der cover of one of the casemates, drew the load,
exercising the utmost care, that the powder might not be exposed to any
flying sparks. Then, springing to the gun, he thrust in the empty case,
slammed the breech shut, and pressed the key.

There was a loud, smacking report, and a little thread of smoke curled
up from the muzzle of the gun. The primers, then, were in good order,
so--good heavens!--it must be the powder that was wrong, and Frobisher
felt the beads of sweat gather on his forehead. He would make quite
sure, though.

Running back to the casemate, he snatched a handful of powder, spread it
thinly on deck, well away from the load, and placed a lighted match to
it. There was no flame or puff of smoke, no explosion--nothing! The
match simply burnt up and went out. Then the _Su-chen's_ captain took a
pinch of the stuff between his fingers and put it in his mouth, tasting
it. A moment later he spat it out on deck with a cry of horror and
amazement, for what had passed for powder in all those old cartridges
was nothing but granulated charcoal! Then Frobisher recollected
Wong-lih's accusation of peculation on the part of mandarins and other
high officials who filled their pockets at the expense of their country,
and how the admiral had said that it would be a bad thing for China if
she had to go to war under conditions such as then obtained.

This, then, was one of the results of such peculation. Some contractor
or official had been paid to provide powder, and he had provided
charcoal, pocketing the difference.

Frobisher ground his teeth and muttered several very bitter things.
Here he was, engaged with a vastly superior force, handicapped most
horribly for want of ammunition--for possibly the rest of the supply,
intended for the smaller guns, was in the same condition. What would
have happened if he had not had the forethought to examine superficially
the contents of the magazine at Tien-tsin, and order a fresh supply on
his own responsibility, he hardly dared to think. There would
undoubtedly have been not a single cartridge capable of being
discharged, and the _Su-chen_ and her crew would by this time
undoubtedly have been the prize of the pirates. And all this that some
pampered mandarin or contractor might have a supply of unearned money
wherewith to buy luxuries that he neither deserved nor needed. It was
disgraceful!

But there was nothing to be gained by repining, he reminded himself.
Fo