“I see you do not know me. My name is Emmons. So far I have been powerless to aid you. The viceroy is not my friend, and if it were not for the confidence shown me by the general, I should before now have shared the fate which you have so narrowly escaped. Even now all danger is not over. This ring, you say,” addressing Phil, “was given you by the man you saved from the river?” Phil nodded silently. “That part we cannot explain. The ring is a gift from the emperor to Ta-Ling, the viceroy’s official secretary and interpreter. The stone is the most priceless jade. Fortunately for you the jailer, fearing to keep it in his possession during the night, gave it to the captain of the yamen guard, who brought it at once to the general. If it had gone to the viceroy, before now you both would have been executed.” “What do you mean?” Phil exclaimed. “Did I commit such a serious offense by saving this man from drowning?” Emmons smiled grimly as he answered: “By saving Ta-Ling’s life you committed a serious offense against the foreigners in China. That it was he you saved there can be but little doubt, and he is the bitterest enemy the foreigners have among the viceroy’s advisers. He is a graduate of an American college, and because of his harsh treatment at San Francisco each time he returned to college from his yearly visits to China, he has sworn to avenge himself upon all Americans, and of course all foreigners will suffer, because the Chinese people cannot discriminate between an American and one of another nationality. Because of my American blood I have gained his enmity, and while once I enjoyed the viceroy’s confidence, now he has openly shown me his displeasure. This uprising was started by the wide circulation of handbills, printed in the yamen and distributed at Ta-Ling’s direction throughout the provinces, calling upon all patriotic Chinamen to exterminate the foreigners. General Hang-Ki is the only friend that the foreigners have; he commanded an army corps against the allies at Peking in 1900, and knows the terrible consequences awaiting those who dare resort to such barbarous and uncivilized methods. Unfortunately Ta-Ling has the entire confidence of the viceroy, and has poisoned his ear against the wiser counsel of the general.” “Is the mission still unharmed?” Phil interrupted anxiously. “Yes,” Emmons answered promptly, “the viceroy has given the general orders that it be guarded from attack, although Ta-Ling has been making desperate efforts to gather together the rebels, who were dispersed by the foreign sailors at Lien-Chow. If he should succeed in having the general’s soldiers withdrawn from their camp near the mission, he may yet succeed in his cherished wish.” “But Ta-Ling himself has enemies,” Phil exclaimed. “It must have been these who attempted to drown him in the river.”