'A council, yes,' he said. 'I will state the facts. We chartered a ship at Shanghai captained by a rascal, and with a crew none the better. They had accomplices in the Gulf of Pechili, and the ruffians hoped to secure their booty without a struggle. Of course, we should have been cut to pieces and dropped overboard.'

Alphonse shivered, though every one could see that he was merely making pretence to be frightened. 'Dites donc,' he cried pleadingly, 'but that is dreadful. It makes me feel faint. They would surely not be so harsh with us.'

The grimace he made set Dick roaring, while the Professor smiled grimly.

'Easy enough to make fun of it, Alphonse, but if it hadn't been for your watching we should be down below already. Other Europeans have suffered in the same way, have disappeared and never been heard of again.'

Unconsciously David's thoughts went to his father. He had been assailed more than once when in China; for even at this day, when Western influence is slowly beginning to gain ground in the Celestial Empire, Europeans are still foreign devils to the common mob, intruders, to be killed whenever possible. True, in some quarters the old animosity is beginning to disappear. Wealthy Chinese travel now-a-days, and return home imbued with the wish to give up old and useless institutions and habits, to substitute a modern education for one dating back to the days of Confucius, and to throw open the doors of their native land, so that the miles and miles of rich territory may be developed and bring forth its wealth. That is something. Thirty years ago there was hardly one single Chinaman amongst all the millions the Emperor boasted of who had been away from his native shores, and though an ambassador here and there may have returned with his eyes widely opened, with a desire to westernise his country, what was the value of his influence when all else were against him? It was death almost to suggest change. Arrogance was always a failing of the pig-tailed race, and only time and severe lessons could teach the people that there were other races on a higher footing. And lessons China has had. She has seen foreigners snatch corners of her territory. She has stood helplessly aside and watched Russia enter Manchuria and lay her railways to Port Arthur, and again has watched her neighbour, whom she formerly despised, throw herself upon the Russians and conquer them. And why? Because she had westernised her people. Because Japan had organised her navy and her army on modern lines, and armed them with modern guns. Then why should China not follow? Slowly but surely the desire to do so is filtering through the country, and slowly the change will come. As we have said, a European is still a 'foreign devil' to the bulk of the people to-day. To-morrow he may be as a brother.

'My father was killed during a sudden attack,' said David. 'He was up country, north of Pekin——'

'Where I shall hope to take you all,' interrupted the Professor. 'That is to say, if these rascals will allow us.'

'There was a missionary with him, one who knew the people well. But they were murdered for what they carried, and, as it afterwards appeared, on a sudden suggestion made to the people in the nearest village. There had been several cases of fever, and four persons had died. It was put down to the white men, and that was the excuse for their murder.'

'And that is nearly always the case ashore,' agreed the Professor. 'A missionary, for example, is the best of fellows. He helps the people, is great friends with them, and all goes well till some bigoted ruffian comes along. He wants the odds and ends the missionary possesses. He trumps up some paltry charge, works up his ignorant comrades into a fury, and sends them to murder the "foreign devil." The rascal himself generally disappears with all the white man's possessions. But here there is no working up. The pirates of the Gulf have existed for centuries; murder and pillage is their profession.'

'Hark! I heard something more; stay still if you please, messieurs.'