'And now you're going to be Tsu-Hi,' he said abruptly. 'No use in my changing these clothes. You can do the work as well as I can. Let's get along into the other room, and then you can strip off your things and dress in Tsu-Hi's gorgeous raiment.'
'And then?' asked Dick, beginning to grin and bubble over, for the adventure amused him vastly. 'And then, my noble sir, what do I do? Go to the palace and command the foreign devils to be brought before me. Sign their death warrants, and see them executed. Oh, Lor'! I see it all. Here's a splendid ending. We put this Tartar beggar into your clothes, and Tsu-Hi into mine, and let Chang behead 'em as if they were actually foreign devils.'
He would have roared with laughing, had not David stopped him angrily.
'Utter rot you do talk, Dick,' he said severely, though he was bound to smile at the reckless jollity of his comrade. 'You become the deputy-governor, and in due course you will go to the palace, and I with you. For the moment, you've got to dress. Come along—no more jawing.'
They crept along the passage to the cell in which Tsu-Hi and the Tartar lay together, where Dick quickly arrayed himself in the finery of the fallen governor.
'How do I look, old chap?' he asked, posing beneath the lantern, and before the eyes of the man he was representing. 'A bit of a sport, I think. What? Ain't I handsome?'
'You're an idiot!' declared David crossly, though he was bound to laugh. 'Tsu-Hi looks as if beheading wouldn't be enough for you. But let's get to business. Tie your own clothing into a bundle. Now, let me have it.'
Gripping the rope which dangled from the window-frame, and holding the bundle between his teeth, David swarmed up till he was able to get a grip of the edge above. He straddled it at once, and then whistled softly. At once Jong's figure shot from the shadow. The Chinaman crept into the centre of the road.
'Catch!' called David, tossing the bundle; 'and pick up the one I threw before. 'Listen to this, Jong. Mr. Dick and I have captured Tsu-Hi. We'll be coming out in a moment, when we shall go direct to the palace. Once there, you'll have to bring out the ponies without delay, and get our goods packed on them. I shall want a cart also.'
He waved to the man, and slid into the room again, slipping down the rope as if he were a sailor.