"Come, shut up. None of that talk," said Pow Chow gruffly. "Go on in." They entered, Ethel leading the way to a little parlor. "We have taken this house, furnished, for a few weeks," she said. "You see we had to hide, for, of course, I knew father--I mean Mr. Butler--would send detectives after us. I hear he did it, too--the Bradys. You were with them last night. Tell me all about it, Eddie, and then perhaps I'll tell you something which will make you open your eyes." "Come, cut that out!" broke in Pow Chow. "We haven't decided yet whether to tell him or not, you know. Anyway, we have got him safely out of Chinatown. I understand the Bradys were looking for him half the night." "And they didn't find him. Oh, I am so glad. It's a shame he had to suffer so, though. I think you might have made it easier for my brother, Pow." Ed was on the point of breaking in with: "I'm not your brother," but he concluded that it would pay him best to hold his tongue until he understood better what all this meant. He had his suspicions, however. He felt quite certain that it had something to do with the papers stolen from his father about which there had been much mystery. Ed knew something about these papers, but not all. What he knew we shall later explain. CHAPTER III. WORKING FOR A CHINESE CLEW. It was true that the Bradys spent much time searching for Ed. In this they were aided by a wardman from the Elizabeth street station, who was supposed to know much about the secret dens of Pell street, and we want it understood that the Bradys are by no means ignorant on that subject themselves. But as it happened they did not know of any secret dens under that particular house, nor did the wardman, nor could they find any. At last they broke down the wall on two sides of the vault from which Ed had vanished. Then they discovered the secret passage. They traced it to its end, and it took a turn, bringing them in under another house. Here there were two secret rooms where there had once been a private joss house conducted by the Chinese "Tong" or guild known as the Brother of the Red Door. This particular place, as it happened, had been pulled by the Bradys about a year before. They found the rooms empty and deserted. Thus they missed it so far as Ed was concerned, and they finally gave up, feeling satisfied that they had overlooked some hidden door or passage which, of course, must have been the case. It was now too late to look up Alice, as intended. Where she was must now be explained. Alice some time before had made a friend of a certain Chinese woman whose husband was a sort of detective or spy for the On Leong tong or merchants society in Chinatown. This man's operations were confined to his own people. He also knew Alice and liked her.