Page:Ballinger Price--Fortune of the Indies.djvu/252



While Li-Chen frowned behind his spectacles as he deciphered the following:

The respective replies reached Mr. Tyler somewhat later. From the settlement came this:

And from the yamen:

Mr Tyler clutched his gray forelock. "This is maddening!" he cried. "Purely maddening! Can't they understand the English language? We're absolutely no farther on than before! But it seems conclusive that it can't be either Mark or Alan—my message to the magistrate would have brought a definite answer if it had been either. No, we're on the