'Let us change our clothes,' Charlie whispered; 'it will be a splendid disguise.'
Ping Wang's face beamed. He pulled off his coat and trousers and donned in their place a dirty jacket and a pair of ragged knickerbockers. Then, taking off his 'beehive,' he wound round his head the yellow scarf of the Boxers.
Charlie and Fred hastened to follow his example. Ping Wang tied their Boxer cloths around their heads, and then looked at them with interest.
'Splendid,' he declared, 'and now we must be off in case any of the people return. They have gone,' he added, after listening for a few minutes.
He opened the door. A passer-by spoke to him, and he answered cheerfully, making some remark which caused the man to laugh heartily as he continued his journey.
'Come on,' Ping Wang whispered, when the man had passed out of sight, and stepped into the street, followed by Charlie and Fred.
No one penetrated their disguise as they hurried along the streets. One man informed Ping Wang that the three foreigners had been killed. They had taken refuge in a house and the mob had thereupon set light to it. He pointed to the distant flames. Ping Wang was sorry for the men who had been mistaken for them, if they were really in the burnt house, but could not help feeling relieved at the thought that now the mob had wreaked its vengeance it would probably disperse for the night.
'When we turn the next corner we shall be facing the gates,' Ping Wang said after a short walk; and Charlie and Fred heard the news with thankfulness. They were as determined as ever to recover their friend's wealth before quitting China, but they realised that it would be folly to make another attempt to do so while the Boxers were stirring up the people. Their idea was to return to Hongkong and remain there until the anti-foreign feeling had grown less strong.
Ping Wang was the first to reach the corner. To the astonishment of his friends he stopped short, with an exclamation of surprise. Charlie and Fred were at his side in a moment and saw at once the cause of his astonishment—the town gates were closed!
The surprise which they showed on seeing that the gates were closed did not cause any comment or notice among the people standing near, for they too had been surprised and annoyed by the same thing. Chin Choo had given the order for the gates to be shut, and the soldiers dared not open them until they received from him a command to that effect.