Realising the situation as though he had eyes in his shoulder-blades, he
joined us with a leap and took the lead. The Chinaman fled silent like
a rapid shadow on the dust of an extremely oriental road. I followed. A
long way in the rear my mate whooped like a savage. A young moon threw
a bashful light on a plain like a monstrous waste ground: the
architectural mass of a Buddhist temple far away projected itself
in dead black on the sky. We lost the thief of course; but in my
disappointment I had to admire Hermann's presence of mind. The velocity
that stodgy man developed in the interests of a complete stranger earned
my warm gratitude--there was something truly cordial in his exertions.
He seemed as vexed as myself at our failure, and would hardly listen to
my thanks. He said it was "nothings," and invited me on the spot to
come on board his ship and drink a glass of beer with him. We poked
sceptically for a while amongst the bushes, peered without conviction
into a ditch or two. There was not a sound: patches of slime glimmered
feebly amongst the reeds. Slowly we trudged back, drooping under the
thin sickle of the moon, and I heard him mutter to himself, "Himmel!
Zwei und dreissig Pfund!" He was impressed by the figure of my loss.
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