ed Jimmie. "You didn't see him go, did you?"

"Then he must be up some," Jack said.

"And he left Manila on a boat bound for Yokohama," Frank added. "I know
about that, for French gave me a valuable tip. And he was accompanied by
an American sailor with a thirst for strong drink."

"I guess you've got the idea, all right," Ned said, with a smile. "But I
did not state the case exactly as it is. I said that the man who led the
party against Lieutenant Rowe was sent away. I should have said that the
man suspected of having been at the head of that expedition had
mysteriously disappeared from Manila on the very day of his return there
after an absence unaccounted for, and that it was believed he had taken
a steamer for Yokohama. I stated my conclusions as facts."

"And there was an American sailor with him," insisted Frank.

"Yes, an, American sailor who evidently knew too much. At least, that is
the way I figure it out. Now, we are not looking for this high-brow at
this time, but for the American sailor."

"That makes it all the pleasanter!" Jack said. "We'll have a chance to
see life in Japan as it is. I'd feel better about this little outing,
though, if I knew just what has become of Lieutenant Rowe."

"I often wish we had tried to release him," Ned replied, "but we were
lucky to get off with whole hides. Anyway, Pat says they were to release
him in a short time, after the plot is perfected. All they wanted was
his dispatches, and they will hold him captive only because his release
might lead to the premature discovery of the meeting of chiefs on the
island."

"Well, let us get busy with the underworld of Japan," Jack said. "I'll
bet we find plenty of American sailors with thirsts."

On a dark night in Yokohama the houses in the section visited by the
boys look very much alike. They are drygoods box affairs, two stories
high, with peaked roofs, paper walls and narrow piazzas. All the shops
are looking for the American sailor.

Ned secured an interpreter, and the boys strolled through a dozen or
more cheap joints before they came to a halt and sat down. The places
were all alike. There was split matting on the floors, always, and
sailors drinking at little tables. There was always a fair grade of tea,
always _sake_, always a wheezy graphophone.

One might also buy whiskey, ale and other intoxicating drinks. And there
were also the _geisha_ dances and the _nesans_ running up stairs and
down with their little wh