"China is a charming land
Which surely ought to please you."

Oh! Labiche, could you ever have imagined that this adorable
composition would one day charm passengers in distress on the Grand
Transasiatic? And then our actor--a little fresh, I admit--had an idea.
And such an idea! Why not resume the marriage ceremony interrupted by
the attack on the train?

"What marriage?" asked Ephrinell.

"Yours, sir, yours," replied Caterna. "Have you forgotten it? That is
rather too good!"

The fact is that Fulk Ephrinell, on the one part, and Horatia Bluett,
on the other part, seemed to have forgotten that had it not been for
the attack of Ki-Tsang and his band they would now have been united in
the gentle bonds of matrimony.

But we were all too tired. The Reverend Nathaniel Morse was unequal to
the task; he would not have strength enough to bless the pair, and the
pair would not have strength enough to support his blessing. The
ceremony could be resumed on the day after to-morrow. Between
Tcharkalyk and Lan Tcheou there was a run of nine hundred kilometres,
and that was quite long enough for this Anglo-American couple to be
linked together in.

And so we all went to our couches or benches for a little refreshing
sleep. But at the same time the requirements of prudence were not
neglected.

Although it appeared improbable, now that their chief had succumbed,
the bandits might still make a nocturnal attack. There were always
these cursed millions of the Son of Heaven to excite their
covetousness, and if we are not on our guard--

But we feel safe. Faruskiar in person arranges for the surveillance of
the train. Since the death of the officer he has taken command of the
Chinese detachment. He and Ghangir are on guard over the imperial
treasure, and according to Caterna, who is never in want of a quotation
from some comic opera:

"This night the maids of honor will be guarded well."

And, in fact, the imperial treasure was much better guarded than the
beautiful Athenais de Solange between the first and second acts of the
_Mousquetaires de la Reine_.

At daybreak next morning we are at work. The weather is superb. The day
will be warm. Out in the Asian desert on the 24th of May the
temperature is such that you can cook eggs if you only cover them with
a little sand.

Zeal was not wanting, and the passengers worked as hard as they had
done the night before. The line was gradual