"You win!" he said. "I know when I hold the low hand!"
"Didn't I tell you," Frank said, as soon as he could catch his breath, "that the motions you saw were calculated to bring the muscles of the body into action? Well, they did, didn't they?"
"Rather!" French replied. "Now, if you'll pull this ambitious young man off my back, I'll get into an easier position."
"You're a good fellow," Jack said, "and I'll do as you say, only you've got to behave yourself, you know."
French, looking as calm as when he had held the upper hand, arose and seated himself on the bridge deck, looking Ned over keenly as he did so.
"You didn't figure on getting into a mix-up with a lot of wild animals, did you?" asked Ned, with a smile. "These two Black Bears gave you quite a squeeze, eh?"
"Rather!" was the short reply. "Say, gentlemen," he went on, "if you'll kindly step to one side I'll time that Filipino as he plows through the jungle. I can't see him, but I can see the bushes make way for him. Believe me, at this time to-morrow he'll still be running!"
"He went up in the air some!" Pat said. "How did you ever do that, Cully? He shot up into the blue and then dove straight down into the bottom. Most wonderful thing I ever saw."
"That," answered Frank, with a grin, "was a Boy Scout hint that his presence was not needed here."
"This," said Jimmie, pointing to Pat, "is Pat Mack, the loafer we were talkin' about the other night. He placed the signals in grass. You wouldn't think to look at him, that he was very bright, except his hair, but he is quite intelligent at times."
Jimmie dodged as Pat made for him and promptly fell overboard. The boys fished him out and Frank scolded him for mussing up the cockpit!
"The little rascal deserved it," said Pat. "I'm deserving of a more formal introduction, being of the Wolf Patrol, of the city of New York."
"Huh!" said Jimmie. "I found him tied up like a calf in a butcher's wagon, and had to cut him loose. Then Ned found him in the teeth of a dog an' had to shoot the dog! I don't think he's so much-a-much!"
Shouts were now heard coming from the jungle, and it became evident that the guard who had been thrown out of the boat had encountered others who were proceeding to the bay to inspect the wonderful prize secured by French, as reported by the Filipinos sent away the night before.
Ned suggested to Jack that he get theManhattanunder motion at once, as she lay within easy reaching distance of the shore. Jack replaced the wires in the jar and the propeller was soon singing a merry tune to the waters of the bay.
"You got the engine in order quick!" French suggested.
"Of course," Jack replied. "Did you have any idea that I would help you steal our Uncle Sam's boat?"
"Take to your heels," Ned directed, as soon as the boat was fairly out of the little harbor. "It won't take long for the news to get to the other boats, and they will, of course, pursue us. Can they overtake us?" he asked, turning to French.
"They can make about fifteen miles an hour," was the reply. "What can you make?"
"Rather more than that, under pressure," was the reply.
French sat easily on the bridge deck as theManhattanglided away. He appeared to be as thoroughly satisfied with the situation as when he was the captor instead of the captive. When Frank related the story of the night, in his presence, he laughed and asked for the wigwag code which Frank had used.
"So that is the meeting of the chiefs?" Ned asked. "They are there to sign the treaty of rebellion?"
"Something of the sort," was the reply. "At least, they were there to pass upon the treaty. Now, they'll duck. That is, they will if you boys succeed in getting away from them."
"Do you know where they will go?" asked Ned.
"Look here," French said, "I'm not in a position to tell you anything about what they may or may not do. I rather like you boys, and I'd tell you all I know if I could do so decently. But I can't. To be frank with you, I'm wishing you'll outrun the boats that will come after you. I have had my pay for what I've done for the rebels, and the money is buried with a friend at Hong Kong. I don't care about meeting them again, to tell you the truth, and this being captured is an easy way out of it. Now, I'll give you my parole not to try to get away, not to try any tricks, if you let me walk about as I please."
"He's all right!" Jack put in. "He's a good fellow, all right. I vote that we give him his freedom."
"Here, too!" cried Frank.
"But I don't want my freedom!" French said. "At least not until you can land me where these pirate chiefs can't get hold of me. I imagine they would blame me for the trouble they're in."
"They are meeting to sign the treaty of rebellion," Ned said. "Now, perhaps you can tell me when the war is to begin?"
"Right away."
"Who drew the treaty?" asked the boy.
"Some chap high up!" laughed French.
"And who has possession of it?"
"There are two keys to the box. One is held by the author of the treaty."
"And the other?" asked Ned with a knowing smile.
"By the American in charge of the party on the island," answered French. "Let me tell you this, though," he added, "you'll never see the treaty, even if you win. Also, you'll never know the name of the author of it, or the name of the man who has the second key to the treaty box. You've found out something about the conspiracy against the government, but you'll never know who organized it, or why!"
Ned Nestor stood on the deck of the steamship, and the steamship was entering the harbor of Yokohama, which opens from Tokyo bay, the bay from the Sagani Sea, the sea from the Pacific ocean. In the cabin of the steamship were Frank Shaw, Jack Bosworth and Jimmie McGraw. While Ned looked over the city they were approaching the three boys came to his side.
None of them had ever looked upon a Japanese city before. The scene before them was one well calculated to excite their interest and appeal to their imagination. The fishing junks sailing over the glassy waters of the bay did not seem at all like any fishing boats they had ever seen before.
The colored wooden roofs of the town seemed to have been cut out from a picture book of fairy tales. The narrow streets in sight from the deck seemed steep and not too straight. The buildings seemed to lap over on each other. To the west, standing straight up in the sky, as it seemed, loomed the pile of Oyama mountain. To the north showed the roofs of Kanagawa.
Night fell while they gazed at the unfamiliar scene, and the lanterns on the sampans, bound for the customshatoba, glistened over the bay like fireflies. The shampooer's whistles drifted out on the offshore breeze.
"Doesn't look much like coming into little old New York!" Frank exclaimed.
"Queer lookin' country!" Jimmie added.
"I'd rather be back in theManhattan, among the islands north of Luzon," Jack observed. "I don't like this smell of the Orient they talk so much about."
"Not much Orient about this!" Ned said.
"I hope we'll get out of it before long," Jack went on. "I'm hungry for the wash of the China Sea."
"We'll have a little China Sea made for you, an' tuck it away in Central Park," Jimmie laughed.
"All right!" replied Jack. "I wonder why some one didn't think of that before! Fine scheme!"
On leaving the bay where such an eventful night had been passed, the boys had driven theManhattanat full speed directly to Manila. The boat was rather small for such a trip, but it had behaved nobly, and the lads had enjoyed the trip immensely.
They had for a time been pursued by the launches which had anchored on the opposite side of the little island, but the chase had soon been abandoned, as theManhattanwas the fastest boat of the three.
On the way to Manila, Ned had held several long conversations with French, but had gained little information from him. He corroborated what little was known regarding the conspiracy for the establishing of a native government on the Philippines, but would not reveal what he knew of the interests interested or of the men at the head of the movement.
At Manila, French had been released on parole at the urgent request of Frank and Jack, who had formed a liking for the courteous gentleman who had treated them so kindly during the few hours he had been their jailer. French, however, had promised to remain at Manila and to report daily at military headquarters.
"I don't understand what his share in the plot is, or has been," Ned had explained, "but it is evident that he will be needed only as a witness."
At Manila Ned had held a long conference with Major John Ross, and that gentleman had seemed overjoyed at the report the boy had presented, especially as it made his return to the group of islands to the north unnecessary. After remaining in Manila one day and a night, Ned had been directed to continue his investigation of the case in his own way.
To tell the truth, Major John Ross and the military men with whom Ned conferred at Manila treated the employment of the boy by the authorities at Washington as a good deal of a joke, as a whim. They were not discourteous to Ned, but they took no interest in his suggestions. For some hours after his departure, his employment on the case was the subject of many sarcastic remarks.
However, those in charge had consented to hold theManhattansubject to his orders, and had promised to give any communications received from him due attention. And this was the situation when the boy, following clues secured at the nipa hut and hints obtained from Pat, who had kept his ears open during his captivity, and from French, had sailed away for Japan with his chums on a steamer which was leaving Manila for Yokohama. Pat Mack, released from service by the effort of Major Ross, at his own request, had been left at Manila in charge of theManhattan.
The boys landed shortly after dark and proceeded to a hotel where the English language or something like it was spoken. Everything was new and strange, the place being as unlike a Broadway hotel as it is possible to imagine. However, the meals were served in half-American fashion, and the rooms were tolerably comfortable.
"Now," Ned said, after their first meal in Yokohama was over, "we did not come here to visit the palaces of the wealthy, or to inspect the United States consulate. We've got to get down into the slums a bit if we find what I want. The man who led the party that captured Lieutenant Rowe was sent away as soon as he got to his masters. You doubtless understand why. They did not want him implicated in the plot."
"How do you know?" asked 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, alwayssake, always a wheezy graphophone.
One might also buy whiskey, ale and other intoxicating drinks. And there were also thegeishadances and thenesansrunning up stairs and down with their little white socks and flowery skirts, carrying refreshments. There were also men inkimonosand cowboy hats, the former to give the Japanese color and the latter to inform customers that the American trade was catered to!
"How you goin' to know this American sailor when you find him?" asked Jimmie, as the boys sat with steaming cups of tea before them.
"I have his photograph," laughed Ned.
"Let's see it!" cried Jack.
"I'll bet it's a mental photograph!" Jimmie went on. "That is the only kind Ned carries."
"What does he look like?" asked Frank.
"Yes; tell us. We may see him first!" urged Jimmie.
"He's short, and very broad across the shoulders, with one shoulder lower than the other. He is quite bald, and there is a cicatrice on his left cheek where a Malay cut him. There is a squint in one of his eyes, and there is a scar along the ball of his right thumb."
"Quit your kiddin'!" said Jimmie. "You never saw him."
"Pat saw him," was the reply, "and French and some of the military people at Manila saw him. He left with the man whose acquaintance I want to make, or just before him."
"Seems like looking for a needle in a haymow," Frank said, "but I'll wager my hat against a swipe in the jaw that we find him."
"'We!'" repeated Jimmie, with due scorn.
"For instance," Frank said, "what do you think of the fellow over there talking with the man in thekimonoand the derby hat of the vintage of 1880?"
"He's short and broad, and one of his shoulders is higher than the other," Jimmie replied.
"Don't attract his attention," Ned warned. "He sat there when we came in, and does not seem to notice us."
"You goin' to geezle him?" asked Jimmie.
"If he were in Manila I certainly should," was the answer, "but it would never answer here. Look!" the lad added. "He seems to be having trouble with one of the waiters."
"He's gone broke, I guess," Jimmie said, "an' there's a kick on his bill."
"An American friend would look pretty good to him now," Ned said thoughtfully.
There was in the mind of the boy a thought that circumstances were favoring him. If he could only befriend the man!
"You don't suppose the fellow he came here with left him in the lurch, do you?" asked Jimmie, something like Ned's thought coming to him. "If he did, why—"
"That's what I've been thinking," Ned replied, "Anyway, I'm going over there and have a talk with him."
"Before you blow yourself on him," laughed Jimmie, "look at the ball of his right thumb an' see if there's a scar there!"
"If he's a sailorman from New York," Jack put in, "he'll eat corn out of your hand, like a billy goat! Go on and talk with him, Ned."
Ned arose to his feet and moved toward the table where the sailor sat. Then he turned back to the boys again.
"If I go away with him," he said, "don't attempt to follow us. Go back to the hotel and wait for me. You understand, now, Jimmie? No chasing out after me! This is not New York!"
"I'll be good!" replied the boy, with a wink at Jack.
"You bet you will!" replied Jack, seizing him by the sleeve. "You don't get away from me to-night. Too much trouble looking you up!"
"What are we to do with that blooming interpreter?" asked Frank, motioning to the Jap, who sat a short distance away, where he could not overhear the talk.
"Take him back to the hotel with you," was the reply, "and hold him there until I come."
There was no little excitement around the table where the sailor sat when Ned approached it. The sailor was talking in English, the waiter was talking in his native tongue, and the bystanders were trying to tell each one what the other was saying.
Ned made out from the pigeon English brought forth by the bystanders that the sailor had run up a large bill and was unable to pay it.
"P'lice come!" one of the officious ones said.
The sailor heard the words and stirred uneasily in his seat. After wiggling about for a moment he removed his cap and scratched a bald head thoughtfully. Ned advanced to his side and laid a hand on his arm, whereat the sailor squirmed as if he anticipated immediate arrest.
"What's the trouble, pard?" the boy asked.
The sailor sat back in his chair and regarded Ned with evident suspicion for a moment, then, observing that his interrogator was only a boy, he extended his hand, his bleary eyes showing the pleasure he felt at the meeting.
"You look mighty good to me!" he said, in the tone and manner of a man who had had educational advantages.
"What's the difficulty?" repeated Ned, taking the hard hand of the other. "I saw the commotion here and thought you might be in trouble. You're an American, I take it?"
"Proud to say yes to that!" replied the other.
"Well, what are they trying to do to you?" asked Ned, taking a chair by his side. "Americans must stand back to back when they meet in a place like this!"
"They don't all do that," was the reply. "My pardner got me here and shook me. I'm broke, and that's all there is to it. Kept buying after I had spent all my money. I guess it is the coop for mine!"
"Perhaps we can fix it up in some way," Ned said. "I'm not a millionaire, but I may be able to help you out. How much do you owe?"
"About two dollars in American money," was the reply. "It is a small sum, but I'm your slave for life if you get me out of this. Ever spend a day in a Japanese jail, waiting for the American consul to get you out?"
"Never did," was the reply. "How are you fixed for lodgings?"
"Got a room up over a tea house," was the reply. "I'm looking for a ship that will take me back to New York."
"Well," Ned said, "I'll pay this bill and go home with you for the night. I'll need free lodgings somewhere after I settle!"
"You'll be as welcome as the flowers of May!" the sailor said, and the boys, still sitting where Ned had left them, saw him hand the waiter some money and leave the place with the sailor.
A moment later, however, they saw a keen-eyed Jap come rushing through the door and up to the table where the sailor had been seated. He talked with the waiter a moment, speaking angrily at last, and darted out of the door again.
"That fellow came after the sailor," Frank said, "and will follow him. When he finds Ned working him for his story he won't do a thing to Ned!"
"An' we'll go back to the hotel, like good little boys, an' sit there knittin' while they pinch Ned an' chuck him into the bay! Not for your uncle!"
"We'd make a hit wandering about Yokohama in the night!" Jack said. "I reckon Ned can take care of himself. Anyway, he's had to go and find you every time you've gone out without him."
But before Jack had finished Jimmie had jerked away and was out in the street.
The shop in which Ned had discovered the object of his search was well down toward the water front, and the course of the sailor was now toward the center of the city. The two passed the customs quarters and the official offices of the city—Yokohama is the old-time treaty port of Japan—and so on to wide streets lined with shops, still alight, though the hour was getting late.
Such quaint little shops Ned had never seen before, and more than once he stopped to look at lacquered ware of rare quality, bronze work, and fancy embroidery. Directly the sailor led the way from the wide streets to the old-time narrow ones in the native quarter, which were not far from the old canal which virtually makes an island of the town.
After proceeding, with hesitating steps, down a particularly dark and foul-smelling street, the sailor paused at a corner, glanced up at a window in a tea-chest of a house which stood flush with the alley-like thoroughfare, and began the ascent of a flight of stairs which swayed under his weight.
On the corner below the tea-house was still open, and the invariable graphophone was grinding out some indistinguishable tune. When the two passed up the dark stairway an attendant slipped out of the public room, walked to the foot of the stairs, and observed the two mounting figures. When the sailor opened the door to as miserable a room as the sun of the Orient ever shone on, the attendant slipped back to the public room and conferred with a keen-eyed, slender man who sat there—a man garbed in the native costume, but bearing in manner and face the stamp of a European!
The sailor closed the door of his room and set a match to a candle which he found on a shelf hanging to a wall. There was nothing in the room, nothing but mats, as it seemed to Ned. There was no table, no chair. Only the mats to sit on and sleep on. The walls were of paper, and Ned saw with pleasure that the whole front of the room, which faced the alley, might be rolled up at will!
The sailor dropped on the floor and fumbled in his clothing for a cigarette.
"Have you got the makings?" he asked, giving up the search at last.
Ned shook his head.
"I have need of all my wits," he said, "and never befuddle my brain with tobacco. It's the curse of the age."
"I've got to have a cigarette," the sailor said. "I'll go crazy if I don't have one! I won't sleep a wink, either!" he whined.
Ned handed him a dime and pointed to the door.
"Go and buy some," he said, knowing that the fellow would be in fighting mood if he was not supplied with the narcotic. "Come back here and smoke."
The sailor looked at the dime sorrowfully, scorning the small piece of silver because it wasn't a dollar, as Ned concluded—pitying himself, too, because it would not buy what he wanted most—liquor!
Ned handed him a quarter and bade him hasten back. With the man's nerves crying out for accustomed stimulants, the boy knew that he could do nothing with him. He must get him into a companionable mood if possible. He dreaded the night, which seemed about to be passed in the fumes of tobacco and liquor, but there was no help for it that he could see.
Presently the sailor came back with a package of cigarettes, gin in a bottle, and a jug of water. He arranged the articles in a half-circle about him when he sat down on a mat. It seemed pitiful to the boy, the sailor's dependence on the nerve-destroying things he looked upon as necessary to his comfort. Only for these, only for their constant use for years, the man might have been honored and respected and possessed a home among his kind instead of being an object of contempt in a foreign port.
"Here's to the Flowery Kingdom!" the sailor said, the bottle at his lips. "Here's life to you, not existence! What's your name?" he added, stopping in the midst of a grin which wrinkled his dissipated face horribly to cast a glance of suspicion on the boy sitting in pity before him. "My name," he added, without waiting for Ned to reply to his question, "is Brown—B-R-O-W-N."
"Glad to make your acquaintance, Mr. Brown," Ned said. "One is always glad to meet Americans in a place like this. Now," he went on, resolved to have his talk out before the sailor became too befuddled to talk coherently, "you spoke about wanting to get back to New York. Well, theFultonialeaves for New York by way of Manila, to-morrow afternoon, and I may be able to arrange a passage for you. I'm a friend of the captain's."
"Not on your life! Not by way of Manila!" the sailor cried. "I wouldn't go back to Manila for all the gold there is in Standard Oil! I'm going to lose myself on a wind-jammer! Manila's unhealthy for me!" he added with a wink.
"I wasn't thinking of remaining there," said Ned. "I'm going back to New York."
"Wind-jammer for mine!" Brown insisted. "Why," he added, swinging his bottle of gin in the air, "do you know that I'd like to get inside a boat with wide white wings and sail about the Orient forever! The more I mix with Englishmen and Americans the more I think of the Japs. It was an American that threw me down to-night. I did something for him, and—"
The sailor paused, gave a slight shiver, and looked down at his right hand. Then he brushed it, as if trying to wipe something away that was obstinate and hard to get rid of—some stain like the stain of blood!
"And he left you stranded?" Ned continued "I'm glad I happened along," he added, not caring to say how glad he was, nor how much the meeting might mean to him!
"I did his dirty work!" the sailor went on, his tongue loosened by the liquor. "I did for him what I never did before, what I never will do again! And he went back on me! He threw me down! I'd like to meet him on Roosevelt street, New York! I'd provide against his throwing anyone else down!"
"What did you do for him?" Ned asked, with as innocent a manner as he could assume.
"That's my business!" Brown answered, with a sly wink. "That's between the two of us! If I had him here I'd cut his heart out, and show you how black it is."
The sailor was fast coming under the influence of the gin, and Ned knew that he must keep him talking or he would drop off into drugged slumber. He sounded him on half a dozen subjects, intending to lead him back to the man's connection with the plot, but he would not talk until the subject of Japan was brought up. He seemed to be infatuated with the Flowery Kingdom.
"I know the history of Japan," he said, with a brightening of the eyes. "In the beginning, the world was like an egg in shape. The white became heaven, and the yolk became earth. You may read about it yourself in the book called "The Way of the Gods." Then two Gods descended from heaven, and a son called Omikami was born to them, and his body was so bright that he flew up into the sky and became the sun.
"What do you think of that? He became the sun. And a daughter was born to the two Gods, and she became the moon. The moon you see when the sun goes down. Then the children that were born after these became strong and founded the Empire of Japan. And the original inhabitants were hairy on the body and ate raw meat. You see I know all about it!"
"And Japan may in time acquire all Asia," Ned said, desiring to lead the sailor back to within reaching distance of the subject he was most interested in. "In time the Philippines may belong to Japan."
The sailor winked at Ned mysteriously and flourished his bottle of gin.
"I know!" he cried. "I know! If Japan gets the Philippines she'll have to fight a thousand tribes and the monkeys in the trees! She'll have to fight also the crocodiles in the brooks. 'I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul—cause thy two eyes, like stars, to start from their spheres, and thy—.' Say," he said with a laugh, "what do you think of me anyway? You think I've got a jag on, don't you. Never was soberer in my innocent life!"
"If you'll describe this man that threw you down," Ned said, anxious to have done with the by-play, "and tell me where to look for him, I'll go and see what I can do for you. How much was he to give you?"
"Barrels!"
The sailor paused and stretched his hands above his head, the bottle glistening in one of them. "He was to pile the greenbacks up so high—for me to wade in, and wipe my feet on. You can't find him."
There was a stealthy movement on the stairs, and a movement not so stealthy at the door. Ned heard a hand moving over the bamboo, and made ready for a spring. He had no idea who the visitor might be, but his manner of approach showed him to be no friend of the sailor's.
There were no more sounds at the door, and Ned glanced casually in that direction. The candle on the wobbling shelf gave forth little light, and that seemed to grow more shadows than rays of illumination. The shadows seemed deepest and most uncertain of form at the door, but, at the center of the odd-shape panel in the middle of the door he thought he saw a malevolent eye looking forth into the room.
He wondered if an eye was really there, or if, his imagination stirred by the weird scene and the fairy history of Japan which the sailor had repeated, he was seeing things not present to the senses!
In a moment there was no doubt, for the malevolent eye left the aperture and there was again a fumbling at the door. Ned made no motion, but sat as if unconscious of any intruder being there. He knew that the person at the door was there to watch the sailor, to see that he did not talk too much, to see that he did not leave Yokohama until the trap of treason had been fully set and baited.
There was no doubt in the mind of the boy now that he had found the man he had set out in quest of. Of course the man who had planned the conspiracy, who was doubtless assisting the tribes to arms and ammunition by way of the unpatrolled China Sea, was the one he aimed to reach in time. The sailor was only a link in the chain which led to the object sought.
The mind of the boy was not at that time much concerned with thoughts for his own safety although he could never be in more deadly peril than he was at that moment when he was looked at through the opening in the door. His one idea was to get a view of the spy, and with this object in view he arose and stepped toward the door.
"You're getting sleepy," he said to the sailor, "and I'll go out and get a little fresh air while you sleep. I shall not be far away."
"You're a good fellow," Brown cried, already half asleep. "When I get out of this I'll tell you something that'll make your fortune. Bring back another bottle of gin. Thish mos' gone!"
Ned stood by the door for a moment in order to give the spy time to get back to the bottom of the stairs. He could see no profit in a struggle in that place, and there was certain to be one if he permitted the spy to know that his movements had been observed.
Finally he heard soft footsteps on the stairs. He waited only an instant after this before passing out into the narrow hall. The staircase was clear, but a door opening into it from the public room below was open and a broad zone of light lay on the floor of the passage and on the wall.
Ned stood in the doorway and looked out on the street, now and then turning his eyes in the direction of the public room. At a table well toward the back end of the place he saw the man he was looking for. He was seated at a table with two men who appeared to be American sailors. While he stood there, wondering at the inefficiency of the disguise the man wore, at the nerve which prompted him to wear that fragment of native costume when his face, manner and accent bespoke the cultured American another sailor came swaggering into the place.
This sailor was unquestionably intoxicated. He swayed back and forth as he walked, and would have fallen to the floor at the very door only for the restraining hand of a boy who accompanied him. Immediately on his appearance waiters rushed forward to attend to his wants, to give him a chair and a table, and to pay him all sorts of little attentions.
In such places in all foreign ports the American sailor is the easy mark. He drinks—when he drinks at all—until he is past all wisdom regarding the expenditure of money, with the result that he literally throws it away. In the appearance of this sailor the attendants saw a rich harvest, not only for the place but for themselves.
But Ned saw more than this. He saw the freckled face and sparkling eyes of Jimmie McGraw, steering the drunken sailor to the table pointed out for him. The boy was in high humor, for he joked with the blundering sailor, and instead of sitting down at the table—brought into use there because the foreigners insist on not drinking sitting on the floor—he sat down on it and swung his feet downward.
"Look at the kid!" one of the men at the table Ned was watching said. "Looks like he was on South Clark street, Chicago."
"Don't get gay, now!" Jimmie retorted. "I'm playin' I'm a tug towin' this 'ere sailorman to bed."
"You've got a job on your hands," the other said, and then the three at the table bent their heads forward and talked in whispers. Now and then they faced toward the doorway, but Ned was then too far toward the street for them to observe him.
They did not seem at all suspicious of Jimmie, and Ned concluded that such occurrences were not uncommon there. Jimmie seated his companion more firmly in his chair in a moment and passed out, stopping at the doorway where Ned stood.
"You duck!" the boy said. "That man in there with the sailors followed you here, an' I followed him here. You duck!"
"I haven't got the information I'm after yet," Ned said. "How in the world did you get here?"
"Followed the chap that followed you," was the quick reply. "Out here I come upon that beery sailor and took him in tow!"
"Good idea," Ned said. "Now, you slip past me and go up stairs, to the room in front, and see if the man there can be gotten away. I want to size up the men in there. I can see them by poking my head out occasionally, but they can't see me."
"Well, you keep your gun ready," Jimmie warned. "This ain't New York, with a cop every half block an' a taxicab always within reach. This is Yokohama! Don't you forget that!"
"Don't remain up there long!" said Ned.
Jimmie hastened away, and Ned stood leaning against the casing of the doorway. Then Jimmie came down the stairs at a jump, making no pretense of secrecy, and behind him there was a rush of feet and a jumble of foreign words.
The three men Ned had been watching sprang up from their table and dashed toward the front of the place, and all was confusion in an instant. The sailor who had come in with Jimmie attempted to lean carelessly back in his chair and toppled over on the floor, where he lay with the slippered feet of the attendants striking him in their rush for the door.
"Run!" Jimmie cried as he approached Ned. "Hot foot! The man you sent me to is dead, and there's a bunch of ruffians after us. Run! Beat it!"
TheManhattanglided like a duck over the waters of the Bashee Channel, South of the Island of Formosa. A week had passed since that night in Yokohama, and Ned and Jimmie were back among the islands north of Luzon.
It had been a close shave that night, for the boys had been only a few feet ahead of their pursuers when they were fortunate enough to come upon a party of American marines on shore leave. The marines had gathered about the panting boys and finally, after fighting off the Japs, conducted them to their hotel. The last Ned saw of the man whom he believed to be an American military man in the disguise of a Jap he was running in a most undignified manner down the street, as if not willing to look upon the uniforms of the marines. The next morning he had caught a glimpse of the fellow, but had not been able to get close to him. On the day before he left for Manila the man had left the port. Ned was of the opinion that he had traveled on to Manila, and so on to the group of islands which theManhattanwas now nosing among.
At Manila Ned had again conferred with Major John Ross, and that dignified official had virtually dismissed the boy from the service. He had scolded him for going over to Yokohama and for stirring up a mess there, as he put it, between a party of hilarious marines and the local police.
However, Ned did not accept dismissal. Instead of remaining at Manila, as ordered to do, until word could be received from Washington, he joined Pat in the motor boat, provisioned her for a long cruise, and set out to locate the island which was to see the signing of the treaty between the tribes of the Philippines—the treaty which was certain to bring war and starvation to the islands.
He was sure the treaty had not yet been signed, and he could not understand the delay. It did not seem possible that his appearance at the island first chosen for the meeting could have caused so long a wait in the important negotiations. He had suspicions at times that the disappearance from the scene of the men he had followed to Yokohama had had something to do with the delay.
In looking over the results of the trip to the Japanese city, Ned was fairly well satisfied with them. He believed that he had caught a glimpse of the man who was at the head of the plot against the United States. When he considered that the sailor who had complained so bitterly of the manner in which he had been treated had been murdered in his room while the suspect sat below in disguise, he did not doubt that the crime had been committed by paid assassins for the purpose of enforcing secrecy.
On the whole he was well pleased with the progress of the case. He had made his discoveries by deviating from the paths usually followed by investigators, but he believed that he held the right clues in his hands. It remained for him now to find the island where the treaty was to be signed and await developments.
It was sure that if the king-pins of the conspiracy could be captured the whole fabric would fall to the ground. He believed that large sums of money were being used, though he could not tell where the cash was coming from. Sometimes he thought commercial interests guilty of the reckless thing that was being done. Sometimes he thought the plot original with the foxy prime minister of some nation looking for additional possessions in the Orient.
At Manila he had learned that Lieutenant Rowe had been restored to liberty, badly wounded, but in a fair way to recover. The Lieutenant, however could do little to assist the investigation, as he had learned little during his captivity, had not been permitted to see the leading spirits. As Ned had believed from the first, the men who attacked him were not inclined to do murder unnecessarily. All they sought was the sealed orders carried by the officer and the man who had followed on after him and entered unceremoniously through the window.
One thing Ned could not understand was the matter of the despatches handed the Lieutenant by the man who had entered the nipa hut in so strange a manner, shortly after midnight on the night of the attack. These instructions, according to reports, countermanded the ones Lieutenant Rowe had received in person at Manila, and would have turned him back without conferring with Major Ross or the lads he had with him.
The fourth man had declared, when seen by by Ned at Manila, that he had managed to follow on the heels of the Lieutenant with the supplemental instructions, and had reached the island at midnight. He said that he had entered by way of the window because the front of the house seemed to be watched with hostile intent, and because there was a ladder there ready to his hand.
This story seemed a little fishy to Ned, but he had no means of proving that the man was not telling the truth. The fellow certainly had been given despatches to deliver to Lieutenant Rowe, with orders to follow him and place them in his hands personally. But the instructions received by the Lieutenant were not, it was asserted, the ones sent to him.
The supplemental instructions would have taken him back to Manila at once, as has been said, without conferring with Major Ross and the assistants he had brought with him. It was insisted at the military office that the instructions sent out had increased rather than diminished the Lieutenant's authority to act.
One of two things seemed to be true. Either there was a traitor in the office, or the instructions had been changed. The envelope might have been shifted after reaching the man's hands or he might have substituted the counterfeit ones for the original ones. In this latter case the messenger was himself a traitor, and would bear watching.
Ned would have liked nothing better than to have remained in Manila for the purpose of investigating this phase of the case, but he believed that the mystery would be solved eventually where the work was being done—on the ground with the native tribes which were being urged into revolt. So he had provisioned theManhattanand, much to the joy of the boys, headed for the group of islands north of Luzon.
It was glorious there in the channel, with the green islands lifting from the lacquered sea, bluer than any sky the lads had ever seen. From the bow of theManhattanspread two thin emerald lines curling transparently and tipped with foam. Upon the immensity of the sea there would be for hours no other movement, and upon the immensity of the sky there would not be a fleck of cloud. At night the boys slept in their bunks with the waves whispering to the sand of some sheltered bay.
"I hope we'll never find the island where the treaty is to be signed," Jack said, one morning. "I'd like to stay here forever."
"Why don't you build a hut on one of the islands and stay there, then?" asked Jimmie.
"I guess you'd soon get weary of doin' the Robinson Crusoe act an' get back to the Great White Way!"
"I'm not looking for life in the jungle," Jack replied. "The water is good enough for me."
One morning when theManhattanlay in a bay on the eastern shore of an island of good size and Jack proposed a trip to the shore.
"There's game up there," he said, pointing to an elevation not far from the beach. "Unless I'm very much mistaken there is a line of hills on the other side of this bit of land, with a valley in between the two. If this is right, that valley will be well stocked with game, and I'm getting hungry for fresh meat."
"There's surely one class of animal life there," Frank said. "Hear the monkeys! They must be holding some kind of a convention!"
While the boys were talking Ned came out of the cabin with his glass. He gazed landward for a long time and then handed the glass to Jack.
"There's something stirring up the little chaps," he said.
"They're always wigglin' like a basket of snakes," Jimmie observed.
"Sounds like they were calling the police," Frank put in.
"I'll tell you about it when I return," Jack said. "If there's anything grand, gloomy or peculiar over there I'll be sure to find it. Want to go along with me, little boy?" he added, turning to Jimmie, who at once resented this manner of address by trying to push Jack overboard.
"Of course I'm goin'," Jimmie declared, giving over his benevolent intentions with regard to Jack. "I reckon you'll get lost if you go six yards away from theManhattanalone."
"Run along, both of you!" Ned said. "And don't get into trouble. We've got no time to waste looking up runaway boys."
"If the native tribes are holding a convention there," Frank said, as the boys slipped into the boat which they were to row ashore, "just give them my compliments and ask them to dinner."
For some moments after the boys reached the white beach and disappeared in the jungle Ned stood scanning the island with his glass.
"I half believe the chiefs are there," he said, turning to Frank.
"Then why did you let the boys go?" asked the latter.
"I wish now that I hadn't," Ned replied.
"Say," Pat called out, "I can go and bring 'em back. They can't be very far away. Shall I?"
"Yes," was the hesitating reply, "and bring back all the news you can about what is going on on the island. There's something unusual taking place there, judging from the row the monkeys are making."
"How you going to get ashore?" asked Frank. "The boat is over there on the beach."
"I'll show you," Pat replied.
The next moment he was in the water, striking out with lusty strokes for the shore, only a few rods away.
"There's a crocodile coming!" Frank called out to him.
The call was designed to make Pat show a burst of speed, but it did indeed serve as a warning to the swimmer, for a huge crocodile separated himself from a point a few paces away and started to make a breakfast of the boy.
Pat saw the danger and hesitated an instant, uncertain whether to turn back to theManhattanor to strike out for the shore. This second of hesitation would have cost him his life if Ned had not acted promptly.
When he saw that the crocodile was sure to win in the race, he fired one shot and the saurian disappeared beneath the surface of the water, shot through the eye. Pat turned back to theManhattan, but Ned directed him to go on to the shore, find the boys, and return as quickly as possible.
"And row back here before you go," continued Ned.
"And swim to the beach again?" called Pat, glancing cautiously about. "Not on your whiskers!"
"Afraid of a little crocodile not more then forty feet long!" laughed Frank, as Pat reached the beach and entered the boat.
"Here's the boat," Pat called, in a few moments, touching the bow of theManhattan. "What next!"
"I'm going with you and bring it back," Ned replied. "When you boys reach the beach you'll have to call out. I'm going to take theManhattanout farther."
"All right!" Pat said. "I think you need to after that shot!"
"And tell the boys," Ned went on, "that they'll have the chiefs of a hundred tribes of dog-eaters after them if they don't get to the boat right quick!"
"I guess that ought to bring them!" Frank said.
Ned accompanied Pat to the beach, brought the boat back, and then moved theManhattansome distance out in the bay.
"Do you really think the boys are in danger?" asked Frank, after they had settled down to a careful watch of the beach.
"They certainly are," was the reply.
"Do you think the chiefs are really on that island?"
"Yes; in fact, I am quite certain of it."
"Oh, a wild cat might have stirred up the monkeys," Frank said, hardly believing the lame explanation of the disturbances which he was making.
Ned pointed off to the west.
"Look there," he said.
"Can't see a thing."
"Then take the glass," Ned said.
"Why," Frank said, "there's smoke over there on the west coast! Now, what do you think of that? It wasn't there a few minutes ago."
"No," replied Ned. "It wasn't there a few minutes ago. It puffed up while I was looking that way."
"It must be a steam launch," Frank observed.
"Of course," Ned replied, "and steam has been gotten up since that shot was fired. Now do you understand?"
"I'm afraid I do," Frank replied. "And the steamer is coming around here to see what's going on, and the native chiefs will be coming down to the bay to look the situation over! Where do the boys come out?"
"They are in a dangerous position," Ned replied.
"I hope they'll get here before the steamer turns that point."
"They will have to return pretty soon if they do," Ned said, looking again through his glass, "for the steamer is approaching the southern end of the island rapidly, and will soon be in sight."
"Can we beat it?" asked Frank.
"On the run? I'm afraid not. If the boys were here we might stand a chance of keeping out of their way for a long time, but we've got to remain here until the last moment in the hope of their returning."
"You're not thinking of going away and leaving them, are you?" asked Frank, surprised at Ned's remark.
"If we stay here and submit to capture," Ned replied, "it is all off for all of us. If we get away we may be able to render assistance to the boys, but if we remain here and are killed or taken prisoners there is little hope for them, surrounded by savages on an unknown island, without even a boat."
"Of course you are right," Frank said, "It seems cruel to sail away and leave them here."
The steamer, as shown by the column of smoke, was now approaching the southern end of the island, and would soon be in a position from which theManhattanmight be seen.
"If we are going at all," Ned said, with a sigh, "we may as well be moving. We ought to be able to make the north end by the time they gain the south end. It will be a game of chase, I reckon. I hope the boys will understand."
"They certainly will," replied Frank. "They know well enough we are no quitters, and that there is usually a good reason for what you do."
TheManhattanwas soon in motion, speeding at the rate of fifteen or eighteen miles an hour toward the north end of the island. Ned watched the smoke of the steamer intently as the race progressed. Finally the point at the north was turned, and, much to the surprise of both boys, they saw Pat standing on the beach beckoning to them in a manner full of excitement.
"There's been something doing," said Frank, with a shiver.
The smoke from the steamer was now on the south end of the island, moving along toward the east with a speed which showed Ned that it would be impossible to outfoot the larger craft.
There was little time to lose, if theManhattanwas to continue the flight, and yet it was evident that Pat had something of importance to communicate or desired to be at once taken on board. Ned did not hesitate long, for the boy's life might be at stake.
But when theManhattanneared the point of land upon which Pat stood the boy shook his head and pointed to the west. It was clear that he did not wish to be taken on board there.
Ned kept on toward the beach, however, notwithstanding Pat's frantic gestures, and was not a little annoyed when he saw the boy wade out into the water, down the sloping shore, lapped by tiny waves, and strike out boldly for the boat.
He reached theManhattanin safety, was hauled in, and sank down in the cockpit with a grunt of exhaustion for he had exerted his full strength, "and then some" as he afterwards explained, in the long swim. Presently he arose and pointed to a little projection on the shore, perhaps three hundred yards ahead.
"There's a river runs in there," he said, "and theManhattanwill find a safe harbor, as the stream though narrow, is deep and overhung with trees and creepers."
"But they must know that there is a boat here," Frank said. "This engine of ours talks some when she moves."
"I don't think they heard it," Pat insisted.
"But the shot?" asked Ned.
"That might have come from the island. Anyway," Pat went on, "there is little commotion on the island except that made by the monkeys and the birds."
"Did you see anything of the boys?" asked Ned, the safety of Jack and Jimmie concerning him greatly.
"No," was the disappointing reply. "They got too good a start on me."
"How far inland did you go?" asked Frank.
By this time theManhattanwas under way, and the place of refuge spoken of by the boy was not far away.
"I climbed the hill that runs near the shore," was the reply. "The first thing I saw was a collection of tents and leaf shelters."
Ned and Frank both gave exclamations of amazement.
"Found at last!" Frank said.
"The next thing I saw," Pat went on, "was a small steamer lying in a bay on the west shore. There is a break in the hills which line that coast, and I could see the boat plainly. I have seen her in Manila. It is theMiles, and she is carrying the American flag. She got up steam just as I caught sight of her, and at first I thought her activity had been aroused by the shot which saved my life, but I've now reached the conclusion that she was merely making a perfunctory trip around the island."
"Then you think if we escape observation on this run we will be safe for some hours?"
"I am quite sure of it, so far as those on the boat are concerned. But what is the boat doing here? It is a government boat, used by officials in making tours of inspection. Perhaps the high brows at Manila are wise to what is going on here, and have sent theMilesto look into the matter. Then we're left, eh?"
As theManhattanwas now nosing her way into the mouth of the little stream referred to by Pat, and Ned was fully occupied in working her in, he made no reply to the suggestions thus presented. However, he was studying over the proposition with a wish in his breast that theMilesmight not be at that time in the legitimate service of the government.
He was virtually disobeying the positive orders of Major John Ross in cruising about in theManhattanat that time. If he had obeyed instructions he would doubtless be in Manila now awaiting the slow unwinding of red tape, instead of there in the channel. He had taken the bit in his teeth and desired to "make good."
Besides, he was satisfied that the government officers, if theMilesreally was there on an official mission, would merely disperse the native chiefs if they were discovered and permit the plotters to escape. This would only put off the day of final action, for the chiefs would continue to assemble and discuss the treaty until the Philippines were in a blaze of war or the men who were urging them on were in prison.
"There," said Frank, presently, "no person out there in the bay can get a look at us so long as we remain here."
Indeed the harbor was an ideal hiding place. The stream turned sharply to the east from its northerly course just before it reached the white beach, ran a few yards in that direction, and then turned north once more and emptied into the sea. This placed a dense growth of jungle between the beach and the position taken by theManhattan, which had passed into the channel running east and west and was effectively screened from view on either side by the growths of the jungle.
As soon as the boat was in the position desired, Ned crossed the arm of land lying between the stream and the beach and looked out with his glass. TheMilespassed while he stood there, the American flag flying from her masthead. When he went back to theManhattanthere was a troubled look on his face.
"She's on government service, all right," he said to Pat and Frank, "I saw men in uniform on her deck."
"I didn't see anybody land," said Pat.
"Did she communicate with the shore in any way?" asked Ned.
"Well, there were native boats plying about and they might have taken some of the brown men off to her."
"It is all of a piece with the counterfeit instructions," Ned said. "There is an unknown interest working in this case. If the officers at Manila suspected or had wind of what is going on here, why didn't they send a troop ship and capture the chiefs, and so screen out the men responsible for the conspiracy?"
"That's another thing we've got to find out," Frank said, with a grin. "We've got a good many things to find out!"
"And the first thing to discover," Ned said, "is what has become of the boys."
"Right you are!" cried Pat. "I'll go back to the top of the hill and see if there's any commotion on the island."
"What does the island look like?" asked Frank.
"Looks like a valley with a line of hills shutting it in. Looks like a saucer with a high rim. The dago chiefs are encamped in the middle of the saucer."
"In a thicket, of course?"
"It is quite free from jungle growths down there," was the reply—"so clear that I was able to see the encampment and the people moving about. And I think I saw the treaty box, at that!"
"Treaty box?" laughed Frank. "Don't you ever think these brown men have any box to put their treaty in!"
"What do you think about it, Ned?" asked Pat.
"I hardly think they unlock their pocket-books with keys like the one I found," replied Ned. "And, besides," he added, "the white men back of this conspiracy would naturally want a treaty signed up with all the ceremony that could be hatched up, in order to impress the chiefs. Yes, I think there must be a treaty box!"
"And you think you've got a key to it?" asked Frank.
"I've got a key to something," was the reply.
Frank opened his lips to make some remark, but Ned laid a hand on his arm and drew closer to him so that a low voice might be heard, at the same time motioning to Pat to remain quiet.
"Now, don't move, or turn to look," Ned said, "but in a few seconds, after I have turned away, look, casually, toward the great balete tree which rises above the jungle straight to the south."
Ned turned away directly and faced the jungle to the north.
"What do you see?" he asked, turning toward the boys again but not looking at them.
"Monkeys wiggling in the creepers," Frank said.
"Filipinos," answered Pat.
"How many?" asked Ned.
"Well," replied Pat, "I thought I saw two, but I guess there is only one. We've got to get him," he added.
"Of course!" Frank said. "If we don't, he'll go back to camp and tell about seeing us here; then they'll swarm down on us, and it will be all off with the whole bunch of us. We've got to get him!"
"But how?" asked Pat.
In the short silence that followed all three boys cudgeled their brains for some idea which might serve, but the case was assuming a hopeless aspect when a shrill voice in pretty good English came from the tree.
"Hi, there!" cried the voice.
"If that's Jimmie, made up as a little brown man," Pat said, "I'll beat him up when he comes aboard."
"More likely to be Jack," said Frank.
"Hi, there!" repeated the voice from the tree.
"That's not Jimmie, or Jack either," Ned said. "What do you want?" he asked.
The reply came in the form of a feline growl which might have issued forth from the throat of a wild cat.
"What does the badge say?" asked the voice, then.
The boys looked at each other in wonder for a moment and then Ned answered:
"Be prepared!"
"Now, what do you think of that?" Pat demanded. "What do you think of meeting a Boy Scout out here?"
"What patrol?" asked Frank, half doubting whether the person in the tree would find the correct answer.
"Wild Cat, Manila!" came the reply.
"Then come out of the tree, Wild Cat," Ned laughed, "and tell us how you came to be here."
There was a great rustling of foliage, and then a Filipino boy not more than fourteen years of age appeared on the trunk. He worked his way down and disappeared in the jungle. In a moment, however, he made his appearance on the margin of the little stream and was on board.
He was a rather good looking young fellow, with keen eyes and a lithe, muscular figure. He was well dressed in a suit of light material, and wore a Boy Scout badge on the lapel of his coat.
"We're gettin so we find 'em in the woods!" Frank said, as the boy stepped on the bridge deck. "Did you come to the island on the steamer which just passed here?" he added, as the lad looked about him with a grin.
"Yes," was the reply. "Come as servant."
"Well, why aren't you on board now?" asked Frank, suspiciously.
"Run away!" was the short reply.
"What for?" demanded Frank, determined to know all that there was to know about the new-comer, and urged on by Ned's nods, which told him to proceed.
"Tired of city," was the grinning reply.
As the boy spoke he turned around to the jungle and waved his hand, as if taking it all in at one motion. Then he laid a finger on his own breast and said:
"That for mine!"
"I'm afraid you've been in bad company," laughed Frank. "You're talking slang! What's your name?"
"Minda," was the reply.
"Sounds like a girl's name," grunted Pat. "What are the chiefs doing on the island?"
"Conference," was the reply.
"They're forming a confederacy, are they?"
Minda shook his head and looked perplexed.
"Don't know," he replied.
"Where are the two Scouts who went ashore a long time ago?" asked Ned.
"Tied," replied Minda, crossing his wrists to indicate what he meant.
"That's nice!" Pat broke in. "Where are they?"
Again Minda shook his head, saying that he did not know where the boys were, that they might have been put on board the steamer.
"So the officers on board the steamer communicated with the shore?" asked Ned.
"Yes; that's how I got away," was the reply.
"Do the officers know what is going on?" continued Ned. Again Minda shook his head.
"I reckon you're off there," Pat exclaimed. "They do know, and the man in charge on board the steamer is a traitor! I know him!"
Again the Filipino looked puzzled.
"Good man!" he said, and sat down on the bridge deck.
"Do you really believe the boys were put on board the steamer?" asked Frank of Ned, in a moment.
"I think the native chiefs would put us all on board the steamer, if they could do so," was the reply.
Then the patrol leader turned to Minda again.
"What did the steamer come down here for?" he asked.
"Patrol," was the reply.
"On no special mission?" Ned went on.
"Just to patrol," was the reply.
"I don't believe it!" Frank burst out. "That boat was sent down here to investigate this conspiracy matter, and the man in command is making a perfunctory job of it. He'll then go back to Manila and report nothing doing!"
"And the conspiracy will go on, and there'll be war!" Pat added.
"Just so!" Frank commented.
"Well," Ned said, "we can't find out whether you are right or not by asking the officers, either on the steamer or at Manila. We've got to find out by watching the brown men! We've got to leave theManhattanhere and go into the jungle and see what is going on, and find out what company the chiefs receive. It is my idea that some of the men in uniform are leading double lives!"