out" there.

Their provisions were brought to them regularly by a Chinaman who did
not seem to understand a word of English, and, as the boys knowledge of
the Chinese tongue was exceedingly limited, no information had been
gained from him. The Secret Service man had not appeared, and Ned was
becoming uneasy, especially as the curiosity of his neighbors was
becoming annoying.

"I guess this is a stall," Jimmie grumbled, as Ned arose and stood at
his side. "You know how the Moores, father an' son, tried to get us on
the submarine? Well, I'll bet they've got loose, an' that we're bein'
kept here until they can do us up proper without attractin' the
attention of the European population."

Ned laughed at the boy's fears. He had no doubt that the man who had
promised to meet him there had been delayed in some unaccountable
manner, and that the information he was awaiting would be supplied
before another day had passed.

"Anyway," Jimmie insisted, "I don't like the looks of things hereabouts!
There's always some pigtailed Chink watchin' this house from the street.
I woke up last night an' saw a snaky-eyed Celestial peering in at this
window. I guess they've got rid of the man we are waitin' for."

"If we only knew exactly what we were to do in Peking," Frank said,
approaching the little group by the window, "we might jog along and
report to the American legation. I'm like Jimmie. I don't fancy this
long wait here--not a little bit!"

"As I have told you before," Ned replied, "I don't know the first thing
about the work cut out for us by the United States Secret Service
people. There was some talk about following a brace of conspirators to
Peking, the conspirators who tried to discredit the United States in the
matter of the gold shipment but that was only incidental, and I was
ordered to come here and await instructions. So I'm going to wait--
until the moon drops out of the sky, if necessary."

"Oh, we'll stick around!" Frank put in. "Don't think, for a minute,
that any of us thought of quitting the game. Still, I'd just like to
know how much longer we have to remain here, and just what we are to do
when we get to Peking, if we ever do."

"Of course we'll stick!" Jimmie exclaimed. "All I'm kickin' on is the
delay. We might have remained on board the submarine, where we had cozy
quarters an' somethin' to eat besides this Chink stuff."

"Whenever you want to bump Jimmie good and plenty," laughed Jack, "al