It looked like an easy victory.  But I knew it wasn’t.  I admit that I felt rather sorry we had not eloped.  Li Ho made me still sorrier.

“Not much good, you make honorable Boss cly,” said Li Ho.  “Gettie mad heap better.”

I felt that, as usual, Li Ho was right.  And, just here, let me interpose that I am quite sure Li Ho can speak perfectly good English if he wishes.  He certainly understands it.  I have tried to puzzle him often by measured and academic speech and never yet has he missed the faintest shade of meaning.  So I did not waste time with Pigeon English.  I told him the facts briefly.

“Me no likee,” said Li Ho.

“You don’t have to,” said I.

Li Ho explained that it was not the contemplated marriage which received his disapproval but the circumstances surrounding it.  “Me muchy glad Missy get mallied,” said he.  “Ladies so do, velly nice!  When you depart to go?”

“Tomorrow,” I said.  Since we had given up the elopement it seemed more dignified to wait and depart by daylight.

Li Ho shook his head.

“You no wait tomolla,” said he, “You go tonight.  You go click.”

“We can’t go too quickly to suit me,” I said.  “It is for Miss Desire to decide.”

“Me tell Missy,” he said and hurried away.

Somehow, Li Ho always knows where to find Desire.  She vanishes from my ken often, but never from his.  He must have found her quickly this time for she came at once.  She looked troubled.

“Li Ho says we had better go tonight,” she said.

“Can you be ready?”

“Yes.  It isn’t that.  It’s just that it would seem more—­more sensible by daylight.  But Li Ho says you have told father, and that father was—­upset.  He said something about tonight being the full moon.  But I can’t see why that should matter.  Do you?”

“Only that it will be easy to cross the Inlet.”

“It can’t be that.  Li Ho can take the Tillicum’ over on the darkest night.  It has something to do with father.  He seems to think that the full moon affects him.  And it’s true that he often goes off on the mountain about that time.  But I can’t see why that should hurry us.”

I did not see it either.  And yet I felt that I should like to hurry.

“We certainly will not go unless you wish,” I began.  But Li Ho interrupted me in his colorless way.

“Alice same go this eveling,” he said blandly.  “No take ‘Tillicum’ tomolla.  Velly busy tomolla.  Velly busy next day.  Velly busy all week.”

“Look here,” I said, “you’ll do exactly what your mistress tells you.”

His celestial impudence was making me hot.  But Desire stopped me.  “It’s no use,” she explained.  “I have really no authority.  And he means what he says.  We must go tonight or wait indefinitely.”

I was eager to be gone.  But it went against the grain to be hustled off by a Chinaman.  Perhaps my face showed as much, for Desire went on.  “You needn’t feel like that about it.  He doesn’t intend to be impudent.  He probably thinks he has a very real reason for getting us away.  And Li Ho’s reasons are liable to be good ones.  We had better go.”