than before, however, and the light up toward Formosa was drawing
to the south rapidly.

"They are going to meet here, all right," Pat said, "and I'll go apples
to snowballs that they've got arms for the insurrectos. The manager of
this enterprise never let all those chiefs get away from that other
island without signing the treaty, and now he's sneaking in guns to help
them out."

The boys discussed the situation for some moments, the lights coming
nearer with astonishing rapidity. At length another light showed away to
the south and west, but not such a light as the others.

It was not high up in the air, like the others, and directly it seemed
to divide itself into half a dozen points. Its progress toward the
island seemed to be even faster than that of the others.

"That's a steamer," Ned said, after a long look through his glass.

"The other lights are on steamers, too," Pat replied. "No wind-jammer
could make the time, in this calm, that those boats are making."

While the boys looked the lights went out, or appeared to, and there was
only the glimmer of the unfamiliar constellations of the heavens over
the China Sea.

"That's strange!"

Pat turned to Ned and grasped him by the arm.

"What do you make of it?" he continued.

"That may be a signal," was the reply.

"If it is, the glims will show again directly."

"They may," was the reply.

But the lights did not show again, and, after waiting for an hour or
more, the boys started back to the camp. Half way down, the dull,
reverberating boom of a cannon came to their ears, over the water.

"What does that mean?" asked Pat.

"It may be the gunboat Jimmie insisted would be sent for me," smiled
Ned.

"You don't really think that?"

"Hardly," was the reply, "but I don't know what to make of it."

"Perhaps it was a command for the other ships to show their lights," Pat
suggested.

"I hope Uncle Sam is becoming wise to the game that is being played down
here," Ned said, "and has sent a gunboat to look into it."

"That's it!" cried Pat. "That's just it! If she doesn't pass the ships
in the dark there'll be something doing here."

The dull boom of the gun came again, and, far out, the low lights of the
gunboat showed above the water. She seemed to be passing swiftly to the
north.

"She's going to pass us, all right!" Pat cried. "Now, what did she make
that noise for? To warn the ships that she was coming, and to get out of
the way?"

"There's