Boy Scouts on Motorcycles

Or

With The Flying Squadron

By G. HARVEY RALPHSON

CHAPTER I

BOY SCOUTS IN A STRANGE LAND

"Fine country, this--to get out of!"

"What's the difficulty, kid?"

Jimmie McGraw, the first speaker, turned back to the interior of theapartment in which he stood with a look of intense disgust on freckledface. 

"Oh, nothin' much, " he replied, wrinkling his nose comically, "onlyBroadway an' the Bowery are too far away from this town to ever amountto anythin'. Say, how would you fellers like a chair in front of thegrate in the little old Black Bear Patrol clubroom, in the village of N. Y. ? What?"

The three boys lying, half covered with empty burlap bags, on the bareearth at the back of the apartment chuckled softly as Jimmie's facebrightened at the small picture he drew verbally, of the luxurious BoyScout clubroom in the City of New York. 

"New York is a barren island as compared with this place, " one of theboys, Jack Bosworth by name, declared. "Just think of the odor of theOrient all around us!"

Jimmie wrinkled his nose in disdain and turned back to the window out ofwhich he had been looking. The other boys, Ned Nestor, of the WolfPatrol, and Jack Bosworth and Frank Shaw, of the Black Bear Patrol, allof New York, pulled their coarse covering closer under their chins andgrinned at the impatient Jimmie, who was of the Wolf Patrol, and who wasjust then on guard. 

It wasn't much of a window that the boy looked out of, just an irregularhole in a bare wall, innocent alike of sash and glass. Away to the eastrolled the restless waters of the Gulf of Pechili, which is little morethan a round bay swinging west from the mystical Yellow Sea. 

To the south ran the swift current of the Peiho river, on the oppositebank of which lay the twin of Taku, Chinese town where Jimmie stoodguard. Tungku, as the twin village is named, looked every bit as forlornand disreputable as Taku, where the boys had waited four days forimportant information which had been promised by the Secret Servicedepartment at Washington. 

The gulf of Pechili and the Peiho river glistened under the October sun, which seemed to bring little warmth to the atmosphere. Junks of allsizes and kinds were moving slowly through the waves, and farther outlarger vessels lay at anchor, as if holding surveillance over the mouthof the stream which led to Tientsin, that famous city of the greatChinese nation. 

"Look at it! Just look at it!"

Jimmie pointed out of the opening, his hand swinging about to includethe river and the gulf, the slowly moving boats and the picturesquestreets. 

"'Tis a heathen land!" the boy went on. "They wear their shirts outsideof their trousers an' do their trucking on their shoulders. Say, Ned, "he added, "why can't we cut it out? I'm sick of it!"

"Cut it out?" laughed Jack Bosworth, "why, kid, we've just got to theland of promise!"

"Most all promise!" replied Jimmie. "We've got nothin' but promisessince we've been here. Where's that Secret Service feller that wasgoin' to set the pace for us?"

"Perhaps he's lost in the jungle, " laughed Frank Shaw. "He certainlyought to have been here three days ago. What about it, Gulf of Pechiliand the Peiho river Ned?" he added, turning to a youth who lay at hisside, almost shivering in spite of his shaggy burlap covering. 

Ned Nestor yawned and threw aside his alleged protection from thegrowing chill of the October day. The boys, fresh from a submarine inwhich they had searched an ocean floor for important documents as wellas millions of dollars in gold, had arrived at Taku five days beforethis autumn afternoon. 

After concluding the mission on the submarine, Ned had been invited toundertake a difficult errand to Peking, in the interest of the UnitedStates Secret Service. Even after landing at Taku, he had confessed tohis chums his utter ignorance of the work he was to do. 

He had been requested by the Secret Service man who had engaged him forthe duty to wait for instructions at the old house on the water frontwhich, in company with Frank, Jack, and Jimmie, he now occupied. Thehouse was old and dilapidated, seemingly having been unoccupied foryears, so the lads were really "camping out" there. 

Their provisions were brought to them regularly by a Chinaman who didnot seem to understand a word of English, and, as the boys knowledge ofthe Chinese tongue was exceedingly limited, no information had beengained from him. The Secret Service man had not appeared, and Ned wasbecoming uneasy, especially as the curiosity of his neighbors wasbecoming annoying. 

"I guess this is a stall, " Jimmie grumbled, as Ned arose and stood athis side. "You know how the Moores, father an' son, tried to get us onthe submarine? Well, I'll bet they've got loose, an' that we're bein'kept here until they can do us up proper without attractin' theattention of the European population. "

Ned laughed at the boy's fears. He had no doubt that the man who hadpromised to meet him there had been delayed in some unaccountablemanner, and that the information he was awaiting would be suppliedbefore another day had passed. 

"Anyway, " Jimmie insisted, "I don't like the looks of things hereabouts!There's always some pigtailed Chink watchin' this house from the street. I woke up last night an' saw a snaky-eyed Celestial peering in at thiswindow. I guess they've got rid of the man we are waitin' for. "

"If we only knew exactly what we were to do in Peking, " Frank said, approaching the little group by the window, "we might jog along andreport to the American legation. I'm like Jimmie. I don't fancy thislong wait here--not a little bit!"

"As I have told you before, " Ned replied, "I don't know the first thingabout the work cut out for us by the United States Secret Servicepeople. There was some talk about following a brace of conspirators toPeking, the conspirators who tried to discredit the United States in thematter of the gold shipment but that was only incidental, and I wasordered to come here and await instructions. So I'm going to wait--until the moon drops out of the sky, if necessary. "

"Oh, we'll stick around!" Frank put in. "Don't think, for a minute, that any of us thought of quitting the game. Still, I'd just like toknow how much longer we have to remain here, and just what we are to dowhen we get to Peking, if we ever do. "

"Of course we'll stick!" Jimmie exclaimed. "All I'm kickin' on is thedelay. We might have remained on board the submarine, where we had cozyquarters an' somethin' to eat besides this Chink stuff. "

"Whenever you want to bump Jimmie good and plenty, " laughed Jack, "allyou need to do is to tamper with his rations. What's the matter withthis rice, kid, and this meat pie?" he added, as the man who had servedtheir food since their occupancy of the old house approached with alarge, covered basket on his arm. 

Jimmie wrinkled his freckled nose again and laid a hand on his stomach, as if in sympathy with that organ for the unutterable Chineseconcoctions it had been called upon to assimilate of late. 

"Rat pie!" he said, in a tone of disgust. 

"I'll bet a dollar to a rap on the nose that it's rat pie! I can hearthe rats squeal nights when I'm tryin' to sleep an' can't. "

"Say, Chink, " Jack said, seizing the Chinaman by the shoulder and facinghim about so that a good look into his slanty eyes might be had, "whatdo you know about this chuck?"

"No chuck! Pie!"

"Of course it's pie!" answered Jack. "It would be pie if it was made ofold shoes, if it had a crust on. What I want to know is, where did youcatch him, and who pays you to bring it to us, and who pays him to payyou to feed it to us? Where does he live, and is he black, white, orred? Come on, old top. You know a lot if you could only think of it. "

The Chinaman, an evil-looking old fellow with a long cicatrice acrosshis left cheekbone, shook his head and regarded his questioner craftily. 

"No spik English!" he said. 

"You spoke it then, " Jack retorted. "I'll bet a pan of pickles that youknow what we were saying when you came in here. "

"Let him alone, " Frank advised. "That head of his is solid bone. Hewould think his foot hurt if he had the toothache. "

"What a filthy, yellow, toothless, wicked old devil it is!" Jack wenton. "Some day when he comes here with that basket of rats I'm going tocut his pigtail off close behind his ears. "

"I think he's the foulest old geezer I've ever met, " Frank went on. "IfI had a dog with a mug like that I'd hire him out to the man whomanufactures nightmares. "

The Chinaman stood looking stupidly about for a minute before placinghis basket on the floor, then dropped it with a jar which rattled thefew dishes within and scuffled out of the door. Jimmie followed to seethat he did not loiter around the house listening, and came back with amischievous grin on his face. 

Long before the appearance of the Chinaman the boys had planned to usesuch uncomplimentary language in his presence as would be likely toexcite his anger, if he understood what was being said. They did notbelieve he was as ignorant of the English language as he pretended tobe. 

"Well, " Jimmie asked, of Ned, "did he tumble? What did you see?"

"I saw as evil a look as ever burned out of a human eye, " Ned replied. "Looked to me like he would enjoy feeding Jack and Frank to the rats. "

"Then he understood, all right?"

"Of course he did, " Jack, answered. "I could see that with one eye. He's been coming here with his grub for four days, and picking up a wordhere and there every time. We ought to have had sense enough to havebeen on guard against such treachery. "

"What's the answer now?" asked Jimmie, turning to Ned. 

"I'm afraid we're in a bad predicament, " Ned replied. "This shows menew light. The messenger we are expecting should have been here longago, and I'm now sure that we've just got to do something. I'm gettingafraid to eat the food they bring us, and I lie awake at night, listening for hostile footsteps. "

"That sounds a little more like Manhattan!" Jack cried. "Sounds likeaction! We're off in a heathen land, surrounded by enemies, and notlikely to get anything like a fighting chance, but I'm for doingsomething right now. I'm not going to lie still here and be poisoned, like a rat in a sewer!"

"I'm for going on to Peking, " Frank said. "We can report to theAmerican ambassador there, and, at least, get something to eat besidesrat pie and something better than a bare floor to sleep on. If we onlyhad the Black Bear, the motor boat we cruised with on the Columbiariver, we wouldn't be long on the way. "

"Huh!" Jimmie observed, taking out a minute memorandum book, "it isseventy miles by the river from Taku to Tientsin, and only twenty-sevenby the road. "

"And how far to Peking by the road?" asked Jack. 

"It is seventy-nine Miles from Tientsin to Peking, " was the reply, "andthe roads ought to be good. "

"That's more than can be said of the natives!" Jack said. 

"The allied armies marched over the road to Peking in 1900, " Frankexplained, "and I rather think the inhabitants of strip of country havea wholesome respect for foreigners. With our high-power motorcycles, ought to make Peking before daylight, if we start right after dark. "

"And don't run across any cutthroats on the way, " added Jimmie. 

"Let's see, " grinned Frank, "we were to have a flying squadron ofmarines with us? What? I reckon they're flying so high that they areout of sight!"

"Suppose we see if the horses are in good shape, " Ned said, going to anadjoining apartment. 

He made his appearance again in a minute trundling a magnificentmotorcycle. It was been built expressly for army use, with a long, powerful stroke 10 h. P. Motor. It was as indestructible and as automachine as could well be designed. With a perfect muffler, automaticcarburetor and lubrication, it was a machine to cover miles silently andwith little danger of delay. 

The open door behind Ned revealed three machines arranged along thewall, and the boys rushed to the examination of them. In second allwere in the room, bending over their steel pets. 

"Say!" Jimmie cried, presently, "we'll get Peking to-night--not! Thismachine has been tampered with, and some parts are missing. "

"Yes, I reckon the Yellow Peril is on deck!" said Frank. 

CHAPTER II

A DISQUIETING DISCOVERY

The four boys regarded each other in silence for a moment. Jack was thefirst to speak. 

"How badly are the machines damaged?" he asked. 

"Mine is all right, " Jimmie reported, after a careful examination of hissteel steed, "except that a couple of burrs are missing. "

"And mine, " Frank hastened to say, "is all right except that the oilfeed is blocked and the electric battery is shut off--that is, it is soarranged that the machine will spark for a short distance and then buck. Great doings!"

"And yours, Jack?" asked Ned. 

"Just a few burrs gone. "

"And mine is o. K. , " Ned went on, "except that the carburetor has beentampered with. I think we'll get off for Peking before long. "

"How?" demanded Jimmie. "We can't make burrs out of wood, or patch upwith rat pie, which seems to be about the only thing we have plenty of. I don't suppose we can get repairs in this yellow hole. "

Ned took a handbag from under the burlap. "I am carrying my own repairshop with me, " he said, taking out a box of burrs and a pair of pincers. "I've got all the small parts right here in duplicate, and some of thelarger ones are in the big suitcase. "

"You're a wonder!" Jimmie cried, dancing about his chum and wrinklinghis nose until it looked like that of a comedian in a motion picture. "I wonder if you haven't got a hunk of Washington pie in that keyster!"

The lads fell to work on their machines, and in a very short time allwere ready for the road. Then Ned put away his handbag and began anexamination of the large suitcase, which contained the larger repairsfor the motorcycles. It had not been molested. 

"There's one thing certain, " he said, "and that is that the Chinese whoare watching us expect us to make a dash for Peking. They took thepains to leave our machines in such shape that their tampering with themwould not be suspected. I'd like to know just when this mischief wasaccomplished. "

"Yes, " Frank observed, "they wanted us to get out of Taku and break downon the road to Tientsin. They would have us at their mercy out there--or they figured it out that way. "

"The work on the machines must have been done sometime during the day--or last night, " Ned replied. "Possibly while we were dozing. "

"I don't believe it!" Jimmie insisted. "I've had me eyes open everyminute to-day. "

"Well, " Ned went on, laughing, "we had a high wind yesterday, didn't we?A wind that tumbled the dust of the streets in upon us? Well, " pointingto a portion of his machine frame which he had been careful not totouch, "here is some of the dust which fell upon the motorcycle then. The person who did the job brushed a lot of the dust away, so, you see, he must have worked since the dust fell. "

"Did he brush it all away?" asked Jimmie. 

"No, " Ned replied, pointing, "here is a brace which he touched with hishands but did not wipe off. In a short time I'll tell you just whatsort of a chap it was that did the trick. "

The boy got his camera out of the suitcase and took a picture of thespot on the machine frame where the print of human fingers showed. Themotorcycle owned by, or in charge of, Jimmie also showed a similar mark, and this, too, was photographed. 

This completed, Ned laid the films aside for a time while he made acircuit of the old house, walking slowly as if out for chest exercise, but really seeing every square inch of the earth's surface where hewalked. Once he dropped a pocketknife which he carried in his hand andstooped over to pick it up. 

The boys thought he was a long time in securing the knife, although itwas plainly in sight. When he stood up again and continued his circuitof the house there was a strange, inscrutable smile on his face. 

"What is it?" asked Jack, the instant Ned entered the house. 

"We've been blind and deaf since we have boon here, " Ned answered. "Hostile influences have been operating all around us. Now, " hecontinued, as Frank opened his lips to ask a question, "we'll see whatsort of a tale the camera has to tell. "

As he looked at the films his face hardened and his eyes snapped. In amoment he put the telltale sheets away. 

"European fingerprints, " he said, quietly, "and European footprints outthere. It is not Chinamen that we have to look out for. "

"What the Old Harry--"

Jimmie checked himself as a figure darkened the doorway. Ned steppedforward to greet the newcomer. 

The visitor was a youngish man with black hair, growing well down on anarrow forehead, small black eyes, a straight-lipped mouth, and hardlines about his deep-set eyes. His manner and carriage was that of aman trained to military service. 

"You are Mr. Nestor?" he asked, extending his hand as Ned approachedhim. "I have come a long distance to meet you, " he added, before Nedcould answer the question. 

"From Washington?" asked Ned. 

The visitor nodded; glanced sharply about the apartment, where themotorcycles were still lying, and then squatted on one of the burlapbags. Jimmie shook his fist behind the newcomer's back. It was evidentthat the boy did not like his appearance. 

"I am Lieutenant Rae, of the Secret Service, " he said, in a moment. "Ihave been delayed on my way here. You were about to start on withoutyour final instructions?" he asked, lifting a pair of eyebrows whichseemed to make his little black eyes smaller and more inscrutable thanever. 

Ned looked at the man, now lolling back on the burlap, and for a momentmade no reply. Then he lied deliberately--in the interest of Uncle Samand human life, as he afterwards explained!

"No, " he said, "we were merely overhauling the machines. We are in nohaste to be away. "

"I see, " grinned the other. "You are taking life easily? Well, that isnot so bad. However, you are to start on your journey early to-morrowmorning. "

"I shall be ready, " Ned replied. "You have just landed?"

For just a second Lieutenant Rae's eyes sought the ground, then helifted them boldly. Ned was watching his every movement. 

"No, " he said, then, "I came in three days ago, but I was obliged toawait the movements of others before reporting to you. "

Jimmie caught Frank by the arm and drew him out of the house. Out inthe deserted garden--which was only a yard or two of hard-packed earth--he whispered:

"That feller's a liar!"

"What makes you think so?" Frank asked. 

"He's no Englishman, " Jimmie insisted. "He's a Jap. You bet your lastround iron man that's the truth. Now, what do you think he's doin'here?"

"Well, " Frank replied, "I think you are right. He's not an Englishman. The nerve of him to put that up to us!"

"Perhaps he's the gazabo that monkeyed with our machines, " suggestedJimmie. "Wish I'd 'a' caught him at it!"

"But Ned says that was an European, " Frank said. 

"Then they're thick around us, " Jimmie went on, "and we're up to ournecks in trouble. I wonder what instructions this Rae person will giveNed?"

"Suppose we go inside and see, " Frank answered. 

When the lads reached the interior of the house again Ned and Rae werebending over a road map of the country between Taku and Peking. Thevisitor was indicating a route with his pencil. 

"Very well, " Ned said, as if fully convinced of the honesty of theother, "now about the private orders. You understand, of course, that Iknow little concerning the work cut out for me. "

"You are to receive final instructions at Peking. "

Ned smiled, but there was something about the smile which told the boysthat he was of their way of thinking. 

"He's on!" Jimmie whispered in Frank's ear. 

"You bet he is, " was the reply. 

"I'll come here in the morning, " the visitor said, looking at his watch, "and go out with you. The chances are that we'll have to make a quickrun. Machines in good order?" with a glance at the motorcycles lyingagainst the wall. 

"We haven't as yet looked them over carefully, " Ned lied again, "butpresume they are in good shape. As a matter of fact, " he continued, hardly able to suppress a smile as Jimmie looked reprovingly at him, "asa matter of fact, we know little about the machines. This is newbusiness for us. "

Lieutenant Rae bowed himself out of the door, and the boys gathered inan inner room to discuss the situation. 

"We may as well face the truth, " Ned said, calmly. "The man who was tomeet us here has fallen into the hands of our enemies. We are alone inChina without instructions and surrounded by foes. Now, what shall wedo? We may be able to reach the water front and get off to one of theBritish ships in sight. "

"And go back?" demanded Jimmie. "Not for me! I'm goin' to stay an' seethis thing out. "

"That's me!" Frank said, and Jack echoed his words. 

"Well, then, " Ned went on, with a smile of satisfaction at the attitudeof the lads, "if we are going on, we've got to get to Peking withoutdelay. I'll tell you what I think. The conspirators are aware that weare trying to run them down. If they can stop us before we fullyidentify them, their part in the plot against Uncle Sam will never beknown. " Rest assured, then, that they will stop us if they can. "

"Then it's us for the road to-night!" said Jimmie. "That is fine. "

In referring to conspirators, Ned indicated the men who had beeninvolved in a plot to get the United States into trouble with a foreigngovernment over a shipment of gold to China. This shipment had gone tothe bottom of the Pacific. 

It had been claimed that the gold shipment, which was marked for theChinese government, had really been intended for the revolutionaryparty, now becoming very strong. It was now insisted that therevolutionists had been posted as to the shipment, and that it was onthe books for them to seize it the moment it left the protection of theAmerican flag. 

These claims having been made, and believed, in the state department ofa foreign government, none too friendly to the government of the UnitedStates. A ship had been sent out to watch the transfer of the gold. Atleast, that was what had been claimed, but this ship, so sent out, had, by an "accident, " rammed and sunk the treasure boat. If the Chinesegovernment did not get the gold, neither did the leaders of therevolutionary party. 

It had been claimed at Washington that the whole thing was a plot todiscredit the United States government in the eyes of the nations ofEurope, and Ned Nestor and his chums had been sent out to search thewreck for papers which would disprove the statements made. The papershad been secured. 

The point now was to connect the foreign statesmen who had burned theirfingers in the plot with the affair. Ned knew that the papers wouldestablish the falsity of the charges, but he wanted to place the blamefor the whole matter where it belonged. He wanted to track the man whohad conferred with known conspirators back to his home. He wanted to beable to point out the treacherous government which had so sought tobelittle the United States in the eyes of the world. 

The boy had no doubt that this was actually the mission upon which hehad been sent when ordered by the Secret Service department to report atTaku and there await instructions before proceeding to Peking. He didnot understand why he had been instructed to make the trip to Peking ona motorcycle when there were easier ways, but he was quick to obeyorders. Later on he learned just why this order had been given. 

"Yes, " Ned replied to Jimmie's remark, "I think we may as well set outfor Peking to-night. If we wait until morning, we may not be at libertyto start out. "

"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack. 

"Study it out, " smiled Ned, "and you may be able to find an answer. "

While the boy was speaking, he bent over and looked keenly at afootprint on the earthen floor of the room. It was not such a print asthe foot-covering of a Chinese man would leave. It had been made by thelong heel of an European shoe. 

When Ned looked closer, he saw that the ground was stained a deep red, that there were dark crimson spots on the window casing. Then he sawthat a struggle must have taken place in the room, for the few things itheld were in disorder. 

"Boys, " he said, "perhaps our Secret Service man got here before wedid. "

CHAPTER III

A SHOE AND A SURPRISE

"What do you mean by that?" asked Frank. "If he had reached the oldhouse first, he would have waited here for us, wouldn't he?"

"Look what's here, " Ned replied. "There has been a fight in the room. The combatants fought from the inner wall to the window, then a knifewas used. These stains are by no means fresh, but they tell the story. And to think that we've been here all these days and never found them!"

"Well, " Frank hastened to say, "we weren't suspicious; and, then, we hadno occasion to visit this room. "

"We should have been on our guard, " Ned replied, "but there is no helpfor it now. This discovery may block our going on to Peking to-night. "

"I don't see why, " Jack said, in a disappointed tone. 

"If the man who was wounded here and carried out of the window, " Nedreplied, "is really the messenger we are waiting for, we ought not to goaway and leave him in the hands of the enemy. It may not be the one Ifear it is, but we ought to find out about that. "

"It might have been only natives fighting, " urged Jack. 

"Of course, " Ned insisted, "but we ought not to leave if there is anypossibility of our friend being in trouble. Besides, Jack, " he went on, "a native fight here would hardly be umpired by a man wearing Europeanshoes! Here are the tracks, and I found others like them on the groundoutside not long ago. We may as well go out now and try to followthem. "

Accompanied by Jimmie, Ned went out and made a closer examination. Thetracks crossed the yard and ended at the street in the rear of the oldhouse. 

"Now, " Ned said, as he stepped out on the beaten course of the unpavedstreet, "we shall have to take chances. The trail has disappeared, andwe can only depend on our enemies for guidance. "

"That's fine!" said Jimmie. "We may as well go back!"

Ned pointed to a little group of Chinamen standing not far away, at thecorner of a street lined with miserable huts. 

"We'll walk about here, " he said, "and if we get somewhere near anypoint of information to us or danger to the others, I have a notion thatthat nest of Celestials will begin to buzz. "

Jimmie laughed and the two passed on, merely looking in the direction ofthe group as they passed it. They moved on down the street on theopposite side. The Chinamen did not move. 

When they turned back, however, on the other side of the thoroughfareand stopped, on speculation, for an instant before a hut somewhat largerand more dilapidated than the others, a pair of the watchers suddenlydetached themselves from the group and hastened away in oppositedirections. Two more strolled toward the boys. 

"What next?" asked Jimmie, in a whisper. 

"Seems to me that our halting here indicates that there may be somethingdoing in this house, " Ned replied. "Suppose we go in and ask someordinary question?"

"An' get kicked out!" grunted Jimmie. 

"That will be all right, so long as they let us out at all, " Ned repliedwith a smile. "I just want to know why our stopping here excited theChinks who were watching us. "

As Ned turned toward the house the little fellow caught him by thesleeve and held him back. 

"You look out, " he said, "there's a snake in there, that black-eyedsnake who claimed to be Lieutenant Rae! Do you want him to know that weare wise to his game?"

Ned turned and started away from the house, but there came a call fromthe structure, and the next instant two men were running out to greethim. More by gestures than by words they informed the boys that therewas a man in the house wished to see them. 

In a moment they stood facing the man who had called himself LieutenantRae. He advanced to meet them and pointed to chairs as they entered theroom. 

"Out for a walk?" he asked, with a smile. 

Ned nodded and Jimmie grinned. 

"The owner of this house, " Rae went on, "is an old friend of mine. Wemet first, years ago, in San Francisco. I'm staying here while in thetown. By the way, I was about to visit your quarters. "

"Come along, " Ned said. "We must be getting back. "

Rae left the room, saying that he would bring a raincoat, and Jimmiepointed to a rear apartment where an old Chinaman with a long, sinistercicatrice on his left cheek was bending over a table. 

"That's the Chink who brings our grub, " he said. "What is this Raeperson doing here? I don't eat no more grub that Chink brings. "

Ned made no reply, for a swinging closet door attracted his attention atthat moment. Inside the narrow closet, on the rough floor, lay a pairof European shoes. Ned slipped forward and seized one. When Raereturned it was hidden in a capacious pocket. 

"What is it?" whispered Jimmie. 

"If I'm not much mistaken, " was the reply, "it is the shoe that made thetracks we have been following. "

"Then this Rae person didn't always enter the old house where we arestopping by the front way, " commented Jimmie. "Gee, " he added, "I'llbet he umpired that fight, and the man the Chinks carried off is in thishouse now. "

There was no more opportunity for conversation between the two boys atthat time, for Rae stood watching them closely, a sneering smile on hisface. Ned turned toward the door. 

"Why venture out in the storm?" asked Rae. "Surely, there is no need ofhaste. Your friends will not lose themselves during your absence. "

"You were ready to go, a moment ago, " Ned said. 

"It is the storm, " the other observed, with a shrug of the shoulders. "It is increasing in violence every moment. "

Glancing into the rear room, Ned saw the old Chinaman leave his work andpass through a door to the west. The boy thought he recognized asignificant signal as the fellow disappeared, The lads never knew exactly how it all occurred. They only knew at thetime that there was a quick rush, a flash of weapons, a desperatestruggle, then momentary unconsciousness. 

They decided afterwards that their enemies had rushed upon them fromevery direction, and that the sneering face of Rae had gloated overtheir capture. 

"Don't injure them, " Rae ordered, as ropes were knotted about the wristsand ankles of the prisoners. "I'll go out now and see that the twoBlack Bears, " with a double sneer in his voice, "are taken into camp inshort order. Bad climate, this, for school boys who imitate wildanimals, " he added, with a malicious smile. "A bad climate. "

"You're all right!" Jimmie called out, as Rae paused in the doorway foran instant. "You're all right! But let me give you a pointer. Youkeep the Bears and Wolves you get in strong cages! If they get out, they'll eat you up!"

"Oh! I'll pull their fangs!" laughed the other, and then he was gone. 

"This China seems to be a nice country, " Jimmie said, turning to Ned. "Some people would break our crusts in instead of tyin' us up. "

"I rather think, " Ned replied, "that they have planned to do that alittle later on. We ought never to have taken such chances. "

"You can't have a chicken pie, " grinned Jimmie, "unless some one kills achicken! No more can you find out what's goin' on by sittin' down in anold house an' waitin' for someone to bring you the news in a New Yorknewspaper! We had to keep cases on this chap, didn't we?"

"I think you would talk slang if you were drowning, " Ned smiled. "Anyway, " he added, "we've caused Rae, if that is his name, to show hishand. That is something. "

"If we never get away, " laughed Jimmie, "we can leave the information toour friends in a will! I wonder if this gazabo will get Frank andJack?"

"Possibly, " Ned answered. 

"They seem to be puttin' most all the Americans in China out ofcirculation!" said the little fellow. "Wonder if that old gear-facethinks he can guard us an' sleep, too? Say, you watch your chance, Ned, an' I'll roll over and geezle him an' you get out of the house. Rollout, tumble out, any way to get out! There, " with a sigh ofdisappointment, "there's another Chink in the game. Listen to what theyare saying!"

CHAPTER IV

TWO BLACK BEARS IN TROUBLE

Jack and Frank sat long by the window, waiting for Ned and Jimmie toreturn. The doors of the adjoining rooms were wide open, so they had afull view of the lower floor. 

There were windows, unglazed like that which looked out on the Gulf ofPechili, too, and the lads could see for some distance along the streetwhich ran parallel with the one upon which the miserable old structurefaced. 

Presently a mist crept over the sky, and black clouds rolled in from thethreatening canopy over the gulf. There was evidently a storm brewing, and, besides, the night was coming on. 

In spite of the fact that they had a good view all about them, so far asthe house and its immediate vicinity was concerned, both boys felt thatalmost indescribable sensation which one experiences when being observedfrom behind by keen and magnetic eyes. They were not exactly afraid, but they had premonitions of approaching trouble. 

"I wonder what's keeping Ned?" Jack asked. "Hope he hasn't gotten intotrouble. "

"Oh, he'll look out for that!"

"Of course! Ned's no slouch!"

While the boys cheered themselves with such remarks as these, the roomsgrew darker and the black clouds from off the gulf dropped nearer. 

"What an ungodly country!" Jack exclaimed. "I feel as if I weresurrounded by snakes, and all kinds of reptiles. How would you like totake a New York special, just now?"

"I'm not yet seared of the job we are on, " Frank replied, "but I'd likea half decent show of getting out alive. I feel like we were in a holein the ground, with all manner of creeping things about us. The veryair seems to be impregnated with treachery and cunning. "

"That's the breath of the Orient, " smiled Jack, not inclined to continuein the vein in which the conversation had started. 

"I don't know why the breath of the Orient should differ from the breathof the Occident, " replied Frank, well pleased at the change of subject. "It wouldn't, if the natives of the far East would put bathtubs in theirhouses and garbage cans on the street comers. "

"Well, there certainly is an odor about the East, " grinned Jack. "Perhaps it is the hot weather. "

"Hot weather has nothing to do with the sanitary conditions of this partof the world, " Frank went on. "Peking is in the latitude ofPhiladelphia, or New York. You wouldn't think so to hear people talkabout the Orient back home, but you'll change your mind if you don't getout of this before winter sets in. "

"Somehow I never associated cold weather with the East, " Jack said. 

"Why, " Frank continued, "this river freezes over about the middle ofDecember and they run sledges on the ice until the middle of March. Insummer it is often 106 above zero, while in the winter it drops to about6 degrees below. If the natives were half civilized, you might get theidea that you were in Ohio, because of the fields of corn. "

"We don't know much about China, do we?" mused Jack. 

This was Frank's opportunity. Before reaching the coast he had spentmany hours studying up on the history of the strange land he was aboutto visit. His father was owner and editor of one of the most powerfulnewspapers in New York City, and the boy had had plenty of inspirationfor historical research from the time he was old enough to read. Hisfather's library had supplied him with all the facilities necessary tothe carrying out of his inclination, and his travels with the Boy Scoutshad brought him into contact with many of the countries whole history hehad studied so enthusiastically. 

Now he saw an opportunity of talking China to Jack, and started in atonce. Jack listened eagerly, for, while interested in the past of thestrange land, he was too busy a young man to spend much time in anylibrary. His father was one of the leading corporation lawyers in NewYork, but the boy's inclinations pointed to mining as a futureprofession--when he had investigated the wilds of the world!

"We don't know much about China, " Frank began, "because for centuriesChina has shunned what we call civilization. This is said to be themost ancient and populous nation in the world, although it seems to methat history goes back farther on the banks of the Nile and theEuphrates than on the western shore of the Yellow Sea. 

"The authentic history of China goes back 2207 years before the birth ofChrist, while Egyptian records and the data found along the Euphratesand the Tigris point to a much older organization of men intocommunities. However, it is said by some that Fuh-hi founded the Chineseempire eight hundred years before the date given, when Yu the Greatbegan to make history. 

"One reason why the story of China is so short, comparatively, is thatChing Wang, the old fellow who caused the Chinese wall to be built tokeep out the Tartars, ordered all books and records previous to his timeto be destroyed. This was to dispose of the stories of wars, in whichChina, before his time, was always engaged. 

"China has always been at war with the Mongolians. In 1300 A. D. , Genghis Khan raised a Mongolian army and captured Peking. Later, oneKublai Khan overthrew the Sung dynasty and established a Mongolianempire. The members of the defeated royal family drowned themselves inthe river at Canton. This Mongolian dynasty lasted until the middle ofthe fourteenth century, when it was overthrown. 

"The Chinese governed their own land, then, until 1644, just beforewhich time the emperor was murdered by native sons. Then the Tartarsgot to Peking, in spite of the Great Wall, and established the dynastynow on the throne. 

"One cause of the growing revolt in China is the fact that the Tartarsare still in power. But the Tartars who were warlike enough when Chinalay before them for conquest quieted down as soon as Sun-chi took thethrone. Peace has been the rule since then. 

"It seem strange, but it is true, that China has not progressed, has notbeen given the respect conferred on other nations, because she wouldnot, or could not fight. Talk about peace all you like, but it is thefighters that win whether in private or national life. 

"China has been kicked about by all the nations of the world, large andpowerful as she is, because it was understood that she could be insultedwith impunity. England put the opium curse on her against only feebleresistance. She has stood for peace, not conquest, and had been treatedcondescendingly, like a big booby of a boy at school who is afraid oflads half his size. The secret organization now forming in this countrymay overthrow the Manchu dynasty, but if it does it will build a Chineserepublic and not a new Chinese empire. 

"It is claimed by some that the United States is favoring this newChinese party of liberty, that the gold recently lost in the Pacific wasour contribution to the cause--by the roundabout way we have heard somuch about--and that the Washington government will be the first torecognize the new republic. 

"I don't know whether all this is true or not, but father says it is, and he ought to know. Anyhow, there will be plenty of fighting beforethe present rulers release their grip on the royal treasury. It may bethat our mission here is to find out something more about this newmovement. 

"You see, " he added, "if our government is for the new movement, thenation which rammed the gold ship, which set the conspirators at work, which sent a great statesman, as we believe, to negotiate with theconspirators, is against it, and Uncle Sam possibly wants to know whatpower it is that is likely to assist the present Emperor of China inholding his job. If Ned can get the proof he needs to establish what healready knows and suspects, he will do a good piece of work. "

"I wish he would return, " Jack said, with an apprehensive look about theroom. 'I don't see what is keeping him. "

"Here he comes, now!" Frank cried, "or it may be Jimmie, " he added, "blundering through the window. "

Both boys arose and hastened to the door of the room from which thesounds of approach had been heard. The apartment was dark and still, save for the whipping of the wind at the open casement. While the boysstood there, expecting every instant to hear the voice of one of theirchums, rain began to fall, and a sharp zigzag of lightning cut acrossthe sky. 

By this natural searchlight the lads saw a figure crouching just underthe window. The illumination lasted for an instant only, and it was notpossible for them to see whether the visitor was dressed in native orEuropean costume. His face was not in sight, and only the barestoutlines of his figure were discernible. 

Jack was for rushing forward on a tour of inspection, but Frank took afirm grip on his friend's arm and held him back. He not only preventedhim springing upon the crouching figure, but drew him away from the opendoor-way, believing that both had been observed by the intruder. 

"We ought to get him!" Jack panted, in a whisper. "We ought to find outif he is one of our enemies or only a common thief. "

"Much good it would do to capture him!" Frank whispered back. "Wecouldn't force the truth out of him, and the things they call courts ofjustice here would soon be after us. "

"Then what can we do?" demanded Jack. 

Frank did not reply, for footsteps, now plainly heard above the sweep ofthe wind and rain, were approaching the room where the boys werestanding, with automatic revolvers in their hands. 

"He's got his nerve!" Jack said. "Why doesn't he come into the placewith a brass band? Shall we sneak out of a window, or remain here andfind out what he wants?"

"I'm for getting out!"

Frank leaped from the window as he spoke, and in a second Jack camepiling out on top of him. 

"Gee whiz!" Frank whispered. "Why don't you knock a fellow over?"

"What are you trying to do?" demanded Jack. 

"Not a thing, " was the reply. "Say, but we'll get a nice soak if weremain here. "

"You'll get a nice soak on the coco, if you don't stop pulling mearound, " came back from Jack. 

"Then keep your hands off me!" Frank responded. 

But in a moment both boys knew that they were not struggling with eachother. A brilliant flash of lightning cut the sky, and by its lightthey saw each other lying on the ground under the window, each with acouple of men in native costume perched on top. 

Jack fired, but the pressure on his back was not lessened. Instead, hefelt a snaky hand slip down his arm, seize his fingers and twist the gunaway. 

"Frank!" he called out. "Frank! Shoot at the heathens! I missed, andone of them has my gun. "

Frank obeyed the suggestion, and three reports were heard. Jack, thoughnot naturally bloodthirsty, was overjoyed at the sound of a groan whichcame from the spot where Frank lay. 

"Don't try that again, son!"

"That will be enough!"

Both sentences were spoken in English. Then the boys were carriedbodily into the house and sat down against a wall. Then a lightedlantern was brought in, and the prisoners saw six sleepy-lookingChinamen grinning at them. 

CHAPTER V

A COLLECTION OF WILD ANIMALS

"Well, what do you think of it?"

The voice was that of an Englishman, and the words were spoken in theroom, but the struggling prisoners could not discover where the personwho uttered them stood. It seemed to them that there were only the sixsleepy-looking Chinamen and themselves in the apartment. 

Frank ceased his useless struggling with the rope which held both feetand hands in its strong coils, and glanced along the row of stupidfaces. 

"What did you say?" he asked, hoping that the speaker would saysomething more and so locate himself. 

"How do you like it?"

That was the same voice, and it was in that room, but, still, there wereonly the six Chinamen and Jack in sight. Frank looked at his chum witha smile on his face. In that moment he resolved to meet whatever Fatemight have in store for him with a cheerful heart. He had little doubtthat both Ned and Jimmie had been caught in the trap into which Jack andhimself had fallen. 

There was no knowing what the fate of himself and his friends would be, but whatever had been planned for them by their enemies, there would beno relief in sighs and pleas for pity. They were alone in the land ofmystery. Owing to the necessity for secrecy regarding their movements, no one with whom they had been associated in the Secret Service workknew of their whereabouts, save only Lieutenant Scott, who had sent themon to Taku, and who had failed to keep his promises to them. 

And Lieutenant Scott? Frank believed him dead or in the clutches of theconspirators. 

Otherwise, he would have kept his appointment at the old house on thewater front. The view ahead was not a long one, as the boy consideredthe matter, nor a smooth one, but he decided that nothing was to begained by subserviency. 

"I like it!" was Jack's quick reply. "Who is it that is doing thetalking?"

"One of the six in front of you, " came the answer in English. 

Jack cast his eyes quickly along the row of faces, but failed to catchthe movement of a lip, the twinkle of an eye. 

"You're a funny bloke, " Jack went on. "How much will you take for amonth in vaudeville?"

"He'd make a fine spirit medium, " Frank cut in. "Can you make the talkcome from behind me?" he added, with a grin. 

"Of course I can!"

Although the boys watched closely, there were no signs of motion in anyone of the six yellow, foxy faces, still the words seemed to come fromthe wall directly back of Jack's head. 

"If I had you on the Bowery, " Jack continued, "I'd give you a hundred amonth. Come on over and get busy in the little old United States!"

"I think I'll wait until the boys bring in the other two wild animals, "replied the unknown speaker. "I rather want to see the finish of youWolves and Black Bears before I see the Bowery again. "

"You'll find more wild animals of our stripe on the Bowery than you willwant to meet, " Jack replied, "especially when it is known that you'vebeen mixed up with Boy Scouts, to their harm, in China. "

"I'll take my chances on that, " was the reply. "You have been verysuccessful, you wild beasts, in butting into the business of otherpeople, and getting out again uninjured, but it is going to be differentnow. There are two black Bears and two Wolves that I know of who willnever get back to New York again. "

"All right, " Frank said. "We've had fun enough out of the SecretService work we have done to pay for whatever trouble we have now. Nedwill be along presently, and then you'll have another think coming. "

"Sure, he'll be along directly, " was the reply. "In fact, he's righthere now!"

But it was not Ned who was pushed, bound hand and foot, into the circleof light in the room. The little fellow came near falling as he wasthrust forward, but he regained his equilibrium, and turned around toface his tormentor. 

"You're a cheap skate!" he said. "If I had you on Chatham Square I'dchange your face good and plenty!"

Then he saw that he was speaking to empty air. There was no one in thedoorway. The person who had brought him there and hustled him into theroom had disappeared. 

"Now, what do you know about that?"

Jimmie chuckled as he asked the question of the six silent figuresranged along the wall. As yet his eyes had not fallen on the figures ofFrank and Jack, farther back in the shadows. 

There was, of course, no answer to his question, and the boy leanedforward, a grin on his freckled face. 

"Say, but you're a bum lot!" he cried. "Why don't you go back to thePyramids and sleep for another thousand years? There ain't nonourishment in sitting up there like a dime museum, for there's no onesellin' tickets at the door. "

"Look behind you!"

That was the English voice again, seemingly out of the heavy air, or outof the storm outside. Jimmie turned quickly and saw his chums nicelytied up. 

In a moment he turned back to the row of six, without even exchanging alook with his friends. 

"Who's doin' the talkin', " he asked. 

Frank and Jack were now too impatient to know what had become of theirleader to delay longer. The latter asked:

"Where's Ned?"

"Ask this lineup, " Jimmie replied. "I don't know. Gee! If I had aface like that man on the end, I'd sell it to the wild man of Borneo, its an improvement on anythin' he could get up. Say, Old Socks!" headded, "where is Ned?"

"Packed up, ready for delivery, " was the reply. "Say, how would youwild animals like to take a jaunt on your motorcycles to-night? Nicecool night for a ride! You might reach Poking by morning and report tothe American ambassador!"

"We'll get there in due time, " Frank answered. 

"I've drawn the teeth of this collection of wild animals, at allevents, " said the voice. "No more Wolves and Black Bears will be apt tocome to China. Such collections are not popular here. "

Jimmie dropped back to where his chums were seated. Serious as thesituation was, the boy could not restrain a smile as he threw himselfdown beside Frank. The storm was still thundering outside, and splashesof rain now and then whirled in at the open casement. 

The lantern which illuminated the interior of the room showed only around blotch against the darkness. In this circle sat the six silentmen, watchful but motionless. 

"It might be a scene in a play!" Jimmie exclaimed. 

Frank nodded and whispered:

"Did they get Ned, too?"

Jimmie nodded. His face was grave in an instant. 

"Where is he?" Frank whispered. 

The little fellow shook his head. Then the voice which seemed to comefrom nowhere was heard again:

"You'll meet him in due time, " it said. 

A long silence followed. The lantern which gave out the light flickeredin the wind and the beat of the rain increased in violence. In all theadventurous lives of the Boy Scouts nothing so weird, so uncanny, asthis had ever occurred. 

"Well, " Jack said, more to break the strange silence than for any otherpurpose, "why don't you say something?"

Then, through the clamor of the storm, came the sharp ring of steel. Itsounded to the listening boys like the purring of two swords directedagainst each other by strong hands. 

Instantly the light was extinguished, and the shuffling of feet told thecaptives that the watchful six were getting into upright positions. 

"Hello, the house!"

The challenging call came from the street outside. 

"That's good, honest United States!" Jimmie whispered. "Shall I risk ananswer?"

"You'll probably get a knife in your side if you do, " Frank answered. "The Chinks are still in the room. "

"Show a light!"

The voice was nearer than before, and the three boys lifted to theirfeet and moved toward the window, which was just above where they hadbeen sitting. Frank was about to throw himself out into the storm whena muscular hand seized him by the arm. 

"Nothing doing!" a voice said in his ear. 

"If you move again, or try to answer the call, that will be the last ofone Black Bear. Remain silent while I talk with your friends. "

"Our friends?" repeated Frank. 

"Certainly, " was the reply--given with a chuckle. "Your very goodfriends from the American ship in the harbor. "

There was torture in the words, in the fierce grip on the arm. Thepromised assistance had arrived and the boys were powerless to maketheir perilous situation known!

But a hopeful thought came to the brain of the boy as he was draggedaway from the open window. It was barely possible that Ned had escaped, that he knew of the peril his friends were in, and would arrive beforethe Americans were, by some treacherous falsehood, sent away. 

"Nestor!" cried the voice outside. "Are you there? Show a light. "

There was a rustle in the room, then black silence. 

CHAPTER VI

WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON

"Go around to the front and come in, " a voice said--a voice from theroom where the boys were. "I've just got here, and am trying to find alight. "

There was a rattle of arms outside, then the heavy tread of men stillmaking some pretense, even in the darkness and the rain, of moving inmarching order. The men who had come to the assistance of the BoyScouts were preparing to enter the house. 

How would they be received? This was the question uppermost in theminds of all the boys as they waited. 

Would they be greeted with treacherous words, or with a murderousfusillade of bullets and knives stabbing in the darkness? It would seemthat the Chinamen would hardly dare attack an American military squad, yet these men were outlaws, and there was no knowing what they might do. 

The lads heard the marines, as they supposed the newcomers to be, passaround an angle of the old house and stand for an instant talking in thedoorway to which they had been directed by the voice of the man on theinside. Frank was preparing to set up a cry of warning, let theconsequences be what they might, when the rattle of arms told him thatthe marines had surrounded the house, and that every door and window wasguarded! The men who were guarding the boys evidently knew what wastaking place, for they released their clutches on the lads and movedaway. 

Next came a struggle at the window, and then a strong electric lightswept into the room. Jimmie jumped forward and bumped into Ned, who wasclambering over the decayed window sill. 

There were several shots exchanged on the outside, followed by shouts ofboth rage and pain, then three men in the uniform of the United Statesmarine service entered the room. One of them picked up Ned'ssearchlight, which had fallen to the floor when Jimmie bunted its owner, and turned its rays on the mix-up under the window. 

There was a flutter of arms and legs, as Frank and Jack, half chokingwith laughter at the manner in which tragedy had so suddenly andunexpectedly been changed into comedy, pulled Ned and Jimmie apart. Jimmie sat up, wrinkling his nose until one would think it never wouldsmooth out again, and gazed at Ned with provoking grin. 

"Gee!" he cried. "I thought I was mixing it with six Chinks! Wonderyou wouldn't knock before entering a private room!"

"I did knock, " laughed Ned, rising from the floor and taking theflashlight. 

"Yes, you knocked me down, " grunted Jimmie. 

The three marines, standing in the middle of the room with amused faces, regarded the four boys curiously for a moment and then moved out ofrange of the window. Also Ned was asked to shut off the light. 

"We're not out of it yet, " one of them said. "Our men chased the YellowFaces into a bad part of town, and they are likely to be chased back, not by a few, but by a mob! These Chinks like Americans about as muchas brook trout love the desert. "

"Perhaps I'd better go out an' see what's comin' off, " suggested thelittle fellow. 

"You'll only get captured again, " Jack suggested, provokingly. 

"I ain't got nothin' on you in getting tied up with ropes, " Jimmieretorted. "You looked like one of these mummy things when the light wasturned on. "

The officer in charge of the marines motioned to Jimmie to remain wherehe was, but the order came too late. Having been relieved of his bondsby Ned's quick fingers, he fairly dived out of the window into thedarkness. 

"Now there'll be trouble catching him again, " complained the officer. "If he doesn't get a hole bored through him, we'll have to hunt the townover to get him out of the Chinks' hands. Why can't you boys behaveyourselves?"

"Ruh!" Jack retorted, annoyed at the tone of superiority adopted by theofficer. "I guess we've been doing pretty well, thank you! I reckonyou fellows must have followed off a cow path! We've been waiting herefor you long enough to walk to Peking on our hands!"

"That's the fact!" the officer replied, speaking in a whisper in thedarkness. "We were the first ones to fall into the snares set by theChinks. Only for Ned, we would still be waiting for you in a housesomething like this one, in a distant part of the town. How the boyfound us I can't make out, but find us he did. "

"What are you going to do about that runaway kid?" asked Frank of Ned. "Shall I go get him?"

It was not necessary for Ned to reply to the question, for at thatmoment a figure came tumbling through the window and a voice recognizedas that of the little fellow cried out:

"Gee!" he said, feeling about in the darkness, "what do you think of myruinnin' into a sea soldier an' getting chucked through the hole thecarpenter left?"

"If you boy will get ready now, " a voice said, "we'll be on, our waytoward Peking. "

"How many of the Chinks did you catch?" asked Ned. 

"Not a blooming one, " was the disgusted reply. "They ran away likewater leaking into the ground. "

"If you'd only let me alone, " wailed Jimmie, "I'd have got one. I wantto soak the man that tied me up. "

The marines, a full dozen of them, now gathered in the old house and allmade ready for departure. Directly a motorcycle for every man waswheeled up to the door. 

"We have been practicing riding while waiting for you, " the officer incharge explained, "and the fellows think they can go some!"

"It is a wild night for such a ride, " Frank suggested. 

"Couldn't have been better for our purpose, " said the officer. 

"Do you know why we are going on motorcycles?" asked Ned. 

"I think I do, " was the reply. 

"Why don't you out with it, then?" asked Jack. 

"You'll learn of the reason soon enough!" replied the other. "Before wego to Peking you may understand why you are going with a flying squadronof Uncle Sam's men!"

"Who directed you to the house where I found you?" asked Ned. 

"A chap who called himself Lieutenant Rae, " was the reply. 

"Japanese-lookin' chap?" asked Jimmie. 

"That's the fellow. "

"There's one more question, " Ned went on. "Are all the men you tookfrom the ship with you?"

"Every one of my men is here, " answered the officer, "but there was afellow, a friend of yours, with us at first who is not with us now. Queer chap he was, too! German, I think, and a master at tangling upthe United States language. He came on board the ship, and managed toget off with us when we left. In two days he disappeared. "

"That was Hans!" cried Jack. 

"Who's Hans?"

"A German Boy Scout we picked up on an island. A member of the OwlPatrol, of Philadelphia, he said. We left him on the submarine. "

"Well, he asked after you boys, and looked disappointed when we did notfind you, owing to the misleading statements of that fraud, Rae. Heleft us without a word of explanation, and is probably looking for you. Did he know where you were going?"

"Yes, " admitted Ned, "I told him we were going to Peking by way ofTientsin. I should not have done that. "

"Oh, it can do no harm, and may be for your benefit. If the lad was notkilled by the Chinks, he is doubtless on his way to Peking. "

"Then you think he knew there was something wrong because we did notmeet you?" asked Ned. 

"Yes; he acted queerly. "

"There are evidences of a struggle in this house, " Ned went on, "and wethought the messenger we were waiting for had been attacked, but it mayhave been Hans after all. I hope he is not in serious trouble. "

"I am the only messenger sent to you, " the officer said, "so, as yousay, it might have been the German who was attacked, though no one knowshow he ever found this house, or why, when attacked, he didn't makehimself heard. "

The rain was now falling heavily, and it was decided to remain undershelter for a time, so the flashlight was brought into use again. 

"If your men can keep up with us, " Jack said to the officer, "we can getto Peking in six hours, so there is no need of hurrying. "

"If you get to Peking in six weeks you'll be doing well, " laughed theofficer. 

"What do you mean by that? Demanded Ned, who was anxious for a start. 

"I can't tell you, " was the answer. "But it was never believed youcould make a quick jump to the capital city. There maybe things to doon the way there. That is why you have to escort. I don't like thisdiplomacy game, but have to obey orders. "

"What I want to know, " Jimmie broke in, "is how Ned got away. They hadhim tied up plenty last time I saw him. And, after he got away, how didhe happen to blunder into the company of our escort? China is a land ofmystery, all right!"

"They didn't watch me closely, " Ned replied, modestly, "after they tookyou away, and when I did get out of the house I had only to follow oneof my captors. Believing that I was safely tied, my captors talked alot about having the marines waiting in the wrong house while theydisposed of the Boy Scouts!"

"This man Rae?" asked the officer. "Was he there with your captors?That's one of the men we must take. "

"Oh, he is the man that caused us to be taken, " Jimmie cut in. "I'dlike to break his crust for him. I'm gettin' sick of bein' tied up inevery case, like the hero in a Bowery play!"

"Was there a Chink who spoke English like a native?" asked Jack. 

"There were two. "

"Dressed in native costume?"

"Yes, and looking bored and weary. "

"Then they're the men that sat with the others in a grinning row upagainst the wall, " Frank exclaimed. "Do you think they are Chinamen?"

"Disguised Englishmen, " Ned replied. 

"That's my notion, " Frank went on. "Oh, we'll get this all ironed outdirectly! If we could find Hans we might start off with a thoroughunderstanding of how the game was carried out here. "

The rain now slacked a little, and here and there stars showed throughmasses of hurrying clouds. The boys led their steel horses to the doorand prepared to mount. 

"Plenty of mud, " Jack suggested. 

In the little pause caused by the marines getting out their machines adull, monotonous sound came to the ears of the party. It was such asound as the Boy Scouts had heard on the rivers of South America, whenthe advance of their motor-boat was blocked, and hundreds of savageswere peering out of the thickets. 

"What is it?" asked Jack. 

"Sounds like the roaring of a mob, " answered the officer. "Youunderstand that a word will stir the natives to arms against foreigners. As there is no knowing what this fake Lieutenant Rae and the men wedrove away from this house may have said to the Chinks, we may as wellbe moving. It may be safer out on the road!"

"I should say so!" exclaimed Jack. "We can't fight a whole nation, canwe? Look there! That was a rocket, and means trouble. "

The distant murmur was fast growing into a roar, and rockets wereflecking the clouds with their green, red, and blue lights. Shadowyfigures began to show in the darkness, and a group was seen ahead, inthe street which led away toward Peking. 

"More dangerous than wild beasts!" exclaimed the officer. "Be carefulto keep together and in the middle of the road, when we get under way, for if one of us gets pulled down there's an end of all things for him!"

"It is too bad we can't stay long enough to find Hans, " Ned said. 

"If we remain here five minutes longer, " the officer replied, "someonewill have to come and find us. Are you ready?"

All were ready, and the next moment sixteen motorcycles shot out intothe street and headed northwest for Tientsin, which city lay in thedirect path to Peking. The group in the road ahead parted sullenly asthe squadron pressed on its outer circle and the company passed throughwithout mishap. 

That was as wild a ride as any living being ever engaged in. Nothingbut the speed of the motorcycles saved the boys, for enemies sprung upall along the way. Some mysterious system of signaling ahead seemed tobe in vogue there. 

The sky cleared presently. The road was muddy, but the giant machinesmade good progress, especially through little towns, through the doorsand windows of which curious eyes peered out on the silent company, marching, seemingly, to the music of the spark explosions. 

After a run of two hours the officer halted and dismounted. 

"Now, " he said, "we've got a bit of work cut out for us here. If wemake it, we may go on in peace. If we fail, all must keep together andtake chances on speed. "

CHAPTER VII

THE MIDNIGHT CALL OF AN OWL

Ned glanced about keenly as he left his seat on the machine and stoodawaiting further instructions. There was little rain in the air now, but it was still dark except for the faint reflection of a distant groupof lights. 

"Where are we?" Ned asked. 

"Near Tientsin. "

"So soon? Why, I thought we'd be a long time on the way. "

"I reckon you don't know how fast we have been traveling, " said theofficer. "Fear led me to take risks. I'll admit that. "

"I want to look through the city before I leave the country, " Nedremarked. 

"You are standing now where the allied armies encamped in 1900, " theofficer went on. "You doubtless recall the time the allied armies weresent to Peking to rescue the foreign ambassadors during the Boxeruprising? That was an exciting time. "

"Hardly, " laughed Ned, "although I have read much about that march. Imust have been about eight years old at the time. "

"Well here is where the American brigade encamped on the night beforethe start for Peking was made. At that time it was believed that theforeigners at Peking had all been murdered. I was here with the boys inblue. "

"Then you ought to know the road to Peking. "

"I certainly do. "

"What are we halting here for?"

"There is a dispatch from Washington due you here, " was the reply. 

"Telegrams in China?"

"Certainly. Why, kid, this city has over a million of inhabitants, andthousands of the residents are foreigners. Of course they havetelegraph facilities. "

"But how am I to get it to-night?"

To the east lay a great cornfield, to the west a broken common uponwhich were a few houses of the meaner sort. The corn had been cut andwas in the shock. In the houses the lights were out. But far over thepoverty-stricken abodes of the poor shone the reflections of the highlights of the city. 

Tientsin is a squalid Oriental city, its native abodes being of thecheapest kind, but the foreign section is well built up and welllighted. These were the reflections, glancing down from a gentle slope, that the boys saw. 

The officer pointed to the north, indicating a low-roofed hut halfhidden in the corn shocks. 

"We are to remain there, " he said, "until you receive your instructionsfrom Washington. "

"But why were they not given me before?" demanded Ned. 

"Because the man in charge of this matter for the Secret Servicedepartment doubted your ability to make the trip to Tientsin. That isthe truth of it. If you had failed back there at Taku, I should havetaken the message from the office and mailed it, unopened, back toWashington. You have made good, so you get it yourself. "

"They never put me to such a test before, " grumbled Ned. 

The officer turned, gave a short order to his men, and passed hismachine over to one of them. 

"I am going into the city with Mr. Nestor, " he said; "see that none ofthese youngsters gets away during my absence. "

"I'm goin' to get away right now, " Jimmie exclaimed. "I'm goin' withNed to the city. I guess I'm not visiting China to live in a cornfield. I want to see the wheels go round!"

The officer glanced at Ned questioningly, while the little fellow made aface back. 

"Let him come along, " Ned said. "He'll come anyway, whether we give himpermission or not. How far must we walk?"

"Walk?" repeated Jimmie. "I'm goin' to take my motorcycle. "

"That may be a good idea, " admitted the officer. "I had not thought ofthat. "

"We may have to make a run for it, judging from the experiences we hadat Taku, " Ned suggested. 

"Nothing of the kind here, " the other said. "You are as safe in thiscity as you would be in New York, under the same conditions, of course. You know there are sections of New York which strangers do well to keepout of at night. "

So, mounting their cycles again, the three set off for the foreignsection of Tientsin. At first the streets were very bad, but in timethey came to smoother running and good time was made. 

It was now approaching midnight, but the city, was still awake andstirring. The streets were well filled with pedestrians, and many ofthe small shops were open. 

Naturally the three motorcycles, speeding through the streets of theancient city, attracted no little attention. Here and there littlegroups blocked the way for an instant, but on the whole fair progresswas made. 

Jimmie, by no means as anxious as were his companions, enjoyed everymoment of the dash. He was thinking of the stories he would have totell when he returned to the Bowery again!

It is quite possible that the way would have been more difficult for theriders only for the uniform of the officer. Foreigners are not givenmuch consideration by the street crowds in China--especially by suchcrowds as enliven the thoroughfares at night--but, since the march ofthe allied armies to Peking, uniforms have been held in great awe. 

At last the telegraph office was reached, and Ned was glad to see thatlights still burned within. His night ride would at least prove ofavail. He would receive instructions directly from Washington, and thatwould be more to the purpose than traveling along like a blind mole inthe earth, receiving his information by bits from underlings in theSecret Service. 

Besides, the boy was wet and cold, for the night was growing moredisagreeable every moment, and he would now have an opportunity to warmhimself by a blaze such as foreigners ordinarily insist on in the coldmonths in China. 

The man at the desk bowed courteously as the three entered the office. He was evidently a native of China but seemed to have profited by aforeign education. 

When Ned gave his name and asked for a message, the operator, whoappeared to be the sole employee there, coolly surveyed him criticallyfrom head to foot. Then he turned questioning eyes to the marine. 

"It is all right, " the officer said. "This is the person brought hereby the flying squadron. "

"A boy!" cried the operator. "Only a boy!"

"Aw, cut that out!" cried Jimmie, always ready to resent any seemingdiscourtesy to his chum. 

The operator scowled at the little fellow and turned to the officer withthe remark that he should be obliged to consult with his superior. 

"All right, " was the officer's reply. "Only make haste. "

The operator entered a back room and presently returned with a boy whoevidently served as messenger during the daytime. After receivingwhispered instructions, the lad passed out of the office, with a furtiveglance over his shoulder at Jimmie. 

Then the operator went back to his desk, while the officer and Ned stoodwaiting. There was no fire in the outer office, but a wave of warm aircame from the rear room. 

"We have been riding in the rain, " the officer said, seeing that theywere not to be invited into the heated apartment. "May we go back tothe fire?"

The operator scowled, but the uniform won the day, and the three wereushered into a small room where an American oil stove was sending fortha generous heat. Then the grouchy operator slammed the door and lefthis guests to their own reflections. 

"Say, " Jimmie whispered, in a moment, "I don't believe that chump is onthe level!"

"Well, " Ned replied, "he's got to give me the dispatch. He can't getout of doing that. "

"Perhaps he knows what the message contains, " the officer suggested, "and is not inclined to deliver it. "

"I hardly think he knows what it contains, " Ned answered, "for it isundoubtedly in cipher. "

"And you have the Secret Service code?" asked the officer, amazementshowing on his face. 

"Certainly. "

"Well, they have a lot of confidence in you, then, " said the other. 

At the end of half an hour a man said to be the assistant in charge ofthe station entered the room and eyed all three occupants keenly. Hisglances were met frankly by Ned and the officer, but Jimmie could notresist an inclination to wrinkle his nose at him. 

"Which is Ned Nestor?" the man asked, addressing the officer. 

The marine pointed toward Ned. 

"Do you know him to be Ned Nestor?" was the next question, and Nedthought he felt a hostile spirit in the tone. 

"Certainly I do, else I would not be here with him. "

"This is important business of state, " suggested the other, "and I haveto be cautious. "

"Your conduct seems more like curiosity than caution, " the officerdeclared. "Have you the message with you?"

"Yes, but I can't deliver it except in the presence of the manager. "

"Is it in the code of the Secret Service?" asked Ned. 

"It is in some code unknown to me. "

"If you don't deliver it in five minutes, " declared the officer, "Ishall call the American consul!"

The official made no reply. 

"You can read this code, I suppose?" he asked of Ned. 

"Certainly. "

"Well, I'll communicate with the manager, and if he says it is all rightI'll give you the message and take your receipt for it. Will thatanswer?"

"It must, I suppose, " replied the officer. 

The obdurate official left the room. 

"Gee, but it's close in here!" Jimmie declared, in a moment. "Seemslike a hop joint in Pell street. "

"There is opium in the air, " the officer said. "See if you can find awindow. "

Jimmie found a window opening on a large court and lifted the lowersash. Then he called to Ned. 

"I don't like the looks of this, " he said. "If they should try to holdus here, what?"

"They won't do that. "

"Oh, they won't tie us up, I guess, " said the little fellow, "but theymay delay our departure. "

"Go on, " smiled Ned. 

"An' communicate with the ginks that have been chasing us ever since weleft the submarine, " concluded the boy. 

"In time, Jimmie, " Ned answered, "you may even get into the thinkingrow. I have been wondering ever since we came in here if we were notwith enemies instead of friends. "

"I can soon find out, " declared Jimmie. 

"Yes? How, may I ask?"

"I'll rush out into the other room an' try to get to the street. Ifthere's anythin' in the notion we have, they'll turn me back. "

"You might try that, " smiled Ned, and the officer clapped a hand on theboy's shoulder and declared that he was a "brick. "

So Jimmie hustled out into the front office. The listeners heard sharpwords, and then a slight scuffling of feet. Then next instant the boywas pushed back through the doorway. 

"What is the trouble?" asked the marine of the assistant, whose flushedface showed in the half-open doorway. 

"You'll all have to be identified before you can leave here, " was thecurt reply. "You have asked for important state dispatches, and we wantto know what your motive is. "

"My motive is to get them, " replied Ned, coolly. 

"Wait until you prove your right to them, " said the other, and the doorwas slammed shut. Ned stepped back to the window and looked out intothe court. The walls were four stories high, and there seemed to be nopassage out of the box-like place. The officer suggested that he forcehis way through the outer office and reach the American consul, but Neddid not approve of this. He thought there must be some other way. Thena hint of that other way came from the court in the call of an owl. 

"That's a Boy Scout signal, and not a bird!" almost shouted Jimmie. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE MESSAGE FROM WASHINGTON

"Surely, " the marine officer said, in answer to the boy's exclamation, "that is a genuine, feathered owl. No boy could make so perfect animitation. "

"It's Dutchy, all right, " insisted Jimmie. "I've heard him make thatnoise before. Now, how did he ever get to Tientsin, and how did helocate us?"

"It doesn't seem possible that it is Hans, " Ned said. "How could hemake the journey on foot, through a country suspicious of everyforeigner? And how comes it that he chanced on this building?"

"Didn't he know that you were expecting instructions from Washingtonwhile on the way to Peking?" asked the officer. 

"I did not know, myself, that I was to receive instructions while on theway until I met you, " Ned replied. "If Hans is indeed here, he haseither blundered into his present position or gained pretty accurateinformation from some one unknown to me. "

"If he is here?" repeated Jimmie. "Of course he is here. I'm goin' outin the court an' give him the call of the pack!"

"What does he mean by that?" asked the officer of Ned. "Call of thepack?"

"The call of the Wolf pack, " answered Ned. "We both belong to the WolfPatrol, of New York. "

"And you think Hans, if it is he, will understand?"

"Of course!" scorned Jimmie. 

The little fellow was about to step out of the low window to the floorof the court when a mist of light appeared at one of the glazed windowson the opposite side. The three watched the illumination with absorbinginterest for a moment. 

"Hans must be up there, " Ned, muttered, "although I would almost as soonexpect to find him up in a balloon. "

"I reckon you'll find an owl with wise eyes and feathers up there, ifyou wait, " said the officer, with a smile. "The boy you refer to nevercould have traveled here alone. "

"You just wait, " advised Jimmie. 

Presently the mist of light centered down to three small flames, apparently coming from three narrow twists of paper, burning in a row infront of a window on the second floor. Jimmie grasped Ned's arm as thethree tiny columns of flame showed for an instant and then vanished. 

"There!" he said. "Do you know what that means?"

"It is a warning of danger, " Ned muttered. 

"Say that again, " exclaimed the officer. "What kind of a game is this?"

"It is a Boy Scout warning, " Ned replied. "In the forest three columnsof smoke express the warning. How did this German boy learn all this?"he continued, turning to Jimmie. 

"Don't you ever think the Philadelphia Boy Scouts are slow!" answeredthe boy. "Hans has been out in the forest with them, and knows allabout woods work, an' signs, an' signals. Give it up, now?"

"Yes, " replied the officer, "I give it up. You boys must have awonderful organization. "

"We certainly have, " Ned replied. 

The three waited for a moment, but no more signals came from the window. Instead a heavy footfall sounded outside the door and a man they had notseen before stepped into the room. 

He was a heavily built man, with broad shoulders, black hair and eyes, and a wicked mouth. His face looked hard and repulsive, like the faceof a reckless, intolerant, whisky-drinking captain of police in agraft-ridden district. He closed the door with his back as he entered. 

"You are Ned Nestor?" he asked of the officer. The latter pointedtoward Ned. 

"That child!" exclaimed the newcomer. 

Jimmie restrained himself with an effort, for he knew that this was notime to engage in a quarrel. He turned his back to the group and lookedout of the window into the court. 

There was now no light at the window from which the warning had beengiven, but there were flickers of uncertain candles at some of theothers. The hooting of the owl had undoubtedly attracted the attentionof the occupants of the building. 

As Jimmie looked, however, the sash of the window he was watching waspushed up and a tousled head appeared. Other sashes were pushed up inan instant, and pigtailed heads and slanting, evil eyes were in view. 

"I guess they're keepin' cases on the kid!" Jimmie thought, as he madean almost imperceptible motion toward Hans. "It would be pretty poor, Ireckon, if I could get up there, " he added, not meaning that it would be"pretty poor" at all, but, on the contrary, a very good move indeed. 

While the lad watched the window, from which the tousled head had nowdisappeared, some of the other windows closed. The natives wereevidently in no mood to lose their sleep because of a foreign-devilnoise in the middle of the night. 

The little fellow was certain that the head he had for a moment seen wasthat of Hans, the Philadelphia Boy Scout who had been so strangelyencountered during the visit of the submarine to an island off the coastof China. He knew, too, that the German understood that somethingunusual and hostile to his friends was going on below. 

He did not stop to consider the means by which Hans had reached the cityof Tientsin and that particular building. He accepted it for grantedthat he was there, and wondered just what steps he, the German, would beapt, or able, to take in the emergency which threatened the failure ofthe mission to Peking. 

Presently the voices of the marine officer, the official who had beensummoned by the assistant manager, and Ned reached his ears. Theofficer was clearly in an angry mood and Ned was trying his persuasivepowers on the newcomer. 

"Are you an officer of the telegraph company?" the officer asked, in anangry tone. 

"I am not, " was the equally discourteous rejoinder. "I am a privatedetective employed, by the manager here. It is my duty to look afterjust such cases as this. "

"Well, " Ned said, calmly, "ask any questions you desire and we willanswer them frankly. I came to China at the request of the Washingtongovernment, and am to receive instructions here. The operator tells methat there is a cablegram here for me, but refuses to deliver it on theground that I may be an impostor. "

"I think he has you sized up right, " grated the detective. 

"Then we may as well be going, " Ned said, still coolly. "There isnothing for us to do now but try to establish our identity before theAmerican consul. "

The boy moved toward the door as he spoke, but the brawny detectiveobstructed his passage to the outer room. Ned drew back with a smile onhis face. 

"You can't leave here just at present, " said the detective. "You willremain in custody until morning. "

"Why morning?" asked Ned, with alight laugh. 

"Because your accuser will be here then. "

"Why didn't you say something of an accuser before?" asked Ned. 

"It was not necessary. "

"What does the accuser say?"

"He only warns us against delivering important papers to a youthanswering your description. "

"Now I understand why all this rumpus has been kicked up!" cried themarine officer. "The man who warned you is Lieutenant Rae?"

The detective nodded. 

"Then he is causing us to be delayed for purposes of his own, " theofficer stormed. "He aims to get to Peking in advance of us. We mustbe permitted to depart immediately. "

He moved toward the door, but the detective stood in his way. Without aword he seized the fellow by the shoulder whirled him around, put hisbeery face to the wall, and passed out of the room. Ned was about tofollow him when the strange attitude of the detective caught hisattention and he stood waiting while a scuffle on the outside told of aphysical complication there. 

"Much good that break will do him, " said the detective, straighteningout his twisted coat collar. "He will find a squad of police at thestreet door. "

"European police?" asked Ned. 

"Native police, " with a snarl of rage as the commotion in the outer roomcontinued. 

Knowing that it would be no trouble at all to secure the release by anyAmerican officer taken into custody by Chinese police, Ned turned to thewindow and looked out on the court. He understood, too, that his ownarrest would mean a long delay in prison while his identity was beingestablished. So he thought best to keep out of the squabble thehot-headed officer had engaged in. 

How sane this decision was only those foreign citizens who had beenarrested and cast into prison in China or Russia can appreciate. Whilean accredited officer of a foreign power may almost instantly regain hisliberty, a plain citizen, such as Ned was forced to appear, might bekept in jail for any number of days, weeks, or months. 

The detective stood glaring at the two boys for an instant, as ifanxious to inflict physical punishment upon them, but, as they remainedat the window and said no more to him, he was obliged to take adifferent course. After rapping out several insulting observationsconcerning school children who ought to be spanked and put to bed, heflung himself out of the room. 

"You saw Hans?" asked Ned, then. 

Jimmie opened his eyes in amazement. 

"Did you?" he asked. 

"I saw the tousled head you saw, " replied Ned. 

"I thought you were looking another way, " commented the little fellow. "That was Hans, all right. '

"But why does he remain inactive? He knows there is something doingdown here, else he would not have shown the signal of warning. He oughtto be out of that window by this time. "

"This is a country of hard knots, " laughed Jimmie. "They may have tiedup his fat little trotters. "

In spite of the serious situation, Ned laughed. 

"The tying up in this case makes it seem like a cheap drama on the lowerEast Side in New York, " he said. 

"I think I might get up to that window, " Jimmie suggested. 

"How?" asked Ned. 

"By the lower window frames an' castings. If you'll manage to keep theChinks off me I'll try. "

"It is worth trying, " Ned mused. 

The other windows opening on the court were now closed. The sleepynatives, possibly doped with opium, had wearied of watching the figuresin the rear room of the telegraph office and tumbled back into bed, orback on such miserable heaps of dirty matings as they chose to callbeds. 

The sounds of conflict had already died out in the front office, andanother visit from the evil-faced detective was momentarily expected, soJimmie was urged to make the proposed attempt to reach Hans at once. 

He passed out of the window, crossed the beaten earth floor of thecourt, and began to climb. Ned was pleased to see that he had littledifficulty in ascending to the window. Once there he heard him rap onthe pane. There was a pause, and then the boy pushed up the sash andclambered inside. 

Ned was glad to see that the boy had the good judgment to draw the sashdown, as soon as he was in the room. What he would discover there thewatcher had no idea. 

He might find Hans there under guard. He might discover, when it wastoo late, that the German had been, unwillingly, used as a decoy bycunning natives into whose hands he might have fallen. 

Still, there were the signals! The natives could not have known of theBoy Scout system of warnings, and Hans would certainly have volunteerednothing in the way of allurement. 

He watched the window for what seemed to him to be a very long time. The pane remained dark. 

"If the lad finds the situation favorable, " Ned thought, "he may notreturn here at all. I should have instructed him to leave the room bythe main stairway, if possible, and return to the marines. It wouldlook comfortable, just now, to see that file of bluecoats marching intothe telegraph office. "

However, there was now no help for the omission, and Ned waited withvarying emotions for some sign from the window. None came, butpresently the door of the rear room was opened and the detectiveblustered in. 

"Where is the other prisoner?" he demanded, looking keenly about theroom. "He was here not long ago. Where is he?"

"Didn't you see him crowd out with the marine officer?" asked Ned. 

"He was here after that fellow left, " was the reply. "But he can'tescape from the building, " he added, "for every avenue is guarded, andthe chap the cablegram belongs to has just asked for it!"

CHAPTER IX

TRICKS THAT WERE VAIN

Ned eyed the bullying detective keenly. He did not believe that thecablegram had been demanded by another. That was only a pretext on thepart of his enemies to make their attitude of delay appear morereasonable. If, as was claimed, the message was now claimed by two, theholders would certainly be justified in using great caution indelivering it. 

He did not believe, either, that the telegraph officials had been nervyenough to resort to police protection. That would be to bring thematter into the courts, and he did not think those who were opposing himwould care for that. 

"You are not telling the truth, " he said, coolly, to the detective. "Noone here could honestly claim the message, because no one in Tientsin, previous to my arrival, knew there was such a message here, if I exceptthe telegraph people and the man who sent it. If a claimant has shownup, he is acting under instructions from you. "

"You are deceiving yourself!" snarled the other. 

"Where is Captain Martin, of the marines?" asked Ned, not caring todispute the point. "If you have arrested him, you'll be having his menafter you before morning. "

"You mean the men you left in the cornfield?"

"Certainly, the United States marines. "

"Then you don't know that they have gone back to Taku?"

"No; neither do you, " replied Ned. This was too cheap!

"But, they have, " insisted the detective. "At least, they havedisappeared from the camp in the cornfield. "

"You seem pretty well posted as to our doings, " said the boy. 

"We are pretty well informed as to all crooks who come here, " was thereply. 

"What are you going to do about delivering the cablegram?" Ned asked, ignoring the insult. 

"Wait until morning and deliver it to the American consul. "

"In America, " Ned said, with a provoking smile, "we elect men of yourslant of mind to the Ananias club. "

"You'll see, " was the reply. "In the meantime, you are in custody. "

Where was Jimmie? Had he escaped from the building, or was he detainedin the room he had surreptitiously entered? If he had indeed escaped, would he have the good sense to hasten to the camp instead of trying toassist his chum single-handed?

Ned asked himself these questions, but could find no answer. He sawthat the detective was not inclined, not yet desperate enough, to marchhim off to prison, however, and took courage from the fact. If he couldsecure a short delay all might yet be well. 

Directly the assistant manager entered the room, frowning and red offace. Ned saw that something, perhaps something of importance tohimself, was in progress on the outside. 

"The American consul is out there, " he exclaimed, storming about thelittle room. 

"That's fine!" cried Ned. "I presume I can see him?"

The detective glared at the boy and shook his head. 

"No, you can't, " he declared. "You'll stay here. "

"And in the meantime you'll tell him that I have gone away?"

"We'll tell him what we choose. "

Ned made a quick dash for the door, tipped the assistant manager over abroken-backed chair which stood in the way, and passed into the outeroffice. The detective grabbed at him as he sped past, but the boyeluded the ham-like hands which were thrust forward. 

There were three persons in the office, when Ned bolted into it. Thesewere the operator, the American consul, and Hans! The German grinned inan apologetic way as Ned hastily greeted him. 

The American consul was a pleasant-faced gentleman of middle age. Hewas dressed in rather sporty clothes, and there was just a hint of aswagger of importance in his walk and manner as he extended his hand toNed. Dressler-Archibald Hewitt Dressler, to be exact--was a pretty fairsample of the keen, open-hearted corn-belt politician rewarded with aforeign appointment for rounding up the right crowd at the right time. 

Ned was glad to see that the consul recognized him as the lad in whoseinterest he had been pulled out of bed. He took the official'soutstretched hand and shook it warmly. 

"I never was so glad to see any person in my life!" Ned exclaimed, whileHans stood by with that bland German smile on his face. 

"Oh, we'll have this mess straightened out in no time, " the consul said. "These people, " with a gesture toward the operator, the assistantmanager, and the detective, "are all right. They mean to do the fairand honorable thing, but they have troubles of their own. We'll havethis all ironed out in no time. "

"This kid is an impostor!" shouted the detective. 

"No hard names, please, " said the consul. "Let us get at the facts ofthe case. You claim to be Ned Nestor?" turning to the boy. 

"That is my name, sir. "

"And you claim a cablegram which is here? A cablegram in cipher--thecipher code of the Secret Service of the United States government?"

"Yes, it would naturally be in cipher. "

"You have the key to the code?"

"Certainly. "

"Be careful, young man, " laughed the consul, "for I was in the SecretService department before I came here, and know the code. "

"I'm glad you do, " replied Ned. 

"Hand me the cablegram, " ordered the consul, turning to the assistantmanager. 

The detective stepped forward with a frown on his face. He glared atthe consul and at Ned for a moment, and then broke out:

"You can't have it unless you will promise not to reveal its contents tothis impostor. "

"Can't I?" said the consul, coolly. "Hand me the cablegram. "

The operator and the assistant manager drew back. The consul stood foran instant regarding them angrily. 

"One, two, three!" he said. "At the word three, pass it over!"

"Goot sphort, dot feller!" whispered Hans. 

During the dead silence which followed Ned watched the face of theconsul for some sign of weakening, but found none. He knew that he hadcome upon an official who would stand by his guns, no matter what tookplace. 

There was a little crowd in front of the office, and half a dozen faceswere pressed against the windows and the glass panel of the door. Nedthought he saw a face there he had last seen in the old house at Takuwhere he had been captured. The fellow carried a long cicatrice on hisleft cheek. 

"What do you mean by coming in here and giving orders?" demanded thedetective. "I'll put you out if the manager says the word. "

Ned, standing close to Hans, felt the muscles of the German's great armswell under the sleeve. Hans was evidently anticipating trouble. 

"Will you deliver the cablegram?" asked the consul. 

"I will not. "

As the assistant manager spoke the detective reached his hand up to theelectric light switch. Ned saw in an instant what his intention was. If the room should be suddenly thrown into darkness, the operator mightescape with the cablegram. 

The consul, too, saw what was meditated and sprang forward. Thedetective struck at him, but before his blow reached its intended mark, Hans struck and the detective went down as suddenly as if he had beenhit with an ax. Then, from unseen places, from beneath counters and outof closets, came a horde of Chinamen. The room was full of them. 

"Soak um!" cried Hans. 

The German was about to adopt his own suggestion by passing a blow outto the nearest Chinaman when the consul stepped before him. For aninstant the threatening natives stepped back. The attacking of theAmerican consul was a thing to be seriously considered. 

"Once more!" warned the consul. "Give me the cablegram. "

At a motion from the assistant manager the brown men closedthreateningly about the American again. There was malice in their eyesas they pressed closer and closer. 

"This looks like another Boxer uprising!" exclaimed the consul. "Mr. Nestor, " he added, "if you will assemble yourself at my back, and ourGerman friend will stand by, we'll give 'em a run for their white alley. Hit hard and often. "

There is no knowing what might have happened then had not aninterruption fell. Ned saw the crowd at the door vanish, and the nextinstant the friendly popping of motorcycles rang a chorus in the air. 

Then came the rattle of guns and sabers, and a line of bluecoats stoodbefore the door. At their head stood Jimmie, wrinkling his frecklednose as if for dear life. 

Ned sprang to the door and opened it. 

"Quick!" he cried. "Don't let a man now in the room get away. "

"Where is Captain Martin, the officer in charge?" asked one of the men. 

"The Chinks can tell you, " Ned answered. "Close up at the doors, " hewent on, gazing about excitedly, "so that no one can leave. "

This was done instantly. In fact, the natives and the men of thetelegraph office were not in a fighting mood now. The guns and sabersof the marines had brought them to a peace-loving state of mind!

They huddled about in the center of the room, the natives milling aroundlike cattle in a storm. The assistant manager pushed out of the pressand handed the consul the cablegram. 

"Understand that I am doing this under protest, " he said. "Your conductin invading my office with armed men shall be reported. "

"I shall welcome any investigation, " the consul replied, with a smile, "because I want to know something of your motives in doing what you havedone to-night. You know very well that the cablegram is of noimportance to any person except the one to whom it is addressed. I canread the code, it is true, but you doubtless overlooked the fact that Ihave received such dispatches here. So, let us look at the matter in areasonable light. What inducements were offered you to keep thecablegram away from this young man? Speak up!"

"You are insulting"' gasped the assistant manager. 

"Come down to cases!" commanded the consul. 

"I don't understand your Bowery slang. "

"How much money was offered you to hold this message?"

There was no answer, but the operator glanced slyly in the direction ofthe consul with a frightened look in his eyes. 

"Were you to withhold the message altogether, or were you merely todelay this young man?"

"You are insulting!" repeated the other. 

"Who bribed you?" came the next question, snapped out like the crack ofa lash. 

"You have the message, " the assistant manager said. "Get out. "

"Only for the marines you'd put me out!" laughed the consul. 

"Indeed I would!"

Hans made a threatening gesture toward the fellow and he hastened to theprotection of the counter. 

"My office is only a short distance away, " said the consul, turning toNed. "We may as well go there and size this extraordinary situation up. I hardly know what to make of it. "

"There is one thing you, perhaps, do not understand, " Ned said, "andthat is that Captain Martin, in charge of this squad, has been takeninto custody by order of the detective Hans knocked out a moment ago. "

The consul's face turned red with anger. He seized the assistantmanager by the shoulder and shook him, over the counter, as a dog shakesa rat. 

"Where is he?" he demanded. "Tell your hirelings to bring him here, notsoon, but now. "

"He assaulted me!" complained the manager. 

"Produce him! One, two, three. At the third word he comes!"

Obeying a motion from the frightened man, a native opened a door back ofthe counter and Captain Martin was pushed out into the room, smiling andevidently enjoying the situation. 

"I could have butted out at any moment, " he said, "for these Chinks arenot fighters, but I heard what was going on out here and thought I'd letevents shape themselves. If I had been out here a short time ago I amafraid I should have made trouble for myself and for you. "

"It is nice to watch a game that you can't lose at, " laughed the consul. "Come along, with your men, to my office. This lad wants a chance toread his message. "

"Sure, " was the reply. "I want to know how that Dutchman come to bringyou here, and how my men managed to get here just in time. There aremysteries to explain. What?" he added, with a laugh. 

"I guess we'll have to wait for explanations until we know what is inthis message, " Ned said. "Come along to the office, Mr. Consul, for wehave lost a lot of time already. "

"I am anxious to know what the message contains, " said the consul. 

CHAPTER X

THE DARK ROAD TO PEKING

Half an hour later the American consul, Captain Martin, and Ned sat in aprivate room at the consulate. The marines and Jimmie and Hans were inthe large outer room. 

The cablegram from Washington lay open on a table with a translation byits side. It read:

"Proceed to Peking immediately and report to the American ambassador. Keep within reach of the flying squadron. Avoid complications with thenatives. Look out for plots to delay your party. Important that youshould reach Peking at once. Wire conditions. "

"Not much news in that, " said Ned. "Guess we've met all the trouble theWashington people anticipated. "

"Shall you go on to-night?" asked the Captain. 

"Certainly. "

"It is a dark, rainy night, " the consul warned, "and the highways ofChina are none too safe, even in daylight, for American messengers whoare insufficiently guarded. "

"We'll look out for our part of the game, " Captain Martin laughed. 

"We'll, keep close together, " advised the consul. "You will meettrouble on the way. The men who bribed the telegraph people will notget into the discard now. You'll find their hirelings waiting out onthe dark road to Peking. "

Ned pointed to the dispatch. 

"We've got to go, " he said. "I can't tell you how thankful I am to havemet a true American here, " he added, extending his hand to the consul. "I shall tell the story of to-night in the State department atWashington when I get back. "

"Well, get it straight, " laughed the consul. "Say that a blunderingGerman boy, who said he was a Boy Scout from Philadelphia, nearlydragged me out of bed about midnight and informed me that other BoyScouts were in trouble at the telegraph office. I knew that Ned wasexpected here, and so lost no time in getting down. That's all. Themarines did the rest. "

"Save for that beautiful bluff of yours!" laughed Ned. "But how in theDickens did Hans ever get to you? How did he know where to go? How didhe get to Tientsin, anyway?"

"Give it up!" smiled the consul. "You might as well ask me who got themarines out just in the nick of time. "

"Jimmie did that, of course, " replied Ned. "I think I know all about itnow, " he added. "We saw Hans in a room opening on the court. Thelittle fellow burglarized the window and found Hans. I don't know howHans got there, but Jimmie found him, anyway. Then the kid told hisstory and Hans went to the consul and Jimmie went after the flyingsquadron. I have a notion that this is the way it came about. "

In this supposition Ned was exactly right, for Jimmie had found Hans inthe room off the court and the two had planned their movements just asNed explained. The only mystery was as to how Hans got to the Tientsinhouse and the room where he was found. 

"We'll learn all about that in time, " Ned added. "Now we must be off. By the way, I wonder where Jack and Frank are? I haven't seen themsince I left the camp. In the rush of events I quite forgot to ask forthem. "

"Just wait until I talk with one of the boys out here, " the Captainsaid. "Probably Jimmie is already telling them of his adventures. "

But when the door was opened and Jimmie questioned he opened his eyeswide in wonder. The Captain drew him into the private room. 

"Say, " the boy said, excitement in voice and manner, "didn't you leaveFrank and Jack at the camp when you left?"

"Why, I left when you did, " was the reply. "They were there then. "

Jimmie sprang to the door and beckoned the second in command into theroom. By this time both Ned and the consul were on their feet. 

"Where did you leave Frank and Jack?" asked Ned, as the officer enteredthe apartment. 

"They left us, " replied the officer, with hesitation. "We made our bedsof blankets and tumbled in, leaving one man on guard. When I turned inthe boys were in their bunks. When Jimmie awoke us, they were nowhereto be seen. They probably sneaked off to have a look at Tientsin bynight--and a beautiful time they will have. "

"Didn't you see them when you went back?" asked Ned of Jimmie. 

"No; I looked for them, and one of the marines told me they had gone onahead. I'm goin' out an' dig 'em up!"

"You'll make a sweet fist of digging them up in this man's town, at thishour of the night, " the consul declared, anxiety showing on his face. "You'll have to leave them, Mr. Nestor, " he went on, "and I'll rake thecity with a fine tooth comb but I'll find them. "

Ned hesitated. There was the cablegram on the table. A delay of anhour or two might not prove serious, but this search for Frank and Jackmight occupy days, if not weeks!

It was inconceivable that the boys, disregarding all instructions fromthe Captain and all warnings from Ned, should have stolen off into thecity for a night ramble. They both knew how much depended on the partykeeping together and keeping prepared for action. 

"They must have had some reason for leaving the camp, " Ned said, after along pause. "They never would have gone away without some object otherthan amusement, or love of adventure in their minds. "

Captain Martin went to the door and stepped out into the main office, facing the marines. 

"Boys, " he said, in as matter-of-fact tone as he could assume, "what didFrank and Jack say when they left the camp?"

Nine of the men looked up in wonder, but the tenth hastened to answerthe question. 

"Not a word, " he said. "I was on guard, and I saw a young chap comeinto the little bit of light there was about the old house where we werestopping. "

"Who was it?" Ned interrupted. 

The marine shook his head. 

"I didn't ask him who he was, " he said. "He asked where the boys were, and said he was a Boy Scout from Boston, and wanted to see some one fromhome. I knew that the lads would be as glad to see him as he would beglad to see them, and showed him where they had bunked down in a littledog-house of a shack just outside the house. "

"And they went away with this fellow?" asked Ned, anxious to get thestory in as few words as possible. "Why didn't you notify the officerthen in charge of the squad?"

"I didn't think it was necessary, " was the reply. "Well, the kid wentto the shack where Frank and Jack were, and I saw them talking togetherthere for a few minutes. Then I saw the three of them pass through thecircle of light, walking toward the city, and that's all I know aboutit. I wasn't under orders to tell them when to go, or where to go, orwhen not to go. It wasn't for me to interfere. "

"Bonehead!" exclaimed Jimmie. 

The marine glanced up at the little fellow with a frown. 

"Don't you go to abusing me, " he said. "I won't stand for it. I wasraised a pet!" he added, with a smile, as the boy grinned. 

"Stop that!" commanded the Captain, sharply. "If you have told all youknow about the matter you may go. "

"'Wait, " Ned said, as the marine moved toward the door, "I would like toask a question. Would you know this lad you speak of if you should seehim again?"

"I don't think so. It was dark, and he didn't look me squarely in theface. "

"That's all, " Ned said, turning to the consul. "You'll do what you canto find them?" he asked. 

"Sure I will!"

"I can't remain and help you, " Ned went on, and there was a tremble inhis voice. "I've got my work to do. "

"I understand. "

"And we'll start right away, " Ned continued, "if you are ready, Captain. We ought to be in Peking early in the morning. "

"It is a bad road, " the consul said, "and you'll find, echoes of thescrap you had here waiting for you along the way. In the language ofthe cablegram, keep together!"

When all were mounted there were still two vacant cycles--those themissing boys had ridden. Ned pointed to one and spoke to Hans:

"Can you ride?"

"Sure!"

"Then you may take one of the machines and come along with us. "

Hans sprang onto one of the motorcycles just as he had observed theothers do. Under the impetus of the leap the machine trundled along fora few feet and tipped over, landing Hans on his back with the rear wheelscraping acquaintance with his nose. 

"Ouch!" he shouted. "Dake him off! He bites! Vot issit if I handhimone? Vot?"

While the others were laughing at the plight of the German, he made aneffort to arise and the machine promptly slid down an incline andsparked and gyrated until Hans' hair fairly stood on end with fright. 

"Catch heem!" he shouted. "Catch heem! He runs py the road avay!Dunner! Vot a streets!"

"You mustn't tickle his ribs with your heels when you get on, " advisedJimmie. "That always makes him buck. It is a wonder he didn't trampyou when you were down. "

"Holy schmoke!" cried Hans. "Vot a nose I vill haf! Me for the walksto Peeging!"

"I guess you'll have to give up going with us"' laughed Ned. "You mayremain with the consul until we return. And help him hunt Frank andJack, will you?"

Hans willingly agreed to this, and, with many handshakes and well-wishesfrom the consul, the boys were off for Peking. By this time the streetswere rather quiet, although they knew that before they could pass beyondthe limits of the great, sprawling town with its million of inhabitantsdawn would be showing in the sky. 

The swift ride through the city was a revelation to the American boys. All was strange with an atmosphere of age and decay. The habitations, save those occupied by foreigner--and these were grouped together--weremostly old and mean. The streets were in bad condition--worse thanusual because of the softening effects of the rain--and the lights were, in places, infrequent. 

Watchmen patrolling the thoroughfares in the idle manner peculiar to allalleged guardians of the night, gazed menacingly at the machines as theywhirled by, talking in their spark language, as Jimmie expressed it, butthe uniforms kept them at a respectful distance. Here and there werelittle tea shops, and before these were groups of natives, circled closetogether. 

It seemed to Ned like a ride through a cemetery, the occupants of whichhad been awakened to life for an instant and would go back to theirgraves and their dreamless sleep again as soon as the machines hadpassed. The weight of ten thousand centuries seemed to hang over theplace. 

There was a faint line of dawn in the direction of the Yellow Sea whenthe boys came to the suburbs of Tientsin. Before them lay nearly eightymiles of rough road to the capital city. With good luck, they figuredthat they could make that in four hours. 

Now, at dawn, the road which curved like a ribbon before them, startedinto life. From field and village streamed forth natives carrying anddrawing all kinds of burdens. In that land the poor are obliged to beearly astir, and even then the reward of their labors is small. 

It was autumn, and the produce of the field was ripe for barter. Therewere loads attached to horses and loads drawn in carts; there were'rickshaws, and bundles on backs, and on long poles carried over bentshoulders. 

The strange procession of the motorcycles and the marines caused many asurprised halt in the procession of industry. Chinamen stood at oneside while the steel horses shot by them, and then gathered in littlegroups by the wayside to discuss this newest invention of the foreigndevils. 

The sun rose in a cloudless sky and the earth steamed under its rays, sending back in eddying mist the rain which had poured upon her withsuch violence the night before. It would be a hot day, notwithstandingthe lateness of the season, and the eyes of the boys soon turned to ashaded grove not far from the highway. 

"Me for breakfast!" Jimmie declared, and the marines looked as if thelad had echoed their own thoughts. 

"We may as well halt a little while, " Captain Martin said to Ned, "as myboys are beginning to look empty. They have had a hard night of it, andwe can't afford to cultivate any grouches!"

Ned, although he was anxious to go forward, saw good judgment in thisand ordered a halt. In five minutes little fires were burning in thegrove and the odor of steaming coffee soon rose softly with the mists ofthe morning. 

CHAPTER XI

THE MYSTICISM OF THE EAST

"You remember what the consul said regarding trouble on the road toPeking?" asked Ned of Captain Martin as the two took seats under a treenot far from the cooking fires. 

"Yes, and I wondered at his expressing such gloomy predictions. He gaveme quite a scare. "

"I think I understand, now, why he did it, " Ned said, with a smile. "Hewas following instructions. "

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that he had been communicated with by the Washington office, during the day, and given instructions. "

"To scare you?"

"No; to keep me up to the mark in caution. "

"I don't think you needed that. "

"Well, " Ned went on, "this is a queer case. At first I could not makeup my mind why the Secret Service people insisted on my making this tripto Peking on a motorcycle, guarded by soldiers like a passenger in timeof war. Now I think I know. "

"Then you have the advantage of me, " said the officer. "I've beenthinking that over quite a lot, and the answer is still to find. "

"Unless I am mistaken, " Ned replied, "I am expected to do my work on theway to Peking. "

"Come again!" smiled the Captain. 

"In other words, " replied Ned, "I'm set up on a motorcycle as a mark forthe diplomats of Europe to shoot at. "

"Then I must be a mark, also, " grumbled the Captain. 

"Exactly. How do you like it?"

"Oh, it isn't so bad!" smiled the other, won into better humor by thelaughing face of the boy. "But why should the Secret Service departmentput you in such peril?"

"It is my notion, " Ned hastened to say, in defense of his superiorofficers, "that they give me credit for sense enough to take care ofmyself. The same with regard to you. "

"But why--"

"It seems to me, " Ned interrupted, "that the department is up against atough proposition. The matter is so delicate that no foreign governmentcan be accused of mixing this conspiracy for Uncle Sam. What remains todo, then, is to spot the tools being used by the power that is mostactive. "

"That's good sense. "

"Well, we can't spot them in Washington, nor in Tientsin, nor yet in theAmerican embassy at Peking. Where, then, but on the road--on the roadwhere they are striving with all their might to block the progress ofthe agent who is trying to land them?"

Captain Martin mused a moment and then broke into a laugh. 

"And so, " he said, "you think we are spread out along this road for theconspirators to grab off?"

"If they can, of course; but that is not stating the case right. We arespread out along the road to Peking to catch the men who will try tostop us. See? We are here to watch for those who will try to catch us, and to catch them! What do you think of that?"

"Clever!" exclaimed the Captain. 

"The system is an old one in detective work, " Ned explained. "It is nounusual thing for an officer to permit a prisoner to escape in orderthat be may be traced to his confederates. Only this case is somewhatdifferent, of course. We don't know exactly who the criminals we, butwe expect them to reveal their identity by their own acts. "

"Then we'd better be on double guard?"

"Of course. You know how the consul reiterated the warning he gave us. He couldn't tell us that it was the notion of the Secret Servicedepartment that we would be attacked on the way to Peking, but he couldtell us to look out, and he did. "

"Perhaps he thought the truth would frighten you off?"

"Perhaps, " laughed Ned. 

"Well, I'm glad to have the puzzle solved, " Captain Martin said. "Nowwe know just what to look out for. When do you expect to meet withthese foxy chaps?"

"They will appear in due time, if I am right, " Ned replied. "Look outthere on the road, " he added, "they may be coming now. "

The Captain looked and saw four men in the garb of priests, approachingthe grove. Their robes were long and of a dirty slate color, and therewas a great star on the breast of the man in the lead. 

"A queer bunch, " the officer said, "but not diplomats. They are Taoistpriests, and the chances are that they have a tumble-down temple in thisvicinity. They are not very popular in China just now. "

"Never heard of them, " Ned said, watching the men turn from the roadinto the grove. 

"As you know, " the officer explained; "I have been on Chinese stations along time. Well, I've taken a fancy to study up the religion of thepeople. Or, to put it right, the three religions. First, there is theConfucian religion, which is not really a religion, for it does not dealwith the spiritual. It is a philosophy, which teaches the brotherhoodof man. 

"Second, there is Buddhism, with its ruined temples and begging monks. This religion is an importation from India. Aged people and women areits chief devotees. 

"Third, there is Taoism, scarcely less popular that Buddhism. Thepriests live with their families in ruined temples and practice allsorts of fool things. They have a mystic alchemy, prepare spells andincantations, and claim to hold communion with the dead. It is saidthat worthless foreigners travel about in the disguise of Taoistpriests, just for the money there is in it, as fake spiritualist mediumstravel about in our own country. 

"The people coming are Taoist priests, all right, for they have thedrums, and gongs, and fifes of their trade with them. Their ruinedtemple may not be far away. If we have time we may witness some oftheir foolish ceremonies. "

Ned's face looked thoughtful for a moment, then cleared. There was asmile on his face as he asked:

"Do Taoist priests accost strangers on the highway?"

"Yes; when there is a show of getting money. They are a rank lot, asyou will soon see. "

"These may not be so rank, " Ned replied, meaningfully. 

"'Why, " began Captain Martin, "you don't suppose--"

"It seems odd that Taoist priests should arrive here just at this time. "

"If these chaps really I are spies--the spies we have been warnedagainst--the fellows we were sent forth to meet, why, there may be a bitof action here. "

"Well, " Ned went on, "let them take the initiative. We shall soon beable to give a good guess as to what this visit means. "

As the four strangely clad figures moved across the little patch offield which separated the highway from the grove, Jimmie came runningover to where the two were sitting, an egg sandwich in one hand and acup of coffee in the other. As he ran the hot liquid jolted out of thecup and came in contact with his hand. 

"Gee!" he shouted. "Just look what's comin'. "

Then he dropped the hot cup on the ground and began to dance up anddown, shaking his blistered hand as he did so. 

"I got it!" he said. "There was only one hot cup in the lot, an' I gotit! Say, Ned, what do you know about them callers you're goin' to have?Look like busted washee-washee geeks from Pell street. Look at 'em!"

By this time the marines were watching the advancing priests withcurious eyes. Breakfast was nearly over, and some of the men werepreparing for a brief rest in the shady spot they had found. 

The priests, if such they were, entered the grove, passed through thegroup of men without a glance to the right or left, and approached thespot where Ned and the Captain sat. Here they drew up in a line, muchas the fakirs of the East Indies perform, with their crude drams, gongsand fifes in full view. 

"Hello, Sports!" Jimmie cried. 

Ned motioned to the boy to remain silent. 

The Captain addressed the priests in a couple of Chinese sentences, butreceived no immediate answer. One of the fellows, the one with a greatstar painted, or worked, on the breast of his gown, soon advanced andstood directly in front of Ned. 

"We have had warning of your approach, " he said. "We have been waitingfor you for many days. "

Ned started, for the words were spoken in English. The Captain mutteredunder his breath:

"I haven't a doubt of it. "

"What do you want?" asked Ned. 

The four bowed to the ground. 

"Attention. The mysticism of the East is open to you if you are braveand strong. "

"Bunk!" whispered Jimmie. 

"Where do you live?" asked the Captain. 

The leader pointed to a pile of broken stones at the edge of the grove. A closer inspection of the heap told the officer that it was what timehad left of a temple. 

"Tell him to get busy, " whispered Jimmie. "Can he make a tree threehundred years old in a minute?"

"Where is this mysticism of the East located?" asked the Captain, unableto get the original notion that they were not what they seemed out ofhis mind. 

Again the leader pointed to the ruined temple. 

"Come!" he said. 

"Now is your chance!" whispered the Captain. 

"You are convinced that these are the people who were sent out to defeatthe purpose of our mission?" asked Ned. 

"Sure, " was the reply. "These fellows are not priests. I don't believethe chap who speaks is even a Chinaman. "

Ned did not hesitate long. If he was correct in his interpretation ofthe orders of the Secret Service department, it would be the right thingfor him to go with the strange visitors. 

If, as he really believed, they had designs on his life or his liberty, no better place or time for the test of cunning and strength could havebeen selected. It was early morning, and the highway just beyond thegrove was never long vacant of travelers. Indeed, groups of five or sixwere constantly in sight. 

The travelers were Chinese, of course, and not likely to assist him outof any difficulty into which he might tumble, still the fact that theywere there was something. Even conspirators do not seek audiences fortheir crimes. 

Besides, there were the marines. Ned understood that they would not bepermitted to enter the ruined temple in a body, but he knew that theywould be within call. 

"What's your notion?" Ned whispered to the Captain. 

"Go, and take me with you. "

"Of course you'll go if I do. "

"And what's the matter with me goin'?" demanded Jimmie, who was nearenough to catch the impression that Ned was going somewhere and wasintending to leave him behind. 

"Perhaps the hosts won't welcome three, " suggested Ned, in a whisper. "Such people, like those who present communications from dead friends, at a dollar per, like to work in private. "

Jimmie did not wait to argue the question with Ned. As usual, hisanswer was direct and to the point. He advanced upon the priests anddemanded:

"Will you take me along?"

The four regarded each other in perplexity. 

"Come, now, " urged the boy, "be good sports. Be good fellers, foronce!"

It was finally arranged that Ned, Jimmie and the Captain were to proceedto the ruined temple with the four and there learn something of themysticism of the East! Ned was positive that the time for his test ofcourage had come. Still, he did not waver, for he was prepared. Themarines were instructed to gradually encircle the old temple, and tolisten for orders from the inside. 

While satisfied that he had now come to the turning point in the case, Ned wondered, while on the way to the temple, if he ought to take therisk, whether it might not be wiser to arrest the fakirs, strip them oftheir disguises, and take them, by force of numbers, to the embassy atPeking. Still, if he took that course, he would have no proof againstthem--would not be able to connect the fellows with the conspiracy. 

The only thing to do was to take the risk. 

So, with a premonition of danger in his heart, he turned down the stepswhich led to the temple. 

For the temple was, as has been said, in ruins. There was a heap ofhewn stones on top of the earth, and that was all that showed fromabove. In front a stone staircase led down into a damp andevil-smelling place. 

After a minute's descent Ned found himself in a long, narrow hall, whichhad at some time in the distant past formed the lobby of the temple. 

There was a cold wind blowing from somewhere in advance, and bats flewcroakingly against it in their retreat from the intruders. Ned heardthe clang of a heavy door behind him. Then the current of air was shutoff. 

"This old barn of a place hasn't been used for a hundred years!" Jimmiewhispered, clutching Ned by the arm. 

"What makes you think so?" asked Ned. 

"If in use, there would be something here to show it, " was the reply. "See, they haven't even got lights here. The ones they are now carryingwere taken from the folds of their robes. And there would be no bats ifthe place was in constant use. "

"Right you are, boy, " Ned whispered back. "But we knew what we weregetting into. Hark!"

It was the dull, rolling sound of a drum that caused the exclamation. One of the men, far in advance, was evidently giving a signal. In amoment the shrill notes of a fife reached the ears of the boys. 

They waited for a moment, wondering, and then a burst of light came fromsome unseen quarter and the four men were seen standing in line on arock which lifted above the sloping floor. 

"Now for the ghosts!" whispered Jimmie. "Who's first?"

CHAPTER XII

NIGHT IN AN ANCIENT CITY

Frank Shaw and Jack Bosworth, suddenly awakened from a sound sleep inthe little mud shack in the cornfield, in the suburbs of Tientsin, werenot a little astonished at finding themselves rolled deftly out of theblankets in which they had wrapped themselves before lying down. 

"What's coming off here?" demanded Frank, rubbing his eyes and gazingblankly about the hovel. "What kind of a hotel is this?"

"What did you do that for?" asked Jack, edging newer to Frank. "Whythis midnight industry? What did you pull me out of me covers for?"

"I didn't!" cried Frank. "You pulled me out!"

"Not me!" Jack answered. "I was catching German carp, in the upperlagoon in Central Park, N. Y. , just a second ago. Sorry I woke up beforeI got a mess!"

"Who did it, then?" asked Frank. "Some one gave me a thump in the windand then rolled me out of the drapery of me elegant couch. "

"Search me!" Jack replied. "I got something like that, also. I'll betit's the blooming marines, playing an alleged joke! I'm going out toheave a rock at them. "

"Wait!" whispered a voice. "Don't make so much noise, either. You'repinched!"

"That's Bowery!" cried Jack. 

"Come on and show yourself!" Frank commanded. "What are you hiding backthere in the darkness for? Who are you, and where did you come from?What did you wake me up for, anyway?"

"Black Cat Patrol, Chicago!" was the reply that came through thedarkness. "You're both Black Bears, New York, " the voice went on. "Isaw the badges on your vests. "

Both boys sprang to their feet instantly. This was something worthwhile. A Boy Scout in China!

"Got a light?" asked Frank. "I'll just like to see whether you're aBlack Cat or not. "

"Nix on the light, " was the reply. 

"That's South Clark street, below Van Buren, " laughed Jack. 

"All right, " Frank said, in answer to the boy's negative, "I've got aflashlight. "

"Then keep it out of sight, " advised the other. "I don't want to stirup these soldiers. Perhaps they won't let you go with me. "

"Oh, they won't?" Jack grumbled. "We'll see! Turn on your light, Frank, old top!"

Frank, "old top. " turned on his light, and the two saw a boy ofapparently fifteen standing immediately in front of them. He wasslender but muscular, and his red hair and blue eyes betokened anythingbut Asiatic ancestors. 

The lad extended his right hand in full salute and waited. 

"Correct!" Jack said. "Turn out your light, Frank. Sit down, kid, andtell us why this surprise party. "

"I came down to tell you that there's doin's up town, " was the quickreply. "You'd better get a move on!"

"We're ready, " Frank said, then, "but we'd like to know what we're goingto move against. "

"Your friends are in trouble. That's the answer. "

"How do you know?"

"I have just left them at the telegraph office. "

"That's where they went. "

"Well, that's where they're gettin' theirs, " declared the lad. "So buckup!"

"Who--what--"

"Aw, come along!" the boy cut in. "They're goin' to be arrested, an'they won't get their cablegram, an' there'll be worse if you don't wakeup. See?"

"You'll have to explain to us, " Frank observed. 

"You go tell that to the marines!" Jack exclaimed. "They're rightoutside there. "

"All right!" the lad answered. "I'm goin' back. You can all go toHalifax for all me. "

"Wait, " said Frank. "Where did you get this information you're favoringus with? What's your name? How did you get to China?"

"I'm a delivery boy at the telegraph office, " the lad answered. "Iloafed around there tonight to see you folks, for I knew that thecablegram would be called for. Before showing myself, I heard what wasgoing on an' ducked. Now, come on. "

"What's your name?"

"Sandy McNamara. "

"How did you get to China?"

"Hid in a ship an' got caught an' beat up. "

"A stowaway, eh?"

"You bet! I'd do it again to get back to South Clark street, in littleold Chi. "

"What they doing to Ned and Jimmie?" asked Jack. 

"Oh, come along!" Frank exclaimed. "The boys may be in need of goodadvice and exclusive society! We'll go and see. "

"Well, " Sandy put in, "this ain't no case for the bulls. You've got toget to them without makin' any show of fight. You'd be eat up in thistown with them few soldiers. "

"What do you propose?"

"Why, we'll go to the American consul an' get him out. "

"You seem to be almost human in your intelligence, " Jack cried. "Let goyour anchor and heave ahead!"

"We'll have to make good time, " said Sandy. "Can you run?"

"We're the original record-breakers when it comes to working our legs!"Jack said, and the three, after moving quietly through the lightedcircle, so as not to attract the attention of the guard, broke into arun which fast lessened the distance between the camp and the telegraphoffice. At the end of half a mile Sandy drew up against a mud wall. The rain was still falling, and the boys were soaked to the skin andshivering with cold, notwithstanding their exertions. 

"I'm winded, " Sandy explained, panting. 

"I'm frozen stiff, " Jack declared. 

"I'm wet enough to swim home, " Frank put in. 

"Well, " Sandy continued, "there's a little shack behind us--looks likeone of the squatter shacks on the Lake front--an' we can go in an' restup. Here's where the only friend I have in China lives. "

"Go on in, then, " Jack replied, his teeth chattering with the cold. 

"We ought to keep on, " Frank advised. "This is no time to rest and getdry when Ned is in trouble!"

"That's right, " from Jack. "Trot ahead, little one!"

"I've got to go in here, anyway, an' get my uniform, " the boy explained. "I'll be more protection to you boys if I have it on. "

"Protection to us!" laughed Jack. "You're a joker!"

"Hurry up, then, and get it, " Frank urged. "We've got to be gettingalong toward the telegraph office. "

"Ain't you comin' in?" asked Sandy. 

"No; we'll want to remain if we go in. Hurry. "

"Do you think he's on the level?" asked Jack, as the boy disappearedthrough the low doorway. 

"I don't know, " was the reply. "It doesn't seem as if an American lad, and a Boy Scout at that, would play a treacherous game against his owncountrymen. "

"No, it doesn't; yet what is he stopping here for? He ought to be asanxious as we are to get over the ground. "

Then Sandy came stumbling to the door, on the inside, and asked theboys, through the rough boards, to come in with their lights. 

"There's somethin' mighty strange here, " he said. 

"This may be a trap!" Jack said. "Shall we go in?"

"We may need this boy as a guide, " Frank observed. 

"All right, then. In we go. "

There was only one room to the shack, which was of mud, with thick wallsand a leaky roof. There was a table, a chair, a heap of clothes in acomer, and nothing else, save for a puddle of water on the floor. 

Sandy stood in the middle of the floor, his feet in the puddle, whenFrank's searchlight illumined the bare room. His eyes were staring in astrange way and his face was deadly pale. 

"Look there!" he exclaimed, his lips forming the words badly. "The oldwoman who fed me when I was broke an' sick lies under the clothes, stupid from some dope. The house has been poked over. I saw a face atthe little hole in the wall as I came in. What does it mean?"

Whisperings were heard at the door. Frank extinguished his light andthe boys stood in darkness as complete as ever fell since the dawn ofcreation. 

"What do you think?" asked Jack, of Frank. 

"Looks like a trap. "

Sandy sprang forward and seized Frank by the arm, and his voice shook ashe began. 

"No! It ain't no trap! I didn't bring you here to get rolled for yourwads, or anythin' like that. I stopped here to get me telegraphmessenger uniform. I can go anywhere in the city with that on, and notbe molested. I don't know what this means, but there are Chinks allaround this house. "

"Perhaps you've been followed ever since you left the office, " Franksuggested. "Where is your uniform?"

"Gone, " replied Sandy, "an' everythin' else I had in that old box in thecorner. "

Frank walked to the door and opened it a trifle. There was no need toopen it wider to see what kind of trouble they were in. In front, patient in the downpour, stood six Chinamen. 

The flashlight dwelt on the silent row for an instant and was thenturned off. Frank closed the door and stood with his back against it. 

"Is there another way out?" he asked. 

Sandy pointed to a small door at the rear. Frank opened it a trifle, ashe had the other, and again the flashlight bored a round hole in thenight. There were six Chinamen there. 

"They mean to keep us here!" Jack cried. "I'll show them. "

"I hear them all around the place, " Sandy almost sobbed. "You'll thinkI brought you here for this. I didn't! I'm on the square with youboys. I wanted to help you. "

"Perhaps they'll go away soon, " Jack suggested. 

"Never!" Frank replied. "This is purely an Oriental shut-in! They willwait out there until the hot summer tans their hides if they are toldto. The patience of the Orient is something awful to run up against. "

"But why?" asked Jack. 

"Oh, they got next to me!" Sandy observed. 

"They want to keep you from goin' to the assistance of your friends. They'll let you go after they've found some mysterious way of disposingof the others. If I could get out, I'd go to the camp. "

"Dig around! There may be some way of getting out. These slant-eyedpeoples are slant-eyed in their ways. There may be a hole under the hutthat leads somewhere. "

"I've seen the woman go down cellar, " said Sandy. 

"Then you go down cellar, " advised Frank, "and see if there is no wayout from there. I'm bound to get to Ned and Jimmie if I have to beginoperations with my gun. "

Presently Sandy's voice was heard from below. He said that he felt acurrent of air, as if there were a passage leading outside. 

"Come on down an' see, " he said. 

The boys went down a steep ladder, after fastening both doors on theinside, and soon found themselves on the cellar bottom. Frank turned onhis flashlight and looked about. There was a hole in one of the wallswhich seemed to lead downward, in the direction of the river. 

"I'm going to try it, " Jack exclaimed, taking out his light. "When Isay for you to come on, come a-running. "

He said for them to come on in a moment, and Sandy and Frank soon foundthemselves in a square subterranean room which must have been cut nearthe surface and just outside the wall of the hut. It was a comfortlessplace, and they lost no time in looking for a way out. 

"Here it is!" Sandy called out, directly. "Here is a tunnel. Say, butI never knew about this before. Come on!"

Frank led, but proceeded only a short distance. Then his light restedon the grinning face of a Chinaman. 

The tunnel was guarded. The boy turned back and looked into the tunnelby which they had entered the chamber. Within a foot of the muzzle ofhis searchlight he saw the grinning face of another Chinaman. 

He stepped back to the mouth of the tunnel and motioned Jack to guardthe exit, explaining, briefly, that they had been trapped, not in a huton the street level, but in a subterranean chamber where they could notbe heard, and where no one would ever think of looking for them. 

"Oh, no, " Jack cried, regarding Sandy angrily, "you didn't know anythingabout this--not a thing! You treacherous dog!"

"I didn't! I didn't!" shouted the boy. "Call them men in an' ask themif I did. "

"You wait a minute, " Jack gritted out, "and I'll see if the Chinks willstand quiet while I beat their accomplice up!"

"Quit it!" Frank commanded. "We're in trouble enough now, withoutbringing the Chinks down on us. I'd give a good deal to know if Ned andJimmie are still alive!"

CHAPTER XIII

A VANISHING DIPLOMAT

Ned turned to the Captain as the men in slate-colored robes lifted theirhands after the manner of fake mystics the world over. He was notuninterested, but he was anxious. 

They were now some distance from the grove in which the camp breakfasthad been prepared, and the grove, in turn, was some distance from thehighway. They were also some feet under ground, where any calls forassistance that might be necessary would be muffled by the hewn stoneand the damp air and earth. 

Besides, the alleged priests had mapped out this scene before thearrival of the boys, as Ned believed. Therefore they might have half ahundred natives within call, prepared to do murder if necessary. 

The marines had been ordered by the Captain to gradually surround thetemple, to guard every entrance that could be discovered, and to forcetheir way in if anything of a suspicious nature occurred. Ned did notknow the men as well as he knew the Captain, therefore he asked:

"The men will obey your orders to the letter? You see, we are in a boxhere!"

"They will obey, " said the officer. "What do you make of the mummerynow going on?"

The "mummery" consisted in slow, gliding motions, in whirlings aboutintended to be graceful, in slow liftings of the hands upward, and inthe beating of the drums. 

"I don't make anything of it, " Ned replied. "I take it they are waitingfor time. Perhaps they got us in here with less trouble than they hadfigured on, and are waiting for confederates. "

"What a land!" mused the Captain. "What a way to seek the destructionof any enemy! An Italian would have stabbed us in the back on the wayin here, a Frenchman would have set a band of bullies upon us in thegrove, an American would have walked up and made observations with hisbare fists!"

"This is Oriental!" smiled Ned. "I wish we were well out of this holein the ground!"

"I see, " began the man with the star on the breast of his dirty gown, "that you are in trouble of mind concerning the loss of two companions. "

"Correct!" shouted the irrepressible Jimmie. "Come across with them--right soon, old hoss!"

"I see, " continued the other, not noticing the interruption, "that youare here in a weighty matter--a matter affecting the peace of nations. "

Jimmie was primed for another outbreak of conversation, but Ned caughthim by the arm and ordered him to remain silent. 

"I see, " the alleged seer went on, "that you have met with difficultiesand perils on the way. Is this true?"

"All true, " Ned answered. 

"Then approach. Enter the holy room and receive instruction which shallbe of benefit. "

Ned hesitated a moment. 

"And my friends?" he asked. 

"The spirit speaks to but one, " was the reply. 

"What a lot of rot!" whispered Jimmie. "You go on, an' I'll be there ina second if there is anything like rough house. "

With a warning look in the Captain's direction, the boy advanced to theplatform of rock. From there he was directed to a door cut in what, seemed to be soft earth and framed with timbers. The timbers were new. He saw that at a glance, and drew his own conclusions. 

Ned was glad to see that the man who had done all the speaking was theonly one to accompany him into the side room. In a contest of muscles, he thought he could hold his own pretty well with this fellow. 

Ned was prepared for almost anything, but what took place next filledhim with astonishment. The room was just a hole out in the earth. Itdid not appear to have been a part of the old temple. There were in ita board table, roughly put together, two chairs, and a square box, perhaps five feet in length by one and a half in the other proportions. 

As soon as the door was closed the alleged priest threw aside hisslate-colored robe, snatched a wig and beard from his head and face, and stood forth a handsome man, dressed in the costume of a modernEnglishman or American. At first Ned did not recognize the smiling facewhich confronted him. 

Then there came to his mind the memory of a time in Canton when he hadwatched a meeting of men he believed to be in conspiracy against hiscountry. This face certainly had been there. 

The voice was low, smooth, musical. Ned stood looking at the subtlecountenance, but said not a word. 

"You are caught at last!" came next. 

Still Ned stood silent, saying not a word, only wondering if the timefor final action had arrived--if the Captain outside was in such perilas threatened himself. 

"Rather a bright boy, " sneered the other, "only not bright enough tounderstand that men of the world are not to be defeated in theirlong-cherished plans by the kindergarten class. Do you know where yourtwo friends are--the two who accompanied you here?"

"I presume that they are quite capable of taking care of themselves, "Ned replied. 

"They are on the road to a dungeon in Peking. "

"From first to last, " Ned said, "from my first connection with this caseup to this hour, I have come upon only bluffers and liars. You seem tobe making good in both lines. "

"Not so rude, kid, " laughed the other. "You've certainly got nerve toaddress such words to one who holds your life, and the lives of yourfriends, in his hand. "

"If you do, " Ned said, "if you really have the power of life and deathyou claim to have, there is no hope for any of us. "

"Figure it out in your own way, " said the other, "but, so far as thepower of life and death is concerned, you hold the lives of your friendsin your own hands. "

"I understand what you mean, " the boy replied, "but I'm not for sale. Go ahead with your procession! Death looks pretty good to me, ascompared with the disgrace of asking a favor from one of your stripe. "

Ned's words, purposely designed to enrage the fellow, struck fire atlast, and he said what he never would have said in calmer moments. 

"I'll show you that death is not so pleasant a thing as you seem toimagine!" he almost shouted. "I'll show you how to learn the lesson ofsupplication! When the future of a nation is at stake, human lives donot count. What are the lives of a dozen or more to the prosperity ofmillions? You have information which is needed, in the interest ofhumanity, and even torture shall be resorted to if it can be obtained inno other way. "

"And so, " Ned replied, calmly, "you are not merely a tool. As Isupposed, you are one of the men at the head of the conspiracy. You arethe man I came upon at Canton. You are the wretch who is trying toinvolve two continents in war. Well, I hope to meet you under lesstrying circumstances!"

The other laughed harshly and walked to the door. Listening with hisear against the rough boards for an instant, he opened it a trifle andglanced out. Ned heard sounds of a struggle there, and was about tospring forward when his captor faced him with a provoking smile. 

"By the way, " he said, "I neglected to inform you that one threateningmovement will mean instant death to you. I am opposed to any bully-likedisplay of weapons, preferring to discuss this question with you withoutcoercion, but I took the precaution to place a rifleman at an opening inone of the walls of this room. He has you 'covered, ' as the saying is, and so it is advisable for you to remain passive. "

"What is going on out there?" demanded Ned. 

"Your people seem to be protesting against leaving the place underescort, " laughed the other. "The two you left at the camp in thecornfield were not so hard to control. "

"You seem to have a good knowledge of a our movements, " said Ned. "Youhave a spy system well in hand here. "

"That is refreshing, as coming from the mouth of a spy, " retorted theother. "If you are ready to talk business, " he added, closing the door, "I am ready to make a proposition. "

"If your time and your breath are worth anything, " the boy replied, "youmay as well save both. "

"You have possession of certain documents taken from a certain wreck inthe Pacific Ocean?"

Ned made no reply. 

"You possess certain information concerning an alleged plot. "

Still no response from the boy. 

"Without you, your government can make no headway in the investigationnow on foot. "

Ned dropped into a chair and turned his face away with a well assumedair of indifference. Really, he was anxious for the man to go on, tosay just how important were the papers and the information. 

"We have it in our power to prevent the information you possess everreaching your government, but the documents you have we cannot get inthe usual way. Therefore we are offering you terms. "

"Naturally, " Ned smiled. 

"Promise to restore the papers and forever remain silent as to what youhave learned since you undertook this case, and you shall all go free, with more money than you ever dreamed of having in your hands. "

"You have not stated the case fully, " Ned said, when the otherconcluded, with a superior air. "You have not mentioned a certainalleged diplomat. You want me to forget all that he has said and done inthe matter. "

"Naturally. I said that you were to forget everything connected with thecase. "

"I prefer, " Ned replied, "to see you on the gallows for murder. "

The other started violently. 

"Then this is final?"

There came a sound resembling the report of firearms from the outerroom. At the same time Ned caught a movement behind the south wall ofthe room. The gunman mentioned by the diplomat was evidently leaving hispost for the purpose of joining in any struggle which might be takingplace. 

The boy thought fast for a moment. If the marines had fought their wayinto the outer room they would soon be knocking at the rough door thatseparated the two apartments. In that case the man before him would doone of two things. 

He would try to fight his way out of the room, or he would try to escapeby some exit not at that time in sight. In the first instance he mightwound or kill one or more of the marines. In the latter, he might beable to conceal himself in some underground passage and finally escape. 

It seemed to Ned that the one thing for him to do was to attack thefellow and endeavor to disarm him. The noises of conflict in the outerroom grew more distinct, and Ned, observing that the diplomat wasglancing restlessly about, as if seeking some means of escape, sprangupon him. 

Instead of turning and defending himself, the fellow struggled torelease himself from the boy's hold, and to make his way toward asection of the wall on the south. The statement that a rifleman hadbeen stationed somewhere there now came back to the boy's mind, and heknew that there must be a passage behind that wall. 

The man with whom Ned was struggling was evidently unarmed, for hefought only with his hands and feet. He tried by all the tricks knownto wrestlers to break away from the boy, or to hurl him to the floor, but Ned had skill as well as strength, and all such efforts provedunavailing. 

While this silent struggle was going on, the rough door came crashing inand a score of Chinamen, evidently fleeing from an enemy, rushed in andflocked toward that south wall. Ned and his enemy were trampled underfoot for a moment, then the room was clear save for a half dozen marineswho stood in the doorway, their smoking guns in their hands. 

Ned's head whirled from a blow he had received, and there was a numbfeeling in one of his arms, but he arose to his feet and glanced around. Jimmie stood with the marines, a grin on his freckled face. 

"Gee whiz!" he shouted, "how that man did go!"

"Which man?" demanded Ned. "Why didn't some one follow him?"

"He just went through that wall, " Jimmie answered. "When I tried tofollow him I bumped me nose! Say, but he went right through that oldwall!"

"Where did the Chinks go?" asked Ned. 

"Down through the floor!" was the reply. "But, say, did you ever seeanythin' like that vanishin' priest? I'll bet a pie he's forty milesaway right this minute. "

When Ned and the marines took up the search for the diplomat and theChinese, it did seem that they were forty miles away! There werenumerous passages under the old temple, and in these the fugitives musthave hidden. 

"How did you know?" asked Ned of the marines who had broken into theunderground rooms. "How did you know there was danger inside?"

"That little imp of a Jimmie, " one of the men said, "came to theentrance and shouted fit to wake the dead. They were trying to carrythe Captain and the kid away. Bright boy, that!"

Two of the marines had been slightly wounded by knives in the hands ofthe Chinese, but they declared themselves quite well enough to go onwith the journey. 

"The Chinks didn't fight, " one of them said. "They just threw knivesand ran! We never hit one of them! Sheep, that's what they are! Justsheep!"

"Well, " Ned said, "we've lost our chance on the road to Peking, thefellow we want having escaped, so we must go ahead and set the rat traponce more. "

"You'll walk if you do, " one of the marines said, showing from theoutside, "for the Chinks have made off with the motorcycles!"

CHAPTER XIV

SANDY PROVES HIS CASE

"They'll be dead if you don't get out of here an' do somethin'!" saidSandy. "The Chinks'll eat 'em up!"

Frank looked around the dismal subterranean chamber and a cynical smilecame to his lips. 

"We might get out of here, " he said, "if we had a ton of dynamite. Idon't know but I'd take a chance on getting injured myself in order tosee these Chinks sailing into the sky. "

Jack, still suspicious of Sandy, turned toward him with a frown. Thelad met the other's eyes steadily. 

"Do you know the way out of this?" Jack asked. 

"No, " admitted the boy. "Never was in here before. Never knew therewas such a place. "

"Well, " Jack went on, "the longer we remain here the longer we'll be infinding our chums. I'm going to make a break. "

"If you have a gun, " Sandy said, calmly, "I'll go ahead with it. If Iget plugged, or anythin' like that, you boys may be able to get away. These Chinks are quick to run if there is danger ahead, and I think Ican scare them off. Give me the gun!"

Sandy reached out his hand, but Frank did not extend the gun he hadtaken from his pocket. 

"You're nervy, all right, " he said, "but you don't have to take all therisk. Suppose we wait until daylight and then make a rush?"

"Why daylight?" asked Jack. 

"There may then be some friendly face in sight, if we are able to get tothe street. "

"There's force in that, " Jack replied, "but this is no palace car towait in. "

"You let me go and try, " Sandy urged. 

Frank shook his head gravely. 

"No use, " he said. "There are probably a score or more of Chinks aroundthis old shack. We've got to wait until morning before we try to getaway. The only question in my mind is this: Will they let us alone untildaylight? If they don't, then it will be a scrap. "

The boys sat down against the earth wall of the chamber and waited. Nowand then they could hear whispers in a tongue they could not understand. Occasionally they heard a wagon creaking along the distant street. Thenthey knew that the doors connecting the mud hut with the outer worldwere open. 

"I wonder if old Chee is still asleep from the dope?" Sandy asked, aftera long time had passed. 

"Why did they dope her?" asked Jack. "I don't see any nourishment forthem in that. "

"Guess they thought I'd be apt to help you boys, " Sandy replied, "andmade up their minds to catch me and chuck me away somewhere. Chee's anervy old lady, an' probably scrapped when they searched for me. I'dlike to help her. "

"Why do you call her Chee?"

"Because she's so cheerful, an' because I don't know her name, " was thereply. 

"It must be pretty near dawn, " Jack said, after a long silence, with aprodigious yawn. 

Frank looked at his watch and found that it was six o'clock. It hadbeen a long night. The sun would rise shortly after six. 

Five minutes later sounds of trouble of a physical nature were heardalong the tunnel by which the chamber had been reached. There wereblows, grunts, and ejaculations of rage. Then they heard a voice theyknew:

"Donner! I make your face preak! Come py mine punch of fives. Oh, youloaver!"

"Hans!" cried Jack. "How the Old Harry did he get here?"

"He'll soon be able to tell you himself, " Frank said, "if he keeps oncoming. "

Indeed, the German's voice came nearer every instant, nearer and moreemphatic. He was panting, too, and the sound of blows reached the earsof the listening boys. 

"Get in there!"

The words were spoken in English, but not by Hans. 

"There's that gink who rounded us up back in Taku, " exclaimed Jack. "Heseems to be winning all the tricks. I wonder how he got hold of Hans?"

"I thought Dutchy was back with the submarine, " Frank replied. "How hegot to Tientsin is a mystery to me. "

The next moment Hans' broad face, now red from anger and exertion, appeared at the mouth of the tunnel, looking like a full moon, and thenhis bulky figure was projected violently into the chamber. He scrambledin on his knees, but arose instantly and swung his fists in thedirection of the tunnel, shouting imprecations on some out-of-sightperson. 

There were numerous cuts and bruises on his face from which blood wasoozing, and his clothing was torn and dirty, as if it had been draggedthrough the mud. 

"Loaver! Loaver!" he shouted, still shaking his clenched fist at theentrance. "Vait a liddle, yet! I eats dern alife!"

"I wish you would!" cried Jack. 

"Give me a bite while you are at it, " Sandy cut in. 

Hans gazed around in bewilderment for a time, and then his facebrightened as he caught sight of Frank and Jack. It did not take thelads long to arrive at a mutual understanding of the happenings of thenight. 

Hans had been followed from the place where he had left the other boysand captured. He did not know what had become of Ned and the others anymore than Frank and Jack did. 

His story brought some relief to the others, for it was presumable thattheir chums were now well on their way to Peking. Once there, theimprisoned lads knew that every effort for their release would be made--then the whole power of the United States government, through theambassador, would be exerted in their behalf. 

"But what's the use of all that, " Jack asked, grumblingly--for he wasgetting hungry! "What's the use of all that if the Chinks sit out therelike blooming cigar-store images and never give a hint as to where weare? We are likely to starve before the American ambassador can act withsuccess. "

Hans rubbed his stomach protectingly. 

"Empty!" he said. "I could eats a Schinks!"

"Eat one for me, " advised Jack. 

Sandy, who had been listening in silence to the explanations which hadbeen made, now asked:

"How many Chinks are there out there?"

"Army!" answered Hans. 

This was discouraging, for, as has already been stated, the boys weremeditating a rush as soon as the city was astir. They did notanticipate much help from bystanders, even if they should gain thestreet, but they knew that such a ruction as they would be able to putup would attract the attention of the authorities, and so bring thematter before the courts. 

While they talked the chances over, another breeze of trouble blew infrom the entrance tunnel. An argument of some kind was in progressbetween the men stationed there. 

Sandy moved forward to the mouth of the dark hole and listened. Theargument was being carried on in the language of the country, but nowand then a few words in English were heard. 

"I tell you they got away, slick and clean!" the Englishman said, asSandy listened. 

A mumbling of native talk, and then another sentence:

"And some one will be here directly. "

Jack, who had heard the words, turned to Frank with a grin. 

"Is that a promise or a threat?" he asked. 

"I think our friends are coming, " Frank replied. 

"They can never find us in this hole, " Jack complained. "Suppose wemake a little noise?"

"If they are headed this way, they know where we are, " Frank said, "andit seems as if we ought to wait for them. ". 

"I'll starve!" muttered Jack. "I could eat a fried telegraph pole, andlike it!"

"I eat since yesterday only plue sky!" Hans contributed. "My pellymakes argument mit my konscience! But?"

Sandy sat dejectedly by the wall and said nothing. He knew that he wasstill suspected of leading the boys into the trap in which they nowfound themselves, and was studying over plans to assist them out and atthe same time establish his innocence. 

It seemed to the lads that a whole day passed without a single thing tobreak the monotony, but Frank's watch insisted that it was only eleveno'clock. It was dark most of the time in the chamber, for the boys weresaving of their flashlight batteries. 

Finally one of the plans which had been slowly maturing in Sandy's brainbrought the lad into action. Noiselessly he crept away from the littlegroup and moved on his hands and knees, along the tunnel leading to thecellar of the old mud house. 

He reasoned that that point would not be so closely guarded as the exitwould be; also that Ned and his companions, if they returned to the cityin quest of the boys and sought the mud house, would be more apt to bewatching the house itself than the exit, which was some distance awayfrom the road. 

After proceeding a few feet, Sandy stopped and listened. There were noindications of human presence in the tunnel ahead, or in the cellar, which was not far away now, and from which a faint light shone. 

When the boy reached the entrance to the cellar he saw three Chinamenlying on the earth floor, either asleep or under the influence of opium. It did not take the lad long to make up his mind as to which one of thecauses, sleep or opium, had put his guards off their guard. 

There was a strong odor of opium in the cellar, and a closer examinationof the place showed him that the watchmen had been "hitting the pipe, "as the boys on South Clark street, Chicago, would have expressed it. However, the way did not seem to be clear, for there were soft footstepson the patch of board floor which covered a part of the cellar, and thena Chinaman backed down the ladder. 

He came down slowly and stood for an instant on the cellar floor beforelooking around. When at last he saw the men asleep on the floor hemuttered some jargon which Sandy could not understand and turned back tothe ladder again. 

Sandy believed that the man he saw was the only one the "pipe" had lefton guard. If he could prevent him reaching the street, he might be ableto get the other boys out of the trap in which they had been caught. 

The Chinaman seemed large and strong, but Sandy would have taken evengreater chances in order to convince the boys that he was not theirenemy, so he sprang upon him. The struggle was a desperate one for atime, for Sandy was not very strong as compared with his opponent, andthe man he was fighting with fought viciously. 

Sandy did not dare cry out to the boys in the chamber for help, for thatmight bring other enemies into the fight. The only way seemed to be toconquer the Chinaman and then get the boys into the street as silentlyas possible. Once there, they would have little difficulty in makingtheir way out of the city. 

It is quite probable that Sandy would have come off second best in theencounter if Jack had not heard the racket the two made and came intothe cellar with a bound. The two boys soon had the Chinaman down andwell tied up. 

"You're a brick, Sandy, " Jack said, as the boys faced each other in thedim light. "While we sat in there waiting for some one to get us out, you got a move on and did something! Say, " he added, with a grin, "ain't this tie-up game getting stale? Suppose we knock this fellow onthe head? He may get away if we don't. And these others? Think theyare sufficiently soused with opium?"

"They won't make any trouble for a long time, " Sandy answered. "It is awonder they got into such a trance! There must have been somethingstronger than opium in their pipes. "

"Didn't know there was anything meaner than opium, " Jack said. 

"There is a drug that is used by old soaks after the poppy stuff getstoo mild for them, " replied Sandy. "Perhaps these men got some of that. Keep quiet, boys!"

This last as Frank and Hans came through the tunnel and stood staring atthe men on the floor and their chums. 

"Who did it?" asked Frank. 

"Sandy did it!" answered Jack. "Ain't he the broth of a lad? Sure he'sthe goods. "

"Perhaps we'd better be getting out, " Sandy observed. "I hear some oneupstairs. They're comin' down here, too. "

CHAPTER XV

WHY ESCAPE WAS SO EASY

As Sandy finished speaking two figures dropped down the ladder, notstopping to descend rung by rung. As they landed on the floor the boyssprang toward them, ready to make a battle for their liberty. Then cameanother surprise. 

Instead of making hostile demonstrations, the two newcomers, Chinamen sofar as appearances went, threw up their hands and dropped back againstthe wall. Then shouts of laughter echoed through the place. 

Directly the newcomers seemed to forget to keep their hands up, for theygripped their waists with them and roared. There was something aboutthe laughter, too, which was not at all like the Orient. 

"Go it!" Jack exclaimed. 

"Have your fun before we come to settlement with you, " Frank threatened. 

"Let me soak heem!" Hans pleaded. 

Sandy stood by with wonder showing in his face. 

"What kind of a play house is this?" he asked. And still the otherslaughed, bending over, now, and covering their faces with their hands. The change from tragedy to comedy had been so sudden that for a time theboys did nothing at all to solve the mystery of the sudden outbreak oflaughter. 

Then Frank stepped closer and peered down at the larger of the twofigures. Then he turned his searchlight on the bowed head. 

Then a smile came over his face and he reached out a hand and took thebobbing pigtail into his hand and gave it a quick jerk. The result wasamazing. 

The pigtail came away in his hand, and with it a bunch of coarse hairand an odor!

"Look here, kids!" Frank cried. "Look who's here!"

It was Ned, and the shaking figure by his side was that of Jimmie. In amoment both were out of their disguises and making an inspection of thetunnels and the underground chamber. 

"You've got Herlock Sholmes beaten to a frazzle, " said Jack, as Nedstooped over to examine the knocked-out Chinamen. 

"How did you do it?" demanded Frank. "We thought you were on the roadto Peking until we heard some of the Chinks talking, not long afterdaybreak, then we thought you might be in trouble. "

"It was long after daybreak when we mixed with the bunch, " Jimmieanswered. "Anythin' you heard before eight o'clock was fright an' notfact. "

Sandy was now presented and his share in the adventures of the nightgiven proper recognition. 

"I thought he was a sneak at first, " Jack explained, "but he showed usthe way out in the end. "

"What did you go an' sit down there an' wait for?" asked Jimmie. "Whydidn't you get a move on?"

"They did the very thing they should have done, " Ned remarked. "If theyhad tried to fight their way out they might have been killed, ' as therewas, I am told, a strong guard here at daybreak. "

"But how did you get here?" asked Frank. 

"When we got out of the old temple, " Ned replied, "we had no motorcyclesto go on with, so we came back to hunt up more. There was little use ingoing on by any way other than the one mapped out for us. 

"The scamp we almost captured had been kind enough to tell us that youboys were in trouble and perhaps that had something to do with ourcoming back. "

"But how did you get here?"

"Easy, " laughed Ned. "We knew that you boys had been captured, and itwas easy to see who had had a hand in it. The people at the telegraphoffice would know more about the matter than any one else. 

"So we went to the American consulate and got into these disguises. Theconsul says he never saw anything smoother, though he must be prejudicedin our favor, for he helped get up the disguises himself. 

"Then we went to the vicinity of the telegraph office and waited. In amoment we saw that something unusual was going on. Directly a messengerstarted off in this direction and we followed him. I knew then, as wellas I know it now, that you boys had been detained in the hope of keepingus all out of Peking, so I bought some strong opium on the way and dopedthe pipes of the guards after I mixed with them. "

"How could you mix with them?" asked Jack. "You know about as muchChinese as a robin. "

"Oh, they thought we were sullen brutes sent down from theirheadquarters, and took us into their confidence all right. We were justready to explore the underground places when we heard the scrap below. "

"And now what?" asked Frank. 

"Now, we're goin' to Peking!" cried Jimmie. 

"You said that before!" Jack taunted. 

"Well, we didn't get tied up in a hole we couldn't get out of, " retortedthe little fellow. 

"I guess you'd have been in the old temple until now if you hadn'ttraveled with an escort, " Jack cut in. 

The boys, laughing and "roasting" each other, passed up the ladder andto the half earthen, half-board floor of the mud hut. There they foundthe woman Chee moving about with a swollen face. 

She tried to talk with Ned, but as neither could understand what theother said, little progress was made. However, she finally managed tomake Ned understand that she wanted him to take the unconscious men outof the cellar, also the man who had been tied up by Jack and Sandy. 

Ned finally made her understand that she could call the police half anhour after their departure. This seemed to satisfy her, and the pieceof silver Ned presented was received with many gestures of gratitude. 

"Won't the finding of them men there get her into trouble?" asked Sandy, as the lads walked away. 

"I'll explain the matter to the American consul, " answered Ned, "and askhim to inform the authorities. You see, these people who are making usall this trouble are about as afraid of the officers as they are of us. The government is keeping a sharp lookout for the revolutionary leaders, and some are captured every day. "

"What do they do with them?" asked Jack. 

"They are never heard of again. "

"Murdered? Without trial?"

"That is the belief. "

"Then why don't we ask this good, wise, benevolent, sane, and all therest of it government to keep the revolutionary party off Uncle Sam?"asked Jack. "We represent Uncle Samuel, you know. "

"Because, " was the reply, "there are spies in every branch anddepartment of the government. While the traitors who are serving thegovernment while seeking its destruction may not be powerful enough tosecure the release of such confederates as are caught, they areundoubtedly able to send out reports calculated to assist their party. "

"And every move we made under the protection of the Chinese governmentwould be noted and reported, " mused Jack. "I see how it is! Guess thepeople at Washington knew what they were about when they issuedinstructions regarding the trip to Peking. "

"Yes, I think they did, " Ned replied. "Observe how they tested us. Wedid not know about the cablegram at the office here when we started onour long ride. If we had weakened in any way we never should have knownabout it, but would have been ordered back home. "

"Land flowing with milk and honey, and breakfast foods, and choice beefcuts at a dollar a pound!" Jack exclaimed now. "Are we never going toget anything to eat?"

"I haf one vacancy!" observed Hans, laying a hand on his stomach. "Ihaf a misery!"

"You had a good breakfast, Jack!" reproved Frank. 

"What! Where! What was it? Yes, I haf a breakfast two days ago. Thismorning I haf cellar air for breakfast. It isn't nourishing. Where isthere an eatery?"

Before long Ned stopped at a little tea house where an American signhung in a window, and the boys ordered such viands as the placeafforded. It was not much of a meal, as Jack insisted, but just ateaser for a dinner which would be procured later on. 

"Where are the marines?" asked Frank, as he and Ned seated themselves ata little table apart from the others. 

"Encamped in the grove, " was the reply. 

"They will not be attacked there?" asked Frank, in some amazement. 

"Certainly not. All Chinamen hate us, but we are safe except when therevolutionists take a hand in the game. The marines are probablysurrounded by a crowd of sullen curiosity seekers, but they will not bemolested unless the revolutionists decide to take another chance withthem. "

"And the machines are gone for good?"

"No, the American consul is getting them back, or was when I left hisoffice, one by one. The men who were fighting were too frightened totake the machines with them, but the mob got them. They were taken byindividual thieves, and will soon be restored. "

"We ought to have come over in our aeroplane, " smiled Frank. 

"That would have defeated our purpose, " Ned replied. "We are here tocatch the leaders of this conspiracy, and the only way we can do it isto wait until they show themselves. 

"Just see how foolish they are!" Ned went on. "If they had been contentto wait, to manufacture such evidence as they needed to show theirinnocence, we could never have located them. They would have lied usout of countenance if we charged any one man with being the leader, orany one nation with fostering the conspiracy. 

"But they tried to make a clean record for themselves by wiping us offthe face of the earth and so showed themselves to us. I am told bypolice officers that if criminals would keep away from women, away fromthe scenes of their crimes, and keep their mouths shut when given thefamous--and disgraceful--third degree, not one in twenty would ever beconvicted. "

"Well, " Frank said, "here's hoping that the man we want will come withinreach again!"

After breakfast the boys headed for the American consulate, where theyfound the machines which had been stolen. 

"That was quick work, " Ned congratulated. "How did you do it?"

The consul laughed. 

"Why, " he replied, "you might as well try to bide a fifty story buildingin China as one of those machines! The natives believe the devil is inthem!"

"I've known Americans to express the same opinion, " laughed Frank. 

While they talked with the consul a message was brought him from thetelegraph office. It read:

"Report progress. "

Ned laughed. 

"Nothing to report but disaster, " he said. 

"Well, " the consul replied, "we expected something of the kind. Youhave gained the very point we expected you to gain. You know exactlywho is at the head of this mess. Thinking he had you where you wouldnever get away, he talked too much. "

"I think I should know him in any disguise, " Ned said. "I should knowhim anywhere, and under any circumstances. Do you think he would havekept faith with me if I had given up the documents and promised never toimplicate either his country or himself in the trouble?"

"Certainly not. The fact that he revealed himself to you shows that hemeant to have you murdered there. Only for the marines breaking in justas they did, it would have been all off with you, my boy. "

"He must be a treacherous old chap!" Ned commented. 

"His life and everything he loves is at stake. "

"Then he should have kept out of the mess! Why should he want to get usinto a war?"

"My boy, " replied the consul, "we are sure to have a war with some greatEuropean nation before many years. "

"Because the people are getting too thick over here. Because they aregoing to America in droves. Because the governments of Europe desire toretain control of their people after they leave the confines of theirown countries. They want English, German, Russian, Italian, Frenchcolonies held under their hand instead of a mass of their subjects doingreverence to a foreign flag. "

"And they will fight for that?"

"Of course. The only way we can keep out of a great and disastrous waris to abandon the Philippines, throw our island possessions to the dogs, and tumble the Monroe doctrine into the sea. Then these foreign nationscan buy, steal, or conquer all South and Central America. We don't wantthe land there, and we can't afford to fight for the dagoes who livethere. "

"There is too much jingo in our country to ever do what you suggest, "Ned suggested. 

"I'm afraid you are right, " the consul replied. "But now to business. Get your machines here and mount them! You are to leave for Pekingto-night. "

"And I'll not come back until I reach the town!" declared the boy. 

"By the way, " said the consul, "where are the papers you took from thecaptain of the Shark--the boat you fought with your submarine?"

"I have them here, " was the reply. 

"Better leave them in my safe. "

Ned consented to this, and later, on the march to Peking, he was veryglad that he had done. 

At twilight the boys joined the flying squadron, and were all off forthe imperial city, little suspecting that the perils before them weregreater than any they had encountered. 

CHAPTER XVI

A BIT OF SEALING WAX

The night grew clearer as the flying squadron advanced toward theimperial city of China. The roads were rough in places, but the superbmachines carried the boys and their companions at good speed. 

It may well be imagined that the party created something of a sensationas it whirled along. The constant popping of the engines, the stronglights which flashed ahead, and the voices of the marines brought many asleepy-faced Chinaman to the door of his home. 

Now and then the boys were hailed from the roadside, but littleattention was paid to these calls. Finally, however, a voice addressedthe party in English. 

"Where are you going?" it asked. 

Ned instructed the Captain to proceed a few paces with his company andthen halted to see what manner of man it was that spoke to him in thattongue. He found an old Chinaman, a wise-looking old fellow with a keenface, leaning over a rude gate in front of a small house. 

"Did you speak?" he asked, advancing to the gate. 

"I did, " was the reply. "I was curious to know where you were going inthe middle of the night. "

"You speak English remarkably well, " Ned said, not in any hurry tosatisfy the old fellow's curiosity. 

"I ought to, " was the reply. "I have just come back from New York. Iowned a laundry there for a good many years. "

"And have returned to China to live in peace and comfort?"

"I don't know about the peace, " replied the Chinaman, with a sigh. 

"You think there will be a war?"

The Chinaman nodded. 

"The coming revolt, " he declared, "was conceived more than two hundredyears ago. For fifty years organization has been going on. For sixyears the revolutionists have been working as a whole. "

"And they are strong?" asked Ned. 

"Wherever in the world Chinamen live, in New York, Chicago, SanFrancisco, Boston, London, Berlin, St. Petersburg, anywhere, everywhere, there are funds being collected for the coming civil war. "

Ned wanted to ask the loquacious old fellow what his private ideas aboutthe justice of the struggle were, but he decided not to do so. Hethought he might find out in another way. 

"And the revolutionists will win?" he asked. 

"God forbid!" was the reply, and the boy had the answer he thought hewould receive. 

Still, he was not satisfied that the old fellow was telling the exacttruth regarding his sentiments. It was the revolutionists he had tobattle with, and not the federalists. This retired laundryman mightknow that!

"Anyway, " the boy thought, "the fellow seems desirous of keeping me hereas long as possible. This, of course, may be because of a desire forthe companionship of one of the race he has lived with so long, but I donot think so. "

Pretending to be deeply interested in what the Chinaman was saying, heexcused himself for a moment and beckoned to Jimmie. 

"Lead your motorcycle noiselessly up that rise of ground, " he directed, "and when you get there keep your eyes wide open. "

"What for?" demanded the boy. 

"For whatever comes in sight, " replied Ned. "Keep the line of visionfrom this house to whatever may be beyond unimpaired if it is possibleto do so. If you observe anything unusual, report to me. "

"All righto!" cried the boy. 

Ned saw Jimmie making a noiseless progress up the little hill and turnedback to the man at the gate. Instantly the latter offered refreshments, for the entire party, and seemed disappointed when the offer wasdeclined. 

"You're going to Peking on business?" the Chinaman finally asked. 

"Yes, " was the short answer. 

"Why do you ride in the night?"

"Because we must get there in the morning. "

"But there is another day. "

"Always there is another day in the Far East, " Ned smiled, "but we ofthe West count only on what we can do before that other day arrives. "

The two talked on for half an hour, while the marines mutteredcomplaints and Frank and Jack rolled themselves in blankets and tried topay a visit to Dreamland. The previous night had been a hard one, andthey felt the need of more rest than they had been able to get duringthe afternoon. 

After a time Ned became anxious. He had sent Jimmie on ahead with thenotion that something was going to happen there within a short time. But all was still about the house and the small fields which surroundedit. Jimmie did not return. 

"I wonder if the little scamp is in trouble again?" thought Ned. 

This seemed to be the natural solution of the puzzle of his longabsence, and Ned was about to send Frank on after him when the littlefellow came up to him. 

"The Captain wants you to get a move on, " the boy said. 

Ned saw that Jimmie had something to say to him which was not for theears of the Chinaman, and walked away, followed by the urgent voice ofthe former laundryman, who besought him to return and partake ofrefreshments. 

"In honor of old New York!" he added. 

"Gee!" Jimmie muttered, as the boys stood alone together. "I wasthinkin' I'd struck the fourth of July. "

"Where?"

"Up on the hill. "

"So, they were using rockets?"

"Yes. "

"Where did they ascend from?"

"From the other side of the hill, at this end, and from an old house atthe other end. "

Ned stood for a moment without speaking. So the Chinaman had beenholding him in conversation while his tools had been signaling to someone farther up the road!

This was practically what he had suspected. From the first he hadbelieved that the old fellow's purpose was to hold him there as long aspossible. 

Signals would naturally be the outgrowth of such a plan, and Ned hadsent Jimmie on ahead--silently--in order to see where the other partyanswered the signals from, if they were answered at all. As from theopening of the case, he had planned to secure his information from hisenemies--from their actions and their presence or absence from theposition he occupied. 

Directing the marines to follow on slowly, Ned awoke Frank and Jack. The four climbed the hill slowly, watching the sky as they advanced. The clouds lay low to the east, but in the west was a patch of clearsky. 

When they gained the summit of the rise, they saw a light in a littlegrove some distance away. It seemed like a lantern moving out and inamong the trees. 

"There, " Jimmie explained, "when I got to the top of the hill, I saw arocket shoot out of that thicket. It did not ascend the sky, but followthe line of the earth and died out in the road. "

"Of course, " Ned said. "A rocket sent up in the usual way would havebeen visible from where we were standing. "

"And, in a minute, " the boy went on, "there came a rocket from thathouse, the house where the light was a minute ago. That, too, followedthe ground line. "

"Talking together in low tones!" grinned Jack. 

"They were talkin' together, all right, " Jimmie said. 

"Dollars to dumplings, " Frank exclaimed, "that the funny chap we met inthe old mud house at Taku has a room in that shack. "

"He might have been hiding there, " Ned said. 

"An' that old stiff signaled to him to make his getaway?" asked thelittle fellow. 

"Looks like it, " Ned replied. 

"Huh!" Jack objected. "The signals might have told the men at the otherend of the line to get their soldiers out and bump us off thecontinent. "

"Which idea, " responded Frank, "causes me to want to approach that housewith all due caution and respect. "

"Suppose we four surround it, " suggested Jimmie. 

"That's the idea!" Jack commented. 

"Just what I was about to propose, " said Wed. "We'll leave the marineswithin call and go up to this temporary signal station and see whatabout it. "

The Captain was communicated with, and then the four left the road andmoved around toward the rear of the house, keeping in the shadows of thetrees. Not until they reached the very door of the place were there anysigns of life there. 

The lantern they had observed from a distance was seen no more. Thewindows were dark and silent. But when they came to the door they foundit unlocked. 

As the crude latch was lifted, with a very slight creaking sound, amovement was heard inside, and then a heavy body was heard striking theground at the rear. Then a was as silent as before. 

"Someone jumped out of a window!" Jimmie whispered. "I hope he brokehis crust!"

There was to be no defense of the place, then! Whoever the inmates hadbeen, they were deserting the house. 

Ned stationed Frank and Jack at the front and moved around to the rearwith Jimmie close behind. A rustle in the undergrowth told him that theformer occupants of the place were still about. 

Jimmie darted in the direction of the noise, but was back again in aminute. 

"Might as well try to chase a ghost!" he said. 

"Got clear away, did he?" asked Ned. 

"You know it!" grunted the little fellow. 

Frank and Jack were now heard in the house, and the rays of asearchlight showed at a window, showed very faintly in cracks, for therewas a heavy wooden shutter to the window on the inside. Ned tried therear door. It was not locked and he entered. 

The house was deserted, but it was not unfurnished. Indeed, articles offurniture scattered about the rooms, which were in great disorder, denoted not only wealth but a refined taste. 

There were velvet rugs on the floors and great easy chairs and loungingdivans. A pantry revealed unwashed dishes, showing that food had beenserved there recently. 

"Who was it that ran away?" asked Jack, as the boys met. 

"A ghost!" replied Jimmie. "I chased him until he hid in a tree. "

"Why didn't you pull him out?" grinned Jack. 

"Because he turned into a green cow with purple wings!" the littlefellow replied. 

Jack whirled his arms around in the manner of one turning a crank andlaughed. The boys delighted in such by-play. 

"If it's all the same to you, boys, " Frank was now heard saying, "I'lljust devour such few things as are left here. I see a ham and a box ofcanned vegetables. Must have intended a long stop here, whoever hewas. "

Leaving the boys to search the remainder of the house, Ned entered whathad evidently been a reading room and turned on his light. The room washandsomely decorated, and there were scores of books lying around ontables and chairs. 

Calling to the boys, he directed them to bring up the marines andstation them around the house. 

"I want to know that I'll not be disturbed, " he said. 

"Found somethin'?" asked Jimmie. 

"Look at the books, " Ned replied. 

Jimmie read half a dozen titles and cast the volumes aside. 

"They don't look good to me, " he said. "All about international law andtreaties!"

"Exactly!" Ned said, and then Jimmie opened his eyes. 

"I'll bet there's been some of them statesmen livin' here!" the littlefellow almost whispered. "Say, do you think you have run 'em down atlast?"

"I don't know, son, " was the reply. "Look on that table and see whatyou discover. "

"Bits of torn paper an' some red wax. "

"The paper, " Ned explained, "is parchment, such as is used in importantofficial transactions, and the wax is of the kind used by lawyers anddiplomats. Here is a seal!"

Ned's face turned pale as he looked at the seal. Could it be possiblethat the nation to which it belonged had been engaged in thisconspiracy? It did not seem possible. 

Ned put the telltale seal away in his pocket without permitting Jimmieto see it and picked up some loose pieces of sealing wax which lay onthe table near where the seal had been found. 

"Do you see the fine work done with the seal which made thisimpression?" Ned asked. 

"Fine seal!" Jimmie replied. "Was that stamp made by the seal you justhid away?"

"No, " Ned replied, "thank God it was not!"

Wrapping the wax very carefully, so that it would not crumble, andsecuring every bit of paper in sight, Ned made a little bundle andstowed it away in a pocket. Then he began a search of the rug on thefloor. 

Jimmie was on his knees, in a moment. 

"Finders keepers?" he asked. 

"That depends!" Ned said. 

"Well, some one's been payin' out money here, " the boy went on. "Seewhat I found!"

What he had found was a gold piece of the denomination of twentydollars. And it bore the stamp of the American eagle!

CHAPTER XVII

BOY SCOUTS IN A LIVELY MIXUP

Ned took the gold piece into his hand and examined it. 

"It is American money, sure enough, " he observed, "and was made at theSan Francisco mint. "

Frank and Jack now joined the little group in the library and regardedthe piece with interest. 

"What does it mean?" Frank asked. 

"Why, " Jack volunteered, "it means that some American man is mixed up inthis dirty affair. "

"Perhaps that gold came out of the wreck, " Jimmie suggested. "Say, arewe ever goin' back after that gold?" he added. 

"Ned's got all the gold he can attend to right here, " commented Frank. "He's got to find out how that came here. "

"Why, there was an American in the bunch, and he lost it out of hispocket, " Jack ventured. 

"That's the very point, " Frank observed. "What was an American doing inthat bunch?"

"It might have been the American who planned to send the gold to therevolutionary leaders by way of a shipment to the Chinese government, "Ned said, thoughtfully. "You know some American had to send the gold. "

"Of course. "

"Well, suppose he is now here trying to get something in exchange forthe gold which lies at the bottom of the Pacific?"

"He naturally would be doing business, with the revolutionary party, "Frank exclaimed. "What a trick that was!"

"I haven't got it through my head yet, " Jack said. "I don't know anymore about the plot than a robin. "

"Look here, " Frank said, in a superior tone, "there are a lot of Chinesein the United States who want to assist the revolutionary party. Gotthat?"

"You know it!"

"These men arrange with the Chinese government to send over a cargo ofgold. "

"That's easy. What were they to get for the gold?"

"I don't know, " Frank answered. "But they arranged to send the goldright out of the subtreasury at San Francisco--or was it New York?--tothe Chinese government. "

"All right, " laughed Jack. "I see daylight. "

"Then they notify the rebels-to-be that the gold will be shipped on sucha vessel at such a time. "

"Warmer!" grinned Jimmie. 

"And the rebels undertake to have a ship ready to snatch off the goldwhen the right time comes. So the Chinese government will have to payfor the yellow stuff and the rebels will have the good of it. "

"Great scheme!"

"Yes, well, some other nation gets wise to what is going on, and setsout to burst up the combination. "

"Naturally. "

"So this foreign nation sends out a ship to ram the vessel carrying thegold. "

"Oh! I got that long ago!"

"And the vessel is rammed and the gold goes to the bottom. Then thisother government, thinking to kill two birds at one shot, gives it out, in certain diplomatic circles, that Uncle Sam shipped that gold directlyto the Chinese government from the subtreasury, with the full knowledgethat the rebels were to get it. "

"Yes, I've heard about that. "

"So Uncle Sam sends Ned over here to dig up that gold and see if theshippers didn't put documents in the bags or boxes which would prove outthe whole transaction. "

"An' Ned found the documents!" cried Jimmie. "Good old Ned!"

"Yes, he found the documents which prove that the United States hadnothing to do with the matter, but which do not show who started theslander. 

"And then Ned is sent out to track the statesman who had been doingbusiness with the rebels down to his hiding place. It is thought thathis nation is the one that tried to mix Uncle Sam in the matter. "

"But why should this man be doing business with the rebels?" asked Jack. 

"That is what we don't know, " was the reply. "Still, we know that he isallied with the rebels. We met him at Taku. Ned met him at the ruinedtemple. He may be treacherously in the company of the men who lead therevolutionary party, but he is there. "

"You have that figured out correctly, " Ned cut in. "If the man we areafter had been doing business with the Chinese government, we would havehad officers of the law after us at Tientsin and Taku, instead of menwho ran when it came daylight. "

"What national seal made that stamp on the wax you have in your pocket, Ned?" Jimmie asked. 

Ned made no reply. 

"Was the stamp made with the seal you have with you?" was the nextquestion. 

Still Ned did not answer. He was in a quandary. It did not seempossible that the two nations pointed out by the seal and the wax couldbe engaged in such dirty business. He hoped to prove to his ownsatisfaction that they were not. 

"The only way to find out what we want to know, " he said, "is to go onto Peking. "

"Your proof will assist you when you get there?" asked Frank. 

"Yes, I'm afraid so, " Ned answered, tentatively. 

"I don't understand that reply, " Frank observed, with a serious face. "You must have discovered something in this house which is not to yourliking. "

"Time will show, " Ned said. 

Captain Martin, of the marines, now entered the room where thediscussion was going on. His face was pale, and his eyes showed greateranger than Ned had ever seen reflected there before. 

"Just a moment, Ned, " he said, and the two stepped into another room. The Captain dropped into a chair. 

"We have struck the hornet's nest, " he said. 

"Do you hear them buzzing?" asked Ned, with a smile. 

"Worse than that, " was the reply. "I am feeling their stings. Two ofmy men have been attacked in the dark. "

"And wounded?"

"Yes; one of them seriously. "

"I'm sorry for the poor fellow, " Ned said. "Do you think we can get himon to Peking?"

Captain Martin shook his head. 

"It is a bad wound, " he said. "The man was on guard not far from theedge of the grove when a figure loomed up before him. He challenged andwas about to shoot, for no reply came, when he got the knife in hisback. He can't be moved. "

"The trouble is, " Ned replied, "that we got here too soon. "

"What's the answer to that?"

"We did not give the plotters time enough to finish their business. When that old Chink, back there at the gate, signaled to them with hisrockets, they cut and ran, leaving important evidence behind them. "

"And you think they will hang about the flying squadron until theyrecover what they have lost?"

"They certainly will try to recover it. Now you see the wisdom of theWashington people in sending me to Peking on a motorcycle! You see thatI was right in saying that we were being set up as marks for othernations to shoot at!"

"Yes, " said Martin, "you never could have got to the fellows in the oldway. It was right to plan it so that they would come to you, althoughit was placing you in great danger. "

"But the danger has rippled off our backs like water off the feathers ofa duck! If we meet no more peril than we have now encountered, we'llget back to New York fat and healthy. "

"One thing I fail to comprehend, " Captain Martin said, "and that is whya flying squadron was sent with you. "

"To attract attention, " laughed Ned. 

"To get you out of scrapes, I should say, " the Captain retorted. 

"Well, then, both!"

"I don't get it yet. "

"We might have reached Peking without our presence in the country beingknown to our enemies, " Ned said, "but that was not the idea of theWashington people. I have already explained to the boys that we were todo our real work in identifying the man we want while on the way. "

"Oh, all right, " replied the officer, "but it seems to me that you mighthave made the trip in a quieter way with the same result. These chapswould have found you, depend on that. "

"Yes, but we needed help, " replied Ned, "and we got it in the nick oftime. Guess the Secret Service people at Washington are all right. "

"Perhaps, " the Captain said, then, "we would better get the wounded meninto the house and look after their wounds. The others I'll leave onguard. "

The injured marines were carried into the house and given such attentionas could be bestowed in the absence of a surgeon. 

"What next?" asked Frank. 

"Peking!" answered Jack. "We can't heal these wounds by remaining here, and we can help by going on and sending a surgeon back. "

"But my orders are to remain with you, " Captain Martin said. 

"Then leave most of your men here and come on, " Ned replied. 

This plan was agreed upon, and would have been carried out at once hadnot something not on the program of the night intervened. CaptainMartin had detailed two men to sit with the wounded and stationed theothers in a circle about the house when a shot was fired off to theeast. 

"I didn't think they would have the nerve to attack the house openlybefore we got away, " Captain Martin remarked. 

All listened intently, but there was no more shooting. 

"That sounded to me more like a signal than anything else, " Nedobserved. "I wonder if they are out in force?"

"I think I'd better call the men in, " Captain Martin remarked. 

The words were hardly out of his mouth when a skulking form appeared inthe dim light which now fell from the stars. The fellow was creepingfrom the house outward. 

"A spy!" Jack whispered. "Shoot, some one. I haven't my gun with me. Shoot!"

The skulking man appeared to hear the words, though they were spoken ina very low tone, for he sprang to his feet and dashed away at fullspeed. In a second he was lost to view in the thicket. 

"Say, but that chap is some runner!" Jimmie cried. "He went so fast Inever thought to wing him!"

"Where did he come from?" asked Frank. "I'm certain he was not in thehouse. Perhaps he was up to some deviltry. "

"He wasn't here with any bouquets, " Jimmie answered. "I'm goin' out an'run around the house. Perhaps I can find out where he was hidin', an'find his mate there. "

No objections being offered to this, the little fellow left the groupand started in on a tour around the old house. He was gone perhaps twominutes, then came dashing back, his face white and horror-stricken inthe circle of light which met him. 

"Grab 'em! Grab 'em an' get out!" he shouted. 

"Where did you get it?" demanded Jack. 

"You're scared stiff!" Frank laughed. 

"Grab the wounded men an' beat it!" Jimmie repeated. "This ranch willgo up in the air in a second!"

"That's cheerful!" Jack cut in, half believing that Jimmie was up toanother trick. 

Jimmie dashed into the house, seized one of the wounded men by theshoulders and tried to drag him off the improvised bed on which he hadbeen laid. 

"All right!" he yelled. "You boys may stay here an' get shot up intoblue sky if you want to, but I'm goin' to get these men out. "

"Why don't you tell us what the danger is?" demanded Ned, shaking thelittle fellow by the arm. 

"You listen!" Jimmie replied. 

There was dead silence for an instant. Then, seemingly from underneaththe floor, came a low, sinister hissing sound which every one of theboys recognized. 

A great fuse was burning below, and might at any moment reach theexplosive to which it was attached. The Chinese tools of the man at thehead of the conspiracy were taking desperate chances. 

In order to destroy the clues which Ned had found in the house, and alsoto prevent the boy ever discovering any more, they were taking the longchance of murdering the soldiers of a friendly power and bringing oninternational complications. Ned was by no means idle while thesethoughts were swarming in his brain. 

In fact, all the boys sprang to action instantly. Captain Martin wastold to order his men farther away from the point of danger. In lesstime than the result of their activities can be written down the woundedmen were lying in the grove, surrounded by their fellows, and the boyswere waiting for what seemed inevitable, the complete destruction of thehouse. 

CHAPTER XVIII

A BROKEN MATCH SAFE

"Why don't she go up?" asked Jack, as the boys crouched in the grove. "I don't mind seeing a little fourth of July!"

"She's coming, " Frank answered. "Do you see the light in the cellar?That's the fuse burning. "

"It must be a long one, " Jimmie said. "Gee, but I was scared stiff whenI saw it burnin' right under where you all were!"

"How did the sneak who set the fuse on fire ever get down there?"wondered Jack. 

"Must have been there all the time, " Jimmie volunteered. 

"But he didn't have the powder, or the dynamite, or whatever thing hefigured on blowing us up with, in his pockets, did he?" asked Jack. 

"I guess the old Chink down the road, the fellow who kept me talking atthe gate, had something to do with storing the explosive there, " Nedremarked. "I presume the plot was laid to blow us up the minute theeffort to destroy us at the ruined temple failed. "

"Merry little time we're having, " Frank laughed. "Here, kid, where areyou going?" he added, as Jimmie moved away. 

"I'm goin' to see why that don't go bang!" answered the boy. 

Ned tried to stop him, but the little fellow dodged away and disappearedaround an angle of the house. 

The boys waited in suspense for a moment, expecting every instant towitness the explosion, then Frank and Jack darted around the corner, inquest of Jimmie. 

"Come back!" Ned called, but they paid no heed. 

Both Ned and the Captain sprang after the lads, the latter expressing invery vigorous language his opinion of boys who would take such risks outof curiosity. 

"I'd rather wait an hour for an explosion than go up to see why itdidn't come off in time, " he said. "That Jimmie needs a good beating. He'll get it, too, if he doesn't behave!"

Ned laughed, serious as the situation was, at the thought of what wouldbe apt to happen if the Captain should lay hands on the little fellow inanger. He would have the other boys on his hands in a second!

When Ned rounded the corner he saw Jimmie's heels half blocking a cellarwindow. Thick smoke was oozing out around him, and Frank and Jack weretrying to pull him back. 

"You let go!" they heard the little fellow shout. "I guess I know whatI'm doin'. You let go!"

"Wait!" Ned said, then he stooped over and called out to Jimmie:

"Is the fuse out?"

"Sure!" was the reply. "'Sure the fuse is out, but before it went outit set fire to something on the cellar bottom, an' the blaze is workin'its way up to the powder, or whatever it is. Ouch!" he added, as Jackgave a pull at his foot. "You let go!"

"Let him go, " Ned advised. "Perhaps he can get in there in time toprevent the explosion. "

"The little gink!" Jack exclaimed, "I wanted to see the thing bust up. Now he's spoiled it!"

In a moment the boy was in the cellar, and Ned was not far away when thecreeping flame was extinguished. While Frank and Jack looked in at thewindow, shielding their eyes and faces from the smudge as well as it waspossible to do, Ned called out to them:

"Tell Captain Martin to keep his men on guard around the house. Thescamps who did this may be up to some other trick. They're determinedthat we shall never get to Peking!"

Frank crawled through the window and stood by Ned's side, searchlight inhand. Just about underneath the center of the house, was a half barrelof gunpowder. 

"That would have done the business, " Frank observed, and Jimmie made awry face. "If this little nuisance hadn't seen the fuse burning, wemight have been killed. "

"Aw, go on!" Jimmie said. "The fuse went out, didn't it? Gave us agood scare, anyway. I'm six inches shorter than I was before I saw theblaze creepin' along like a bloomin' snake!"

"How did it affect your appetite?" asked Frank. 

"If you mention anythin' to eat, " Jimmie answered, "I'll have a fit. Idon't know how people live in China, but I've been starved ever since Istruck the country. "

Flashlight in hand, Ned now devoted his whole attention to the floor ofthe cellar. There were marks of shoes here and there, and half-burnedmatches. 

"It looks as if whoever did this job did it in a hurry, " Ned said. "Ifthe fuse had been set right it would have done its work. Do you see whyit went out?"

"Well, there's a break in it, and the break is over a damp spot on thefloor. The powder stuffed line burned to the break and there the flamewent out. It burned slowly, anyway, which probably accounts for ourbeing alive at this time. "

Ned took a rule from his pocket and measured the shoe tracks on thefloor. There were numerous tracks, but one was very distinct. This hadbeen made by the man who rolled the half-barrel of powder to the placewhere it had been found. 

The barrel had come upon a slight obstruction, and the man had evidentlylifted and pulled at it until his shoe, by reason of the extra weightput upon it, had sunk deep into the light soil. 

"That wasn't any Chink shoe, " Jimmie said. 

"No, it was a shoe made in America, " Ned said. "It is comparatively anew shoe, too. I am wondering now why the American, or Englishman, orFrenchman, whatever he is, didn't hire some of the Chinks to do thiswork of laying the explosion. "

"They're afraid, " Jack volunteered. 

There was a litter of half-burned matches near the barrel and Ned bentover and gathered them up. As he did so something bright lying on theground, caught his eye. It was a gold rivet, or wire, not more than aninch long and about as thick as a knitting needle. 

"What is it?" asked Frank. 

"I should say, " replied Ned, "that the fellow lost the cover to hismatch box here. This looks like the rivet which served for a hinge. The cover itself may be here. "

But a close search did not reveal the cover, nor anything else ofmoment, in fact, and the boys soon left the cellar. Frank laughed asNed placed the gold wire in his pocketbook. 

"You are making quite a collection, " he said. 

"Yes, " Jack added, "he has a state department seal, bits of brokensealing wax, and now a piece of a broken match safe. He'll set a trapwith them directly!"

"The trap is already set!" Ned replied. 

The long delay at the house made high speed necessary during theremainder of the run to Peking. The machines sparked and roared throughthat ancient land, bringing sleepy-eyed natives to doors and windows, and setting villages into whirls of excitement. 

Captain Martin and one marine were with the boys, the rest having beenleft with the wounded men. 

"My flying squadron is just beginning to fly, " Ned said, as the machinesrolled noisily down a hill from which the towers of the distant cityshowed. "And the smaller it becomes as we approach the end of thejourney!"

"Suppose the Chinks attack the men left behind?" asked Jack. 

"No danger of that, " Ned replied. "They are not after the marines, butthe Boy Scouts who had the nerve to cross the Pacific for the purpose ofbringing a rascal to punishment. "

This view of the case proved to be the correct one, as the marines wereremarkably well treated by the natives, who gathered about them withmany gestures and questions, all unintelligible to the warriors. Theboys who were slowly drawing a slowly closing circle around the guiltyones were the persons in demand!

It was the middle of the forenoon when Ned and his companions reachedthe suburbs of the wonderful city. They attracted a great deal ofattention as they wheeled through the straggling streets. They had notyet come to the wall, so the population was principally agricultural. Maize and millet are the principal products of the soil here, as thestaple crops, wheat and rice, do not flourish well. 

They had no difficulty in passing the gate which gave into the southernor "Chinese City. " It is the northern part of Peking that is known toforeigners as "The Forbidden City. " Here the rulers live in wonderfulpalaces. This is the old "Tartar City, " too. 

The second division of Peking is the business section. Here the boysdrew up at a most uninviting native inn and asked a clerk who claimed tospeak English for an interpreter. A snaky-looking fellow was finallyproduced, and Ned proceeded to question him about the show places of thetown. 

"Let him think we are American tourists, " Ned said to his chums, "andwe'll stand a better chance of getting into the diplomatic section ofthe town. Anyway, while we are here, we may as well see the sights. "

After a midday luncheon Ned and Jimmie started out to look over theplace. They were now in what is known as the general city, where thestreets are from 140 to 200 feet wide. The thoroughfares are mostlyunpaved, and the shops which line them are continuous, some green, someblue, some red, but all bustling with business. 

The shops in this section of Peking are decorated with huge, staringsigns, resplendent with Chinese characters highly gilt. Before the boyshad traveled far they were forcibly reminded of the lower East Side ofNew York. The great thoroughfares roared with the rush of commerce. 

Shopkeepers, peddlers, mountebanks, quack doctors, pedestrians rushingto and fro, all reminded the lads of the lower part of the big city onManhattan island. The theaters and public places of amusement aresituated in this part of Peking. 

When Ned and Jimmie returned from the stroll they found Frank and Jackwaiting for them with anxiety depicted on their faces. 

"What have you been doing?" Frank asked. "I thought you came here tointerview the American ambassador. "

"All in good time, " Ned replied, with a smile. "I want to pick up theAmerican shoe print before I present my letter to the ambassador. "

"Fine show you stand of picking up a shoe print in a crowd like that oneout there!" Jack said. "It's worse than Coney Island on a midsummerSunday. "

"Perhaps I didn't use the right words, " smiled Ned. "I might have saidI was waiting for the American shoe man to pick me up. "

"He's done that now, all right, " Captain Martin said. "You had not beenout of the house five minutes before the spies were thick as flies inthe old Eighth ward. They are all about us now. Watch and see if weare ever alone. "

Ned glanced about carelessly and nudged Frank with his elbow. 

"That waiter?" he asked. "How long has he been loitering about theroom?"

"Ever since we arrived. The men who have been entertaining us on theway were evidently waiting for us. "

The boys were not in a private room, but in a public apartment wherethere were tables and refreshments. 

"But that chap belongs here, " Ned replied. 

"Well, if you watch him, you will see that he is attending strictly tothe wants of this party. If we call he'll wait on us. If any one elsecalls, another waiter glides over to him. Nice to be so exclusive, isn't it?"

"If you are right, " Ned said, "it is time for us to move on. "

"To the embassy?" asked Captain Martin. "You see, " the Captain went on, "I'm rather anxious to land you boys under the protecting folds of theAmerican flag, for there my responsibility ends. "

"No, not to the embassy, " Ned replied. "As yet I have nothing ofimportance to confide to the ambassador. I can only tell him that weare here, that we had numerous nibbles on the road from Taku, but thatall the fish got away. "

"Holy smoke!" exclaimed Jack. "I hope you don't think of staying out inthe open until you can convey a couple of diplomats to the embassy! Youcan't catch your man single handed. You're not in New York now, but ina heathen town, a town where the life of a foreign devil is not worth agrain of rice. "

"Just the same, " Ned replied, "I'm going to stick around this town untilI get what I want. "

"In this dump?" asked Jack. 

"No; there's an American hotel up the street--an American hotel operatedby Chinks! We'll go there and take rooms and wait for something to turnup. "

So, in spite of the protests of Captain Martin, the change was made, andlate that night Ned awoke to find himself sitting up on the edge of hisbed, automatic in hand, listening to the steady boring of a tool of somesort around the lock of his door!

CHAPTER XIX

A BOY SCOUT SURPRISE PARTY

When Ned heard the assaults of the midnight visitor on his door helooked at his watch, then slipped over to the window facing the street. Twelve o'clock and the thoroughfare below still teeming with life. Peking has something over three millions of population, according to therecords, but, as a matter of fact, no one knows the exact size of thetown as to humanity, for the Chinese live in densely-packed districts, and there are no census reports given out. 

The city is many centuries old. It was a thriving capital threethousand years before Christ was born and during all the years of warand starvation and intrigue it continued to grow. 

The hardy races from the North, which overran the country and kept aTartar on the Chinese throne for centuries, are virile and pertinacious. It has been the fate of every civilization we know anything about to bewiped out by hardy races. Rome went down before the Northmen, andEngland had its oversea conqueror. Greece and Italy succumbed to themight of brawny arms, and civilization shrank back for hundreds ofyears. So China fell before the men of the mountains, and her recordswere destroyed. 

As in all large cities, there is a night side to the life of Peking. Ifyou traverse the streets at night you will find shops which have beenclosed all day opening for the trade of the night workers. You will seepeople who have slept through all the daylight hours walking through thestreets to their nightly toil. You will see about the same things, onlyon a smaller scale, that you see in the daytime. 

This night was no different from any other, except that there were moremen who did not appear to have any particular business there loungingalong the streets. Now and then these loiterers, walking slowly alongthe business ways, slipped unostentatiously into alleys and narrowby-ways and so on into basement and garret halls where others of theirkind were assembled. 

When Ned looked out of his window, listening meanwhile to the steadyboring sound at his door, he saw a light at a window opposite to thebuilding in which he stood waving slowly to and fro. There was a longvertical motion, and then the light moved from side to side again. 

Ned counted the slow strokes. Left to right, right to left, back againand yet again!

"Six, " he mused, "and all in action!"

The mouse-like gnawing at his door continued, the sounds seeminglylouder than before. The intruder was evidently gaining courage!

Presently the boy leaned out of his window, which was on the third floorof the hotel, and watched the entrance below. There appeared to be agreat rush of customers at that time. At least a score of nativespassed in at the large door. 

Then Ned turned to the right and studied the window of the room next tohis own on that floor. There was a light in that room, too, but itseemed to be a red light. Then it changed to white, then to blue. 

Ned laughed and began drawing on his clothes. Still the boringcontinued, and Ned bent over to see if he could discover any holes inthe stile of the door. 

There being no light in his room and, presumably, one in the corridoroutside, he thought he might be able to see when a cut through the stilehad been made. There were no indications of a break yet, and Nedsettled back on his bed to wait. 

Just at that moment he hardly knew what he was waiting for. He had beenvery busy all the afternoon, laying plans and conferring with a man whocame from the police bureau, and who appeared to be working underinstructions from the boy. Ned considered his plans as near perfect asany human plans can be, still he did not know exactly what would happenat a quarter past twelve. 

At ten minutes past midnight the boy heard a rush of footsteps in thecorridor. They passed his door and the boring ceased. Then they fadedaway in the distance and the gnawing was resumed. There was a littlemore noise in the hotel than before. 

Ned smiled at the crude efforts that were being made to enter his room. In New York man disposed to enter for the purpose of robbery would havea skeleton key. He would be inside the room in three seconds afterentering the corridor and finding the apartment he sought wrapped indarkness. 

"But this isn't New York, " the boy mused. "This is the Orient, and thepatience of the Orient, and the stupidity of the Orient!"

At exactly a quarter past twelve there was a commotion in the corridor. Several people seemed to be moving toward the door of Ned's room. Oncethere was a little cry of alarm. 

Ned looked out of his window. The panes where he had observed thesignals, across the street, were dark. There was no light in the windownext his own which had shown red, white and blue but a moment before. 

The clamor in the corridor increased, and Ned walked to the door andundid the fastenings. Then it swung open, almost striking Ned in theface. 

Facing the boy, in the corridor, were six Chinamen, or men in nativedress, rather. Back of them were a score of stern-faced Chinesepolicemen. To the right, and struggling with all their might to getinto the room were Frank, Jack, and Jimmie, the latter with his nosewrinkled and wrinkling to such an extent that it resembled a small oceanwith the wind undulating its surface. 

"Trap's closed!"

That was Jimmie, of course. Frank and Jack stood by laughing. Thefaces of the six men who stood before the door were anything butpleasant to look upon. 

They expressed hate, despair, desperate intents. As they stood thereFrank reached forward and snatched a queue-wig from the head of the mannearest him. 

"There he is!" Jimmie cried. "There's the old boy, Ned--the smooth ginkwe saw at Taku, at Tientsin, and at numerous places on the road. Iwonder how he likes the scene?"

Ned motioned to the six to step into the room. Three of them objected, then swords flashed in the light of the corridor and they moved on. 

They were followed by the three boys and half a dozen policemen, allwith automatics in view. At a motion from the leader of the officersthe six were searched and ironed. Jack nudged Frank in the ribs withhis elbow as the handcuffs clicked on the wrists of the man who had sopersistently followed them from the coast of the Yellow Sea. 

"That's a good sport, " he said. "I like to see a fellow play the game!"

The prisoner turned a pair of treacherous eyes on the boys and a cynicalsmile curled his thin lips. 

"You have the cards now, " he said, in English, "but look out for the newdeal. I'll keep you busy yet. "

"Go to it!" laughed Jack. "Go as far as you like, only I fail to seehow you're going to get into the game again. Looks like you were allin, just now!"

"Wait!" said the other, scornfully. 

There now came a knock at the door and Ned opened it to admit CaptainMartin, who looked as if he had just left his bed after anunsatisfactory sleep. He cast his eyes about the room with amazementshowing in every glance. 

"What does this mean?" he asked. 

"Surprise party!" Jimmie cried. 

"Who are these men?"

The Captain pointed to the six prisoners lined up against the wall ofthe room. 

"Our friends from Taku, from the ruined temple, from Tientsin, from thefarm house loaded with gunpowder, and from the tea house, " laughed Ned. "Do you recognize the fellow with his disguise off? Jimmie gave him ahaircut and shave just now. "

"And you have captured them?"

"It doesn't look as if they had captured us, " Jimmie broke in. 

"But how, when, why?"

"All of that!" grinned Jimmie. 

Ned spoke a few words to the officer in charge of the squad and in amoment the room was occupied only by the handcuffed prisoners, the fourboys, and Captain Martin. The latter stood looking at Ned with aquestion in each eye. 

"When you get time, " he said, "I'd like to have you tell me how youbrought this case to a close so suddenly. "

Ned motioned to the man who had been stripped of his disguise to take achair at the table. The fellow did so reluctantly, turning his facethis way and that, as if seeking some opportunity of escape. 

"Well, " he said. "You have the floor. Go On. "

"You were at Taku?" asked Ned. 

"I deny everything!"

"You will deny your own fingerprints, the shoeprints?" asked Ned. 

"Well, supposing, for the sake of argument, that I was at Taku, what hasthat to do with this brutal and illegal arrest?"

"You placed the powder under the house where the wounded men lay?"

"No. "

"I have something I want to show you, " Ned said, taking a paper from hispocket. "Have you a match?"

Almost involuntarily the fellow put his hand to his right vest pocketand brought forth a gold match safe. Ned took it into his hand andtouched the spring which lifted the top. 

"There seems to be a new wire in the hinge, " he said. 

"Yes, the old one wore out. "

Ned opened his pocketbook and took out the gold wire he had found in thecellar by the side of the powder. The prisoner started violently whenhe saw it. 

"Is this yours?" Ned asked. 

"No!"

"All right!" Ned said. 

With the point of his knife he pushed the sale and put the old new hingefrom the match safe and put the old one in its place. 

It fitted exactly. 

"There!" Ned said, "you see the old one did not wear out entirely. Itwore away so that it dropped out. Do you know where I found it, myfriend?"

"It is immaterial to me where you found it. "

"Even if I found it in a cellar by the side of a half barrel ofgunpowder to which a lighted fuse had been attached?"

"Hadn't you better make your case--if you can make it at all--in thecourts?" asked the prisoner. 

Ned took the state department seal, the sealing wax, and the bits ofparchment from his pocket. 

"Who met you in the library at the house you attempted to destroy?" heasked. 

There was no reply. 

"Were these men present?" with a sweep of the hand toward the otherprisoners. 

"What has this to do with my case?"

"This, " Ned replied. "You were still conspiring to fix upon mygovernment the crime of interfering in the private affairs of anothernation--with the crime of providing, by a treacherous and despicableroute, the money needed by the revolutionary party of China. You weredoing business in that house with the representatives of another nation. Who were they? What nations did they represent, or pretend torepresent?"

"I have nothing to say to that. "

Ned held up the seal. 

"This was not used?" he asked. 

"It was not used. "

"Why not?"

"Because the representative of that nation refused to consider the termsoffered him. "

Ned held forth the sealing wax. 

"This shows that the seal of another nation was used. Where is thepaper to which the seal was attached?"

"Destroyed!"

"Is that true?" asked Ned. 

"It is true, they all deserted me. They all ran away when they knew youwere in the country, but I brought them back, and held them until theincident at the house where you found those things. "

"So you are now the only one to look to for the history of this bit ofdeviltry?"

"I stand alone, " was the reply. "Alone, with the exception of these menI who were arrested with me. The plot has failed, and we know what toexpect. "

The prisoner was about to say more, but just then a clamor in the streetbelow attracted the attention of all in the room. 

CHAPTER XX

THE EMPEROR TAKES A HAND

Ned stepped to the window and looked out. The street in front of thehotel was filled from curb to curb with an excited mob. 

That the efforts of those below were directed toward the building andits occupants there could be no doubt. Many a shaking fist was thrustup to the lighted panes where Ned stood. 

The boy turned to Jimmie, spoke a few words in a whisper, and the littlefellow left the room. With him went the interpreter who had beenengaged that day. 

Shouts, howls and groans of rage now came up from the street, and Nedstepped away from the window. As he did so the prisoner who had beenmaking a partial confession when the uproar came, moved forward, as ifto show himself to those below. 

Seeing his intention, Ned seized him by the shoulder and hurled him tothe back end of the room. The prisoner smiled and again seated himselfin the chair he had occupied before. 

"Your friends are excited, " Ned said, drawing the curtain at the window. 

The other nodded in the direction of the window and smiled. 

"My friends?" he asked. 

"Certainly. "

"Why do you attribute this outbreak to me?"

"Because those not in league with you and your cause would hardlythreaten American tourists, in the face of the law. "

"American tourists!" snarled the other, and Ned laughed. 

Jimmie now came bustling into the room, his eyes staring withexcitement. The interpreter was only a trifle less moved by theinformation which had been gained. 

"What is it?" Jack asked. 

"He's crazy with fear again!" Frank put in. 

"Say, " Jimmie cried, "you'd all better be gettin' out of this place. The people out there are goin' to raid it in a minute!"

The prisoner uttered a defiant laugh and again started for the window. Again Ned forced him back. 

"What's the trouble?" asked Frank. 

"Why, " was the reply, "this gink here, " pointing toward the prisonerwhose disguise had been removed, "this gazabo hadn't much confidence inhis own ability to win this fight, so he appealed to the revolutionaryleaders. "

"That's fine!" Jack said. "We may have the luck to see a full-fledgedrevolution doing business. "

"You are quite likely to. "

This from the prisoner, now standing with the others at the back of theroom. 

"You arranged for this demonstration in case you should be taken?" askedNed. 

The prisoner snarled out some ugly reply. 

"You planned this?" demanded Ned, resolved to know the truth. 

"Yes, " almost shouted the other, "and you will soon discover that it issomething more than a demonstration. "

The interpreter drew Jimmie aside and whispered in his ear. Then theboy turned to Ned. 

"This boy says he saw a signal given from a window as soon as this bunchwas taken, " he said. "Then crowds began forming. Say, but we'd betterbe gettin' out!"

"Save yourselves the exertion, " the prisoner said. "They will find you, wherever you go!"

"Possibly, " Ned said. 

Then he walked to the window and again looked out on the mob. Thestreet was packed. Faces showing rage and desperate bravery wereuplifted. Fists were shaken at the window where he stood. In a momenta stone came hurtling against the wall of the house. 

Here and there, on the outskirts of the crowd, policemen in the funnyuniforms the police of Peking wear, were seen trying vainly to forcetheir way to the door of the hotel. The main entrance seemed to beguarded, for the mob did not succeed in forcing its way in. 

Presently, however, Ned saw long ladders being carried forward on theshoulders of the rioters. Then they were dropped against the wall andmen with bloody faces--bloody from the acts of their own fellows--foughtto be first to climb. 

"In three minutes, " the prisoner said, "you will be torn limb from limbif I am not released. "

"Your friends certainly do insist on something of the kind, " Nedreplied. 

"Remove these irons and place me before the window, " commanded theother. "That will quiet them. "

"And make terms with a pack of rioters?" smiled Ned. 

"You can save your life, and the lives of your friends, in no otherway, " insisted the other. 

Ned went to the window again, although bricks and stones were flyingquite freely. The ladders swarmed with excited men, but no one seemedable to gain entrance at the windows which were attacked. 

Instead, a ladder now and then went toppling backward, carrying dozensof rioters to death or injury. When the ladders began falling the mobmoved away from that side of the street. 

"You see, " Ned said to the prisoner, "that we were on the lookout forsomething like this. "

"How could you have been?" gasped the other. 

"Our interpreter heard some of the messages sent out by mouth by therevolutionists. I connected your possible capture with the gathering. We were warned and made ready. "

"But my men will soon be here!" shouted the other. "They are sworn togo to death for the cause if necessary. "

"But I don't see them doing anything of the kind, " Ned replied. "On thecontrary, they seem to be taking pretty good care of their yellow oldhides!"

"You'll see!" howled the other. 

Directly the heavy beat of marching feet came up to the window, heardabove the roar of the mob below. Far down the street Ned saw theadvancing line, bearing the colors of the Emperor. 

The rioters saw the line, too, and the crowd in front of the hotel beganto thin. Then the soldiers arrived and the thoroughfare was empty savefor their presence. By this time the prisoner was in a condition ofcollapse. He had planned this thing carefully, and was now in themeshes of failure. 

The street below soon cleared of the few who gathered about to witnessthe arrival of the soldiers. The few prisoners, who had been takenmarched sullenly to prison. In ten minutes the city of Peking was asquiet as if the machinations of the conspirators had never stirred thepeople to riot. 

"Well?" Ned said, facing the prisoner. "What do you think we ought todo with you?"

"After all, " was the reply, "you have no charges against me. Mygovernment alone can discipline me for what has been done. "

"Your government will deny any knowledge of the conspiracy, " Nedreplied. "From this time on, you have no government. "

"And yet I acted under instructions. "

"What was the motive?" asked Frank, who saw a fine cablegram for hisfather's newspaper in the story. 

"The purpose, " replied the other, weakly, "was to so entangle yourgovernment that it would not dare lend aid to the revolutionaryleaders. "

"And you were engaged in it?"

A nod of the head was the only reply. 

"Yet you pretended to be assisting the revolutionary party. You werepresent at their councils. Can it be possible that you were treacherousto both sides?"

There was no answer. 

"Suppose, " Ned said, "suppose I turn you over to the revolutionaryleaders, with a statement of what you have just said? What would beyour fate? Remember that the men of the revolution were ready to fightfor you not long ago. "

Still no reply. The prisoner only looked sullenly down at the floor. 

"What government do you represent?" asked Frank. "What nation is itthat is protecting the imperial government of China?"

"You need not answer that question, " Ned said, with a sigh. 

Frank laughed. 

"I see, " he said. "You don't want to further implicate matters bygiving out the name of the power whose seal shows on the wax! Allright, old boy, I'll get it yet!"

"No good can come of a representative of the United States Governmentpresenting charges of such a character against another power, " Nedreplied. 

Captain Martin now arose from the chair where he had been seated for along time. He glanced keenly into the faces of the six prisoners andthen turned to Ned. 

"Shall I take them in charge?" he asked, "That would be useless. "

"Then what can be done with them?"

"I am going to turn them over to the authorities on the charge ofattempted murder, based on the effort they made to kill us in the oldhouse. "

"Very well, " the Captain said, "now will you tell me how you set thistrap so, cleverly?"

"It was only a matter of detail, " Ned replied. "I took good care to letthe native waiters here know that I had the clues I had found secretedin my room. I also let it be known that I was a heavy sleeper. 

"My interpreter, who is by no means as treacherous a chap as his lookswould indicate, heard the robbery of my room planned. He heard the hourfixed-a quarter past twelve. So all the rest was easy. "

"Oh, yes, easy, but how did you do it?"

"Frank, Jack and Jimmie helped, " added Ned. "Jack was at a window overthe way. He told me by signals just how many men were to take part inthe attack on me. 

"Frank, in the next room to mine, told me when the time came to be onguard. I really do not wake easily, and he rigged a cord through thewall so I could rest comfortably until the time for action came. 

"Then when all was ready, he told me by means of colored light that allthe six were in the corridor, and that the officers I had engaged duringthe afternoon were on hand. "

"And you went to sleep with all this on your mind and slept up to withina quarter of an hour of the time set for action?" asked the Captain inwonder. 

"Why, certainly, " was the reply. "You see, we have been having someexciting nights, and I needed rest. The other boys slept a good dealthis afternoon, so I left them to wake me at night. Nothing odd aboutthat, is there?"

"Nothing save the nerve of it. "

Two high officers now made their appearance in the room and beckoned tothe prisoners. All arose save the man from whom the disguise had beenstripped. He remained in the chair into which he had dropped, seeminglyin a stupor. 

"Come, " said the officer. 

The man arose, desperation in his eyes, and moved toward the door. Afew days before that miserable night he had been one of the leaders inthe statecraft of the world. Now he was being marched to a prison likeany ordinary criminal. 

The speaker was interrupted by a quick movement on the part of theprisoner, the man he had addressed as Count. There was no one betweenhe desperate man and the still open window. Ned was at the door, Captain Martin was out in the corridor, and Frank, Jack and Jimmie weretalking together in a corner. 

Handcuffed as he was, the Count leaped to the window and shot down tothe hard pavement below. There was a shrill cry as his body hurtledthrough the air, then a crash. 

Below passersby drew away from what lay in a bloody heap on thepavement. A little crowd gathered, at a distance, but none knew that thebody of one of the most distinguished statesmen in the world lay there. 

"It is finished!" Ned said, with a sigh. "The whole story of theconspiracy will never be told. It is the story of a treacherousgovernment and a treacherous statesman. 

"The documents I have will fully prove that the United States had nohand in the gold shipment, and that is all that we care for. The oldworld may take care of its own political messes. "

"It is a mess indeed, " Captain Martin, said. "In less than a year Chinawill be red with blood, and the streets of Peking will witness theretreat of the royal family. "

How true this prophecy was the readers of the daily newspapers now know. 

"Well, " Jack said, with a yawn, as the boys and the Captain were leftalone in the room together, "I presume it is us for little old New Yorkto-morrow. How do you like this motorcycle-flying-squadron business, boys, " he added. "We seem to have flown ahead of the flying squadron. "

"Then we ought to fly back and look after the ones who were wounded onthe road, " Frank said. "Suppose we all go back on our machines, andreally see something of the country?"

This was agreed to, and the party separated for the night. In themorning Ned paid his respects to the American ambassador, who greetedhim courteously, but wanted to know all about the events of the tripfrom the coast. 

"You have gotten Uncle Sam out of a bad mess, " the ambassador said, whenNed had finished his narration, "and you will find that you will be wellrewarded when you return to Washington. "

The ambassador also requested the boys to visit the other legations, butthey did not care to do so. 

"Well, " he said, then, "you must take a letter from me which may helpyou on your way. I have been expecting you here all the week, but itseems that you completed your work without my assistance, "

"Just what I was figuring on, " Ned replied. 

"I worked under surveillance all the way here, and I desired to showthat I could do something on my own account. "

The boys left Peking early the next morning, and were not long inreaching the house where the powder trap had been set for them. Therethey found Hans and Sandy! The boys had followed them on from Tientsinin an automobile which an English merchant was taking through. 

Both boys were riding motorcycles, and were already proficient enough toproceed with the others, using the machines which had been ridden by thewounded marines, who were sent on to Peking in charge of Captain Martin. 

A week was spent on the road to Taku, and the lads enjoyed every minuteof the time. The letter given them by the American ambassador broughtthem every attention at Tientsin and Taku. 

It was late in the fall when they reached New York. On the night oftheir arrival there were many joyful meetings in the clubroom of theBlack Bear Patrol. The next day Ned went on to Washington to file hisreport. When he returned it was with a very substantial reward. 

"Now, " he said, with a laugh, "I'm ready for the next trip. I wonderwhere it will be?"

THE END