“How stupid of me!” Commander Hughes exclaimed. “The railroad to Peking and through the interior provinces! I have been so much engrossed with my own troubles that I have not given the motive of this hostile action the attention which it deserves. I heard in Shanghai before we sailed that the American corporation having the railroad concession rights was having great trouble in getting permission to break ground, and a great mass of material is lying idle in steamers awaiting permission of the viceroy to land. Of course, that must be at the bottom of all this! “It is this commercial rivalry which will forever keep the Chinese from looking upon foreigners as desirable residents of their country,” he continued thoughtfully. “We are ever at each other’s throats in our commercial dealings. There are grave consequences to be feared in the opening of this vast and rich territory, and if we are not strictly honest in our dealings with each other, the consequences may well warrant the building of a great navy.” Commander Hughes, as he finished speaking, gazed out over the water to the anchored ships of the allied fleet and then, nodding a dismissal to the midshipmen, he walked toward the companion ladder leading to his cabin. “The signal is two white lights when ready,” he said to the officer of the deck. “Notify me when all the ships have shown the signal, and keep the launch ready for Mr. Perry.” Then to Phil, as he descended the companionway, “Langdon must of course stay with us. We shall need him to help us over the shoals at the entrance to the lake.” Phil saluted and then glanced at the clock on the cabin bulkhead. He saw its hands pointed to twenty minutes of one. In but a few hours all would be decided. Either Commander Hughes would win and his act of suppressing the cablegram be condoned, or else the gunboats would be utterly defeated, maybe destroyed by the fire of the forts and his hated enemy Ignacio raised to power as the leader of the dissenters. The possibilities were so terrifying that he looked about him for some object upon which to concentrate his mind. He wished to keep himself from brooding on the future of the night’s venture. Gazing out into the darkness, he could see black smoke and sparks belching from the smoke-stacks of the “Phœnix’s” consorts. The shrill whistles of the boatswain’s mates and the creaking of tackles came distinctly across the still water, showing their hurried preparations to be ready.