The officer did not exactly relish the turn of affairs. If he had made a mistake in delivering his captain’s letters and then the fugitive into the wrong hands, he knew he would suffer severely. “I dare not do that,” he said. “By my government’s regulations asylum must be given to all asking protection. To-morrow after my captain returns he will, if he sees fit, deliver him to the viceroy. I shall lock him up for safety and you can be sure he will not escape.” “But I have been searching for this man,” Phil declared, his voice now really earnest. He must get Emmons from his perilous position. “It is all-important that he be taken to the viceroy to-night. I can assure you that if your captain were here he would deliver him up to Ta-Ling.” All suspicion had disappeared from the officer’s mind upon hearing this earnest appeal. After all, he was but a Chinaman, and he knew his captain was very friendly with the viceroy and his powerful secretary Ta-Ling. “All right,” he said. “I will take your word that in delivering the man to you I shall be acting as my captain would wish.” “He should be bound,” Phil said almost gleefully. “Can you get me a rope?” The officer, leaving Phil’s side, crossed the deck to a chest; opening it, he searched through its contents. The midshipman, greatly fearing an outbreak from Emmons, stepped cautiously to his side and whispered for him to make no outcry. “I knew you immediately,” Emmons breathed. At the sound of muttering voices, the officer looked up quickly; the light of the lantern on his face told Phil that his suspicions had been aroused. Quicker than thought the midshipman drew back his fist, then he shot it forward, striking with force the startled half-breed squarely under the chin. Emmons lay where he fell, moaning audibly, while Phil quietly explained his act to the officer. “He had the temerity to revile me,” he said; “but give me the rope. We should be on our way back to the city.” Emmons was quickly bound, hand and foot; then Phil bowed ceremoniously and, lifting the stunned man on his broad shoulders, walked steadily down the ladder and into the launch, where he deposited the body with a great show of force for the benefit of those above. A few seconds later the launch had left the war-ship and was headed down the river as if she would again land in her berth at the dock. As soon as the gunboat had disappeared in the darkness, Phil and Sydney cut the ropes binding the prisoner and raised him to a seat on the deck house. He was but stunned by the blow and presently opened his eyes, gazing about him in bewilderment. “What happened?” Emmons asked, recognizing in the thin light of a screened lantern Phil’s anxious face bending over him. The lad quickly explained the reason for his apparently unfriendly act.