wn?' Fred
whispered.

'Oh, no!' Ping Wang replied. 'We will enter by that gate facing us.
There will probably be some soldiers there, but they won't interfere
with us.'

Ten minutes later Ping Wang and the Pages arrived at the open gate, near
which were some half-dozen dirty rascals playing some Chinese game. They
were soldiers, but so interested were they in their game that they did
not even glance at the people passing in and out. Ping Wang told Fred
and Charlie, later, that these imitations of soldiers usually passed
their time in that fashion.

Once in the town Charlie and Fred felt that they were comparatively
safe, for it seemed that among the large population they would escape
notice. No one appeared to suspect that they were not Chinamen, and Ping
Wang, who had recently been regretting he had induced the Pages to take
part in such a dangerous enterprise, became convinced that they would
reach the house for which they were bound without any difficulty. The
reason for entering the town was to discover from a cousin of his, who
resided there, if Chin Choo were still alive. He knew that it was a
risky thing for him to do to bring the Pages into the town, but he was
convinced that to have left them by themselves outside would have been
far more dangerous.

'In a few minutes,' he said, quietly, 'we shall arrive at my cousin's
house. He is a Christian, and will not let any one know that you are
Englishmen. He will give us a meal, and then we can start off refreshed
to Kwang-ngan.'

But before they had gone another fifty yards, and just as they were
passing a big building, which Ping Wang whispered was the residence of
some high official, some twenty Yamen runners, or policemen, suddenly
rushed out of the courtyard and seized the three of them. The men were
armed with swords, and to have resisted would have been madness. Ping
Wang indignantly asked to be told why they were treated thus, but got no
reply. Charlie and Fred had the good sense not to utter a word, for,
although they believed that it had been discovered that they were
Europeans, they were determined not to convict themselves. With
unnecessary roughness they were hurried into the courtyard from which
their captors had sallied, and before long a mandarin came out of the
house to inspect them. He was not attired in his official clothes, and
did not come within twenty yards of the prisoners, but after a glance at
them made some remark to the leader of the