At the western wall he gave his orders, then rushed onward to the north wall, which included the main gate.
As he ran, he noted again a low, stone building which he had several times passed in the compound. The roof was not high, and suggested that it covered merely a cellar underneath.
Dan believed that, if the fanaticism of the approaching multitudes were to last a few minutes longer, the rabble would be able, despite the most desperate resistance by the Americans, to sweep up over the walls and massacre every white man and woman in the yamen.
“Why didn’t I think of that before?” Darrin asked himself, looking down at the low-arched stone building. “That must be the governor’s magazine. I wonder if it holds any ammunition?”
Descending at a run, Dave strode over to a place where, under a separate fringe of lighted lanterns, sat the governor of Nu-ping. At one side, eyes downcast, Sin Foo and “Burnt-face” sat.
“Mr. Sin Foo,” Dave began, “that is a magazine over there, isn’t it?”
Not glancing up, the under secretary addressed the governor in humble tones.
“Yes, it is a magazine,” answered the under secretary, at last.
“Is there any powder stored there?”
Again Sin Foo addressed the governor.