ation was now changed to home affairs, for the manager, being
a thorough-bred Englishman, was anxious to hear the latest news of
London.

Soon after lunch they went aboard the _Canton_, which they found to be a
small and poky vessel. The saloon placed at their disposal was very
similar to the after-saloons which Charlie and Ping had seen in the
North Sea steam trawlers; that is to say, the bunks were round the
table.

The trip to Tien-tsin occupied several days, and all on board, except
the skipper and his mate, being Chinamen, Charlie and Fred were
compelled to speak very little, and then only in an undertone, for fear
that they should be overheard. However, they managed to enjoy
themselves, as Ping Wang taught them several exciting Chinese games.

'In which direction do you intend to travel when we reach Tien-tsin?'
the skipper of the _Canton_ asked Ping Wang, shortly after they had
passed Taku.

'Up the Pei-ho,' Ping Wang answered. 'By-the-bye, I suppose you know
several boatmen who work up the river?'

'I have a slight acquaintance with a score or so of them, and if you
wish to get a passage on one of their boats I dare say that I can manage
to choose a fairly honest man.'

'That is just what I do want. Of course it can never do to let him know
that my friends are Englishmen. He might refuse to take them.'

'He would take them readily enough; but he would demand an absurdly
high price for it; and, possibly, when you reached your destination, he
would make known that they were foreigners.'

'That is highly probable,' Ping Wang admitted. 'I am afraid that some
one on board is certain to discover that our friends are not Chinamen.'

'Pretend that they are both ill, and that they must on no account be
disturbed. Then they will be able to escape being spoken to.'

'That is a very good idea,' Ping Wang declared; but when they arrived at
Tien-tsin, and he and the skipper started bargaining with a small
cargo-boat owner for passages, it was found that the idea was not so
good as he expected.

'I will not take them,' the boatman declared, when he heard that two of
his proposed passengers were invalids. 'They will die on my boat, and
then their spirits will haunt me.'

Neither Ping Wang nor the skipper of the _Canton_ had thought of this
objection--a very natural one from a Chinese point of view.

'But these men will not die,' the skipper declared, hurriedly. 'It is
only bad eyes that they are suffering from.