Nuggy had agreed to put everything into writing; and this document was drawn up two days later, in the presence of Gilbert, Mrs. Bartlett, and one of the prison doctors. At this time Nuggy was feeling fairly well, and the doctor said that it was likely he would be as well as ever in the course of a month or six weeks. The charge made against him by the Bartletts was dropped. While calling upon Nuggy, Gilbert asked him about Jerry Nickerson, and was told that Nickerson had gone back to Taku, to take the first ship he could get for home. “He is sick of affairs here,” said Nuggy; “and as soon as I got to feeling bad he deserted me. I never want to see him again.” Shortly after Gilbert and the Bartletts had obtained Nuggy Polk’s confession, the young lieutenant was ordered to Taku, to take charge of some goods which were arriving by transport. He journeyed by rail from Tien-Tsin to Tongku, and was glad to note that the country was now free from Boxers and Chinese troops, and that the natives were going to work again, almost as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “This campaign is about over,” he reasoned. “The Chinese have been taught a lesson; and they’ll be only too glad to negotiate, through Li Hung Chang, for peace.” And this surmise was correct. Arriving at Taku, almost the first man Gilbert met was Captain Ponsberry of the _Columbia_. The captain was as hale and hearty as ever, but rather doubtful concerning the disposition of the cargo he had on board of his vessel. “We had a mighty reesky time a-gittin’ here,” said the captain. “Run up agin’ two Chinese junks full o’ pirates; but we showed ’em a clean pair o’ heels.” Gilbert told him of the condition of affairs at Tien-Tsin, and of how he could find Amos Bartlett and Nuggy Polk. The next day the captain journeyed to Tien-Tsin, and spent two days with the Bartletts, paying a visit to Nuggy Polk each day. What was said and done never reached Gilbert’s ears in detail; but later on he found out that the whole matter had been turned over to Amos Bartlett for adjustment, and that Nuggy had written a long letter to his father concerning the state of affairs. This letter came as a thunderbolt to Ramsey Polk; and reaching him as it did, immediately after an interview with the lawyer Gilbert had appointed to take up his case, he found himself so hedged in that he was compelled to bow to the inevitable. “There has been a great mistake made,” he wrote back. “I am willing to do what is right, and both Mr. Bartlett and Lieutenant Pennington shall have all that is coming to them. I hope you will not make the whole affair public. If necessary, I will resign from the company.” And this he did; and other men, who were strictly honest, came to the head of the concern. “We owe you a great deal, Lieutenant Pennington,” said Amos Bartlett one day, when Gilbert was calling at the home in Tien-Tsin. “You are a smart young man.” “And a good soldier, too,” put in Mrs. Bartlett.