onable document was to be executed, and twice he
had been driven away without accomplishing the object he sought to
accomplish.

About the middle of the afternoon the government steamer disappeared
entirely, leaving the _Manhattan_ alone in the network of tiny islands
which came down pretty close to the northern shore of the island of
Luzon. Ned watched the last trace of her smoke disappear with much the
same feeling that one experiences when an enemy he has been fighting
passes from view but does not leave the vicinity.

"She's getting ready to spring out on us," he said to Frank. "She is
either waiting for night, or she has gone back to dig up a gunboat.
Those on board of her have good ground for arresting us, and before we
could prove the true state of affairs at the time of the shooting the
treaty would be signed and war would be on."

"If we only had that treaty box!" Jimmie exclaimed.

"And the senator's son with it!" Jack put in.

The steamer gave them no more trouble that day, and when night fell the
_Manhattan_ nosed into a creek which rippled into the channel and the
boys prepared to pass the night there. It was a still night and there
was no moon, but would be later on. The air, heavy with tropical scents,
scarcely stirred, the light breeze having gone down at sunset.

The island which the boys had selected as a resting place for the night
was well up to the north of Luzon and faced the China Sea. There seemed
to be no land between its western coast and the shoreline of China. Far
out in the sea the lights of a liner gleamed for an instant as the boys
carried provisions ashore, then the great expanse of water showed only
the light of the stars.

"We may have to lug this stuff back to the boat with a rush," laughed
Jimmie, as he carried a basket of tinned provisions from the rowboat to
the little glade where they were to prepare supper. "I don't believe the
government steamer went very far away. If she did, she'll come back with
a gunboat."

"Imagine a gunboat out here after the _Manhattan_!" scoffed Jack. "All
the steamer people wanted was to drive us away. Don't you think they
could have caught us if they had set out to? You bet they could! But
they didn't want to show up before us. There are people on board of her
who do not want to be seen in the society they have been in during the
past few days."

Ned looked the speaker over thoughtfully for a moment.

"I think," he said, "that you've about h