"Are you sure?" asked Alice. "It will be dangerous."

"Yes," replied Francis. "But as dangerous as staying up here? Chang and his gang are probably already waiting at the platform. They'll see us up here. I don't think we have a choice."

They inched backwards, to the back of the carriage. The roof was slippery with the dust and oil and grime of many years. Soon, their hands and knees were covered in a layer of sticky soot. They sweated despite the cool morning wind.

"Ah, we're in luck," said Francis. "Look, there's a ladder going down here. I'll climb down as low as I can, and then you two stay just above me. We stay on the ladder and keep away from the junction below. I'm not sure how those things work, or how stable they'll be to stand on."

He swung his feet over the ledge, onto the ladder that ran down the back of the carriage. "It's as dirty and slippery as the roof," he warned. "Hold on tight. If you fall down between these two carriages, you'll be under the wheels in a second."

He started carefully climbing down, eventually crouching at the bottom of the ladder. Above him, first Alice and then Laura followed. In this position they couldn't talk, and were forced to simply hold on and wait for the train to stop.

It didn't take long. The brakes screeched some more, and below them, they could see sparks shooting from the wheels. The train slowed to running speed, then walking speed, and then, with a few more groans and screeches, it finally stopped.

The locomotive gave a slight jerk.

"Hold on!" Francis whispered urgently, as the jerk propagated from carriage to carriage. The ladder briefly shook violently, and they would have fallen off had it not been for his timely warning. Then the train was finally silent.

"Okay, follow me," he said, and climbed down. "We have to get out of sight."

He moved to the other side of the carriage from the one where the door was, and crouched down by the large wheel. Alice and Laura joined him. They were not a moment too soon. On the other side of the train, they could hear voices and footsteps approaching.

Francis quickly looked around him. If they stayed where they were, they would remain unseen for the moment, unless someone decided to come have a look at this side of the train, and this was unlikely. He looked past the wheels, to the other side of the train. A broad platform was dimly lit by a few light bulbs in a narrow roof supported by a few rusted iron beams.

Beyond the roof, the platform extended into a dock. A few grimy warehouses, crates and old ropes were strewn about, and, just visible in the dark, a medium sized ship floated in oily water. Its gangway was extended, and a few people could be seen moving around on the deck.

"You see that?" Francis whispered. "I bet that is where they are going to load the loot."

"This is apparently some small harbour," said Alice. "I doubt whether this train was scheduled to even stop here in the first place."

Then she crouched a bit lower. Just on the other side of the train, they could see several pairs of legs approaching. The door of the carriage slid open with a deep rumble, and the poachers jumped in to start unloading.

"Hurry up, men," Chang called out. "This train is on a schedule, and cannot stay here for long."

They could see him move to the door.

"Hey, what happened here? It looks as if someone had been in here!"

The three youngsters looked at each other, their eyes wide. It was as Laura had said: they should have put things back in order before they left the carriage.

Then they heard Uncle Vernon's voice. "You're paranoid again, Chang. Who could possibly get in here? We locked the doors from outside. The stuff probably just shifted around a bit on the way."

"Maybe you're right, but I don't like it. In this business you can't be too careful. Come on men, for heaven's sake don't just stand there. Hurry up! I want this on the ship in ten minutes!"

"Er, guys," whispered Laura. "This is all very interesting, but as soon as they have downloaded the loot, this train is going to start moving again. Then we'll be sitting out here in the open. We'd better get away from here."

"You're right," replied Francis. "We know where the stuff is being loaded now. Let's get to somewhere safer, then we can decide what to do next."

He started carefully making his way towards the back of the train, suddenly feeling terribly exposed. But the ground was covered in loose gravel, and it was impossible to hurry over such a surface without making quite a bit of noise. They forced themselves to go slowly and quietly.

At the back of the train, they crossed the tracks to the dockside, then peered around the back of the train. They could make out the poachers still downloading hides and horns, and two men struggling with one of the large crates.

"Okay, I want to get a bit closer to try to see the name of that ship," said Francis. "Then we go get help somewhere. There's not much more we can do here, and we'd better get police here before they sail."

They climbed onto the platform. Several small outbuildings stood arranged haphazardly in between dirty crates. Keeping out of sight, they slowly moved closer to where the poachers were now unloading the last of the crates.

"I can still not see the name of that ship. It's hidden behind those buildings over there," whispered Francis. "Like it or not, we're going to have to move a bit closer. Keep your eyes peeled!"

"I don't like this at all," said Laura. "But you're right. We'll have to move a bit sideways, closer to the dockside. Look, there's a whole bunch of old crates and stuff piled up over there. Let's try to reach that."

She pointed to her left. On the side of the dock, they could see an old, apparently unused derrick, and below it, a pile of large wooden crates and metal shipping containers. They waited a moment to check what the poachers were doing. They all seemed intent on their work.

"We're going to be out in the open for a few moments," said Alice. "We'll have to hurry. Run fast, but don't make noise, and don't swing your arms around too much."

They took a deep breath, then quickly scurried to the new hiding place, following Alice's advice. Then they looked around the corner of a dusty crate, so ancient its wood crumbled beneath their fingers.

"Now where have they gone?" asked Laura.

"I think they are probably done with the loading," said Alice. "Wait, I think I see some of them standing over there. See? At the bottom of the ship's gangway."

They peered into the dark. A poacher's face was briefly illuminated by the flickering light of a match, as he lit a cigarette.

"Yes, you're right, they seem to be done," said Francis. "That was quick. I hope the ship doesn't sail that quickly, or we'll never be in time to do anything about it. I suppose the train will move on any moment now."

As if on cue, a shudder passed through the entire length of the train, and it slowly started moving along its track. Soon, it was gone, and they ended up feeling even more exposed.

"Well, whatever we are going to do, we'll have to do it now," said Laura. "The sun is going to be up soon, and then we'll be even more visible. And we still have to work out how to get to the nearest police station, and then find some way to convince them that we are not joking."

"You're right," said Francis. "Let's look around the other side of this crate."

He moved to his left, and peered around the corner. The front of the ship was visible, not far ahead.

"Ah, there, I think I can see the name, but I can't quite make it out. This ship is so rusty it would be a wonder if it made it to Shanghai in the first place."

He stretched out his neck, squinting in the dark and trying to read the faded letters on the side of the old ship.

"I wish I knew where that Chang character is," he mumbled.
Then he felt cold metal press against the back of his neck, and the click of a pistol being cocked.

"And your wish is fulfilled," said the menacing voice of Chang right behind him. "Don't move, and put your dirty little hands where I can see them."