got on to waiting horses and galloped off with the other riders.</s>
    <s id="1:14">'Isn't the Helmsman coming here then?' asked Whiskers, dreadfully disappointed.</s>
    <s id="1:15">None of those waiting had the heart to answer him, since they were all feeling equally disappointed.</s>
    <s id="1:16">'What's the matter with you all?' thought Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:17">'Anyone would think someone had borrowed ten thousand taels off you and wouldn't pay it back, or you'd lost your wife's trousers gambling or something.</s>
    <s id="1:18">What a miserable-looking lot!'</s>
    <s id="1:19">After a good while longer, another horseman arrived and read out the names of thirteen Lodge-members who were to go for interviews with the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:20">The thirteen men, with rapturous expressions on their faces, dashed to the ready-waiting horses, jumped into the saddle, and galloped away.</s>
    <s id="1:21">'Whiskers,' Trinket asked his stricken friend, 'is this Helmsman a very old man?'</s>
    <s id="1:22">'I... I've never met him,' said Whiskers.</s>
    <s id="1:23">'On River and Lake there's no one who doesn't look up to him, but I do know that to actually get to meet him is very, very difficult.'</s>
    <s id="1:24">'Tamardy!' thought Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:25">'What a big-head!</s>
    <s id="1:26">Well, you don't impress me, Mr Big Shot Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:27">It's all the same to me whether I see you or not.'</s>
    <s id="1:28">By this time it was beginning to look as if most members of the Lodge were definitely not going to get a glimpse of their beloved leader; nevertheless they continued to stand there outside the gate, nursing a faint hope that he might after all appear.</s>
    <s id="1:29">Some of them, tired of standing, sat on the ground.</s>
    <s id="1:30">One of them urged Whiskers to go indoors and rest.</s>
    <s id="1:31">'If the Helmsman does come,' he told Whiskers, 'I promise to let you know straight away.'</s>
    <s id="1:32">But Whiskers shook his head.</s>
    <s id="1:33">'No, no, I'd rather wait here.</s>
    <s id="1:34">If the Helmsman did come and I wasn't waiting here outside, it would be very—well, disrespectful.'</s>
    <s id="1:35">He sighed wistfully.</s>
    <s id="1:36">'I wonder if it will be my luck to see him before I die.'</s>
    <s id="1:37">In his conversations with Trinket on the long journey from Yangzhou to Peking there was hardly a well-known practitioner of the Martial Arts whom Whiskers had not at one time or other disparaged.</s>
    <s id="1:38">Chen Jinnan, the Helmsman, appeared to be the only expert in these matters for whom he had unqualified respect.</s>
    <s id="1:39">Listening to Whiskers now, Trinket could not help absorbing a little of his enthusiasm, to the extent that he now stopped thinking of rude things to say about this paragon who seemed so conscious of his own worth.</s>
    <s id="1:40">Suddenly there was a sound of hoofbeats once more and another party of horsemen came riding up.</s>
    <s id="1:41">Those Triads who had been sitting on the ground leaped to their feet and everyone craned forward, hoping that this time the summons would be for him.</s>
    <s id="1:42">There were four messengers this time.</s>
    <s id="1:43">Their leader, having dismounted from his horse, clasped his hands together respectfully: 'The Helmsman requests Mr Mao and Mr Wei to favour him with their company.'</s>
    <s id="1:44">Whiskers leaped up with a joyful cry, then almost immediately sank back into the hammock with a groan.</s>
    <s id="1:45">'Let's go!' he said to his bearers.</s>
    <s id="1:46">'Hurry!'</s>
    <s id="1:47">Trinket, for his part, was extremely tickled to be called 'Mr Wei'.</s>
    <s id="1:48">Even his surname—his mother's actually, since his paternity was unknown—was seldom used; but never in his life before had anyone called him 'Mr'.</s>
    <s id="1:49">Well!' he thought.</s>
    <s id="1:50">'I've heard plenty of "Goong-goongs" recently; but not "Mr".</s>
    <s id="1:51">Ha ha!</s>
    <s id="1:52">Now I'm "Mr Trinket Wei".'</s>
    <s id="1:53">Two of the mounted men took charge of Whiskers, supporting the ends of the carrying-pole from which his hammock was suspended on their saddle-bows and riding along in parallel very slowly and carefully.</s>
    <s id="1:54">Another of them gave up his horse to Trinket and found himself another horse on which he rode along behind.</s>
    <s id="1:55">The little party of six walked their horses along the road for about a mile before taking a right-hand turn into a little side-road.</s>
    <s id="1:56">Along this, every few hundred yards, were little knots of two or three men, some sitting, some walking to and fro, all evidently lookouts, since the leading horseman, on seeing them, would make a sign, stretching out the last three fingers of his right hand and pointing with them downwards, whereupon the men would nod and silently answer him with some mysterious signal of their own.</s>
    <s id="1:57">Trinket observed that the signals they made were all different, but was unable to guess their significance.</s>
    <s id="1:58">After they had been riding along this side-road for about four miles, they came to a large farmhouse or grange.</s>
    <s id="1:59">As they arrived at the entrance, a guard on the door shouted to the people inside, 'The guests have arrived,' whereupon the door opened and out came Brother Li, Big Beaver, and two other men whom Trinket hadn't seen before.</s>
    <s id="1:60">One of these last clasped his hands politely and welcomed them in: 'Mr Mao, Mr Wei, welcome!</s>
    <s id="1:61">Our Society's Helmsman looks forward to meeting you.'</s>
    <s id="1:62">Trinket was thrilled.</s>
    <s id="1:63">The 'Mr' seemed to be sticking.</s>
    <s id="1:64">Whiskers struggled to get up.</s>
    <s id="1:65">'I can't see the Helmsman like this.</s>
    <s id="1:66">It's too . . . it's too . . .' but the effort to raise himself once more ended in a groan.</s>
    <s id="1:67">'You're a wounded man,' said Brother Li.</s>
    <s id="1:68">'You don't need to stand on ceremony.'</s>
    <s id="1:69">He ushered Trinket and Whiskers' bearers into the main reception room.</s>
    <s id="1:70">A man offered Trinket some tea and asked him to wait there a while as the Helmsman wanted to speak to Mr Mao first.</s>
    <s id="1:71">Whiskers was carried through an inner door for his interview.</s>
    <s id="1:72">While Trinket was drinking his cup of tea, a servant came in with four plates on which were various cakes and dimsum.</s>
    <s id="1:73">His reaction on sampling these was unfavourable.</s>
    <s id="1:74">'These aren't a patch on the ones they do in the Palace,' he thought.</s>
    <s id="1:75">They're not even as good as the ones they used to serve in the brothel.'</s>
    <s id="1:76">His estimation of the Helmsman at once went down a couple of notches.</s>
    <s id="1:77">However, he was feeling empty, and in quite a short time had made considerable inroads into the eatables on all four of the plates.</s>
    <s id="1:78">After about the time it would take to consume an average meal, Brother Li and the other three came in again, and one of the two Trinket didn't know by name, an old man with a grizzled beard, told him that the Helmsman was now ready to see him.</s>
    <s id="1:79">At some risk of choking, he swallowed the large mouthful he had been chewing, brushed off the crumbs with his hands, and followed the four men into one of the wings of the building which, together with the main reception room, enclosed a large courtyard on three sides.</s>
    <s id="1:80">There, stopping outside a doorway, the old man with the grizzled beard lifted up the door-curtain and announced them.</s>
    <s id="1:81">'Mr Trinket Wei, the Little White Dragon to see you.'</s>
    <s id="1:82">Trinket was surprised and a little flattered that they should somehow have got hold of his made-up nom de guerre.</s>
    <s id="1:83">This must be Whiskers' doing, he concluded.</s>
    <s id="1:84">A man in his thirties dressed in the costume of a scholar rose to his feet as they entered, smiling a welcome.</s>
    <s id="1:85">Trinket walked in and stood for a moment darting questioning glances around him.</s>
    <s id="1:86">'This is the Helmsman,' said Big Beaver.</s>
    <s id="1:87">Trinket stole a glance at the scholar.</s>
    <s id="1:88">He had a mild and gentle face, but there was a force in his flashing eyes which seemed to bore right through him and made him gasp.</s>
    <s id="1:89">Almost unconsciously he sank to his knees and began to kowtow; but the scholar bent down to stop him.</s>
    <s id="1:90">'No, no, that's not necessary,' he said with a laugh.</s>
    <s id="1:91">Trinket could feel the scholar's strong hands on his arms.</s>
    <s id="1:92">A warm sensation passed through his body, followed by a little tremor of excitement.</s>
    <s id="1:93">He abandoned his kowtow and got up.</s>
    <s id="1:94">'By arresting and killing Oboi, the Manchu Champion,' said the scholar, speaking to the four older men but keeping his eyes on Trinket, 'our young hero here has avenged the deaths of countless numbers of our fellow-countrymen.</s>
    <s id="1:95">In the course of a few days his name has become a household word.</s>
    <s id="1:96">To have won such fame, and so early in life too, is an almost unparalleled achievement.'</s>
    <s id="1:97">Although Trinket had enough cheek to shame the devil and would normally, if anyone else had praised him like this, have treated it as an excuse to show off, he found himself, in the presence of this Helmsman with his gentleness and his air of quiet authority, completely tongue-tied.</s>
    <s id="1:98">'Sit down!'</s>
    <s id="1:99">The Helmsman pointed to a chair and sat down himself.</s>
    <s id="1:100">Trinket followed his example but noticed that the four older men remained standing, their arms held respectfully at their sides.</s>
    <s id="1:101">'I gather that your career as a strategist began very early,' said the Helmsman, smiling.</s>
    <s id="1:102">'Mr Mao tells me that already, near Victory Hill, when you were still not far from Yangzhou, you killed a Manchu officer by means of a ruse.</s>
    <s id="1:103">I still haven't heard how you managed to arrest Oboi though.'</s>
    <s id="1:104">Lifting his head slightly, Trinket caught a glimpse of those dazzling eyes and felt his heart beating faster.</s>
    <s id="1:105">All desire to indulge in his customary trumpet-blowing drained from him on the instant and he found himself for once giving a completely honest account of what he had done.</s>
    <s id="1:106">He told the Helmsman how he had become Kang Xi's favourite; how Oboi had threatened and insulted the young Emperor; and how he and the Emperor had joined forces to take Oboi prisoner.</s>
    <s id="1:107">Out of a sense of loyalty to Kang Xi, he said nothing about Kang Xi stabbing Oboi in the back; but he made no attempt to conceal the fact that he had blinded Oboi with incense-ash and then hit him on the head with a bronze brazier, although he was fully aware that to a man of honour like the Helmsman this would seem, if not a third-rate, certainly a pretty second-rate way of overcoming an enemy.</s>
    <s id="1:108">The Helmsman listened to all that Trinket had to say without making a single interruption.</s>
    <s id="1:109">When at last Trinket had finished, he nodded.</s>
    <s id="1:110">'I see.</s>
    <s id="1:111">Well, clearly you didn't learn your technique from Mr Mao.</s>
    <s id="1:112">Who was your teacher?'</s>
    <s id="1:113">'I've had a little training,' said Trinket, 'but I didn't have a proper teacher.</s>
    <s id="1:114">What the Old Devil taught me wasn't real Martial Arts, it was just rubbish.'</s>
    <s id="1:115">'The Old Devil?'</s>
    <s id="1:116">The Helmsman's vast knowledge did not encompass any practitioner with that nom de guerre.</s>
    <s id="1:117">Trinket burst out laughing.</s>
    <s id="1:118">'Old Devil is what I used to call the old eunuch Hai-goong—among other things.</s>
    <s id="1:119">His real name was Hai Dafu.</s>
    <s id="1:120">He's the one who captured me and Mao Eighteen and brought us into the Palace . . .'</s>
    <s id="1:121">He suddenly realized that this flatly contradicted what he had said previously.</s>
    <s id="1:122">He had told the Triad members that he and Mao Eighteen had been captured and taken into the Palace by Oboi.</s>
    <s id="1:123">To a practised liar like Trinket, however, this presented little difficulty.</s>
    <s id="1:124">The old eunuch was acting on Oboi's orders.</s>
    <s id="1:125">I suppose Oboi, being so important, was too grand to do the dirty work himself.'</s>
    <s id="1:126">But the Helmsman appeared to be deep in thought.</s>
    <s id="1:127">'Hai Dafu?</s>
    <s id="1:128">Hai Dafu?</s>
    <s id="1:129">Is there a eunuch with that name in the Tartar Palace?'</s>
    <s id="1:130">He turned to Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:131">'Show me a few of the things he taught you, little brother,' he said.</s>
    <s id="1:132">However immune to self-criticism Trinket might be, he knew that what he liked to call his Martial Arts training was really a joke.</s>
    <s id="1:133">'The Old Devil only pretended to teach me,' he said.</s>
    <s id="1:134">'He hated me because I made him blind, so he did everything in his power to harm me.</s>
    <s id="1:135">The sort of things he taught me were not the sort of things you'd want anyone else to see.'</s>
    <s id="1:136">The Helmsman nodded and made a little gesture with his left hand.</s>
    <s id="1:137">At once Big Beaver and the other three older men left the room, closing the door after them as they went.</s>
    <s id="1:138">'Now,' said the Helmsman, 'what did you mean when you said you made the old eunuch go blind?'</s>
    <s id="1:139">In the presence of this heroic individual Trinket found it harder to tell his habitual lies than to tell the truth—a sensation he had never experienced before.</s>
    <s id="1:140">He now found himself telling the Helmsman how the massive dose of medicine he had put in the old eunuch's cup had caused him to go blind and how he had killed the little eunuch Laurie and taken his place.</s>
    <s id="1:141">The Helmsman, having heard this last piece of information with amusement and some surprise, felt with his left hand between Trinket's legs and satisfied himself that he was indeed equipped with those parts which eunuchs lack but ordinary little boys possess.</s>
    <s id="1:142">Then he gave what to Trinket sounded very much like a sigh of relief.</s>
    <s id="1:143">'Good,' he said with a little smile.</s>
    <s id="1:144">'If you haven't been mutilated and you aren't a eunuch, this suggests a way out of a difficulty that has been bothering me for some time.'</s>
    <s id="1:145">He tapped the table lightly with his left hand and continued speaking, apparently to himself.</s>
    <s id="1:146">'Yes, of course.</s>
    <s id="1:147">This is obviously the solution.</s>
    <s id="1:148">It gives Brother Yin a successor and the Green Wood Lodge a Master.'</s>
    <s id="1:149">Trinket didn't understand what he was talking about, but he could tell from his pleased expression that some great weight had been lifted from his mind and couldn't help feeling pleased on his behalf.</s>
    <s id="1:150">The Helmsman walked to and fro in the room, his hands clasped behind him, muttering to himself.</s>
    <s id="1:151">'Everything this Society has ever done has been unprecedented.</s>
    <s id="1:152">All innovation lies ultimately in the hands of the individual.</s>
    <s id="1:153">We must be bold enough to ignore the censures of the vulgar and the loud outcries of those to whom every novelty is shocking.'</s>
    <s id="1:154">To Trinket this book-language of the Helmsman's was even more incomprehensible than what he had said before.</s>
    <s id="1:155">'Look,' said the Helmsman to Trinket, 'there are only two of us here now, so you've no need to feel embarrassed.</s>
    <s id="1:156">Never mind whether what Hai Dafu taught you was the real thing or not; just give me a demonstration of what it was.'</s>
    <s id="1:157">Trinket now realized that it was to spare him the embarrassment of making a fool of himself in front of the others that he had sent them out of the room.</s>
    <s id="1:158">There seemed to be nothing for it but to comply.</s>
    <s id="1:159">'Well, it's what the Old Devil taught me,' he said, 'so it's not my fault how bad it is.</s>
    <s id="1:160">If it looks really ridiculous, you must put the blame on him.'</s>
    <s id="1:161">The Helmsman gave his little smile.</s>
    <s id="1:162">'Don't worry about that; just get on with it.'</s>
    <s id="1:163">So Trinket struck up an attitude and began to go through the motions of the Merciful Guanyin repertoire—the rather limited parts of it, that is, that the old eunuch had taught him.</s>
    <s id="1:164">He had already forgotten some bits of it, but could remember enough to put on some sort of performance.</s>
    <s id="1:165">The Helmsman watched him with fixed attention and nodded when he had finished.</s>
    <s id="1:166">'From what you've just been doing,' he said, 'it looks as though you may have been taught a little bit of the Shaolin School of Catch-Can.</s>
    <s id="1:167">Am I right?'</s>
    <s id="1:168">The Greater Catch-Can is what Trinket had learned first, before he even started on the Merciful Guanyin method of self-defence.</s>
    <s id="1:169">He knew he must be even worse at Catch-Can than at the Merciful Guanyin stuff and had been hoping to conceal his inadequacy by keeping quiet about it; but there was no concealing anything from the Helmsman, who appeared to know everything: there was nothing for it but to go on making a fool of himself.</s>
    <s id="1:170">'Yes, ' he said.</s>
    <s id="1:171">'The Old Devil taught me a bit of Catch-Can to use in my wrestling-bouts with the Emperor.'</s>
    <s id="1:172">And he proceeded to demonstrate as much as he could remember of the Greater Catch-Can.</s>
    <s id="1:173">Once again the Helmsman gave his little smile.</s>
    <s id="1:174">'Not bad!'</s>
    <s id="1:175">'I knew all along it would only make you laugh,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:176">'I wasn't laughing at you,' said the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:177">'I was smiling because I was pleased to see that your memory and comprehension are so good.</s>
    <s id="1:178">That White Pony Kick you couldn't quite bring off I think Hai Dafu must have deliberately taught you incorrectly; but instead of letting it fluster you, you used your own imagination and initiative to develop it into a Carp-Fin Flick.</s>
    <s id="1:179">I thought that was very good.'</s>
    <s id="1:180">Trinket guessed that the Helmsman was a far greater Master of the Martial Arts than the Old Devil had been and the thought suddenly struck him how wonderful it would be if the Helmsman were willing to take him on as a disciple, to be his teacher, his Shifu.</s>
    <s id="1:181">Then, surely, he could become a real hero, not the fake one he was at present.</s>
    <s id="1:182">He glanced shyly in the Helmsman's direction and found that cold, electric gaze directed at him.</s>
    <s id="1:183">Trinket was a shameless young blackguard and could look even the formidable Empress Dowager in the eye without blenching; but the Helmsman was somehow different.</s>
    <s id="1:184">In the Helmsman's presence he had become suddenly terrified of misbehaving and as soon as their eyes met had quickly to avert his own.</s>
    <s id="1:185">'Do you know what the Triad Society is for?' the Helmsman asked him, speaking very slowly and deliberately.</s>
    <s id="1:186">'The Triad Society wants to drive out the Qing and restore the Ming,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:187">'It's for helping the Chinese and killing Tartars.'</s>
    <s id="1:188">The Helmsman nodded.</s>
    <s id="1:189">'Exactly.</s>
    <s id="1:190">Would you like to join the Triad Society and become a Brother?'</s>
    <s id="1:191">That would be terrific,' said Trinket delightedly.</s>
    <s id="1:192">In his mind every member of the Triad Society was a hero.</s>
    <s id="1:193">It had not occurred to him that he might ever become one himself.</s>
    <s id="1:194">But then he reflected that Whiskers wasn't a member, and it was absurd to imagine that he could be better-qualified than Whiskers; so he said, 'I'm afraid . . . I'm afraid I'm not good enough.'</s>
    <s id="1:195">His eyes, which for a moment had been shining, were now full of disappointment.</s>
    <s id="1:196">It was too much to hope that the Helmsman's offer had been serious.</s>
    <s id="1:197">He must have been joking.</s>
    <s id="1:198">'If you want to be a member you can,' said the Helmsman, 'only you must remember that this is a very important business we are engaged in.</s>
    <s id="1:199">We have to put our country first, even before our lives.</s>
    <s id="1:200">Then again, the rules are very strict and the penalties for breaking them very heavy.</s>
    <s id="1:201">You need to think carefully before you decide.'</s>
    <s id="1:202">'I don't need to think,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:203">'Whatever your rules are, I'll keep them.</s>
    <s id="1:204">If you'll let me join, Helmsman, I'll be the happiest boy in the world.'</s>
    <s id="1:205">The Helmsman's smile gave way to a more grave expression.</s>
    <s id="1:206">'This is an extremely serious business, involving matters of life and death.</s>
    <s id="1:207">We're not talking about children's games.'</s>
    <s id="1:208">'I know that,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:209">'I've heard lots about the Triad Society.</s>
    <s id="1:210">It fights for Honour and Justice.</s>
    <s id="1:211">It does all sorts of amazing things.</s>
    <s id="1:212">Of course it isn't a children's game.'</s>
    <s id="1:213">The Helmsman smiled.</s>
    <s id="1:214">'Well, as long as you know.</s>
    <s id="1:215">There are thirty-six rules that everyone joining the Society must swear to follow.</s>
    <s id="1:216">The rules include ten absolute prohibitions, each with a very severe punishment laid down for anyone who breaks it.'</s>
    <s id="1:217">His face became grave again.</s>
    <s id="1:218">'Some of the rules don't apply in your case yet, because you're too young; but there's one of them against dishonesty.</s>
    <s id="1:219">It says, "Every Brother must be honest in all his dealings.</s>
    <s id="1:220">He must not lie or cheat."</s>
    <s id="1:221">Do you think you are capable of keeping that rule?'</s>
    <s id="1:222">Trinket was slightly taken aback.</s>
    <s id="1:223">'I'd never tell you a lie, Helmsman,' he said, 'but with the other Brothers, would I have to tell them the truth—all the time?'</s>
    <s id="1:224">'Perhaps not in minor matters,' said the Helmsman, 'but in important ones, yes.'</s>
    <s id="1:225">'Well that's all right,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:226">'What about gambling?</s>
    <s id="1:227">If I'm gambling with other members of the Society, am I allowed to cheat a bit?'</s>
    <s id="1:228">The Helmsman was unprepared for a question of this nature.</s>
    <s id="1:229">'Gambling is not a good thing,' he said with the faintest of smiles, 'but there is nothing in the rules which forbids it.</s>
    <s id="1:230">Of course, if you cheated them and they found out, they would probably beat you up, and there's no rule against that either: so you'd probably be well advised not to try.'</s>
    <s id="1:231">They wouldn't find out,' said Trinket, grinning.</s>
    <s id="1:232">'Actually, though, I don't need to cheat.</s>
    <s id="1:233">When I gamble, nine times out of ten I win anyway.'</s>
    <s id="1:234">Since most members of the Society came from a travelling background in which gambling and drunken brawling were accepted as normal behaviour, the Helmsman was inclined to turn a blind eye on these matters.</s>
    <s id="1:235">He looked at Trinket intently for some moments as if trying to make his mind up about something.</s>
    <s id="1:236">'Would you like to be my apprentice?'</s>
    <s id="1:237">What happiness!</s>
    <s id="1:238">Trinket fell at once to his knees and began kowtowing.</s>
    <s id="1:239">'Shifu!'</s>
    <s id="1:240">This time the Helmsman made no effort to raise him up, but let him knock his head a dozen or more times on the floor before he stopped him.</s>
    <s id="1:241">'All right, that's enough.'</s>
    <s id="1:242">Trinket got up again, smiling delightedly.</s>
    <s id="1:243">'Now that I have become your Shifu, you had better know my real name,' said the Helmsman, 'but you are not to tell anyone.</s>
    <s id="1:244">My surname is Chen.</s>
    <s id="1:245">I expect you know that already.</s>
    <s id="1:246">But Chen Jinnan is only the name I am known by on River and Lake.</s>
    <s id="1:247">It is not my real name.</s>
    <s id="1:248">My real name is Chen Yonghua.'</s>
    <s id="1:249">'I'll remember that,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:250">'And I promise not to tell anyone.'</s>
    <s id="1:251">The Helmsman contemplated his new disciple for some moments in silence.</s>
    <s id="1:252">'Now that we are Shifu and apprentice, ' he said gravely 'we have to be completely open with each other.</s>
    <s id="1:253">I don't mind telling you that I find you both glib-tongued and sly.</s>
    <s id="1:254">Your nature is a very different one from my own, and I must admit that I am not at all happy about this.</s>
    <s id="1:255">In taking you on as my apprentice, it's more the interests of the Society than anything else that I have in mind.'</s>
    <s id="1:256">'From now on I'll do my best to change,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:257">'It's easier for the earth to leave its moorings than for a man to change his nature,' said the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:258">'You won't be able to change very much.</s>
    <s id="1:259">On the other hand you're still young and comparatively unformed; and so far you don't seem to have done anything particularly bad.</s>
    <s id="1:260">In future you'll just have to keep reminding yourself all the time to do as I tell you.</s>
    <s id="1:261">I believe in being very strict with my apprentices, so if I find that you have been breaking the Society's rules or plotting mischief or doing anything really bad, I shall kill you without mercy.</s>
    <s id="1:262">And remember: I can kill you any time, as easily as breaking an egg.'</s>
    <s id="1:263">As if to demonstrate, he tapped the table with his left hand and then seized the corner of it in his grasp.</s>
    <s id="1:264">There was a crunching sound as it broke off.</s>
    <s id="1:265">Then he took the broken-off piece between his palms and rubbed it until it fell in a shower of tiny slivers on the floor.</s>
    <s id="1:266">Trinket stuck his tongue out in amazement and it was some time before he could put it back in again.</s>
    <s id="1:267">Yet his overriding feeling was not of amazement but of happiness that he had got this heroic strong man for his teacher.</s>
    <s id="1:268">'I promise you I won't ever do anything bad,' he said.</s>
    <s id="1:269">'I wouldn't want my Shifu to crunch my head up!</s>
    <s id="1:270">And besides, if I did do a few bad things, and you did crunch me up, with me gone, who'd there be to pass on your secrets!'</s>
    <s id="1:271">'Not "a few bad things"!' said the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:272">'One!</s>
    <s id="1:273">Just one bad thing, and I shall no longer consider you my apprentice.'</s>
    <s id="1:274">'What about two bad things?' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:275">The Helmsman's face looked stern.</s>
    <s id="1:276">'You're being flippant.</s>
    <s id="1:277">When I say one bad thing I mean one.</s>
    <s id="1:278">Do you think this is something you can haggle about?'</s>
    <s id="1:279">'No, sir,' said Trinket; but a rebellious little voice inside him was saying, 'What about half a bad thing?'</s>
    <s id="1:280">'You are my fourth apprentice,' said the Helmsman, 'and probably you will be my last.</s>
    <s id="1:281">The Triad Society keeps me so busy that I don't have much time for apprentices.</s>
    <s id="1:282">Of your three Brother-apprentices, two died fighting against the Tartars and the third was killed in Marshal Zheng's campaign to retake Taiwan.</s>
    <s id="1:283">All three were brave young men who gave their lives for their country.</s>
    <s id="1:284">Apart from that I have my own reputation to keep up and I don't want you disgracing me.'</s>
    <s id="1:285">'No, sir,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:286">'But. . . but—'</s>
    <s id="1:287">'But what?' said the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:288">'Sometimes things that might disgrace you seem to happen to me when I can't help it,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:289">'Like being captured by someone bigger and stronger than me and shut up in a barrel of dates and pushed around like goods to market.</s>
    <s id="1:290">You mustn't blame me for things like that.'</s>
    <s id="1:291">The Helmsman found he didn't quite know whether to be angry or amused.</s>
    <s id="1:292">Finally he gave a sigh.</s>
    <s id="1:293">'I'm beginning to think that taking you on as my apprentice may prove to be the biggest mistake of my life.</s>
    <s id="1:294">There's so much that hangs on this though, I just have to take the chance.</s>
    <s id="1:295">Now listen, Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:296">There's going to be some important business presently.</s>
    <s id="1:297">Just keep quiet, do everything I tell you, and don't talk a lot of nonsense, and you'll be all right.</s>
    <s id="1:298">Is that understood?'</s>
    <s id="1:299">'Yes, sir,' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:300">Observing that Trinket appeared to be hesitating, the Helmsman asked him if there was something else he wanted to say.</s>
    <s id="1:301">'It's only that what I say always does seem sensible to me, ' said Trinket.</s>
    <s id="1:302">'I never mean to talk nonsense.</s>
    <s id="1:303">So when you tell me I'm talking nonsense, it seems unfair.'</s>
    <s id="1:304">'In that case the best thing is not to talk at all,' said the Helmsman.</s>
    <s id="1:305">But what he thought was, 'How many men of valour and reputation have I seen behaving like submissive flunkeys and hardly daring to breathe in my presence, yet this two-faced, shifty little urchin can stand here and give me all this lip!'</s>
    <s id="1:306">He got up and strode towards the door.</s>
    <s id="1:307">'Come on,' he said.</s>
    <s id="1:308">'Follow me.'</s>
    <s id="1:309">Trinket rushed to open it for him and held up the door-curtain for him to go through.</s>
    <s id="1:310">Then he followed him to the hall.</s>
  </p>
</text>
