e time in the chamber, for the boys were
saving of their flashlight batteries.

Finally one of the plans which had been slowly maturing in Sandy's brain
brought the lad into action. Noiselessly he crept away from the little
group and moved on his hands and knees, along the tunnel leading to the
cellar of the old mud house.

He reasoned that that point would not be so closely guarded as the exit
would be; also that Ned and his companions, if they returned to the city
in quest of the boys and sought the mud house, would be more apt to be
watching the house itself than the exit, which was some distance away
from the road.

After proceeding a few feet, Sandy stopped and listened. There were no
indications of human presence in the tunnel ahead, or in the cellar,
which was not far away now, and from which a faint light shone.

When the boy reached the entrance to the cellar he saw three Chinamen
lying on the earth floor, either asleep or under the influence of opium.
It did not take the lad long to make up his mind as to which one of the
causes, sleep or opium, had put his guards off their guard.

There was a strong odor of opium in the cellar, and a closer examination
of the place showed him that the watchmen had been "hitting the pipe,"
as the boys on South Clark street, Chicago, would have expressed it.
However, the way did not seem to be clear, for there were soft footsteps
on the patch of board floor which covered a part of the cellar, and then
a Chinaman backed down the ladder.

He came down slowly and stood for an instant on the cellar floor before
looking around. When at last he saw the men asleep on the floor he
muttered some jargon which Sandy could not understand and turned back to
the ladder again.

Sandy believed that the man he saw was the only one the "pipe" had left
on guard. If he could prevent him reaching the street, he might be able
to get the other boys out of the trap in which they had been caught.

The Chinaman seemed large and strong, but Sandy would have taken even
greater chances in order to convince the boys that he was not their
enemy, so he sprang upon him. The struggle was a desperate one for a
time, for Sandy was not very strong as compared with his opponent, and
the man he was fighting with fought viciously.

Sandy did not dare cry out to the boys in the chamber for help, for that
might bring other enemies into the fight. The only way seemed to be to
conquer the Chinaman and the