opped, and he half
turned with an air of guilt.

The door closed with a little swish. The Russian was gone. With him went
the stifling air of treachery, murder and intrigue, yet it left Johnny
wondering. Why was every man's hand lifted against the sharp-chinned
Russian? Had Wo Cheng been actuated by hate, or by greed? Johnny could
not but wonder if some of Russia's former noblemen did not rest in
shallow graves beneath Wo Cheng's cellar floor. But there was little
time for speculation. In two hours the special train that Johnny wanted
to take would be on its way north.

Springing nimbly from his place of hiding, Johnny recovered his blouse,
and having secured from it certain papers, which were of the utmost
importance to him, he pinned them in a pocket of his shirt. He next
selected a pair of wolf skin trousers, a pair of corduroy trousers, one
pair of deer skin boots and two of seal skin.

"Cumshaw?" he grinned, facing Wo Cheng, as he completed his selection.

The yellow man shrugged his shoulders, as if to say it made little
difference to him in this case.

Johnny peeled a bill from his roll of United States currency and handed
it to him.

"Wo Cheng," he said slowly, "go north, Jap woman? Go north, that
Russian? Why?"

The Chinaman's face took on a mask-like appearance.

"No can do," he muttered. "Allatime keep mouth shut my."

"Tell me," commanded Johnny, advancing in a threatening manner, with his
hand near the Russian's knife.

"No can do," protested the Chinaman cringing away. "Allatime keep mouth
shut my. No ask my. No tell my. Allatime buy, sell my. No savvy my."

It was evident that nothing was to be learned here of the intentions of
the two strangers; so, grasping his bundle, Johnny lifted the latch and
found himself out in the silent, deserted alley.

The air was kind to his heated brow. As he took the first few steps his
costume troubled him. He was wearing the parka and the corduroy
trousers. He felt no longer the slight tug of puttees about his ankles.
His trousers flapped against his legs at every step. The hood heated the
back of his neck. The fur trousers and the skin boots were in the bundle
under his arm. His soldier's uniform he had left with the keeper of the
hidden clothes shop. He hardly thought that anyone, save a very personal
acquaintance, would recognize him in his new garb, and there was little
chance of such a meeting at this hour of the night. However, he gave
three American