ed away from that side of the street.

"You see," Ned said to the prisoner, "that we were on the lookout for
something like this."

"How could you have been?" gasped the other.

"Our interpreter heard some of the messages sent out by mouth by the
revolutionists. I connected your possible capture with the gathering.
We were warned and made ready."

"But my men will soon be here!" shouted the other. "They are sworn to
go to death for the cause if necessary."

"But I don't see them doing anything of the kind," Ned replied. "On the
contrary, they seem to be taking pretty good care of their yellow old
hides!"

"You'll see!" howled the other.

Directly the heavy beat of marching feet came up to the window, heard
above the roar of the mob below. Far down the street Ned saw the
advancing line, bearing the colors of the Emperor.

The rioters saw the line, too, and the crowd in front of the hotel began
to thin. Then the soldiers arrived and the thoroughfare was empty save
for their presence. By this time the prisoner was in a condition of
collapse. He had planned this thing carefully, and was now in the
meshes of failure.

The street below soon cleared of the few who gathered about to witness
the arrival of the soldiers. The few prisoners, who had been taken
marched sullenly to prison. In ten minutes the city of Peking was as
quiet as if the machinations of the conspirators had never stirred the
people to riot.

"Well?" Ned said, facing the prisoner. "What do you think we ought to
do with you?"

"After all," was the reply, "you have no charges against me. My
government alone can discipline me for what has been done."

"Your government will deny any knowledge of the conspiracy," Ned
replied. "From this time on, you have no government."

"And yet I acted under instructions."

"What was the motive?" asked Frank, who saw a fine cablegram for his
father's newspaper in the story.

"The purpose," replied the other, weakly, "was to so entangle your
government that it would not dare lend aid to the revolutionary
leaders."

"And you were engaged in it?"

A nod of the head was the only reply.

"Yet you pretended to be assisting the revolutionary party. You were
present at their councils. Can it be possible that you were treacherous
to both sides?"

There was no answer.

"Suppose," Ned said, "suppose I turn you over to the revolutionary
leaders, with a statement of what you have just said? What would