with my eyes or what, but I never got a timberland clothing glimpse of you. You were already gone before I noticed.' 'I can make myself invisible,' said Trinket, grinning. 'I'm not going to tell you how it's done though.' Big Beaver frowned at the man and waved his hand dismissively. 'Go on, clear off!' But the stupid-looking man persisted. 'Can you timberland jeans really make yourself invisible?' he asked. 'Oh well, no wonder.' 'I admire your sharpness,' cheap timberlands Brother Li told Trinket. 'You've got a good head on your shoulders for one so young.' Suddenly the three of them became timberland jackets aware of a sound borne in from the distance: the thudding of many hooves. Big Beaver and Brother Li simultaneously jumped to their feet. Tartar soldiers?' said Brother Li in a low voice. Big Beaver nodded; then, putting two fingers to his lips, he gave three piercing timberland earthkeepers chukka whistles. This brought five men running into the hall. timberland uk Tut everyone on the alert,' Big Beaver instructed them. 'And tell Scarface to pick a few men to help him take care of Mao Eighteen. timberland sale uk If it's a big force of Tartars coming, we're not to give battle. We'll follow the same pattern that we did last time and timberland work boots disperse.' CHAPltKu The five men shouted their assent and went outside again to relay these orders. On every hand the members of the Triad Society could be heard preparing themselves for action. Big Beaver turned to Trinket. 'Little brother,' he said, 'you'd better stick with me.' At that moment a man came dashing into the hall, shouting at the top of his voice, The Helmsman is coming.' 'What?' cried Big Beaver and Brother Li in unison. The Helmsman is riding here with the nine Masters from the other Lodges,' said the man. timberland shoes 'How do you know?' the two men asked him, delighted but incredulous. timberland baby clothes 'I met them on the road and the Helmsman himself sent me ahead to tell you,' said the man. Big Beaver could see that the man was exhausted. 'Good,' he said. 'You'd better go and rest.' Once more he whistled for the men to come. 'It isn't the Tartars,' he told them, 'it's the Helmsman. Tell everyone they are to go outside to welcome him.' There was tremendous excitement when this message was transmitted to the men. Big Beaver took Trinket by the hand. (. , 'Come, little brother,' he said. 'Our Helmsman will soon be arriving. We must go out to meet him too.' CHAPTER 7 In which Trinket meets the Helmsman and becomes Master of the Green Wood Lodge Trinket meets the Helmsman Trinket accompanied Big Beaver, timberland boat shoes Brother Li, and the other leaders to the main gate. 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. After a while the same two big fellows came out carrying Whiskers between them in his hammock. 'Mao, old fellow, ' said Brother Li, 'you don't need to wait out here with us. You're our guest.' 'Just hearing about the Helmsman has always been an inspiration to me, ' said Whiskers. 'Now that there's a chance to actually see him, I wouldn't miss it for the world.' Because of his extreme weakness his voice was still faint, but there was a flush of excitement on his pallid cheeks. 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. The three foremost of them jumped lightly from their horses while they were still at some distance from the gate. Brother Li and the other leaders went forward to meet them and there was much exchange of handclasps and friendly greetings. 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. 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. 'Isn't the Helmsman coming here then?' asked Whiskers, dreadfully disappointed. None of those waiting had the heart to answer him, since they were all feeling equally disappointed. 'What's the matter with you all?' thought Trinket. '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. What a miserable-looking lot!' 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. The thirteen men, with rapturous expressions on their faces, dashed to the ready-waiting horses, jumped into the saddle, and galloped away. 'Whiskers, ' Trinket asked his stricken friend, 'is this Helmsman a very old man?' 'I... I've never met him, ' said Whiskers. '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, ' Tamardy!' thought Trinket. 'What a big-head! Well, you don't impress me, Mr Big Shot Helmsman. It's all the same to me whether I see you or not, ' 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. Some of them, tired of standing, sat on the ground. One of them urged Whiskers to go indoors and rest. 'If the Helmsman do timberland uk es come, ' he told Whiskers, 'I promise to let you know straight away.' But Whiskers shook his head. 'No, no, I'd rather wait here. If the Helmsman did come and I wasn't waiting here outside, it would be very—well, disrespectful.' He sighed wistfully. 'I wonder if it will be my luck to see him before I die.' 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. Chen Jinnan, the Helmsman, appeared to be the only expert in these matters for whom he had unqualified respect. 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 timberland jackets uddenly there was a sound of hoofbeats once more and another party of horsemen came riding up. 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. There were four messengers this time. 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.' Whiskers leaped up with a joyfu