He also met, amongst others Soong Ching-ling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen. Ransome said that he based many of Missee Lee's characteristics on her, though there were others who contributed to the character.

Captain Flint is kept under much stricter guard by the Taicoon, who hopes to ransom him, as he claims to be the Lord Mayor of San Francisco.

The pirates are concerned that if the Royal Navy were to learn their position, a gunboat might be sent to destroy them, so when Captain Flint is later seen by the other Taicoon, Wu, with a sextant, they are only saved from having their heads chopped off by Missee Lee's intervention.

With the help of Missee Lee, who has decided to leave her responsibilities on the Three Islands and go back to study at Cambridge, they take a daring and dangerous passage through a gorge to evade capture.

However, when Missee Lee hears fighting begin between the various islanders, she decides that she owes it to her father and her people to return and unite them again.