eful to you----' Charlie began, but Barton stopped him.

'My dear fellow, you have nothing to thank me for. In fact, I am the
innocent cause of the hardship you have undergone; for if I had not
complained of our horse having been stolen, you would not have been
arrested. But, I hope,' he continued, 'you have not suffered from the
wooden collars?'

'Our necks have. Mine is horribly stiff.'

'We can remedy that with embrocation. When we reach our house--we shall
soon be there--you had better have a bath at once.'

The Pages and Ping Wang were very pleased when they reached the mission
station, and were able to indulge in the luxury of a warm bath. Having
bathed, rubbed their necks with embrocation, and well shaken their
clothes, they strolled out on to the verandah, where Barton was waiting
for them. He led the way along the verandah, which ran the length of the
building, and turned into a large, airy, plainly furnished dining-room.
At the head of the table sat the senior missionary--a man of about fifty
years of age--and facing him was his wife. An elderly lady and a young
man were the other missionaries, and there were also at the table the
four children of the senior missionary.

After dinner they all went out on the verandah, and there Charlie, by
request, told his new friends why he and Fred were in Su-ching disguised
as Chinamen.

The senior missionary strongly advised the Pages and Ping Wang to give
up their journey, declaring that if they persisted they would probably
meet with worse punishment than the wooden collar.

'But the jewels belong to me,' Ping Wang declared.

'I do not doubt it, but nevertheless, Chin Choo would regard you as a
common thief. Why not ask him to return the idol to you?'

'That would make him think it was more valuable than he had supposed.
Moreover, he has threatened to kill me if ever he has the opportunity.'

'Then why give him an opportunity?'

'I do not mean to. We will wait at Kwang-ngan until we get a chance of
regaining the idol without being found out.'

A little later Ping Wang's cousin arrived at the missionary's house, and
was able to give the travellers some valuable information. He had paid a
visit to Kwang-ngan during the previous week, and had seen Chin Choo on
several occasions. One evening as he passed Chin Choo's house, he
saw--the gate being open--the idol which the mandarin had stolen from
Ping Wang's father, standing in the front room nearest the road.