After traversing nearly half the length of the courtyard, the jailer suddenly threw open a door, and forcefully pushed them through it into darkness. The door closed quietly behind his retreating figure. Their hearts beating fast, Phil and Sydney strained their ears to catch the first sound of alarm. Heavy footfalls approaching on the stone pavement soon told them the reason of the jailer’s haste and his sudden departure. Holding their breath tightly, they heard the newcomer stop hesitatingly before the door of their cell, then after a second he moved farther along, and finally the opening and shutting of a door told them he had entered a room near or even next to the one in which the two midshipmen had been so suddenly thrust. Sounds of a low-pitched voice came distinctly to their ears through the frail partition; the lads listened eagerly. Then the bold tones of Langdon’s voice sounded distinctly. “For a man who was educated among white men,” he was saying in a scornful voice, “you seem to have a queer idea of our honesty. If you liberate all, I’ll take the letter to our captain, but I shall not tell him I believe the viceroy will play fair, for I don’t believe he will. I don’t trust him, nor you. Send the letter by one of your own people, and see what answer he’ll send back. The threat that at the first gun fired by the allies our heads will be chopped off will not affect his plans. What are two midshipmen, four sailors, and a pilot to a country like ours?” “Commander Ignacio and two of the allied gunboats have accepted the viceroy’s word and are back at their old anchorage,” Ta-Ling’s voice urged. “That shows the viceroy’s good faith.” “Don’t talk to me of that traitor,” Langdon exclaimed; “he isn’t white anyway; his skin is as yellow as yours.” “Then you refuse your life?” Ta-Ling’s voice asked. “You Chinese are a soft-brained lot,” Langdon said, ignoring the question; “your intrigue is as plain as children’s play. Men like Ignacio might be fooled. I don’t know what promises you’ve made to him. Probably offered to give his countrymen the railroad concession to Peking, which your viceroy has cheated the Americans out of by his underhand dealings; but you ought to know after four years at an American college that we are not that kind. Commander Hughes is in this river to see that Americans are left unmolested, in accordance with the treaties made between the two countries.” “I suppose you know that when I was in your America I personally investigated nearly a score of murders of Chinese in what you call the West. Each case was as brutal and flagrant as any that has occurred in China,” Ta-Ling’s voice broke in triumphantly. “How then can you boast of the honesty of your people?--for in not a single instance were the murderers punished.”