interminable.
But it came to an end at last.
As Ed lay he could form no idea where he was going; indeed, he could not have told much about it anyhow.
All he had to go by was the fact that for the last half hour they had been driving along a country road.
He felt sure that they must have passed beyond the city limits for that reason.
At last the wagon stopped and one of the Chinamen got out.
He was gone some minutes, and when he returned Pow Chow was with him.
The latter climbed up into the wagon and looked in on Ed.
"Well, Eddie, how do you feel?" he demanded in a tone which seemed to be intended to be friendly.
"I feel bad enough even to suit you, I guess," replied Ed. "What have you brought me away out here for? What do you intend to do with me?"
"I intend to take you to Ethel if you will go quietly," was the answer. "If you won't do that, I suppose I shall have to take you by force. Which shall it be?"
"Oh, I'll go," said Ed. "Got to, I suppose. Does Ethel stand for the way you have treated me?"
"Ethel is my wife," replied Pow Chow. "She stands for anything I stand for – see? Get out and behave yourself now, Eddy, and you will come to no harm. I am sorry they kept you so long without feeding you. That was a mistake."
Ed now allowed Pow Chow to help him out of the wagon.
The effects of the drugged cigar had not altogether departed yet, as he found when he got on his feet.
They were out in the country and close to the shore of some large body of salt water, but it was not the ocean. Ed could see lights on the opposite shore, which seemed to be a long distance away.
They turned up a lane and came to a small frame house standing back among trees. Ed could not see any other house near.
Pow Chow led him around to the rear, and as they approached Ed saw Ethel appear at the open door.
The foolish girl was flashily dressed in Chinese female costume, wearing a red silk blouse and yellow trousers with Chinese shoes on her feet.
There were imitation diamonds in her hair and a big one in the form of a brooch was at her throat – perhaps she thought them real.
She looked to Ed so ridiculous that he could hardly refrain from laughing.
But he controlled himself and she came out to meet him.
"Oh, Eddie!" she exclaimed. "So you've come. I could hardly believe dear Pow when he said he meant to fetch you. How did you leave them all at home? Of course, I don't care what Mr. Butler thinks, but is mother very mad with me?"
"Indeed she is! I left her sick in bed," replied Ed. "Oh, Ethel, how could you ever be such a fool?"
"Come, shut up. None of that talk," said Pow Chow gruffly. "Go on in."
They entered, Ethel leading the way to a little parlor.
"We have taken this house, furnished, for a few weeks," she said. "You see we had to hide, for, of course, I knew father – I mean Mr. Butler – would send detectives after us. I hear he did it, too – the Bradys. You were with them last night. Tell me all about it, Eddie, and then perhaps I'll tell you something which will make you open your eyes."
"Come, cut that out!" broke in Pow Chow. "We haven't decided yet whether to tell him or not, you know. Anyway, we have got him safely out of Chinatown. I understand the Bradys were looking for him half the night."
"And they didn't find him. Oh, I am so glad. It's a shame he had to suffer so, though. I think you might have made it easier for my brother, Pow."
Ed was on the point of breaking in with: "I'm not your brother," but he concluded that it would pay him best to hold his tongue until he understood better what all this meant.
He had his suspicions, however.
He felt quite certain that it had something to do with the papers stolen from his father about which there had been much mystery.
Ed knew something about these papers, but not all.
What he knew we shall later explain.
CHAPTER III
WORKING FOR A CHINESE CLEW
It was true that the Bradys spent much time searching for Ed.
In this they were aided by a wardman from the Elizabeth street station, who was supposed to know much about the secret dens of Pell street, and we want it understood that the Bradys are by no means ignorant on that subject themselves.
But as it happened they did not know of any secret dens under that particular house, nor did the wardman, nor could they find any. At last they broke down the wall on two sides of the vault from which Ed had vanished.
Then they discovered the secret passage.
They traced it to its end, and it took a turn, bringing them in under another house.
Here there were two secret rooms where there had once been a private joss house conducted by the Chinese "Tong" or guild known as the Brother of the Red Door.
This particular place, as it happened, had been pulled by the Bradys about a year before.
They found the rooms empty and deserted.
Thus they missed it so far as Ed was concerned, and they finally gave up, feeling satisfied that they had overlooked some hidden door or passage which, of course, must have been the case.
It was now too late to look up Alice, as intended.
Where she was must now be explained.
Alice some time before had made a friend of a certain Chinese woman whose husband was a sort of detective or spy for the On Leong tong or merchants society in Chinatown.
This man's operations were confined to his own people.
He also knew Alice and liked her.
It was he who suggested that she come to his wife's rooms in Chinese disguise, and so be on hand ready to talk with the missing girl as soon as he could locate her, which he felt quite certain he would be able to do, for he had received positive knowledge that the girl had been seen in Chinatown along with an Americanized Chink, a stranger there, whom he believed to be Pow Chow.
But it would have done the Bradys little good if they had taken Mr. Butler to Alice, as they originally intended to do, for the detective did not come home that night.
Next morning his wife heard that he had gone to Chicago on business for the On Leong tong, so Alice gave it up, and about nine o'clock turned up at the offices of the Brady Detective Bureau, on Union Square, in her ordinary dress.
"Oh, you are here," exclaimed Old King Brady. "Harry was just going down to Chinatown to look you up. I suppose you are wondering what became of us last night?" and he went on to explain.
"This is a bad beginning," remarked Alice. "I don't know that I can help any more, either," and she went on to tell about the Chinese detective being called away.
"I am sorry," said Old King Brady. "I should have liked to have had his advice. The disappearance of that boy is certainly a puzzle. I shall never rest until I have found him. I wish now I had never touched the case."
"It does look pretty hopeless," remarked Harry, who had entered just in time to overhear this remark, "but never mind. We will get there. One thing, though. If it was me I wouldn't do a thing further than to try to find the boy until I knew more about the case. Mr. Butler ought to at least tell us what these papers are he is so anxious to find."
"He is singularly reticent about them," replied Old King Brady, "frank as he is on other points, especially his dislike for his wife. But we must decide upon some course of action. I don't propose to be downed."
Just then a clerk handed in a card.
It was a lady's visiting card and bore the name of Mrs. Butler.
"Another surprise," muttered Old King Brady. "Not