e been all off with you, my boy."

"He must be a treacherous old chap!" Ned commented.

"His life and everything he loves is at stake."

"Then he should have kept out of the mess! Why should he want to get us
into a war?"

"My boy," replied the consul, "we are sure to have a war with some great
European nation before many years."

"Because the people are getting too thick over here. Because they are
going to America in droves. Because the governments of Europe desire to
retain control of their people after they leave the confines of their
own countries. They want English, German, Russian, Italian, French
colonies held under their hand instead of a mass of their subjects doing
reverence to a foreign flag."

"And they will fight for that?"

"Of course. The only way we can keep out of a great and disastrous war
is to abandon the Philippines, throw our island possessions to the dogs,
and tumble the Monroe doctrine into the sea. Then these foreign nations
can buy, steal, or conquer all South and Central America. We don't want
the land there, and we can't afford to fight for the dagoes who live
there."

"There is too much jingo in our country to ever do what you suggest,"
Ned suggested.

"I'm afraid you are right," the consul replied. "But now to business.
Get your machines here and mount them! You are to leave for Peking
to-night."

"And I'll not come back until I reach the town!" declared the boy.

"By the way," said the consul, "where are the papers you took from the
captain of the Shark--the boat you fought with your submarine?"

"I have them here," was the reply.

"Better leave them in my safe."

Ned consented to this, and later, on the march to Peking, he was very
glad that he had done.

At twilight the boys joined the flying squadron, and were all off for
the imperial city, little suspecting that the perils before them were
greater than any they had encountered.

CHAPTER XVI

A BIT OF SEALING WAX

The night grew clearer as the flying squadron advanced toward the
imperial city of China. The roads were rough in places, but the superb
machines carried the boys and their companions at good speed.

It may well be imagined that the party created something of a sensation
as it whirled along. The constant popping of the engines, the strong
lights which flashed ahead, and the voices of the marines brought many a
sleepy-faced Chinaman to the door of his home.

Now and then the boys w