"You remember what the consul said regarding trouble on the road to Peking?" asked Ned of Captain Martin as the two took seats under a tree not far from the cooking fires.
"Yes, and I wondered at his expressing such gloomy predictions. He gave me quite a scare."
"I think I understand, now, why he did it," Ned said, with a smile. "He was following instructions."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that he had been communicated with by the Washington office, during the day, and given instructions."
"To scare you?"
"No; to keep me up to the mark in caution."
"I don"t think you needed that."
"Well," Ned went on, "this is a queer case. At first I could not make up my mind why the Secret Service people insisted on my making this trip to Peking on a motorcycle, guarded by soldiers like a pa.s.senger in time of war. Now I think I know."
"Then you have the advantage of me," said the officer. "I"ve been thinking that over quite a lot, and the answer is still to find."
"Unless I am mistaken," Ned replied, "I am expected to do my work on the way to Peking."
"Come again!" smiled the Captain.
"In other words," replied Ned, "I"m set up on a motorcycle as a mark for the diplomats of Europe to shoot at."
"Then I must be a mark, also," grumbled the Captain.
"Exactly. How do you like it?"
"Oh, it isn"t so bad!" smiled the other, won into better humor by the laughing face of the boy. "But why should the Secret Service department put you in such peril?"
"It is my notion," Ned hastened to say, in defense of his superior officers, "that they give me credit for sense enough to take care of myself. The same with regard to you."
"But why--"
"It seems to me," Ned interrupted, "that the department is up against a tough proposition. The matter is so delicate that no foreign government can be accused of mixing this conspiracy for Uncle Sam. What remains to do, then, is to spot the tools being used by the power that is most active."
"That"s good sense."
"Well, we can"t spot them in Washington, nor in Tientsin, nor yet in the American emba.s.sy at Peking. Where, then, but on the road--on the road where they are striving with all their might to block the progress of the agent who is trying to land them?"
Captain Martin mused a moment and then broke into a laugh.
"And so," he said, "you think we are spread out along this road for the conspirators to grab off?"
"If they can, of course; but that is not stating the case right. We are spread out along the road to Peking to catch the men who will try to stop us. See? We are here to watch for those who will try to catch us, and to catch them! What do you think of that?"
"Clever!" exclaimed the Captain.
"The system is an old one in detective work," Ned explained. "It is no unusual thing for an officer to permit a prisoner to escape in order that be may be traced to his confederates. Only this case is somewhat different, of course. We don"t know exactly who the criminals we, but we expect them to reveal their ident.i.ty by their own acts."
"Then we"d better be on double guard?"
"Of course. You know how the consul reiterated the warning he gave us.
He couldn"t tell us that it was the notion of the Secret Service department that we would be attacked on the way to Peking, but he could tell us to look out, and he did."
"Perhaps he thought the truth would frighten you off?"
"Perhaps," laughed Ned.
"Well, I"m glad to have the puzzle solved," Captain Martin said. "Now we know just what to look out for. When do you expect to meet with these foxy chaps?"
"They will appear in due time, if I am right," Ned replied. "Look out there on the road," he added, "they may be coming now."
The Captain looked and saw four men in the garb of priests, approaching the grove. Their robes were long and of a dirty slate color, and there was a great star on the breast of the man in the lead.
"A queer bunch," the officer said, "but not diplomats. They are Taoist priests, and the chances are that they have a tumble-down temple in this vicinity. They are not very popular in China just now."
"Never heard of them," Ned said, watching the men turn from the road into the grove.
"As you know," the officer explained; "I have been on Chinese stations a long time. Well, I"ve taken a fancy to study up the religion of the people. Or, to put it right, the three religions. First, there is the Confucian religion, which is not really a religion, for it does not deal with the spiritual. It is a philosophy, which teaches the brotherhood of man.
"Second, there is Buddhism, with its ruined temples and begging monks.
This religion is an importation from India. Aged people and women are its chief devotees.
"Third, there is Taoism, scarcely less popular that Buddhism. The priests live with their families in ruined temples and practice all sorts of fool things. They have a mystic alchemy, prepare spells and incantations, and claim to hold communion with the dead. It is said that worthless foreigners travel about in the disguise of Taoist priests, just for the money there is in it, as fake spiritualist mediums travel about in our own country.
"The people coming are Taoist priests, all right, for they have the drums, and gongs, and fifes of their trade with them. Their ruined temple may not be far away. If we have time we may witness some of their foolish ceremonies."
Ned"s face looked thoughtful for a moment, then cleared. There was a smile on his face as he asked:
"Do Taoist priests accost strangers on the highway?"
"Yes; when there is a show of getting money. They are a rank lot, as you will soon see."
"These may not be so rank," Ned replied, meaningfully.
""Why," began Captain Martin, "you don"t suppose--"
"It seems odd that Taoist priests should arrive here just at this time."
"If these chaps really I are spies--the spies we have been warned against--the fellows we were sent forth to meet, why, there may be a bit of action here."
"Well," Ned went on, "let them take the initiative. We shall soon be able to give a good guess as to what this visit means."
As the four strangely clad figures moved across the little patch of field which separated the highway from the grove, Jimmie came running over to where the two were sitting, an egg sandwich in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. As he ran the hot liquid jolted out of the cup and came in contact with his hand.