nd
we were very nearly coming to our end in it without a man left to tell
the tale."

"But why, sir? What object could he have?"

"Plunder, for one thing; our boat, and weapons such as they cannot get.
Yes, I believe that he is in league with those pirates."

"Oh, I can't think it, Mr Brooke," I cried. "He has served us so
well."

"Yes, to gain his own ends."

"But surely he wouldn't do such a base thing for the sake of getting a
paltry share in these rifles and cutlasses?"

"He would have the satisfaction of seeing us massacred."

"But what satisfaction could that be, sir?" I cried. "We have always
been his friends."

"The Chinese hate the outer barbarians and foreign devils, as they call
us, my lad. They are obliged to tolerate our presence, but the common
people, as you know well, would feel an intense pleasure in murdering
every European they came across."

"All the same, sir," I said, "I don't believe poor old Ching would do
anything that was against us."

"Well, we shall see. But what an escape, my lad! What a trap we were
in!"

"And how capital to get out of it without having a man hurt."

"It's splendid, my lad. The captain will be delighted at that, and
forgive me about the boat."

"But we had to run away, sir," I said.

"Rather strange running away to charge that boat as we did! But don't
you take it into your head, my lad, that it is cowardly to retreat at
the proper time. It is madness to go throwing away the lives of your
men when you can do no good by fighting. It might sound very grand and
heroic for us to have fought both those boats, and then tried to capture
the junks; but we must have been cut to pieces in the attempt, and what
then--"

"We should have been able to say that we did not turn tail upon our
enemies."

"No, we should not, my boy, because there would not have been a soul
left to tell the story. There, my lad, don't indulge in romance. He is
the best commander who gains victories at the smallest cost of blood to
his country.--Ha, at last! how much longer the creek seems coming back
than it did going up."

"Running against the tide, too," I cried; and the next minute we glided
out into the big stream, crossed the river, and settled down to a quiet,
steady row on the far side, where the eddy enabled us to make a very
fine rate of speed.

But our rate did not satisfy Mr Brooke, who kept on looking at his
watch as the time went on, and we found that the swi