"Then we may as well go aboard," Ned said.
"You have made a wonderful success of the mission," the Captain said, that night. "You have done everything expected of you and more. Has it been easy?"
"Well," was the reply, "we have been kept busy!"
The Captain laughed and pointed to the sh.o.r.e of the inlet in which the Union lay.
"There are people who want to come aboard!" he said. "See the commotion on sh.o.r.e?"
"Shall you permit them to board?"
"Decidedly not. I have cabled to Washington for instructions. Until they arrive I shall keep everybody off the boat."
"That listens good to me," Ned said.
Boats which seemed to have no business there prowled around the warship all night, and once a sneak was caught hanging to the forward chains. However, no one succeeded in getting aboard.
In the morning the Captain came to Ned"s cabin with a number of cablegrams, all from Washington.
"I have orders for you," he said.
Ned yawned and shook his head.
"Not for a submarine trip," he said.
"I am going north," the Captain said, "north through the China Sea, into the Yellow Sea, and so on to the Gulf of Pechili. Do you know where that is?"
"It is the highway to Peking," laughed Ned. "I hope you are not going there."
"Sure, and you are going with me."
"What for?" asked the boy.
"To find the two men who sat at the table with the diplomat at Canton," was the reply. "The Government wants them."
"We might have taken them, a few hours ago," mused Ned.
"Doubtful," said the Captain. "Besides, there is other work for you in the Imperial City. Your friends are going with us, and the Sea Lion is to be left here."
"And the prisoners?"
"They remain on board. In fact, the Government has a surprise for the conspirators. We may want Babc.o.c.k and the Moores at Peking."
"And you"ll send the papers to Washington?"
"Yes. Write your report, briefly, for they now know a lot about the wonderful success you have had."
"But how are we to get from the coast to Peking?" asked Ned. "It is quite a trip, and the diplomats will be after us."
"Motorcycles have been provided," was the reply, "and a flying squadron of my boys will go with you."
"Whoopee!" yelled Jimmie, who entered the cabin just in time to hear the latter part of the talk. "Me for the c.h.i.n.k land! I"ll go and tell Frank and Jack."
The boy dashed off, and all preparations for the trip were made.
That night the Union sailed out of the China Sea. The case of the missing papers was closed. The gold was still at the bottom of the sea, but that was not Ned"s fault. He had followed orders. However, the gold could be taken out at any time. The discovery of the men who had conspired with the famous diplomat could not wait.
What the boys did, the luck they had, and the adventures they met with, on the way from the coast to the Imperial City, will be told in the next volume of this series, "Boy Scouts on Motorcycles; or, With the Flying Squadron."
THE END.