"Anyway," Jimmie went on, "I wish Ned was here. I'll bet he could open
that box for him."

"Now he's talking with the man who chased you out of the tea house in
the Street of a Thousand Steps," Jack said, "and the fellow is raving
about something."

"They can't open the treaty box!" laughed Jimmie.

"You'll be seeing things next," Jack grunted. "Now, what do you think of
that?" he added. "The chap is bringing his box here."

"Then fix yourself up so you'll look like you was in captivity," Jimmie
advised. "If he finds out we've released ourselves he'll tie us up
again."

The boys found pieces of the cord with which they had been tied and
managed to put up a very fair imitation of being bound good and hard.
When the young man entered the tent he stood over them for a moment with
a supercilious grin on his face.

"How do you like it, boys?" he finally asked.

"Fine!" Jimmie sang out.

"Isn't it most dinner time?" Jack added.

The young man sat down on a bundle of freshly cut grass, placed the box
by his side, placed his chin on his hands, his elbows on his knees, and
sat for some moments regarding the boys with an amused smile on his
rather weak face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're doin' acrobatic stunts on a high wire just now," scorned Jimmie.

"Don't get gay, now," the other growled. "I'm the son of a United States
senator."

"I'm the sister of the sun an' moon," Jimmie replied. "So don't be
givin' me no guff."

"You're a cheeky little baggage," the son of the senator replied, rising
to his feet.

"You might leave that box here," Jimmie called out, "if it's got
anythin' to eat in it. We could eat a crocodile."

"Be careful that the crocodiles don't eat you," warned the other and,
seizing the box in a firmer grasp, walked out of the tent.

"What do you make of it?" asked Jack.

"The son of a senator," Jimmie replied, "is here representin' some big
interest, an' that's the treaty box he's got. Say, if they ever get all
these native kings an' queens an' prime ministers to goin', there'll be
bloody war in the Philippines, an' Japan, or China, or Germany, or
France will butt in, an' there'll be a fine time."

"Of course," Jack replied. "That's why we've got to stop it."

"It might be stopped by scatterin' these chiefs, an' kings, an' all the
rest," Jimmie concluded.

"Not so you could notice it," Jack insisted. "Didn't we scatter them
when they met on that other island? Well, the