Two or three of the bars of the cage had been left open.
"My goodness! they never intend to put us in there," Percy exclaimed.
"That they do," Jack said. "They are going to carry us the rest of
the way."
The cords which bound the prisoners' hands were now cut, and they
were motioned to crawl into the cage. This they did; the bars were
then put in their places and securely lashed. Four men went to the
ends of the poles and lifted the cage upon their shoulders; two
others took their places beside it, and one man, apparently the
leader of the party, walked on ahead; the rest remained behind.
"I never quite realized what a fowl felt in a coop before," Jack
said, "but if its sensations are at all like mine they must be
decidedly unpleasant. It isn't high enough to sit upright in, it
is nothing like long enough to lie down, and as to getting out one
might as well think of flying. Do you know, Percy, I don't think
they mean taking us to Canton at all. I did not think of it before,
but from the direction of the sun I feel sure that we cannot have
been going that way. What they are up to I can't imagine."
In an hour they came to a large village. Here the cage was set down
and the villagers closed round. They were, however, kept a short
distance from the cage by the men in charge of it.
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