A number of armed soldiers entered the room and dragged the captives roughly to their aching feet, hurrying them along the stone pavement up the courtyard.
Phil saw ahead of him the unresisting Langdon, brutally kicked and struck by his captors as he shuffled painfully along, then his own guards turned down a corridor, dragging him after them.
Wondering what was about to happen Phil saw a soldier knock loudly upon a door; a most unearthly yell from within was the only answer, then the door opened inwards and he found himself shoved into the midst of a crowd of half-naked Chinamen. His heart sank within him as he realized that he was to be imprisoned along with the lowest of the criminals of the viceroy’s provinces. But a moment later he could have cried out for joy at the sight of Sydney thrown roughly almost into his arms. At least he would have his friend to share his tortures; that was something for which to be thankful.
CHAPTER X
A CHINESE PRISON
The arrival of the Americans in the jail was heralded with delight by their scantily-clad fellows; they one and all crowded about the lads examining their uniforms and putting very dirty hands on their white skins. Many had never seen a foreigner at such close range. The midshipmen were so tightly bound that they could not escape this unpleasant, although apparently friendly, treatment.
Finally Phil could bear it no longer; the sickening odor from their unwashed bodies became more than his endurance could stand. Managing to rise to his feet, he painfully crossed the damp floor to a wooden bench, the only article of furniture in the cell; reaching this he sat down upon it, gently but forcefully pushing the prisoners seated beside him until he had the bench entirely to himself. The Chinese stood close by in silent surprise, showing no anger at this treatment.
“Come here, Sydney,” he called. “We’ll take the bench and keep these ruffians away. They’ll smother us with their heathen curiosity.”
Sydney crawled through the delighted crowd, the prisoners moving aside readily for him, and as he reached the bench and raised himself off the reeking floor to a seat beside Phil, the gaping Chinamen chattered like children, quite absorbed in the infrequent spectacle of foreign devils in their jail.
A number of the more bold among the prisoners squatted on the floor close to the bench, examining the stout boots and leggins of the midshipmen, but these Phil motioned away, emphasizing his meaning by a shove from his manacled feet. The Chinamen arose at once, their faces expressing only astonishment.
The lads were soon left alone; their fellow prisoners had formed a circle around them with an intervening space of over a yard, while one or two of their number assumed the rôle of protectors and faithfully kept their comrades from infringing upon this forbidden ground.