The headman was no coward; he fought hard to loosen Ma Joong's grip and placed a few nasty kicks against his legs. Ma Joong put him down with a thud and quickly took up the bamboo pole. He therewith parried the club blow that the headman aimed at his head, and hit the headman a sharp blow on his arm. The man let the club go, wanting to come to grips with Ma Joong, but the latter kept him off with a few blows with the bamboo that narrowly missed his head. The headman saw that he couldn't keep up this unequal fight. He turned round quickly and ran away.

After a while Chiao Tai came back.

"The bastards escaped!" he panted.

"You gave them a good lesson!" an old peasant remarked contentedly.

The innkeeper had been following the proceedings from a safe distance. Now he came up to Chiao Tai and said in an urgent whisper: "You two had better get away quick! The magistrate has soldiers here; they'll come soon to arrest you!"

Chiao Tai scratched his head.

"I didn't know that!" he said ruefully,

"Don't worry!" the innkeeper whispered. "My son'll take you across the fields to the Great River. There's a boat there. In an hour or two you'll be at Three Oaks Island. The people there'll help you; just say that old Shao sent you!"

They thanked him hurriedly. Soon they were stealing through the paddy, following the youngster. After a long walk through the muddy fields the young fellow halted. Pointing at a row of trees ahead, he said:

"You'll find a boat hidden in the creek there. Don't worry, the current will take you there all right; only watch out for the whirlpools!"

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai easily located the boat among the shrubs. They stepped inside and Ma Joong poled it out from under the low-hanging branches. Suddenly they saw the river.

Ma Joong put the pole down and took the paddle. They drifted down the mud-brown stream; the bank soon seemed far away.

"Isn't this a very small boat for such a big river?" Chiao Tai inquired anxiously, gripping the gunwales.

"Don't worry, brother!" Ma Joong said with a laugh. "Remember that I am a native of Kiangsu. I was reared on a boat!"

He paddled vigorously to avoid a whirlpool. They were in the middle of the river now; the reed banks appeared like a thin line in the distance. Then they disappeared entirely; there was nothing but the broad expanse of brown water around them.

"Seeing all that water makes me sleepy!" Chiao Tai said testily. He lay down on his back. For more than an hour nothing was said. Chiao Tai slept, and Ma Joong had to concentrate his attention on steering the boat. Suddenly he called out:

"Look, there's some green!"

Chiao Tai sat up. He saw a number of small green patches ahead, barely a foot above the water level and overgrown with weeds. After half an hour they found themselves among larger islands, covered with shrubbery. Dusk was falling and all around them they heard the eerie calls of water birds. Chiao Tai listened intently. Suddenly he said:

"Those are no ordinary birdcalls! They are secret signals as used by the army when reconnoitering!"

Ma Joong muttered something. He had difficulty in steering the boat through a winding creek. Suddenly the paddle was pulled from his hands. The boat rocked violently. A wet head appeared from the water near the poop, and two others emerged behind it.

"Sit still or we overturn the boat!" a voice growled. "Who are you?"

The speaker laid his hands on the gunwale. Dripping with muddy water, he looked like a weird river goblin.

"Old Shao from the village up the river told us to come here," Ma Joong said. "We got into a bit of trouble with the constables there."

"Tell your story to the captain!" the man said. He gave the paddle back, adding: "Row straight ahead to that light you see there!"

Six armed men stood waiting for them on a roughly made landing stage. In the light of the lantern carried by their leader Chiao Tai saw that they wore army uniforms, but without any insignia. They took the two men through a dense forest.

Soon they saw lights glimmering among the trees. They came out on a large clearing. About a hundred men were assembled round campfires, cooking rice gruel in iron pots. All were armed to the teeth. They were taken to the other end of the clearing to a group of four men sitting on footstools under three very old oak trees.

"These are the two fellows about whom our sentries reported, Captain!" the leader of their escort reported respectfully.

The man addressed as captain was a broad-shouldered fellow with a close-fitting mail jacket and baggy trousers of black leather. His hair was bound up with a red scarf. Looking the two men up and down with small, cruel eyes, he barked:

"Speak up, rascals! Your name? Where from? Why? The whole story!"

He spoke with the clipped voice of a military officer. Chiao Tai thought that he was probably a deserter.

"My name is Yoong Bao, Captain," Ma Joong said with an ingratiating smile. "Me and my mate are just two brothers of the green woods." He related how they had got into a fight with the constables, and how the innkeeper had sent them to Three Oaks Island. He added that they would deem it a great honor if the captain would take them into his service.

"First we'll check your tale!" the captain said. And to their guard he added: "Take them to the enclosure where the others are!"

Each got a wooden bowl with rice gruel; then they were led through the forest to another, much smaller clearing. The light of a torch shone on a hut built from logs. In front a man was squatting in the grass eating his rice. At the edge of the enclosure a girl in the blue jacket and trousers of a peasant woman was kneeling under a tree, also busy with her chopsticks.

"You'll not leave this place!" their guard warned and walked off. Ma Joong and Chiao Tai sat down cross-legged opposite the squatting man, who gave them a morose look.

"My name is Yoong Bao," Ma Joong addressed him cordially. "What is yours?"

"Mao Loo," the other replied in a surly voice. He threw his empty rice bowl to the girl and growled: "Wash it up!"

She rose without a word and picked up the bowl. She waited till Ma Joong and Chiao Tai were ready, then also took their empty bowls. Ma Joong eyed her with approval. She was looking sad and she walked with some difficulty, but it was easy to see that she was a very handsome girl. Mao Loo had followed his look with an angry frown. He said gruffly:

"Nothing for you! That's my wife!"

"Pretty wench!" Ma Joong remarked indifferently. "Listen, why do they keep us apart here? One would think we were criminals!"

Mao Loo spat on the ground. He looked quickly at the shadows around them. Then he said in a low voice:

"They are far from friendly, brother! I came here the other day with a friend of mine, a good fellow. We said we wanted to join them. The captain asked all kinds of questions. My friend got annoyed and said a few straightforward things. D'you know what happened?"

Ma Joong and Chiao Tai shook their heads. Mao Loo passed his forefinger across his throat.

"Just like that!" he said bitterly. "They put me here, like in prison! Last night two fellows come sneaking along to drag my wife away; I have to fight with them, till the guards come and collar them. I must say that they are disciplined, but apart from that it's a nasty crowd, and I am sorry I came!"

"What are they up to?" Chiao Tai asked. "I thought they were decent robbers who'd welcome people like us!"

"You go and ask them!" Mao Loo sneered.

The girl reappeared and put the rice bowls under a tree. Mao Loo growled at her:

"Can't you talk to me?"

"Amuse yourself!" the girl replied calmly, and entered the hut. Mao Loo went red with rage, but he made no attempt to follow her. He cursed and said: