Climbing down from his seat, he bowed politely and handed me a colorful silk scarf, indicating I should wrap it over my eyes. As I did so, I couldn’t help but compare this visit with my first venture into Chinatown several months earlier. On that occasion, the two men who rudely abducted me did not bother to ask my permission before covering my eyes, stuffing a rag into my mouth, and half carrying me to meet the mysterious—and by all accounts extremely dangerous—tong lord, Li Ying. After the scarf was in place, the driver returned to his perch at the rear of the hansom and clicked his horse forward. We traveled for some time in this manner. Aware that Chinatown was hardly more than ten square blocks, I suspect he took a circuitous route in order to disorient me further. Since there was no one in the carriage to ensure I didn’t peek out from beneath the scarf, I found this a somewhat amusing precaution. When we stopped again, the driver helped me out of the carriage and into a building.
