CHAPTER VI
WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON
"Go around to the front and come in," a voice said--a voice from theroom where the boys were. "I've just got here, and am trying to find alight."
There was a rattle of arms outside, then the heavy tread of men stillmaking some pretense, even in the darkness and the rain, of moving inmarching order. The men who had come to the assistance of the BoyScouts were preparing to enter the house.
How would they be received? This was the question uppermost in theminds of all the boys as they waited.
Would they be greeted with treacherous words, or with a murderousfusillade of bullets and knives stabbing in the darkness? It would seemthat the Chinamen would hardly dare attack an American military squad,yet these men were outlaws, and there was no knowing what they might do.
The lads heard the marines, as they supposed the newcomers to be, passaround an angle of the old house and stand for an instant talking in thedoorway to which they had been directed by the voice of the man on theinside. Frank was preparing to set up a cry of warning, let theconsequences be what they might, when the rattle of arms told him thatthe marines had surrounded the house, and that every door and window wasguarded! The men who were guarding the boys evidently knew what wastaking place, for they released their clutches on the lads and movedaway.
Next came a struggle at the window, and then a strong electric lightswept into the room. Jimmie jumped forward and bumped into Ned, who wasclambering over the decayed window sill.
There were several shots exchanged on the outside, followed by shouts ofboth rage and pain, then three men in the uniform of the United Statesmarine service entered the room. One of them picked up Ned'ssearchlight, which had fallen to the floor when Jimmie bunted its owner,and turned its rays on the mix-up under the window.
There was a flutter of arms and legs, as Frank and Jack, half chokingwith laughter at the manner in which tragedy had so suddenly andunexpectedly been changed into comedy, pulled Ned and Jimmie apart.Jimmie sat up, wrinkling his nose until one would think it never wouldsmooth out again, and gazed at Ned with provoking grin.
"Gee!" he cried. "I thought I was mixing it with six Chinks! Wonderyou wouldn't knock before entering a private room!"
"I did knock," laughed Ned, rising from the floor and taking theflashlight.
"Yes, you knocked me down," grunted Jimmie.
The three marines, standing in the middle of the room with amused faces,regarded the four boys curiously for a moment and then moved out ofrange of the window. Also Ned was asked to shut off the light.
"We're not out of it yet," one of them said. "Our men chased the YellowFaces into a bad part of town, and they are likely to be chased back,not by a few, but by a mob! These Chinks like Americans about as muchas brook trout love the desert."
"Perhaps I'd better go out an' see what's comin' off," suggested thelittle fellow.
"You'll only get captured again," Jack suggested, provokingly.
"I ain't got nothin' on you in getting tied up with ropes," Jimmieretorted. "You looked like one of these mummy things when the light wasturned on."
The officer in charge of the marines motioned to Jimmie to remain wherehe was, but the order came too late. Having been relieved of his bondsby Ned's quick fingers, he fairly dived out of the window into thedarkness.
"Now there'll be trouble catching him again," complained the officer."If he doesn't get a hole bored through him, we'll have to hunt the townover to get him out of the Chinks' hands. Why can't you boys behaveyourselves?"
"Ruh!" Jack retorted, annoyed at the tone of superiority adopted by theofficer. "I guess we've been doing pretty well, thank you! I reckonyou fellows must have followed off a cow path! We've been waiting herefor you long enough to walk to Peking on our hands!"
"That's the fact!" the officer replied, speaking in a whisper in thedarkness. "We were the first ones to fall into the snares set by theChinks. Only for Ned, we would still be waiting for you in a housesomething like this one, in a distant part of the town. How the boyfound us I can't make out, but find us he did."
"What are you going to do about that runaway kid?" asked Frank of Ned."Shall I go get him?"
It was not necessary for Ned to reply to the question, for at thatmoment a figure came tumbling through the window and a voice recognizedas that of the little fellow cried out:
"Gee!" he said, feeling about in the darkness, "what do you think of myruinnin' into a sea soldier an' getting chucked through the hole thecarpenter left?"
"If you boy will get ready now," a voice said, "we'll be on, our waytoward Peking."
"How many of the Chinks did you catch?" asked Ned.
"Not a blooming one," was the disgusted reply. "They ran away likewater leaking into the ground."
"If you'd only let me alone," wailed Jimmie, "I'd have got one. I wantto soak the man that tied me up."
The marines, a full dozen of them, now gathered in the old house and allmade ready for departure. Directly a motorcycle for every man waswheeled up to the door.
"We have been practicing riding while waiting for you," the officer incharge explained, "and the fellows think they can go some!"
"It is a wild night for such a ride," Frank suggested.
"Couldn't have been better for our purpose," said the officer.
"Do you know why we are going on motorcycles?" asked Ned.
"I think I do," was the reply.
"Why don't you out with it, then?" asked Jack.
"You'll learn of the reason soon enough!" replied the other. "Before wego to Peking you may understand why you are going with a flying squadronof Uncle Sam's men!"
"Who directed you to the house where I found you?" asked Ned.
"A chap who called himself Lieutenant Rae," was the reply.
"Japanese-lookin' chap?" asked Jimmie.
"That's the fellow."
"There's one more question," Ned went on. "Are all the men you tookfrom the ship with you?"
"Every one of my men is here," answered the officer, "but there was afellow, a friend of yours, with us at first who is not with us now.Queer chap he was, too! German, I think, and a master at tangling upthe United States language. He came on board the ship, and managed toget off with us when we left. In two days he disappeared."
"That was Hans!" cried Jack.
"Who's Hans?"
"A German Boy Scout we picked up on an island. A member of the OwlPatrol, of Philadelphia, he said. We left him on the submarine."
"Well, he asked after you boys, and looked disappointed when we did notfind you, owing to the misleading statements of that fraud, Rae. Heleft us without a word of explanation, and is probably looking for you.Did he know where you were going?"
"Yes," admitted Ned, "I told him we were going to Peking by way ofTientsin. I should not have done that."
"Oh, it can do no harm, and may be for your benefit. If the lad was notkilled by the Chinks, he is doubtless on his way to Peking."
"Then you think he knew there was something wrong because we did notmeet you?" asked Ned.
"Yes; he acted queerly."
"There are evidences of a struggle in this house," Ned went on, "and wethought the messenger we were waiting for had been attacked, but it mayhave been Hans after all. I hope he is not in serious trouble."
"I am the only messenger sent to you," the officer said, "so, as yousay, it might have been the German who was attacked, though no one knowshow he ever found this house, or why, when attacked, he didn't makehimself heard."
The rain was now falling heavily, and it was decided to remain undershelter for a time, so the flashlight was brought into use again.
"If your men can keep up with us," Jack said to the officer, "we can getto Peking in six hours, so there is no need of hurrying."
"If you get to Peking in six weeks you'll be doing well," laughed theofficer.
"What do you mean by that? Demanded Ned, who was anxious for a star
t.
"I can't tell you," was the answer. "But it was never believed youcould make a quick jump to the capital city. There maybe things to doon the way there. That is why you have to escort. I don't like thisdiplomacy game, but have to obey orders."
"What I want to know," Jimmie broke in, "is how Ned got away. They hadhim tied up plenty last time I saw him. And, after he got away, how didhe happen to blunder into the company of our escort? China is a land ofmystery, all right!"
"They didn't watch me closely," Ned replied, modestly, "after they tookyou away, and when I did get out of the house I had only to follow oneof my captors. Believing that I was safely tied, my captors talked alot about having the marines waiting in the wrong house while theydisposed of the Boy Scouts!"
"This man Rae?" asked the officer. "Was he there with your captors?That's one of the men we must take."
"Oh, he is the man that caused us to be taken," Jimmie cut in. "I'dlike to break his crust for him. I'm gettin' sick of bein' tied up inevery case, like the hero in a Bowery play!"
"Was there a Chink who spoke English like a native?" asked Jack.
"There were two."
"Dressed in native costume?"
"Yes, and looking bored and weary."
"Then they're the men that sat with the others in a grinning row upagainst the wall," Frank exclaimed. "Do you think they are Chinamen?"
"Disguised Englishmen," Ned replied.
"That's my notion," Frank went on. "Oh, we'll get this all ironed outdirectly! If we could find Hans we might start off with a thoroughunderstanding of how the game was carried out here."
The rain now slacked a little, and here and there stars showed throughmasses of hurrying clouds. The boys led their steel horses to the doorand prepared to mount.
"Plenty of mud," Jack suggested.
In the little pause caused by the marines getting out their machines adull, monotonous sound came to the ears of the party. It was such asound as the Boy Scouts had heard on the rivers of South America, whenthe advance of their motor-boat was blocked, and hundreds of savageswere peering out of the thickets.
"What is it?" asked Jack.
"Sounds like the roaring of a mob," answered the officer. "Youunderstand that a word will stir the natives to arms against foreigners.As there is no knowing what this fake Lieutenant Rae and the men wedrove away from this house may have said to the Chinks, we may as wellbe moving. It may be safer out on the road!"
"I should say so!" exclaimed Jack. "We can't fight a whole nation, canwe? Look there! That was a rocket, and means trouble."
The distant murmur was fast growing into a roar, and rockets wereflecking the clouds with their green, red, and blue lights. Shadowyfigures began to show in the darkness, and a group was seen ahead, inthe street which led away toward Peking.
"More dangerous than wild beasts!" exclaimed the officer. "Be carefulto keep together and in the middle of the road, when we get under way,for if one of us gets pulled down there's an end of all things for him!"
"It is too bad we can't stay long enough to find Hans," Ned said.
"If we remain here five minutes longer," the officer replied, "someonewill have to come and find us. Are you ready?"
All were ready, and the next moment sixteen motorcycles shot out intothe street and headed northwest for Tientsin, which city lay in thedirect path to Peking. The group in the road ahead parted sullenly asthe squadron pressed on its outer circle and the company passed throughwithout mishap.
That was as wild a ride as any living being ever engaged in. Nothingbut the speed of the motorcycles saved the boys, for enemies sprung upall along the way. Some mysterious system of signaling ahead seemed tobe in vogue there.
The sky cleared presently. The road was muddy, but the giant machinesmade good progress, especially through little towns, through the doorsand windows of which curious eyes peered out on the silent company,marching, seemingly, to the music of the spark explosions.
After a run of two hours the officer halted and dismounted.
"Now," he said, "we've got a bit of work cut out for us here. If wemake it, we may go on in peace. If we fail, all must keep together andtake chances on speed."