Though prepared for treachery of some kind, the very simplicity of this scheme almost disconcerted him, and he blurted out the first words that rose to his lips.
"Is your name Wong Li Fu ?" Half unconsciously, a hand dropped to the pocket containing the revolver.

For answer, he was struck a violent blow in the throat and sent sprawling.

The attack was so sudden that he was nearly unprepared for it--nearly, not quite, because a flicker of baffled spite in the dark eyes gave him the ghost of a warning.
It was fortunate that he saved himself by a slight backward flinching, since he learnt subsequently that his assailant was a master of jiu jitsu, and that vicious blow was intended to paralyze the nerves which cluster around the cricoid cartilage.

Had he received the punch in its full force he would at least have been disabled for the remainder of the day, while there was some chance of the injury proving fatal.
The Chinaman instantly seized the terrified girl in an irresistible grip, and was about to thrust her into the automobile when a big, burly man flung himself into the fray and collared the desperado by neck and arm.
"Stop that!" he said authoritatively.

"Let go that young lady or I'll shake the life out of you!" By this time Theydon was on his feet again, and rushing to the assistance of Chief Inspector Winter, who seemed to have miraculously dropped from the skies at the right moment.