ate and got into these disguises. The
consul says he never saw anything smoother, though he must be prejudiced
in our favor, for he helped get up the disguises himself.

"Then we went to the vicinity of the telegraph office and waited. In a
moment we saw that something unusual was going on. Directly a messenger
started off in this direction and we followed him. I knew then, as well
as I know it now, that you boys had been detained in the hope of keeping
us all out of Peking, so I bought some strong opium on the way and doped
the pipes of the guards after I mixed with them."

"How could you mix with them?" asked Jack. "You know about as much
Chinese as a robin."

"Oh, they thought we were sullen brutes sent down from their
headquarters, and took us into their confidence all right. We were just
ready to explore the underground places when we heard the scrap below."

"And now what?" asked Frank.

"Now, we're goin' to Peking!" cried Jimmie.

"You said that before!" Jack taunted.

"Well, we didn't get tied up in a hole we couldn't get out of," retorted
the little fellow.

"I guess you'd have been in the old temple until now if you hadn't
traveled with an escort," Jack cut in.

The boys, laughing and "roasting" each other, passed up the ladder and
to the half earthen, half-board floor of the mud hut. There they found
the woman Chee moving about with a swollen face.

She tried to talk with Ned, but as neither could understand what the
other said, little progress was made. However, she finally managed to
make Ned understand that she wanted him to take the unconscious men out
of the cellar, also the man who had been tied up by Jack and Sandy.

Ned finally made her understand that she could call the police half an
hour after their departure. This seemed to satisfy her, and the piece
of silver Ned presented was received with many gestures of gratitude.

"Won't the finding of them men there get her into trouble?" asked Sandy,
as the lads walked away.

"I'll explain the matter to the American consul," answered Ned, "and ask
him to inform the authorities. You see, these people who are making us
all this trouble are about as afraid of the officers as they are of us.
The government is keeping a sharp lookout for the revolutionary leaders,
and some are captured every day."

"What do they do with them?" asked Jack.

"They are never heard of again."

"Murdered? Without trial?"

"That is the belief."

"The