"Avast there, mate, or you'll have me overboard! By the seven holy spritsails——"
The voice broke off and gave vent to a frantic yell. Although the driver had shut off the power and applied a brake, the car had leaped into the air when it struck the root.
The man in the tonneau shot straight up into the air for two or three feet, and Matt and McGlory had a glimpse of a grizzled red face with a patch over one eye, a fringe of "mutton-chop" whiskers, and a blue sailor cap.
"The mariner!" came in a clamoring wheeze, from Tsan Ti.
As the automobile whirled past, the mandarin flung himself crazily at the rear of the tonneau, only to be knocked head over heels for his pains.
As he floundered in the dust, Matt rushed for his motor cycle.
"Is that one of the two men who stole the ruby?" cried Matt.
"What fortune!" puffed Tsan Ti. "Pursue and capture the villain! If he has the Eye of Buddha——"
But the rest of it was lost. Matt, followed by McGlory, was tearing away on the track of the automobile.