“What do you fear?” asked Archie.
“I fear for our personal safety while we remain in Kai-Nong, and I am not sure that we can find a way to remove the treasure to Shanghai, once we have secured it,” I answered. “But we have known all along that there would be risks to run, and there’s no need crossing these bridges until we come to them. Prince Kai said it would be a question of wit and courage; but he predicted that we would win.”
“So we shall!” declared Archie.
“Of course,” remarked Joe, easily. “Prince Kai ought to have known what he was talking about.”
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ELEPHANT TRAIN.
That overland journey of more than eight hundred miles by elephant train is well worth describing, yet it has so little real bearing upon this story that I shall pass it over as briefly as possible.
In spite of our fears, Mai Lo treated us with great respect during this journey, and the escort showed us the same consideration that they did the mandarin.
Elephant riding isn’t at all disagreeable when you get used to the swaying motion, and as we were sailors we quickly accustomed ourselves to the amble of the big beasts. But to ride day after day is decidedly tedious, and we were glad whenever a halt was called and we could stretch our legs.
During the first stage of our journey, which was through a densely settled country, we made little more than thirty miles a day. But when we reached Min-Kwa, which is on a shallow tributary of the Yang-tse, we exchanged our elephants for horses—fine, spirited beasts—which enabled us to make much better time.
We now headed directly northwest, on a beeline from the Himalayas, and I noticed that as we proceeded not only the character of the country but that of the people changed. The placid, indifferent countenances of the peasants were replaced by darker, fiercer features; for here were the descendants of the Tartar horde that once over-ran and conquered the Chinese. Also the women, instead of being small and insignificant in appearance, and mild and docile in character, were handsome, powerful creatures whose every action displayed energy and grace. I could not help admiring them, although their glances denoted bitter hatred of the foreigners—a feeling common throughout the Empire.