Soon after lunch they went aboard the Canton, which they found to be a small and poky vessel. The saloon placed at their disposal was very similar to the after-saloons which Charlie and Ping had seen in the North Sea steam trawlers; that is to say, the bunks were round the table.
The trip to Tien-tsin occupied several days, and all on board, except the skipper and his mate, being Chinamen, Charlie and Fred were compelled to speak very little, and then only in an undertone, for fear that they should be overheard. However, they managed to enjoy themselves, as Ping Wang taught them several exciting Chinese games.
'In which direction do you intend to travel when we reach Tien-tsin?' the skipper of the Canton asked Ping Wang, shortly after they had passed Taku.
'Up the Pei-ho,' Ping Wang answered. 'By-the-bye, I suppose you know several boatmen who work up the river?'
'I have a slight acquaintance with a score or so of them, and if you wish to get a passage on one of their boats I dare say that I can manage to choose a fairly honest man.'
'That is just what I do want. Of course it can never do to let him know that my friends are Englishmen. He might refuse to take them.'
'He would take them readily enough; but he would demand an absurdly high price for it; and, possibly, when you reached your destination, he would make known that they were foreigners.'
'That is highly probable,' Ping Wang admitted. 'I am afraid that some one on board is certain to discover that our friends are not Chinamen.'
'Pretend that they are both ill, and that they must on no account be disturbed. Then they will be able to escape being spoken to.'
'That is a very good idea,' Ping Wang declared; but when they arrived at Tien-tsin, and he and the skipper started bargaining with a small cargo-boat owner for passages, it was found that the idea was not so good as he expected.