“The green jade ring my grateful Chinaman gave me!” Phil exclaimed.
The Americans took heart at the thought of this priceless possession.
“Guard it carefully,” Langdon cautioned; “it may save us.”
“Does Commander Ignacio really believe,” Sydney asked suddenly, “that Commander Hughes will apologize to the viceroy?”
“That traitor Ignacio knows that he will not!” Phil exclaimed angrily at the thought of his treachery. “There’s more in this than we understand. It’s a plot to defeat our captain, and he with only his small force is powerless if the other nations side with this villain. Our only hope is that the other foreigners will not stand for Ignacio’s cowardly agreement.”
“Those in the mission,” Langdon said with alarm in his voice, “are in a worse plight than ever. Unless Commander Hughes finds himself strong enough to relieve the mission it will sooner or later be attacked; our fifty sailors cannot withstand a long siege against the Chinese regular troops.”
The more Phil speculated upon the situation the more perplexing it seemed. Numbers of helpless foreign missionaries were scattered among the cities of the provinces. Even now many might have been killed by the lawless element. In the past many missionaries had been killed by mobs stirred to violence by printed circulars sent out openly by the mandarins. Would the firm stand of the foreigners deter the mandarins from giving license to their people to destroy? Phil knew that this was his captain’s hope.
Langdon’s voice interrupted the lad’s musings.
“We shall be separated,” he said dejectedly. “Please don’t be rash. Remember the cruelty of these people. They might kill in a fit of anger, even though your death was against their interests. Don’t expect kind treatment. You will probably be liberated when our captain has shown the viceroy that he is equal to his threats, but I am not an officer and I know too much to suit that scheming interpreter.”
That the pilot despaired of his life was indeed disquieting news to the midshipmen, but their solicitations were quickly cut short by the sound of tramping feet in the hallway outside their prison door.