Part 31 (1/2)

”Well, there's a break in it, and the break is over a damp spot on the floor. The powder stuffed line burned to the break and there the flame went out. It burned slowly, anyway, which probably accounts for our being alive at this time.”

Ned took a rule from his pocket and measured the shoe tracks on the floor. There were numerous tracks, but one was very distinct. This had been made by the man who rolled the half-barrel of powder to the place where it had been found.

The barrel had come upon a slight obstruction, and the man had evidently lifted and pulled at it until his shoe, by reason of the extra weight put upon it, had sunk deep into the light soil.

”That wasn't any c.h.i.n.k shoe,” Jimmie said.

”No, it was a shoe made in America,” Ned said. ”It is comparatively a new shoe, too. I am wondering now why the American, or Englishman, or Frenchman, whatever he is, didn't hire some of the c.h.i.n.ks to do this work of laying the explosion.”

”They're afraid,” Jack volunteered.

There was a litter of half-burned matches near the barrel and Ned bent over and gathered them up. As he did so something bright lying on the ground, caught his eye. It was a gold rivet, or wire, not more than an inch long and about as thick as a knitting needle.

”What is it?” asked Frank.

”I should say,” replied Ned, ”that the fellow lost the cover to his match box here. This looks like the rivet which served for a hinge.

The cover itself may be here.”

But a close search did not reveal the cover, nor anything else of moment, in fact, and the boys soon left the cellar. Frank laughed as Ned placed the gold wire in his pocketbook.

”You are making quite a collection,” he said.

”Yes,” Jack added, ”he has a state department seal, bits of broken sealing wax, and now a piece of a broken match safe. He'll set a trap with them directly!”

”The trap is already set!” Ned replied.

The long delay at the house made high speed necessary during the remainder of the run to Peking. The machines sparked and roared through that ancient land, bringing sleepy-eyed natives to doors and windows, and setting villages into whirls of excitement.

Captain Martin and one marine were with the boys, the rest having been left with the wounded men.

”My flying squadron is just beginning to fly,” Ned said, as the machines rolled noisily down a hill from which the towers of the distant city showed. ”And the smaller it becomes as we approach the end of the journey!”

”Suppose the c.h.i.n.ks attack the men left behind?” asked Jack.

”No danger of that,” Ned replied. ”They are not after the marines, but the Boy Scouts who had the nerve to cross the Pacific for the purpose of bringing a rascal to punishment.”

This view of the case proved to be the correct one, as the marines were remarkably well treated by the natives, who gathered about them with many gestures and questions, all unintelligible to the warriors. The boys who were slowly drawing a slowly closing circle around the guilty ones were the persons in demand!

It was the middle of the forenoon when Ned and his companions reached the suburbs of the wonderful city. They attracted a great deal of attention as they wheeled through the straggling streets. They had not yet come to the wall, so the population was princ.i.p.ally agricultural.

Maize and millet are the princ.i.p.al products of the soil here, as the staple crops, wheat and rice, do not flourish well.

They had no difficulty in pa.s.sing the gate which gave into the southern or ”Chinese City.” It is the northern part of Peking that is known to foreigners as ”The Forbidden City.” Here the rulers live in wonderful palaces. This is the old ”Tartar City,” too.

The second division of Peking is the business section. Here the boys drew up at a most uninviting native inn and asked a clerk who claimed to speak English for an interpreter. A snaky-looking fellow was finally produced, and Ned proceeded to question him about the show places of the town.

”Let him think we are American tourists,” Ned said to his chums, ”and we'll stand a better chance of getting into the diplomatic section of the town. Anyway, while we are here, we may as well see the sights.”

After a midday luncheon Ned and Jimmie started out to look over the place. They were now in what is known as the general city, where the streets are from 140 to 200 feet wide. The thoroughfares are mostly unpaved, and the shops which line them are continuous, some green, some blue, some red, but all bustling with business.