"I am going into the city with Mr. Nestor," he said; "see that none of these youngsters gets away during my absence."
"I'm goin' to get away right now," Jimmie exclaimed. "I'm goin' with
Ned to the city. I guess I'm not visiting China to live in a cornfield.
I want to see the wheels go round!"
The officer glanced at Ned questioningly, while the little fellow made a face back.
"Let him come along," Ned said. "He'll come anyway, whether we give him permission or not. How far must we walk?"
"Walk?" repeated Jimmie. "I'm goin' to take my motorcycle."
"That may be a good idea," admitted the officer. "I had not thought of that."
"We may have to make a run for it, judging from the experiences we had at Taku," Ned suggested.
"Nothing of the kind here," the other said. "You are as safe in this city as you would be in New York, under the same conditions, of course. You know there are sections of New York which strangers do well to keep out of at night."
So, mounting their cycles again, the three set off for the foreign section of Tientsin. At first the streets were very bad, but in time they came to smoother running and good time was made.
It was now approaching midnight, but the city, was still awake and stirring. The streets were well filled with pedestrians, and many of the small shops were open.