A cry for help came feebly to his ears. The lad stopped abruptly, his heart beating wildly, for the cry was in English. He saw he was in the old business section of Tokyo; the houses were mostly two-storied. Again a cry came to him faintly, as if a man were being throttled in the house beside him. Phil sought in vain for an entrance, shouting a word of encouragement. What could it be? Was an American sailor being robbed? There was no room for further doubt; a high piercing cry of a man in mortal fear filled the air, and suddenly died abruptly away. There was evidently not a moment to lose, but where was the entrance? A dark alley caught his eye a few feet ahead, and down this narrow lane Phil turned quickly. A door on the right stood open; a flight of steep steps led to the second floor. Floundering noisily in the dark he rushed on. Reaching the landing, he perceived a light shining through a chink in the farther wall. With pulse throbbing loudly in his ears he stopped guardedly to listen. A scratching noise of a struggle came indistinctly to him. What should he do? How many ruffians must he face? The lad suddenly remembered that he carried no arms, while the robbers inside must be well provided. While he yet hesitated a door suddenly opened, and the hallway was flooded with light. On the floor of a large room two men were struggling, while on the threshold stood a Japanese quietly watching the unequal battle. His back was turned to Phil. Spellbound, stupefied, the youngster stood scarcely out of arm’s reach of this trim, stocky figure, garbed in the usual costume of a man of the middle class. Phil saw that he must act. To retreat would only cause his discovery and then the little Japanese would be forced to attack. Phil held himself rigid. Silently he edged nearer the unconscious observer of the struggle; the man on the floor was now lying almost motionless, while the figure above him clung closely to him. Phil had reached the very edge of the door, and his victim was yet unconscious of his presence. For the fraction of a second the lad hesitated. A thought as terrifying as unbidden had come into his mind. Were these men detectives? If so he would be assaulting the Japanese police. Then all precaution was swept aside, for he remembered the cry for help was in English. He could not tell whether the victim on the floor was a sailor or not, but his spirit of chivalry spurred him on to take the part of the weaker. [Illustration: _THE JAPANESE GENTLEMAN WENT DOWN_]