"What's to be done with the two Chinamen?" he asked.
"I think they ought to go to Catskill, too," said Matt.
"We can carry the sailor in the tonneau of the big car, and there's room for one of the Chinamen on the seat alongside McGlory. T'other chink could go with you, in the roadster. Which is the mandarin that got robbed of the ruby?"
Matt pointed to the dejected figure of Tsan Ti.
"What is he roped for?" asked Banks.
"So he can't put himself out of the way," said Matt. "The regent of China sent him a yellow cord, and told him that if he did not recover the ruby in two weeks he was please to strangle himself. I had to tie the mandarin in that way to keep him from obeying orders."
Banks was not a hard-hearted man, and something in the mandarin's plight touched him. Perhaps it was the Celestial's hopeless air, coupled with his torn and dusty garments.
The sheriff stood for a few minutes in front of Tsan Ti, looking down at him and shaking his head.
"They're a queer lot, these chinks," he commented finally. "Their ideas are not ours, by a long shot, but I don't know as that's anything against them. Do you want to take the mandarin with you in the roadster, Matt?"
"I think I'd better."