against another. Velly bad men here."

"How far is Canton away?" Jack asked. "Could you not send down to tell
the English we are here?"

"Fourteen days' journey off," the man said; "no see how can do
anything."

"Well," Jack said, "when you get back again to Canton let our people
know what has been the end of us; we shall not last much longer."

"All light," the man said, "will see what me can do. Muchee think
to-night!" And after saying a few words to the guards, who had been
regarding this conversation with an air of surprise, the Chinaman
retired.

The guards had for some time abandoned the precaution of sitting up at
night by the cage, convinced that their captives had no longer strength
to attempt to break through its fastenings or to drag themselves many
yards away if they could do so. They therefore left it standing in the
open, and, wrapping themselves in their thickly-wadded coats, for the
nights were cold, lay down by the side of the cage.

The coolness of the nights had, indeed, assisted to keep the two
prisoners alive. During the day the sun was excessively hot, and the
crowd of visitors round the cage impeded the circulation of the air and
added to their sufferings. It was true that the cold at night frequently
prevented them from sleeping, but it acted as a tonic and braced them
up.

"What did he mean about the villages attacking each other?" Percy asked.

"I have heard," Jack replied, "that in some parts of China things are
very much the same as they used to be in the highlands of Scotland.
There is no law or order. The different villages are like clans, and
wage war on each other. Sometimes the Government sends a number of
troops, who put the thing down for a time, chop off a good many heads,
and then march away, and the whole work begins again as soon as their
backs are turned."

That night the uneasy slumber of the lads was disturbed by a sudden
firing; shouts and yells were heard, and the firing redoubled.

"The village is attacked," Jack said. "I noticed that, like some other
places we have come into lately, there is a strong earthen wall round
it, with gates. Well, there is one comfort--it does not make much
difference to us which side wins."

The guards at the first alarm leapt to their feet, caught up their
matchlocks, and ran to aid in the defence of the wall. Two minutes later
a man ran up to the cage.

"All lightee," he said; "just what me hopee."

With his knife he cut the tou