roportions.

As soon as the door was closed the alleged priest threw aside his
slate-colored robe, snatched a wig and beard from his head and face,
and stood forth a handsome man, dressed in the costume of a modern
Englishman or American. At first Ned did not recognize the smiling face
which confronted him.

Then there came to his mind the memory of a time in Canton when he had
watched a meeting of men he believed to be in conspiracy against his
country. This face certainly had been there.

The voice was low, smooth, musical. Ned stood looking at the subtle
countenance, but said not a word.

"You are caught at last!" came next.

Still Ned stood silent, saying not a word, only wondering if the time
for final action had arrived--if the Captain outside was in such peril
as threatened himself.

"Rather a bright boy," sneered the other, "only not bright enough to
understand that men of the world are not to be defeated in their
long-cherished plans by the kindergarten class. Do you know where your
two friends are--the two who accompanied you here?"

"I presume that they are quite capable of taking care of themselves,"
Ned replied.

"They are on the road to a dungeon in Peking."

"From first to last," Ned said, "from my first connection with this case
up to this hour, I have come upon only bluffers and liars. You seem to
be making good in both lines."

"Not so rude, kid," laughed the other. "You've certainly got nerve to
address such words to one who holds your life, and the lives of your
friends, in his hand."

"If you do," Ned said, "if you really have the power of life and death
you claim to have, there is no hope for any of us."

"Figure it out in your own way," said the other, "but, so far as the
power of life and death is concerned, you hold the lives of your friends
in your own hands."

"I understand what you mean," the boy replied, "but I'm not for sale.
Go ahead with your procession! Death looks pretty good to me, as
compared with the disgrace of asking a favor from one of your stripe."

Ned's words, purposely designed to enrage the fellow, struck fire at
last, and he said what he never would have said in calmer moments.

"I'll show you that death is not so pleasant a thing as you seem to
imagine!" he almost shouted. "I'll show you how to learn the lesson of
supplication! When the future of a nation is at stake, human lives do
not count. What are the lives of a dozen or more to the prosper