y this Faruskiar is a man, he is our true chief, he is the
personage I was in want of, and I will sound his name over the entire
universe in all the trumpets of my chronicle!

And yet Major Noltitz is mistaken enough to see in him only a rival to
this Ki-Tsang, whose crimes have just received their final punishment
from his hand!

We set to work to replace the sleepers that had been shifted aside from
where they had left their mark, and we continued our task without
intermission.

Having no fear of being noticed amid the confusion which followed the
attack, I went into the luggage van to assure myself that Kinko was
safe and sound, to tell him what had passed, to caution him on no
account to come put of his box. He promised me, and I was at ease
regarding him.

It was nearly three o'clock when we began work. The rails had been
shifted for about a hundred yards. As Faruskiar remarked, it was not
necessary for us to fix them permanently. That would be the task of the
workmen the company would send from Tcharkalyk when we reached that
station, which is one of the most important on the line.

As the rails were heavy we divided ourselves into detachments.
First-class and second-class, all worked together with good will. The
baron displayed tremendous ardor. Ephrinell, who thought no more of his
marriage than if he had never thought about it, devoted strict
attention to business. Pan-Chao was second to nobody, and even Doctor
Tio-King strove to make himself useful--in the fashion of the
celebrated Auguste, the fly on the chariot wheel.

"It is hot, this Gobi sun!" said Caterna.

Alone sat Sir Francis Trevellyan of Trevellyanshire, calm and impassive
in his car, utterly regardless of our efforts.

At seven o'clock thirty yards of the line had been repaired. The night
was closing in. It was decided to wait until the morning. In half a day
we could finish the work, and in the afternoon we could be off again.

We were in great want of food and sleep. After so rude a task, how rude
the appetite! We met in the dining car without distinction of classes.
There was no scarcity of provisions, and a large breach was made in the
reserves. Never mind! We can fill up again at Tcharkalyk.

Caterna is particularly cheery, talkative, facetious, communicative,
overflowing. At dessert he and his wife sang the air--appropriate to
the occasion--from the _Voyage en Chine_, which we caught up with more
power than precision: