"HE'S LYING, you know," Kidd said.
"Been known to happen," Remo conceded.
"He said the Masters of Sinanju never lie!"
"That was an untruth. How far is this place?"
"Just up ahead," Kidd said. "We'll see what you dig up. I know the treasure is not there. I know it."
"Okay. Fine."
"I know it. I mean it."
"Okay, okay, you know it! Is this the place?" They were in a clearing in the trees no more than eight feet in diameter. The soil was sandy. "It's one of the lowest points on the island," Kidd said. "The chests were eight feet down, about. It's been dug up over and over in the last three hundred years. At twelve feet you hit water in the sand. You can't get through it. It's been tried a dozen times. You just can't."
"Fine," Remo said. "The treasure is not-"
Remo paralyzed the malodorous pirate with a pinch and propped him up against a tree. Then he started digging with his hands.
The sand flew out of the ground as if some high-tech piece of machinery were pile-driving into it. Captain Kidd, mute, paralyzed and stinky, watched the hole appear as if by magic, frowning deeper by the second.
Then he noticed where the sand was going-flying into the air and sprinkling down on his head and shoulders, and piling up around his legs. His feet were already covered-he could see his shins disappearing if he really strained his eyeballs.
Soon he felt the cool pressure of the sand reach his crotch. By the time he was chest deep in the sandpile, Remo was out of sight, so deep was he in the hole he had created.
But it had only been maybe fifteen minutes-this was impossible! Kidd tried to tell himself this was all a bad dream.
Kidd was now buried to his chin.
The sand coming out of the ground was now soggy, and it landed on his head in globules. Seawater trickled down his face.
The ancient Korean appeared in the moonlight and bent to peer into the hole. "Are you not finished yet?"
"Hey, I don't see you in here shoveling dirt!" Remo cried from the hole.
"Nor shall you," Chiun answered.
"Are the prisoners all right?"
"Yes, yes, the healthy ones are succoring the unhealthy ones. They found a stable in the rear where the used-up prisoners were housed in filth until they finally died-some forty of them. The loudmouthed daughter of the senator is supervising the rescue. She has already called for medical assistance on one of the boat radios."
Kidd's mind was sidetracked violently. Senator's daughter? Who?
"So what was she doing playing dress-up, anyway?" said the voice from the hole.
"Getting married," Chiun said impatiently.
"We do not have all night, lazy boy! Keep digging!" Kidd's vision was swimming. Stacy was the senator's daughter?
"Okay, I'm at the water level. Now what?" Remo called.
"Now go in and get the treasure! Before the authorities arrive would be ideal!"
"It's muck!"
"It's sandy water. It is not a challenge to a skillful master. I'll come and get you if you don't surface."
"Fine! Whatever!"
Kidd heard some sloshing, then nothing.
Had the white man really slithered into the wet sand of the water table? If so, he would never, ever pull free! But the little Korean didn't look worried.
Ten minutes passed. Kidd knew the white man had to be dead, but something told him he was wrong. The old Korean stood watching the hole calmly. Then came more sloshing.
"Next time you want me to go swimming in mud," said Remo from the hole, "I ain't gonna!"
"Give those to me," the Korean demanded. He pulled one heavy chest, then another, out of the hole. They were corroded chests, but they clearly hadn't been constructed of wood. They looked intact.
The Korean was dancing. It was almost a jig. Kidd looked on in horror. All this time it had been there. For all these years he had been this close to unfathomable wealth.
"Hey, Chiun," Remo said, brushing at the damp sand that was caking his body, "was it Shang-Tu?" Chiun became still and looked at Remo in surprise. Kidd rolled his eyes at Remo, too, clearly recognizing the name.
"I do not recall ever telling you of this episode in Shang-Tu's life," Chiun said.
"No, but he's the loser who let the king of Siam rip him off, right?" Remo said, proud of his deductive historical insight. "Right time frame, and he seemed like the kind of knucklehead who would get his hands on a pirate treasure and then lose it again."
"Shang-Tu did not lose the treasure. He simply could not bring it with him when he left the island and planned always to return for it. He never had the chance, and the instruction he left for finding it proved to be inadequate," Chiun explained.
Then the old Korean turned on Captain Kidd. "One thing more you should know, pirate. I looked for the burying place this afternoon. I could not find it. I must thank you for leading my son to the spot."
The bitterness became a bonfire in the body of Thomas Kidd.
"Remo!" Chiun called. "More sand!"
"Sure thing."
The wet soggy sand reached Kidd's mouth, his nose and finally his blazing eyes.
Kidd was thankful for it. Death, now, was a mercy.
Chapter 19
Remo placed the call to Folcroft Sanitarium from the Melody when they were just an hour out of Nassau. They had found the boat floating at anchor at the pirate's dock and made their getaway before the first rescue craft could get to the scene.
"You made the evening news on CNN," Smith said. "You were successful, I assume."