g with the man of lowest rank present, the idea of this being to
prevent the younger and less experienced officers from being influenced
by the decisions of their superiors.

On the table, with its point directed toward the Judge Advocate's seat,
lay Prince Hsi's sword, which had been taken from him at the time of his
arrest.

The officers having taken their seats in the order of seniority, Admiral
Ting declared the court open, and directed the prisoner to be brought
in. A few seconds later the door opened and Prince Hsi entered, guarded
by two sailors with drawn swords, and himself wearing his full-dress
uniform, with all his orders displayed across his breast. He looked,
Frobisher thought, a trifle pale, but was otherwise cool and collected,
and his face wore its usual expression of cold and haughty resentment.
With him entered another officer belonging to Admiral Ting's staff,
whose duty it would be to act as the prisoner's "friend", a position
something similar to that of counsel for the defence at a civilian
trial.

Having bowed to the assembled court, the Prince, in view of his rank,
was permitted to seat himself in the chair provided, and the trial
commenced. From the first it was quite evident that Hsi believed his
judges would never dare to proceed to extremities, for his replies were
always careless, and often flippant; but Frobisher could see that the
court was very much in earnest, and that the Prince was deceiving
himself very badly.

It began to dawn on the prisoner, after a time, that his accusers were
making out a very serious case against him--as, indeed, they could not
help doing, in face of the evidence they possessed; and he made
desperate efforts to justify his conduct and to excuse his actions,
though, in face of the facts, he was attempting an utter impossibility.

At the expiration of an hour the accusation and defence had been heard,
and the Prince was ordered to be removed. Admiral Ting then summed up,
and asked the verdict of the court, commencing with the youngest
lieutenant present, and working up until the last pronouncement rested
with the captain of the _Chen Yuen_.

Every officer gave it as his conscientious conviction that the Prince
was guilty, and Hsi was then recalled. He started violently as he saw
that his sword had been reversed and that its point was now toward,
instead of away from, him; for he knew by that token that he had been
found guilty, and that all that now r