A DISQUIETING DISCOVERY
The four boys regarded each other in silence for a moment. Jack was the
first to speak.
"How badly are the machines damaged?" he asked.
"Mine is all right," Jimmie reported, after a careful examination of his
steel steed, "except that a couple of burrs are missing."
"And mine," Frank hastened to say, "is all right except that the oil
feed is blocked and the electric battery is shut off--that is, it is so
arranged that the machine will spark for a short distance and then buck.
Great doings!"
"And yours, Jack?" asked Ned.
"Just a few burrs gone."
"And mine is o.k.," Ned went on, "except that the carburetor has been
tampered with. I think we'll get off for Peking before long."
"How?" demanded Jimmie. "We can't make burrs out of wood, or patch up
with rat pie, which seems to be about the only thing we have plenty of.
I don't suppose we can get repairs in this yellow hole."
Ned took a handbag from under the burlap. "I am carrying my own repair
shop with me," he said, taking out a box of burrs and a pair of pincers.
"I've got all the small parts right here in duplicate, and some of the
larger ones are in the big suitcase."
"You're a wonder!" Jimmie cried, dancing about his chum and wrinkling
his nose until it looked like that of a comedian in a motion picture.
"I wonder if you haven't got a hunk of Washington pie in that keyster!"
The lads fell to work on their machines, and in a very short time all
were ready for the road. Then Ned put away his handbag and began an
examination of the large suitcase, which contained the larger repairs
for the motorcycles. It had not been molested.
"There's one thing certain," he said, "and that is that the Chinese who
are watching us expect us to make a dash for Peking. They took the
pains to leave our machines in such shape that their tampering with them
would not be suspected. I'd like to know just when this mischief was
accomplished."
"Yes," Frank observed, "they wanted us to get out of Taku and break down
on the road to Tientsin. They would have us at their mercy out there--
or they figured it out that way."
"The work on the machines must have been done sometime during the day--
or last night," Ned replied. "Possibly while we were dozing."
"I don't believe it!" Jimmie insisted. "I've had me eyes open every
minute to-day."
"Well," Ned went on, laughing, "we had a high wind yesterday, didn't we?
A wind that tumbled the dust of the streets in upon us? Well," pointing
to a portion of his machine frame which he had been careful not to
touch, "here is some of the dust which fell upon the motorcycle then.
The person who did the job brushed a lot of the dust away, so, you see,
he must have worked since the dust fell."
"Did he brush it all away?" asked Jimmie.
"No," Ned replied, pointing, "here is a brace which he touched with his
hands but did not wipe off. In a short time I'll tell you just what
sort of a chap it was that did the trick."
The boy got his camera out of the suitcase and took a picture of the
spot on the machine frame where the print of human fingers showed. The
motorcycle owned by, or in charge of, Jimmie also showed a similar mark,
and this, too, was photographed.
This completed, Ned laid the films aside for a time while he made a
circuit of the old house, walking slowly as if out for chest exercise,
but really seeing every square inch of the earth's surface where he
walked. Once he dropped a pocketknife which he carried in his hand and
stooped over to pick it up.
The boys thought he was a long time in securing the knife, although it
was plainly in sight. When he stood up again and continued his circuit
of the house there was a strange, inscrutable smile on his face.
"What is it?" asked Jack, the instant Ned entered the house.
"We've been blind and deaf since we have boon here," Ned answered.
"Hostile influences have been operating all around us. Now," he
continued, as Frank opened his lips to ask a question, "we'll see what
sort of a tale the camera has to tell."
As he looked at the films his face hardened and his eyes snapped. In a
moment he put the telltale sheets away.
"European fingerprints," he said, quietly, "and European footprints out
there. It is not Chinamen that we have to look out for."
"What the Old Harry--"
Jimmie checked himself as a figure darkened the doorway. Ned stepped
forward to greet the newcomer.
The visitor was a youngish man with black hair, growing well down on a
narrow forehead, small black eyes, a straight-lipped mouth, and hard
lines about his deep-set eyes. His manner and carriage was that of a
man trained to military service.
"You are Mr. Nestor?" he asked, extending his hand as Ned approached
him. "I have come a long distance to meet you," he added, before Ned
could answer the question.
"From Washington?" asked Ned.
The visitor nodded; glanced sharply about the apartment, where the
motorcycles were still lying, and then squatted on one of the burlap
bags. Jimmie shook his fist behind the newcomer's back. It was evident
that the boy did not like his appearance.
"I am Lieutenant Rae, of the Secret Service," he said, in a moment. "I
have been delayed on my way here. You were about to start on without
your final instructions?" he asked, lifting a pair of eyebrows which
seemed to make his little black eyes smaller and more inscrutable than
ever.
Ned looked at the man, now lolling back on the burlap, and for a moment
made no reply. Then he lied deliberately--in the interest of Uncle Sam
and human life, as he afterwards explained!
"No," he said, "we were merely overhauling the machines. We are in no
haste to be away."
"I see," grinned the other. "You are taking life easily? Well, that is
not so bad. However, you are to start on your journey early to-morrow
morning."
"I shall be ready," Ned replied. "You have just landed?"
For just a second Lieutenant Rae's eyes sought the ground, then he
lifted them boldly. Ned was watching his every movement.
"No," he said, then, "I came in three days ago, but I was obliged to
await the movements of others before reporting to you."
Jimmie caught Frank by the arm and drew him out of the house. Out in
the deserted garden--which was only a yard or two of hard-packed earth--
he whispered:
"That feller's a liar!"
"What makes you think so?" Frank asked.
"He's no Englishman," Jimmie insisted. "He's a Jap. You bet your last
round iron man that's the truth. Now, what do you think he's doin'
here?"
"Well," Frank replied, "I think you are right. He's not an Englishman.
The nerve of him to put that up to us!"
"Perhaps he's the gazabo that monkeyed with our machines," suggested
Jimmie. "Wish I'd 'a' caught him at it!"
"But Ned says that was an European," Frank said.
"Then they're thick around us," Jimmie went on, "and we're up to our
necks in trouble. I wonder what instructions this Rae person will give
Ned?"
"Suppose we go inside and see," Frank answered.
When the lads reached the interior of the house again Ned and Rae were
bending over a road map of the country between Taku and Peking. The
visitor was indicating a route with his pencil.
"Very well," Ned said, as if fully convinced of the honesty of the
other, "now about the private orders. You understand, of course, that I
know little concerning the work cut out for me."
"You are to receive final instructions at Peking."
Ned smiled, but there was something about the smile which told the boys
that he was of their way of thinking.
"He's on!" Jimmie whispered in Frank's ear.
"You bet he is," was the reply.
"I'll come here in the morning," the visitor said, looking at his watch,
"and go out with you. The chances are that we'll have to make a quick
run. Machines in good order?" with a glance at the motorcycles lying
against the wall.
"We haven't as yet looked them over carefully," Ned lied again, "but
presume they are in good shape. As a matter of fact," he continued,
hardly able to suppress a smile as Jimmie looked reprovingly at him, "as
a matter of fact, we know little about the machines. This is new
business for us."
Lieutenant Rae bowed himself out of the door, and the boys gathered in
an inner room to discuss the situation.
"We may as well face the truth," Ned said, calmly. "The man who was to
meet us here has fallen into the hands of our enemies. We are alone in
China without instructions and surrounded by foes. Now, what shall we
do? We may be able to reach the water front and get off to one of the
British ships in sight."
"And go back?" demanded Jimmie. "Not for me! I'm goin' to stay an' see
this thing out."
"That's me!" Frank said, and Jack echoed his words.
"Well, then," Ned went on, with a smile of satisfaction at the attitude
of the lads, "if we are going on, we've got to get to Peking without
delay. I'll tell you what I think. The conspirators are aware that we
are trying to run them down. If they can stop us before we fully
identify them, their part in the plot against Uncle Sam will never be
known." Rest assured, then, that they will stop us if they can."
"Then it's us for the road to-night!" said Jimmie. "That is fine."
In referring to conspirators, Ned indicated the men who had been
involved in a plot to get the United States into trouble with a foreign
government over a shipment of gold to China. This shipment had gone to
the bottom of the Pacific.
It had been claimed that the gold shipment, which was marked for the
Chinese government, had really been intended for the revolutionary
party, now becoming very strong. It was now insisted that the
revolutionists had been posted as to the shipment, and that it was on
the books for them to seize it the moment it left the protection of the
American flag.
These claims having been made, and believed, in the state department of
a foreign government, none too friendly to the government of the United
States. A ship had been sent out to watch the transfer of the gold. At
least, that was what had been claimed, but this ship, so sent out, had,
by an "accident," rammed and sunk the treasure boat. If the Chinese
government did not get the gold, neither did the leaders of the
revolutionary party.
It had been claimed at Washington that the whole thing was a plot to
discredit the United States government in the eyes of the nations of
Europe, and Ned Nestor and his chums had been sent out to search the
wreck for papers which would disprove the statements made. The papers
had been secured.
The point now was to connect the foreign statesmen who had burned their
fingers in the plot with the affair. Ned knew that the papers would
establish the falsity of the charges, but he wanted to place the blame
for the whole matter where it belonged. He wanted to track the man who
had conferred with known conspirators back to his home. He wanted to be
able to point out the treacherous government which had so sought to
belittle the United States in the eyes of the world.
The boy had no doubt that this was actually the mission upon which he
had been sent when ordered by the Secret Service department to report at
Taku and there await instructions before proceeding to Peking. He did
not understand why he had been instructed to make the trip to Peking on
a motorcycle when there were easier ways, but he was quick to obey
orders. Later on he learned just why this order had been given.
"Yes," Ned replied to Jimmie's remark, "I think we may as well set out
for Peking to-night. If we wait until morning, we may not be at liberty
to start out."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Jack.
"Study it out," smiled Ned, "and you may be able to find an answer."
While the boy was speaking, he bent over and looked keenly at a
footprint on the earthen floor of the room. It was not such a print as
the foot-covering of a Chinese man would leave. It had been made by the
long heel of an European shoe.
When Ned looked closer, he saw that the ground was stained a deep red,
that there were dark crimson spots on the window casing. Then he saw
that a struggle must have taken place in the room, for the few things it
held were in disorder.
"Boys," he said, "perhaps our Secret Service man got here before we
did."