also made a point of noticing
landmarks, so that he found the garden from which he had taken the
rosebush without too much trouble. What he was totally unprepared for
was that the entire city of Peking, aroused by the watchfires on the
palace walls, was awake and in alarm, and the light of flares and
lanterns glowed from every house.

Nevertheless, to replace the rosebush was an honorable necessity, and
in spite of wide canary-yellow blocks streaming from the windows of
the lesser palace and falling in broad sections over the lawns and far
into the gardens, Chris came down as much in the shadow of trees as he
could, and breaking off a sprig of the Jewel Tree, stuck it in the
ground where the rosebush had been. Then quickly regaining the eagle's
back, he was lifted into the air and up over the roofs.

What was his consternation, however, on nearing the pine knoll, to see
the whole group of scrubby trees aflame, and no sign of Amos! The pine
needles and tree trunks thick with resin burnt fiercely. Chris did not
dare to come too close. Not only was the heat intense but the crowds
collecting below looked upward to watch in a puzzled way, while others
ran from near the palace gates to gaze and speculate.

Chris turned sadly away, large tears for Amos running down his cheeks,
his heart constricted and his eyes half blinded, when from a great
distance, he heard a trailing call.

"Oo-h Chris! You--Chris!"

Chris's heart leapt up, and wiping his eyes clear he looked in the
direction of the sound. A balloon was moving rapidly away over the
peaked curved roofs of Peking, careening slightly from side to side as
it sailed on the night breeze. By the time Chris had caught up with
Amos in the balloon, Peking lay far behind them.

Holding on to the edge of the basket, Chris blurted out: "What in the
world goes on, Amos? I thought you were burned alive! I was never more
scared in my life!"

Amos's eyes, wider than ever from the excitement of events, batted at
Chris. "_You're_ scared! What do you think _I_ am? Get me out of
this--I never did want to be up in the air nohow, and I want out
_now_!"

"But what about the fire, Amos?" Chris persisted, holding to the Jewel
Tree with one hand and the balloon basket with the other. "How did you
get out?"

Amos sent a squeamish glance out of the corner of one eye at the
moving ground beneath them, and then, realizing that they were on
their way back to the _Mirabelle_, swallowed and b