Jack is quite close-indeed it looks into the godowns of the old Chinese merchant I told you of, who will buy our carbuncles. Come along, old boy." And he proceeded as rapidly as the great heat would allow, until they arrived in the compound, or pretty garden rather, where he had dined with Captain Bartlett. They had an excellent lunch, Billy's thirst was quite quenched by the iced claret-cup, and then they crossed the closely-planted garden into the grounds where Kiun Hang's godowns stood, having first taken the precaution to peer over the dividing hedge to see if 'John Chinaman' seemed in a good temper.

He was sitting in the deep shade of the verandah, munching sweetmeats, of which he said subsequently he was passionately fond, and meditating on the best means of cheating a newly-arrived captain in the matter of ship supplies, in which the worthy Kiun Hang largely dealt. When the lads entered, he shifted his great, fat, overgrown carcase, to make room for them in the semi-darkness beside him, and with his most urbane manner, and in 'pigeon-English'* (which I shall not attempt to transcribe, lest I should weary my readers), inquired after their health, and then gradually led

* An extraordinary Chinese jumble of English, which perfectly answers all purposes, though it takes some time to understand.

them up to telling their business without being aware that their host wanted to know it. Billy Rawlings blurted out, to the great disgust of the more discreet Teddy Bender, that they were rather hard-up, and wanted to dispose of some precious stones. Teddy then had his innings, and explained that they were not in serious difficulties,—were merely a little short of pocket-money; and did not care so much about selling the carbuncles, unless they got a profit on them: "Indeed," he said, "we intended to make a little fortune out of them in England."

Kiun Hang listened to it all with profound gravity, munching away at his box of sweets all the time, and understanding the whole case in a very few minutes just as well as if he had been in the middies' berth on board the Laughing Waters when the two had been discussing their monetary troubles that morning. When he had heard all the boys had got to say, he informed them that he never dealt in such articles, because his hands were too full of other business; but he knew their value better than most men in Hong Kong, and as his son was going to be married, he would not mind purchasing the whole lot as wedding presents, at the full price, if they came up to what the midshipmen said. They could bring them ashore to-morrow, if they liked, for him to see.

The hearts of the lads jumped, and their eyes glistened as they followed the fat old fellow's strange 'pigeon' talk. They thought that their fortunes (in this little matter at least) were made; and they eagerly produced the carbuncles there and then, Kiun Hang not failing to take mental notes of their eagerness. He took the stones, one by one, in his yellow fingers to examine; and after seeing one or two, he expressed his gratified surprise at their weight and size, and thought, if their other qualities were as good, they would answer admirably for the forthcoming wedding. But when he took them out into the strong sunshine of the godown yard, and rapidly held them all in turns up in the brilliant light, his countenance fell in the most desponding way; he rolled the carbuncles up again in the cloth Bender had had them in, handed them back with a great air of disappointment; said he had thought he was going to have a bargain of just what he wanted, but he must tell them at once the stones were perfectly worthless. They had none of the proper colour; were full of flaws; were not worth looking at; were utterly useless to him or anybody else; that the lads had been fearfully cheated; and, finally, that no man in his senses would give five dollars for the whole clothful.

"Five dollars!" exclaimed the two in a breath, in

a perfect maze of disgust and astonishment; for they had calculated on getting at least 200 dollars, or £40, at home for their venture, for which they had paid £25 in Bombay: "Five dollars! Why you must be mad."

Kiun Hang quietly remarked that he might be mad, but that he did not think so, on the subject of those carbuncles at least. He pitied them for the way they had been taken in; and if they did not believe that he was telling them the truth, they were quite at liberty to take them away, or leave them for him to have examined by a jeweller, whose opinion no one would deny-just whichever they pleased; it was nothing to him. The middies, in whose breasts indignation, rage, and fear that they had been done,' were raging for mastery, consulted together for a few minutes in a corner of the verandah. They knew that Kiun Hang would not dare to rob them of the carbuncles; and, as it was absolutely necessary for them to get funds at once, they determined to leave the stones, with strong hopes that the Chinaman had been mistaken, and that the jeweller would confirm their opinion. They then returned to the Laughing Waters with heavy and anxious hearts.

IT

CHAPTER II.

UNDER WEIGH.

T was with the greatest difficulty that Captain Bartlett, kind as he invariably was, could be induced to give his two midshipmen another run ashore on their own account. Not only was it that he was under-officered, but he had a most anxious cargo to see stowed away; and also he did not like encouraging youths to leave their work for mere pleasure, especially when the latter involved their spending their hardlyearned money. For this latter reason the two were unable to give him their real reason for asking leave: he would never forgive their spending beyond their means, and he would probably look on the carbuncle affair very unfavourably, and hence a great part of the difficulty they experienced. However, by dint of a little of Billy Rawlings's soft-sawder, they managed to get on the blind side of the chief officer, who used all his influence with the skipper in their behalf, with the result of obtaining the requisite liberty.

They did not take much time on this occasion about dressing themselves-they were far too anxious; nor did they lunch and have iced claret-cup at the UnionJack Hotel-they were far too poor; but made