Ned did not stop to explain to the boy all that he had discovered in the inner chamber. His work there seemed to be finished now, and he was anxious to get back to camp. There was no knowing what had been going on there during his absence.
“Where is Liu?” he asked.
“Watchin’ outside,” was the reply. “He’s my guard. Goin’ to shoot me if I try to get away.”
“Don’t know,” replied Jimmie. “They herded a lot of Chinks an’ went off down the valley.”
Liu now appeared in the entrance, bowed gravely to the boys, and stepped out on the ledge, with a Boy Scout challenge in the wave of his hand.
“He’s all right!” Jimmie said. “You ought to see the breakfast he got up for me. That feller can cook—an’ then some!”
“Call him,” Ned suggested, “and we’ll see if it is safe for me to go out.”
“For you to go out!” repeated Jimmie. “For us to go out.”
“I think you’d better remain here,” Ned replied.