"But what if you never leave Port Arthur? Why shall I not order you hung at once?" "Because, General Stoessel," said Fred Larkin, calmly, "I am an American citizen, innocent of any offence against your country; a journalist, pursuing his profession, and representing a friendly nation." The bluff soldier gnawed his moustache. "You shall not stay here," he said with decision. "I do not want any newspaper men in Port Arthur." "I'm ready to go," said Fred, "the moment you open the door. My arrival was unintentional, and----" "Restore his papers, and send him to Chefoo," said the General, rising. "How shall I go, General?" asked Fred. "In a junk. You must take your chances of safe arrival. And mind, sir, you must not come here again. Twice is enough!" "I certainly will not," said Fred, "if I can help it." General Stoessel asked a few more questions concerning the reporter's escape from Liaoyang. "It was like a crazy American," he said, more good-humouredly. Then he shook hands with Fred. "I hope you will have a safe voyage to Chefoo. Farewell!" With the same precautions against the correspondent's discovering anything of value to report outside the walls, he was led back across the city and the next morning he left Port Arthur in a _droschka_, or light road-waggon, and--still blindfolded--was driven to a plain near Loisa Bay. At this point the bandage was removed from his eyes and he scrambled down a hilly path to the shore, where he was locked up in a small stone hut until late in the afternoon, when--blindfolded again--he was led over the beach to a sampan and taken off to a junk, one of three which were getting under way--a huge, dirty craft, like that in which he had sailed on his outward trip. A Russian naval officer and boat crew accompanied him to the outer roads, where they said good-bye, entered their own boat and returned to the city. Fred noticed, the bandage having now been finally removed, that the _Czarevitch_, _Retvizan_, and some other damaged ships had been patched up and were changing anchorage under their own steam. The next morning the daring reporter once more set foot on the dock at Chefoo. FOOTNOTE: [4] Since this paragraph was written a despatch in the daily press of the United States has announced that a short time ago a syndicate of American capitalists was formed to buy up the "cash" used by the natives of China, and sell it for the pure copper used in the coins. In this way enormous profits have been made, it is said, by the promoters of the scheme, and the larger cities of the Empire have been almost stripped of small change. CHAPTER XX. THE DOGGER BANK AFFAIR. In the middle of September the following startling despatch appeared in the newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic: "ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND, Sept. 16.--A passenger who arrived to-day on board a coasting steamship reports that two Japanese officers and nine sailors came on board the vessel from London.