CHAPTER XVII
BOY SCOUTS IN A LIVELY MIXUP
Ned took the gold piece into his hand and examined it.
"It is American money, sure enough," he observed, "and was made at theSan Francisco mint."
Frank and Jack now joined the little group in the library and regardedthe piece with interest.
"What does it mean?" Frank asked.
"Why," Jack volunteered, "it means that some American man is mixed up inthis dirty affair."
"Perhaps that gold came out of the wreck," Jimmie suggested. "Say, arewe ever goin' back after that gold?" he added.
"Ned's got all the gold he can attend to right here," commented Frank."He's got to find out how that came here."
"Why, there was an American in the bunch, and he lost it out of hispocket," Jack ventured.
"That's the very point," Frank observed. "What was an American doing inthat bunch?"
"It might have been the American who planned to send the gold to therevolutionary leaders by way of a shipment to the Chinese government,"Ned said, thoughtfully. "You know some American had to send the gold."
"Of course."
"Well, suppose he is now here trying to get something in exchange forthe gold which lies at the bottom of the Pacific?"
"He naturally would be doing business, with the revolutionary party,"Frank exclaimed. "What a trick that was!"
"I haven't got it through my head yet," Jack said. "I don't know anymore about the plot than a robin."
"Look here," Frank said, in a superior tone, "there are a lot of Chinesein the United States who want to assist the revolutionary party. Gotthat?"
"You know it!"
"These men arrange with the Chinese government to send over a cargo ofgold."
"That's easy. What were they to get for the gold?"
"I don't know," Frank answered. "But they arranged to send the goldright out of the subtreasury at San Francisco--or was it New York?--tothe Chinese government."
"All right," laughed Jack. "I see daylight."
"Then they notify the rebels-to-be that the gold will be shipped on sucha vessel at such a time."
"Warmer!" grinned Jimmie.
"And the rebels undertake to have a ship ready to snatch off the goldwhen the right time comes. So the Chinese government will have to payfor the yellow stuff and the rebels will have the good of it."
"Great scheme!"
"Yes, well, some other nation gets wise to what is going on, and setsout to burst up the combination."
"Naturally."
"So this foreign nation sends out a ship to ram the vessel carrying thegold."
"Oh! I got that long ago!"
"And the vessel is rammed and the gold goes to the bottom. Then thisother government, thinking to kill two birds at one shot, gives it out,in certain diplomatic circles, that Uncle Sam shipped that gold directlyto the Chinese government from the subtreasury, with the full knowledgethat the rebels were to get it."
"Yes, I've heard about that."
"So Uncle Sam sends Ned over here to dig up that gold and see if theshippers didn't put documents in the bags or boxes which would prove outthe whole transaction."
"An' Ned found the documents!" cried Jimmie. "Good old Ned!"
"Yes, he found the documents which prove that the United States hadnothing to do with the matter, but which do not show who started theslander.
"And then Ned is sent out to track the statesman who had been doingbusiness with the rebels down to his hiding place. It is thought thathis nation is the one that tried to mix Uncle Sam in the matter."
"But why should this man be doing business with the rebels?" asked Jack.
"That is what we don't know," was the reply. "Still, we know that he isallied with the rebels. We met him at Taku. Ned met him at the ruinedtemple. He may be treacherously in the company of the men who lead therevolutionary party, but he is there."
"You have that figured out correctly," Ned cut in. "If the man we areafter had been doing business with the Chinese government, we would havehad officers of the law after us at Tientsin and Taku, instead of menwho ran when it came daylight."
"What national seal made that stamp on the wax you have in your pocket,Ned?" Jimmie asked.
Ned made no reply.
"Was the stamp made with the seal you have with you?" was the nextquestion.
Still Ned did not answer. He was in a quandary. It did not seempossible that the two nations pointed out by the seal and the wax couldbe engaged in such dirty business. He hoped to prove to his ownsatisfaction that they were not.
"The only way to find out what we want to know," he said, "is to go onto Peking."
"Your proof will assist you when you get there?" asked Frank.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," Ned answered, tentatively.
"I don't understand that reply," Frank observed, with a serious face."You must have discovered something in this house which is not to yourliking."
"Time will show," Ned said.
Captain Martin, of the marines, now entered the room where thediscussion was going on. His face was pale, and his eyes showed greateranger than Ned had ever seen reflected there before.
"Just a moment, Ned," he said, and the two stepped into another room.The Captain dropped into a chair.
"We have struck the hornet's nest," he said.
"Do you hear them buzzing?" asked Ned, with a smile.
"Worse than that," was the reply. "I am feeling their stings. Two ofmy men have been attacked in the dark."
"And wounded?"
"Yes; one of them seriously."
"I'm sorry for the poor fellow," Ned said. "Do you think we can get himon to Peking?"
Captain Martin shook his head.
"It is a bad wound," he said. "The man was on guard not far from theedge of the grove when a figure loomed up before him. He challenged andwas about to shoot, for no reply came, when he got the knife in hisback. He can't be moved."
"The trouble is," Ned replied, "that we got here too soon."
"What's the answer to that?"
"We did not give the plotters time enough to finish their business.When that old Chink, back there at the gate, signaled to them with hisrockets, they cut and ran, leaving important evidence behind them."
"And you think they will hang about the flying squadron until theyrecover what they have lost?"
"They certainly will try to recover it. Now you see the wisdom of theWashington people in sending me to Peking on a motorcycle! You see thatI was right in saying that we were being set up as marks for othernations to shoot at!"
"Yes," said Martin, "you never could have got to the fellows in the oldway. It was right to plan it so that they would come to you, althoughit was placing you in great danger."
"But the danger has rippled off our backs like water off the feathers ofa duck! If we meet no more peril than we have now encountered, we'llget back to New York fat and healthy."
"One thing I fail to comprehend," Captain Martin said, "and that is whya flying squadron was sent with you."
"To attract attention," laughed Ned.
"To get you out of scrapes, I should say," the Captain retorted.
"Well, then, both!"
"I don't get it yet."
"We might have reached Peking without our presence in the country beingknown to our enemies," Ned said, "but that was not the idea of theWashington people. I have already explained to the boys that we were todo our real work in identifying the man we want while on the way."
"Oh, all right," replied the officer, "but it seems to me that you mighthave made the trip in a quieter way with the same result. These chapswould have found you, depend on that."
"Yes, but we needed help," replied Ned, "and we got it in the nick oftime. Guess the Secret Service people at Washington are all right."
"Perhaps," the Captain said, then, "we would better get the wounded meninto the house and look after their wounds. The others I'll leave onguard."
"What next?" asked Frank.
"Peking!" answered Jack. "We can't heal these wounds by remaining here,and we can help by going on and sending a surgeon back."
"But my orders are to remain with you," Captain Martin said.
"Then leave most of your men here and come on," Ned replied.
This plan was agreed upon, and would have been carried out at once hadnot something not on the program of the night intervened. CaptainMartin had detailed two men to sit with the wounded and stationed theothers in a circle about the house when a shot was fired off to theeast.
"I didn't think they would have the nerve to attack the house openlybefore we got away," Captain Martin remarked.
All listened intently, but there was no more shooting.
"That sounded to me more like a signal than anything else," Nedobserved. "I wonder if they are out in force?"
"I think I'd better call the men in," Captain Martin remarked.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when a skulking form appeared inthe dim light which now fell from the stars. The fellow was creepingfrom the house outward.
"A spy!" Jack whispered. "Shoot, some one. I haven't my gun with me.Shoot!"
The skulking man appeared to hear the words, though they were spoken ina very low tone, for he sprang to his feet and dashed away at fullspeed. In a second he was lost to view in the thicket.
"Say, but that chap is some runner!" Jimmie cried. "He went so fast Inever thought to wing him!"
"Where did he come from?" asked Frank. "I'm certain he was not in thehouse. Perhaps he was up to some deviltry."
"He wasn't here with any bouquets," Jimmie answered. "I'm goin' out an'run around the house. Perhaps I can find out where he was hidin', an'find his mate there."
No objections being offered to this, the little fellow left the groupand started in on a tour around the old house. He was gone perhaps twominutes, then came dashing back, his face white and horror-stricken inthe circle of light which met him.
"Grab 'em! Grab 'em an' get out!" he shouted.
"Where did you get it?" demanded Jack.
"You're scared stiff!" Frank laughed.
"Grab the wounded men an' beat it!" Jimmie repeated. "This ranch willgo up in the air in a second!"
"That's cheerful!" Jack cut in, half believing that Jimmie was up toanother trick.
Jimmie dashed into the house, seized one of the wounded men by theshoulders and tried to drag him off the improvised bed on which he hadbeen laid.
"All right!" he yelled. "You boys may stay here an' get shot up intoblue sky if you want to, but I'm goin' to get these men out."
"Why don't you tell us what the danger is?" demanded Ned, shaking thelittle fellow by the arm.
"You listen!" Jimmie replied.
There was dead silence for an instant. Then, seemingly from underneaththe floor, came a low, sinister hissing sound which every one of theboys recognized.
A great fuse was burning below, and might at any moment reach theexplosive to which it was attached. The Chinese tools of the man at thehead of the conspiracy were taking desperate chances.
In order to destroy the clues which Ned had found in the house, and alsoto prevent the boy ever discovering any more, they were taking the longchance of murdering the soldiers of a friendly power and bringing oninternational complications. Ned was by no means idle while thesethoughts were swarming in his brain.
In fact, all the boys sprang to action instantly. Captain Martin wastold to order his men farther away from the point of danger. In lesstime than the result of their activities can be written down the woundedmen were lying in the grove, surrounded by their fellows, and the boyswere waiting for what seemed inevitable, the complete destruction of thehouse.
Boy Scouts on Motorcycles; Or, With the Flying Squadron Page 17