"The worthy Yang must forgive the haste of a boy who so far forgets his duty to his elder," said Nicholas.
That night the boys slept at Yang's house.
CHAPTER XVII.
NICHOLAS RESOLVES UPON A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE.
The following morning when Nicholas saw the merchant, he said, "Yesterday the worthy Yang would have learned the object of my visit to Pekin. I would gain admittance to the imperial palace. Will he aid me?"
"Alas! my nephew, nothing can be more difficult, for it is crowded with bonzes, and I fear worse—rebels, who swarm around the royal person like hornets; but whom seekest thou within the outer palaces?"
"Even the Son of Heaven himself, at the feet of whose throne I would kneel."
"Is the youth bereft of his senses? does he not know that it is certain death to pass the prohibited wall of the inner palace?"
"May then the illustrious Prince Woo-san-Kwei be found within the palace?" asked Nicholas.