The Blue Dragon: A Tale of Recent Adventure in China

CHAPTER XXII

A CHARGE AND A RACE FOR LIFE

There is but one gateway to the walled city of Cheng-Ting-Fu, and this opens on the west. Consequently, it was on this side that most of the Boxer rabble, who longed for an opportunity to loot the valuable mission property within its walls, were gathered. Their object was to starve the stubborn city into submission, and they watched always for the opening of its gate in token of surrender. If our lads had been willing to leave their ponies in the city, they could have been let down from the wall on an opposite side and made good their escape on foot. This, however, they would not do, for without horses the long journey still before them, through a region swarming with footpads, was practically impossible. So they issued from the wicket, which instantly was closed behind them, sprang into their saddles, and turned northward, hoping to ride for some distance unnoticed in the shadow of the lofty wall.

But this hope was doomed to a quick disappointment, for almost instantly they were discovered, and a crowd of men were seen running so as to head them off.

"We've got to ride through them," said Rob, "and shoot down any one who tries to stop us. I will go first, and do you follow close. Don't fire a shot until my pistol is empty; then I'll drop behind and reload while you clear the way. It's our only show for life, Jo. Come on!"

With this Rob wheeled his pony and dashed at full speed straight at the swarming encampment, with Jo close at his heels. It was a glorious charge, that of two against a thousand, but it could not have lasted a minute had the latter been anything save a wretched rabble, unprovided with fire-arms and without leaders. As it was, they were scattered like chaff by the madly racing ponies, the few who attempted interference were shot down, and three minutes later our lads, still yelling with excitement, drove through the last of their enemies and found themselves safe on the open plain.

"After that experience I would undertake to ride through the whole Chinese army with twenty American cow-boys," boasted Rob, as he reined his panting steed down to a walk.

"Of course, it might be done," answered Jo, quietly, "only it would be well to consider that an army is made up of soldiers provided with guns, and that even a Chinese bullet sometimes finds its mark."

"I beg your pardon, old fellow! It was a mean thing to say," cried Rob, contritely. "I ought to be ashamed of myself, especially when I remember how splendidly one Chinese, by the name of Jo Lee, rode through that howling mob only a few minutes ago. But Americans can't help bragging, you know, and I surely am an American."

"If they do brag," replied Jo, "it is because they have so much to brag of, while my poor country has so little."

"Your country has a history older than that of any other nation on earth," said Rob, consolingly; "and you invented more than half the things that go to making the civilization of the world, such as the compass, and printing, and gunpowder, and ever so many more; for I remember our history teacher telling us about them. He said the civilization that started in China thousands of years ago had been spreading westward from this country ever since: first over Asia, then over Europe, and finally over America. 'At length,' he said, 'the great wave of enlightenment has swept across the Pacific, and again is making itself felt on the coasts of Asia. Japan already is uplifted by the flood, and China, now at the lowest ebb of her fortunes, will soon feel the life-giving influence of the rising tide.'

"I remember it particularly," continued Rob, "because, of course, I always was interested in everything about China; but I never realized just what he meant until I came back and saw what a splendid country this has been and what a splendid country it could be again. Why, Mr. Bishop said that China's wealth of coal and iron alone is sufficient to make her one of the greatest nations of the world."

"I expect your teacher was right when he said that China was at the lowest point of her fortunes," remarked Jo. "I don't see how she could very well sink any lower, and she will stay down just so long as the Empress Dowager lives and rules the country. She hates foreigners, and is bitterly opposed to progress, reformers, and changes of any kind. It is certain that she is encouraging and helping on this Boxer uprising, for if she wanted to she could have it put down and stamped out within a week. I told you of my orders not to interfere with them, no matter what they did, and while we were charging through that encampment just now I caught sight of a Boxer banner on which was written: 'By Official Decree: Exterminate Foreigners.' They never would dare display such a flag if they didn't really have official backing, and in China to-day the only 'official' whose word is law is the Empress Dowager."

"I don't see how you found time to read what was on a flag," said Rob, "or even to notice it. I didn't see a thing except the crowd, that looked like so many wolves snarling at us, and especially those who tried to stop us. If it hadn't been for our pistols they would have got us sure. I only hope we didn't kill any of them."

"Why?" asked Jo. "They were trying to kill us, and if we don't look out," he added, sharply, "they will do it yet."

Thus saying, he pointed over his shoulder to a rapidly advancing cloud of dust, moving from the direction of the Boxer encampment they had so recently charged. The dust-cloud hung above a road that ran parallel to the direction they were taking. In fact, it was the road over which they now would be riding had the bare fields that they had chosen instead been covered with their usual crops. That they could not see the horsemen raising the dust was because the highway along which the latter were moving was a "low-way," worn by generations of travel, scoured by floods in winter and swept by the strong winds of summer until it was many feet below the level of the adjoining land.

Jo was convinced that the dust-cloud was raised by horsemen, because of its volume and its rapid advance. That they were enemies was almost certain, since they came from the direction of the angry encampment; and he believed them to be endeavoring to cut off Rob and himself, because otherwise they, too, would be riding across the open fields instead of ploughing through the smothering dust of the gully-like road.

Our lads had allowed their ponies to walk for the last mile or so, but now they urged them forward at a brisk "lope," for they were determined that no man nor body of men from that encampment should get in advance of them if they could help it. Every few seconds one or the other of them glanced over his shoulder at the dust-cloud, to see if they were gaining on it, and finally Rob uttered a shout of: "Here they come, helter-skelter, and enough of them to eat us alive if they catch us! Now we've got to make time. Great Scott! They've got guns, too!"

The horsemen, having discovered that their object was suspected and that their prey was likely to escape, had left the sunken road and now were streaming across the fields in open and hot pursuit. Also, just as Rob glanced back, one of them fired a shot, though where the bullet went to, no one knows. Certainly, it did no harm to our friends, but the shot itself filled them with dismay, as it showed their present pursuers to be better armed than any of the vagrant bands they yet had encountered.

"I believe they are imperial cavalry!" exclaimed Jo. "Yes, I am sure of it," he added, a moment later, as he detected a triangular, yellow pennon fluttering from a lance borne by one of the pursuing horsemen. "They must have been sent out from the city and must have some reason for suspecting us. I wonder if it has become known that we communicated with your mother? That would be a sufficient cause for beheading us both if we are caught, so we must not be."

"I won't be!" declared Rob, clinching his teeth and urging his pony to greater effort. "I'll die first!"

On they swept, mile after mile, over the parched land and under a blazing sun. How they longed for rest and water and shade and coolness; but none of those things were for them so long as that deadly pursuit was kept up. It did not seem to gain on them, but neither did it lose ground. To be sure, some of the cavalry-men straggled, so that they came on in a long, irregular line, but a group of half a dozen leaders kept well together.

A river came into view, and Rob wondered what would happen when they reached it. He began to think he didn't much care so long as he could get a drink of its water. All at once he almost jumped from his saddle, for from beyond the river came a sound both startling and familiar, such as he had not heard since leaving America. At Cheng-Ting-Fu he had seen the torn-up track of the recently constructed railway, but he had forgotten it, as he also had the fact that a portion of it, somewhere to the northward, still was in working order. Thus, for a moment, he could hardly believe to be real the sound that came echoing across the Hsuho. It was the sharp whistle of a locomotive calling for brakes, and as our lads plunged down the steep river-bank they saw a train of open "gondolas" slowly backing towards the stream on the opposite side. They also saw a crowd of people evidently awaiting its coming.

For half a mile they forced their nearly spent ponies across the sand and gravel of the dry river-bottom. Then appeared a channel so shallow as easily to be forded. Directly from this rose the steep farther bank, and in an effort to climb it Rob's exhausted steed fell and rolled to the bottom, while Jo's pony refused even to attempt the ascent.

Rob disentangled himself from the struggling beast, and gained his feet, bruised but sound in limb. As he stood up a yell of triumph came from across the narrow water, and a quick glance showed that the pursuing Chinese cavalry-men were close at hand. At this same moment Jo sprang from his exhausted pony.

"We must run," he cried, "and mix with the people on the bank. Perhaps we can hide in one of the cars."

So the lads, one still in the yellow robes of a priest, and the other in the dark-blue blouse with red facings, full trousers, and short boots of imperial troops, dashed up the bank together and ran towards a throng of soldiers now crowding aboard the cars, as though they, too, sought passage on the train.

As they began to push their way into the crowd, one of the soldiers, staring hard at Rob, uttered an ejaculation that caused Jo to turn and look at his friend with sudden dismay. In the haste of leaving their ponies and running for the train he had not noticed that Rob had lost both his priestly head-covering and the great, shell-rimmed spectacles that had proved so complete a disguise. Now, without them, though he still was tinted yellow and robed as a priest, there was no mistaking him for anything but a foreigner, and "fan kwei" (foreign devil) was what the soldier had just called him.

Others, attracted by the man's exclamation, were turning to look, and at the same moment came a loud shouting from the rear. Those who had chased our lads so persistently all that morning were close at hand.

For an instant Jo's heart sank like lead and he believed they were lost. Then like a flash came a thought of one thing that they still might do.

CHAPTER XXIII

STEALING A LOCOMOTIVE

Jo's plan was communicated to Rob in a few breathless words as the lads dashed up the track towards the head of the train. The crowd of soldiers, not yet understanding that they were fugitives, and awed by the sight of Jo's uniform, parted before them, only stupidly wondering at their haste. Rob's mind instantly seized the possibilities of Jo's suggestion, and as they ran he gasped:

"You get aboard, Jo, while I cut it loose. Persuade the driver to start her. Never mind me. I'll climb aboard somehow."

Even as he spoke, Rob turned in between the locomotive and the foremost car, which already was filled with Chinese craning their necks over the side to see what was going on. Fortunately, there were no patent couplers to be dealt with, and no pneumatic tubes, for on this primitive train brakes were applied by hand, while the connections were simple link-and-pin affairs that any one could understand. Rob pulled the pin and scrambled across the bumpers to the opposite side of the train. As he did so his flowing priestly robe caught and was torn from his shoulders, leaving him fully revealed in unmistakable European costume.

Instantly there arose a yell of "Fan kwei!" from the soldiers in the car above him, but a sudden shot from his pistol cut it short and sent those who were uttering it tumbling over backward in pell-mell consternation.

The locomotive already was moving as Rob ran forward and sprang into the cab, where he was just in time to break up a most startling tableau. The Chinese engine-driver, with hand on the open throttle, was cowering beneath the threatening muzzle of Jo's cocked revolver. The latter's back was turned, and behind him, with an uplifted bar of iron, crept the overlooked fireman. In another instant the blow would have fallen, and the whole course of Chinese history might have been changed; but, as it was about to descend, Rob caught the unsuspecting man by his convenient pig-tail and jerked him violently backward, while the murderous bar clattered to the iron floor of the cab. The next moment Rob had bundled the fireman overboard, and the locomotive sprang forward as though relieved of a clogging weight.

A tremendous clamor of yells and shooting rose from behind, while half a dozen bullets splintered the wood-work and shivered the glass of the cab; but no one was hurt, and no one minded the fusillade except the poor engine-driver, who was scared almost white. Rob sprang on top of the coal in the tender and waved his pistol defiantly above his head; at the same time shouting derisive farewells to the baffled soldiers, many of whom were hopelessly running after the vanishing locomotive. He remained there until these dwindled to the size of distracted ants wandering aimlessly about a ruined hill, and then he returned to the cab, where Jo still remained on guard.

"I say, old man," cried the young American, speaking loudly to make himself heard above the roar and rattle of the on-rushing engine, "this beats anything I've struck in China yet. Isn't it the greatest bit of luck in the world? and isn't it fun running off with a locomotive? I never before stole anything worth speaking of, and I'm glad my first burglary is something worth while. I don't suppose it comes under the head of burglary, though. Perhaps we'd be called sneak thieves, only I hardly like the sound of that, either. How would highwaymen do, or stage robbers, or land pirates. That's it, Jo; we are land pirates who have just captured a ship and made her crew walk the plank, and now—"

"I'm hungry," interrupted the young Chinese, who, never having read any pirate stories, didn't know what his companion was talking about, "and thirsty," he added, looking longingly at the faucet of the tender's water-tank.

"So am I," shouted back Rob. "Make your slave there slow down a bit, for we're in no hurry anyhow, and I'll get you a drink."

As the speed with which they had started began to slacken, Rob suddenly added:

"Great Scott! There's another thing I hadn't thought of. Stop her, quick, Jo! We've got to cut that telegraph-wire, or they'll run us off the track at the first station. What a chucklehead I am!"

Before the locomotive had come to a stand-still the active young fellow was off and was swarming up a short, iron telegraph-pole near the track. Thus it was owing to his prompt action that a hurry message at that moment clicking into the Ting-Chow station, a few miles ahead, was interrupted after the words, "Look out for engine; open—" Probably the sender at Hsu River would have added, "derailing switch," and then proceeded to give enlightening particulars of what had happened, if he had been allowed the opportunity; but he was not, and the Ting-Chow operator was left to think what he pleased. The latter, however, had been warned that for some unknown reason an engine might be expected from the south, so he side-tracked and held a train of empty cars that was just about to proceed in that direction. Thus he left an open track for our friends, and saved them an awkward if not disastrous meeting.

Without knowing whether he had cut the wire in time to prevent mischief or not, Rob returned to the locomotive, got a big, satisfying drink of water from the tank, chucked a lot of coal into the furnace, assumed a new disguise in shape of the cap, jumper, and overalls of the engine-driver, which he calmly appropriated to his own use; and as the great, swaying machine again sped forward over the shining rails he reopened conversation with his comrade.

"How far is the line open?" he asked.

"To Pao-Ting-Fu, at any rate," replied Jo, "and perhaps some distance beyond."

"That's the worst place between here and Pekin, isn't it?"

"Yes; the Boxers are in complete control of the city, and more foreigners have been killed there than at any other point in this province."

"Then it won't be good for our health to stop there too long."

"I should think not!"

"How far is it from Pao-Ting-Fu to Pekin?"

"About three hundred li."

"That's about a hundred miles—three or four days if we have to walk it, two days if we can steal a couple of ponies, and less than half a day if we only could carry this old rattle-trap the whole distance," mused Rob. Then, again speaking to Jo, he said:

"Ask your friend what's wrong with the road beyond Pao-Ting-Fu?"

Jo did as requested, and after a short conversation with the frightened engine-driver reported that two bridges had been destroyed, one at Ting Shing, about half-way between Pao-Ting-Fu and Pekin, and the other at Lu Kow, only a few miles from the capital.

"The first would be enough to stop us," said Rob, gloomily. "What other damage has been done?"

"He says not much, only a rail torn up here and there."

"Well," said Rob, "we might as well play this game for all it is worth; so, suppose we make the operator at the next station telegraph for a car with a dozen or so of rails on it, and a gang of track-layers, to be ready for us at Pao-Ting-Fu. Sign the message with the biggest name you can think of in this part of the country; say it is a matter of life or death to the Emperor himself for this engine to get as near Pekin as possible in the shortest possible time. It will be an awful bluff, of course, but bluffs sometimes work when you least expect them to. At any rate, we won't lose anything by trying. Hello! There's a station now, and a train headed this way on the siding. Lucky for us that it waited here, for there's apt to be trouble when two trains meet on a single track. I hope it doesn't mean, though, that they have heard of our coming. You run in and do your best with the telegraph man, while I stay here and keep this chap from getting busy. Better tell the agent, or whatever you call him, to rush that train out in a hurry, so its hands won't come rubbering round us for news. See if you can't pick up something to eat, too, for I am starving. We'll run up and take in water from that tank while you are gone. I'll make our friend here sabe somehow what I want him to do."

Rob's bluff worked to perfection. The waiting train pulled out the moment they had passed the siding switch, and went on its southward way without carrying a suspicion of anything having gone wrong. Rob got his tank full of water without trouble, and had hardly done so when Jo reappeared, hurrying towards the locomotive. He was followed by a boy bearing a basket full of cooked rice and Chinese cakes. The young officer had ordered the few employés of the station about with such a lordly air that they had obeyed him without question.

"Did they know we were coming?" asked Rob, as the engine again gathered headway.

"Yes," replied Jo. "They had received part of a message, telling them to look out for us. Then it was cut off, and they were a good deal troubled at not hearing a word from the south since."

"Good!" cried Rob. "We cut the wire just in time then."

"Yes. I told them I saw somebody destroying the line, and said I thought he was a Boxer."

"So I am," laughed Rob, munching a Chinese sweetcake as he spoke. "But how about the message to Pao-Ting?"

"Oh, he sent it off all right. That is, I suppose he did. Anyhow, he seemed a good deal impressed by the name I signed to it."

"What name was it?"

"Yu-Hsien."

"What! The governor of Shan-Si! The big man of all the Boxers! You didn't have the cheek!"

"I did, though," declared Jo, stoutly; "and if it don't get us what we want at Pao-Ting, there isn't another name in all China that would."

They were barely out of sight of the station before they came to a bridge across a small river. Here, as the telegraph-line was strung on it within easy reach, the locomotive was brought to a stand-still, while Rob again tried his hand at wire-cutting. Jo leaned from the cab to watch him, thus relaxing for a minute his close watch of their useful prisoner.

As Rob came back, calling out: "Let her go again, I'm aboard," Jo turned to give the necessary order, only to discover to his consternation that the engine-driver was nowhere in sight. In vain did they search through the cab and its tender, in the water-tanks, and even under the coal. In vain did they look up and down the track, at the bridge on both sides, even staring down into the water twenty feet below them. The man had disappeared, so far as they could discover, as absolutely as though the ground had opened and swallowed him.

"Well," remarked Rob, in a melancholy tone, "that beats anything I ever experienced. We certainly have got the old wagon to ourselves now, and the question is, what shall we do with it?"

"I say run it," replied Jo. "I've watched him until I know how to start and stop, and how to go slow or fast. I'll do that part if you will keep up the fire, and I don't believe there is anything else to be looked out for."

"All right," agreed Rob, "go ahead. I don't like it, and I expect we shall come to grief; but I can stand it if you can."

CHAPTER XXIV

THE TIMELY EXPLOSION OF A BOILER

Greatly depressed by the unexplained disappearance of their Chinese engine-driver, our lads, ignorant of everything connected with machinery, set themselves the hazardous task of running a locomotive. They got it started without difficulty, and ten minutes later were running at tremendous speed over the level line that extended without grade or curve as far as they could see. While Rob shovelled coal until his back ached and his face was as black as that of a negro, Jo occupied the engine-driver's seat and anxiously stared ahead. Neither of them spoke, for the strain on their nerves was too great, since each knew that at any moment they were likely to be blown up, flung from the track, or sent plunging through some weakened bridge. They were facing death in a dozen forms, but stuck to their posts without flinching, for they knew that a like fate, absolutely certain, awaited the unprotected foreigner who should be caught attempting to cross those plains on foot.

So they drove on, mile after mile, dashing past the station of Sing Yang without a pause or even a slow-down, and shortly before sunset came within sight of the gray walls of Pao-Ting-Fu.

CHAPTER XXV

IN CHINA'S CAPITAL CITY

China's capital, the great northern city of Pekin, is situated on a plain one hundred and twenty miles from the sea, and near the eastern base of a low mountain-range known as the Western Hills. It is divided into two nearly equal parts, the northern being the Manchu, or Tartar City, while the other is called the southern, or Chinese City. The northern city is surrounded by a vast brick wall ten miles in length, fifty feet thick at the base, sixty feet high, and forty feet wide on top, pierced by nine massive gateways, two on the north side, two on the east, two on the west, and three on the south. These last open into the southern city, which is of about the same size as the other, and also is surrounded by a lofty wall having seven gates. In the southern city, standing in the middle of a forty-acre park, is the great Temple of Heaven, in which the Emperor alone may worship.

In the centre of the northern, or Tartar City, and occupying one-eighth of the enclosed space, is located the Forbidden City, surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of red brick coped with tiles of imperial yellow. This wall has but four gates, and within it are the yamens, or palaces of high-rank mandarins, besides parks and pleasure-grounds. Inside of the Forbidden City is yet another, known as the Imperial City, strongly fortified, and containing the palaces, pleasure-grounds, lakes, and lotus ponds of the imperial family.

While Canton, in the far south, has been called the most wonderful city of the world, Pekin is almost as remarkable, although in an entirely different way. Canton streets are noted for their extreme narrowness, and those of Pekin for their width, some of the latter being one hundred feet wide. In Canton there are no wheeled vehicles and no beasts of burden, while Pekin streets swarm with blue-covered, two-wheeled carts, very heavy, and drawn by large, fine-looking mules, two-coolie jinrikishas, bullock-carts, wheelbarrows loaded with passengers or freight, pushed by one coolie and pulled by another, long caravans of shaggy, two-humped camels, besides innumerable riding ponies and donkeys. Also, in Pekin, may occasionally be seen the smart European brougham, drawn by a high-stepping American horse, of some wealthy mandarin, though most of those who can afford to ride prefer to do so in sedan-chairs. Of these chairs, those used by members of the imperial family are roofed and curtained in yellow, those of the higher-class mandarins are red, those of the next lower grade are blue, and so the descent is continued through green to black, while mourning chairs of every class invariably are white.

In Canton a large proportion of the houses have two stories, while in all directions tower lofty, six-to-nine-storied pawn-shops, looking like flat-topped grain elevators; but in Pekin all dwellings and shops, even including the imperial palaces, have but a single story. The only buildings in all the city that exceed this height are the pagoda-like Temple of Heaven, the great drum-tower, the great bell-tower, the fortified gate-towers surmounting the city walls, and certain foreign establishments belonging to missions, legations, or business firms that have been erected since 1900.

Pekin is well provided with wide breathing spaces in the shape of temple and palace grounds, and shade trees are fairly abundant throughout the city. Most of its broad avenues are unpaved, and it is visited by suffocating dust-storms at certain seasons of the year, while at others it wades through fathomless mud.

In 1897 the capital was connected with Tien-Tsin, eighty miles away, and with the sea by rail, but the track was compelled to end two miles outside the southern wall. In 1900 came the great Boxer uprising, the siege of the foreign legations in Pekin, and the capture, occupation, and terrible punishment of the city by the troops of nine foreign powers. These retained possession for a year, during which time they carried the railroad into the very heart of the city, largely increased the area of legation "concessions," established a clean-swept neutral zone three hundred feet wide around the legation territory, paved Legation Street, built commodious barracks for the foreign troops that were to remain as permanent legation guards, and erected handsome legation buildings; while the United States and Germany took possession of and will permanently control a quarter of a mile of the city wall adjoining their legations. After a year of foreign control Pekin was restored to its Chinese rulers, and the self-exiled imperial court returned to their capital city. During 1903 a number of large foreign buildings, including a European hotel, banks, hospitals, chapels, schools, etc., were erected, and many more were projected for this year (1904). Electric lighting on an extensive scale, as well as electric trams, are already planned for. The Pe-Han (Pekin-Hankow) Railway, over a portion of which our lads travelled, and which was wholly destroyed by Boxers immediately afterwards, has been restored and the track extended southward to the Yellow River. Beyond this construction is being so rapidly pushed from both ends that the completion of the whole line is promised by 1906.

Thus China's capital, rudely roused by foreign guns from the sleep of ages, is now awake and in a fair way speedily to take a prominent place among the progressive cities of the world.

None of these things were thought of, however, on that June day of 1900 when Rob Hinckley, accompanied by his stanch friend, Chinese Jo, hesitatingly approached the great city; for at that moment it was shadowed by the darkness of despair. The tidal wave of Boxer uprising had reached and overwhelmed it. The I-Ho-Chuan were in complete possession, and Pekin, with its teeming population, its accumulated wealth of years, and, above all, with its hundreds of hated foreigners, diplomats, missionaries, business men, and legation guards, lay at their mercy. They had nothing to fear from imperial troops, for these, always in sympathy with their movement, already had begun to co-operate with them in their killing of Christian converts, their burnings and their lootings. Bolder and bolder they became, wilder and wilder grew their excesses, until shortly before the arrival of Rob and Jo they had started fierce conflagrations in all parts of the city, had destroyed two Roman Catholic cathedrals, and were regularly besieging a third with cannonade and rifle-fire. In this great fortress, and within its spacious, wall-enclosed grounds, ninety foreigners, forty-three of whom were French and Italian marines, and more than three thousand native converts had taken refuge. For sixty days this isolated stronghold of Christianity was shelled and bombarded with cannon-ball and rifle-bullet; but it held out to the end, and stands to-day a monument to the heroic endurance of its defenders. The attack on it had been begun three days before the arrival of our lads, and the sounds of heavy firing that had so aroused their anxiety was the cannonade directed against its walls.

With many misgivings they skirted the southern city, which seemed a seething caldron of riot and flame, and sought an entrance to the Tartar City through one of its western gates. Here, to Jo's great satisfaction, he found, in the officer of the guard who examined them, an acquaintance not only willing to admit them, but of whom he could ask questions. Believing Jo to feel even more bitterly than himself concerning foreigners, this officer did not hesitate to give him the very latest news. He confirmed the report heard at Pao-Ting-Fu of the defeat and driving back towards Tien-Tsin of the combined American and British relief expedition, under Admiral Seymour, told of the siege of the northern cathedral, and, most startling of all, informed Jo of the imperial edict, issued that very day, ordering the destruction of every foreigner within the walls of Pekin.

"Already," he said, "have the invincible troops of Jung Lu entered the city, and with them are the Kwang-su tigers, under the terrible Tung-Fu-Hsang, who thirsts for foreign blood as does a babe for its mother's milk. To-day they are placing guns to command the legations, and to-morrow at four o'clock, if the ocean devils have not left the city, they will be attacked and killed like rats in their holes."

It was fortunate that Rob failed to comprehend what the officer said, for he could not have listened unmoved as did Jo. That the latter did so was because he was not quite certain that he did not approve of the plan for driving all foreigners from China. Foreigners expelled Chinese from their countries, so why should not his people in turn expel foreigners from China? Still, he did not express any views on the subject at that time, but changed the topic of conversation by asking the officer if he could tell him where his father might be found.

For a moment the latter hesitated, and his face assumed a peculiar expression. Then he said: "Did you not know that his excellency Li Ching Cheng had been given a position on the Board of Punishment? It is doubtless at the yamen of that illustrious body that you will find him."

Thanking the officer for his courtesy, Jo and his companion took their departure, and, making their way through alleys and the quieter streets as remote as possible from conflagrations and all scenes of disturbance, they finally reached the yamen of the Board of Punishment, which corresponds to what in an American city would be a combined court-house and jail.

A main entrance through the street wall led to a court, reached by the descent of several steps. This court was surrounded by low buildings, occupied as offices of the board, and in its centre was a pond of water. As no person of whom they could ask questions was to be seen here, our lads passed on to a second or inner court that opened from the first. It also contained a stone-bordered reservoir of water, and was surrounded by fantastically ornamented buildings. In one feature that was immediately noticeable, these low buildings differed from any other that Rob ever had seen in China. They were provided with cellar-like basements, divided into small compartments, from each of which a little, grated window opened into a tiny outside well-hole.

About one of these well-holes stood a group of half a dozen Chinese officials, towards whom Jo made his way, intending to ask them where his father might be found. As he drew near and was about to speak, he glanced downward to see what so had attracted their curiosity that no one of them had turned at his approach. What he saw was a human face, tortured and livid, pressed against the grating, and straining upward in mute agony. The man was supporting himself by hands clinched about two bars of the grating, and evidently was standing on tiptoe.

Rob, looking over Jo's shoulder, also saw the awful face, and for an instant wondered at the black line that seemed to cut it at the uplifted chin. Then it flashed across him that this was a line of black water, slowly but surely rising, and that in another moment the man would be drowned. And no one dared try to save him, even were it possible to do so, for he was a condemned prisoner suffering one of the innumerable, ingeniously awful forms of Chinese capital punishment.

"What was his crime?" asked one of the fascinated spectators of another.

"He was that member of the Tsung Li Yamen who, before circulating the palace edict, 'Feng yang jen pi sha'" (whenever meeting foreigners, kill them), "dared alter 'pi'" (kill) "into 'pao'" (protect).

"It is enough, and his punishment is righteous," declared the other.

Rob did not quite understand this, but Jo did, and, seizing his comrade's arm with so fierce a grip that the latter winced, he dragged him from the awful scene. As they gained the street he whispered, in choking voice:

"From this moment I am with you and with the foreign people, until the Empress is overthrown. Let us get to your legation."

"Was it any one you knew?" asked Rob, not yet comprehending.

"He was my father."

CHAPTER XXVI

WAR CLOUDS

China, in her ignorant self-confidence, and goaded to desperation by foreign aggressions, was defying the world. Not only was she killing missionaries, together with their converts, wherever found, and putting to shameful death such of her own people, from highest mandarin to lowest coolie, as dared lift a hand to save them or speak a word in their behalf, but by imperial order Chinese troops were preparing to attack foreign ministers in their own legations. Thus China deliberately was about to commit the gravest of international crimes. For some time the foreign ministers, foreseeing the dangers of the apparently uncontrollable Boxer uprising, had been calling upon their respective governments for protection. In response an ever-increasing fleet of war-ships was gathered off the mouth of the Pei-ho, which was as near as they could approach to Pekin. From those ships which first arrived a mixed force of marines, four hundred in all, and representing eight nations, was sent to the capital to act as legation guards, and the train that brought them was the last to reach Pekin for many weeks.

These marines arrived on the first day of June, and forty-five of them immediately were detailed to protect the great northern cathedral, while twenty more were sent to the compound of the American Methodist Mission. A week later the Empress Dowager returned to Pekin from her summer palace in the Western Hills. From that moment the situation grew so rapidly worse that the ministers again telegraphed the foreign fleet to send at once a strong force for their further protection.

In response to this urgent request Captain McCalla, the senior American naval officer with the fleet, declared that he should start for Pekin the next day. The British admiral, Seymour, promptly proposed to join him, and other commanding officers entered so heartily into the project that on the following morning, when the expedition started by rail from Tongku, the nearest landing-point, it comprised 2066 troops. Of these 112 were Americans, 915 British, 450 Germans, 312 Russians, 158 French, 54 Japanese, 40 Italians, and 25 Austrians.

This force, made up of sailors and marines, well provided with light artillery and rapid-fire guns, set forth in high spirits, expecting to reach Pekin that very night, or, at any rate, within twenty-four hours. Nine days later saw them still twenty miles from their destination, short of ammunition and food, encumbered with two hundred wounded men, cut off from their base of supplies by the destruction of the railway behind them, as well as in front, unable to communicate either with Pekin or the outside world on account of the telegraph-line having absolutely disappeared, while couriers with despatches were caught and killed as fast as sent out.

From the beginning they had been harassed by hordes of Boxers, and now they were confronted by five thousand imperial troops, including a strong body of cavalry, armed with modern rifles and well supplied with artillery. Under the circumstances a farther advance was impossible, and a retreat was ordered. At the end of another week the unfortunate expedition reached Tien-Tsin exhausted, demoralized, and sadly depleted in numbers, but having learned the bitter lesson that no small force of foreigners, no matter how brave and well-armed, could traverse the interior of China against the wishes of the Chinese.

During the absence of this expedition the fleet of war-ships lying off the Taku bar, at the mouth of the Pei-ho, had been strengthened by numerous additions. The Taku forts had been captured after six hours of fighting, and an army of ten thousand troops had advanced to the relief of the foreign portion of Tien-Tsin, which was being besieged by Boxers from the walled city of Tien-Tsin proper. Now the allied foreign troops turned their attention to this stronghold and set about its capture; but it held out for three weeks, and did not fall into their hands until the 14th of July.

But let us return to the middle of June and the city of Pekin, where a handful of foreigners, cut off from all communication with the outside world, were anxiously but confidently awaiting the coming of the McCalla-Seymour relief expedition. All sorts of rumors were afloat concerning its progress and position, and one of these so persistently asserted that it would reach the city by the very evening on which Rob and Jo entered Pekin that many persons ascended the city wall near the American legation, and remained there for hours, straining their eyes for a sight of the expected troops. But they did not come; and as the sun, transformed to a blood-red ball by the smoke from many conflagrations, disappeared in the lowering west, the disappointed ones returned to their homes doubly weighted with anxiety.

After dinner that evening two guests sat with the United States minister and his wife, earnestly discussing the situation. They were an American tourist and his daughter, who, not realizing the danger of their position, had lingered one day too long in Pekin, and then, owing to the sudden destruction of the railway, found it impossible to leave. The subject of their present conversation was a note from the Tsung Li Yamen (Chinese State Department) received by the minister a few hours earlier. It declared the situation in Pekin to have reached such a stage that the authorities could not undertake to protect the ministers longer than twenty-four hours from the date of the note, which also urged their departure, under Chinese escort, for Tien-Tsin.

"Are you going to accept that proposition?" asked the tourist.

"Frankly, I don't know," replied the minister. "Certainly we cannot leave within the time limit specified. It won't do for us to abandon the missionaries, and they declare they will not desert their converts, whom we, of course, could not take with us."

"What means of transportation should we have if you did decide to leave, now that the railway is no longer in operation?"

"We have demanded carts, boats, provisions, and that a member of the Tsung Li Yamen high in authority shall accompany us. This, of course, is playing for delay, that we may have more time in which to hear from Seymour's expedition. It is now four days since the last word came from it, and we must know its position before starting. No, I don't believe we will leave within twenty-four hours, though some of my colleagues think differently and already are packing their effects."

"My daughter and I will not try to carry out anything but our hand-bags, which can be made ready at a moment's notice," said the tourist.

"You are wise. I shall attempt to carry very little myself, and my baggage will consist largely of state papers, which already are packed for transportation."

"Then you are pretty certain that we will go sooner or later?"

"Yes, sooner or later, for the city is growing untenable. The hour of our departure probably will be decided by the morning advices from the Tsung Li Yamen. If no word should come from them, Von Ketteler, who does not agree that it is necessary for us to leave Pekin, declares he will go to them and demand satisfactory guarantees for our safety."

"It will be a bold thing to do."

"Yes, it will, especially as Von Ketteler recently incurred the additional ill-will of all Boxers by personally beating with his stick one of them whom he caught parading Legation Street in the full regalia of his infamous society. He is a brave man, but, unfortunately, he regards the Chinese with a contempt that will, I fear, lead him into difficulties."

At this moment a servant announced Lieutenant Hibbard.

"Excuse me, sir, for disturbing you," said this individual, after he had saluted those present, "but it seemed best to report a rather peculiar case. Two young Chinese, wearing the Boxer uniform, have just been arrested, and are now held by the guard at the gate. They demand an interview with the American minister, and, curiously enough, both of them speak English remarkably well—at least, so the corporal of the guard says, for I have not yet seen them myself."

"Are they armed?" asked the minister.

"Yes, sir. That is, they were armed with revolvers, but, of course, those were taken from them."

"Very well, let these English-speaking Boxers be brought in, under guard, and we will hear what they have to say for themselves—unless this young lady objects to their presence," he added.

"Oh no, sir; of course I don't!" exclaimed the girl, who hitherto had listened in silence, but with intense interest, to the conversation between her father and the minister. "I want ever so much to see a Boxer whom I can be certain really is one."

In another minute the prisoners, guarded by two heavily armed marines, were ushered into the room. "Pretty tough-looking characters, aren't they?" asked the lieutenant of the girl, by whose side he had taken a position as though to protect her in case of trouble.

"Yes," she replied, hesitatingly. "But do you know," she added, in a low tone, "the face of one of them seems very familiar. I mean the one with the queue."

"Oh, all Chinamen look alike," replied the officer, carelessly. "I've seen a hundred that you'd think were twin brothers of the other one, the tougher of the two. I expect he has murdered more converts than he could count."

Just here the minister, who had stepped for a moment into his office, returned, and at once proceeded to question the prisoners.

"I am told that you speak English; who are you, and why do you come here?" he asked.

"Are you the American minister?" cautiously inquired the one whom the lieutenant had indicated as being the tougher-looking of the two.

"I am."

"Well, then, we've come to tell you that the American and British relief expedition you are expecting has been attacked by more than five thousand imperial troops. It has been badly cut up, and now is in full retreat towards Tien-Tsin."

"Impossible!" gasped the minister.

"It is true, sir; and if you leave this city to-morrow in the hope of reaching Tien-Tsin you will be killed as soon as you pass the city gates. An edict was issued from the palace to-day for the extermination of all foreigners in Pekin, and an attack on the legations will be begun at four o'clock to-morrow afternoon."

"Who are you?" demanded the startled minister, "and what proof can you give that your astounding statements are true?"

"I am an American, of course," replied Rob, in a tone expressive of surprise that any one should question his nationality, "and my friend here is a son of Mandarin Li Ching Cheng, recently a member of the Tsung Li Yamen. He was put to death a few hours since for having tried to protect foreigners instead of killing them. My friend and I got acquainted in the States, where he was being educated, and—"

"His name is Joseph Lee!" cried the American girl, no longer able to restrain herself, and springing to her feet in her excitement. "I knew I had seen him before!"

"But who are you, sir? What is your own name?" interrupted the minister, sternly.

"Hinckley," replied Rob, but not withdrawing his eyes from the flushed face of the girl; and, speaking to her, he added: "I knew you and your father as soon as I saw you, Miss Lorimer, but I thought that perhaps you wouldn't care to recognize us in this costume."

"As if any one could!" cried Annabel Lorimer. "I am sure you wouldn't recognize yourself if you could see how horrible you look. Even now I only recognize your voice. Should you have known him, papa?"

"No," replied Mr. Lorimer, staring hard at Rob; "and I am not certain that I do even now."

"Is your first name Robert?" asked the lieutenant of marines; "and were you ever on board the United States monitor Monterey?"

"Yes, my name is Robert Hinckley. I was aboard the Monterey about four months ago, and you are Ensign Hibbard," was the reply.

"He's all right, sir!" exclaimed the lieutenant, turning to the minister. "I know him well, and can swear that somewhere about him he's got a skin as white as mine."

"Well," said the minister, his stern face breaking into a smile, "I'll take your word for it, Mr. Hibbard, but even you must acknowledge that its whiteness is pretty effectually concealed at present. Mr. Hinckley, I am much pleased to meet you, especially as you must be a son of Dr. Mason Hinckley, whom I long have counted as among my friends. But the news you bring is of such momentous character that I must ask for further details, even before extending to you the hospitalities of the legation. Will you and your friend sit down and kindly tell us everything that you know concerning the situation?"

CHAPTER XXVII

CHINA DEFIES THE WORLD

The startling news conveyed to the American legation by our lads was transmitted to all the other ministers that same night, and it at once put an end to the preparations for departure. It was further discussed at a meeting held the next morning, when it was determined that their only chance for safety lay in remaining where they were and defending themselves to the best of their ability. It had been hoped that some members of the Tsung Li Yamen would attend this meeting, but none appeared. The German minister, Baron von Ketteler, thereupon reaffirmed his intention of going to the yamen and demanding a conference. Moreover, to show his contempt for the Chinese, he declared that he would go unarmed and unescorted, save by his official interpreter, Mr. Cordes.

No entreaties served to deter the brave but obstinate man from his mad enterprise. Entering his sedan-chair, which he had furnished with cigars and reading-matter to aid him in passing the time if he should be compelled to wait at the yamen, he set forth, followed by his interpreter in another chair, and preceded by a Chinese outrider attached to the legation.

Just before their departure the American minister had requested Rob Hinckley, who, still disguised as a Chinese, might traverse the streets without detection as a foreigner, to proceed to the Methodist Mission, nearly a mile away, and warn its inmates to make ready for a speedy retreat to the legation grounds. Jo also was asked to go out and make special note of what the people of the city were saying.

So the two lads set forth, going by way of Instruct the People Street, called by foreigners Legation Street, past the Hôtel de Pékin, in which the Lorimers were staying, and where Rob wished he might make a call. From there they held their way eastward to Ha-ta (Great) Street, which they found thronged with citizens and soldiery. They walked slowly up this broad avenue, paying close attention to scraps of conversation, until they came to Filial Piety Alley, into which they should have turned to gain the mission compound by the shortest route.

Instead of so doing, they hesitated, attracted by a decided and excited movement towards the north of the swarming populace. Involuntarily, they joined it, and continued to make their way slowly up Ha-ta Street, until they had nearly reached the Pai-lou, or wooden arch, that spanned the middle of the roadway, just below Tsung Pu Alley. At this point they saw two sedan-chairs, preceded by an outrider in the livery of the German Legation, come from the Street of Permanent Peace into Ha-ta Street, and turn north ahead of them. As they halted in their walk and stood watching this little procession, Jo was saying:

"In case of serious trouble, Rob, I believe I could do more good outside in the city than if I were to stay shut up in a legation. There, also, I should always be an object of more or less suspicion, on account of being a Chinese. Of course, I sha'n't leave you unless it seems best to do so; but if we are separated, don't forget the old academy call."

"Do you mean the 'Hi-ho' call?"

"Yes; and isn't it queer that it should be the same as the first two names of the I-Ho-Chuan?"

At that instant the sharp report of a rifle rang out a short distance up the street. For a moment it was followed by a deathlike hush. Then pandemonium broke loose. Other shots were fired in quick succession, and the street populace, transformed into a howling mob, swarmed towards the scene of tragedy, yelling like demons: "Kill the foreign devils! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

A horseman fled before them. Two sedan-chairs were dropped by their terrified bearers, who also took to their heels. From one of the chairs a man leaped and ran for his life, but from the other came neither sound nor motion. In it sat Baron von Ketteler, the Kaiser's representative in China, shot to death by a Chinese officer of imperial troops. To-day a magnificent memorial arch of marble spans the busy roadway above the spot where he was killed.

"Come!" gasped Rob, as he realized the awful nature of the tragedy. "That shot is China's declaration of war against the world. We must warn the mission!"

With this our lads darted into the near-by Tsung Pu Alley. At first their progress was impeded by people running in the opposite direction; but in a couple of minutes these had been left behind, and they were free to hasten on at full speed. All at once a foreigner, hatless, haggard, and bleeding, dropped from a low compound wall into the alley close beside them. Behind him sounded the fierce cries of a pursuing mob.

"It is the interpreter!" exclaimed Jo. "Go with him and get him to the mission! Take the first right and second left. I will lead those who are after him another way. Quick! Good-bye!"

Rob instantly comprehended, and started after the fugitive, who now was staggering from weakness caused by loss of blood. At sight of the lad's Boxer uniform the man tried to beat him off, but on hearing the words in English—"It is all right! I am American"—he submitted to Rob's guidance.

As they hurried around the first right-hand turn they came face to face with a Boxer armed with a spear. Without giving him time to recognize them, our young American sprang upon him, knocked him down, took away his weapon, and left him in a state of dazed uncertainty as to what had happened.

After running a little farther the fugitives paused to listen, but could hear no sounds of pursuit. Jo had succeeded in diverting it to another direction. Then they proceeded more slowly, the wounded man leaning heavily on Rob's shoulder. Curious faces peered at them from dark portals as they passed, and more than one whom they met turned to give them a wondering look; but Rob's uniform and spear protected them from interference, and finally they reached a side gateway of the mission compound. Here the wounded man fell in a faint, but the American marine on guard sprang to his aid, and, recognizing in Rob's voice that of a fellow-countryman, assisted him to carry the German inside.

"Call your officer, quick as you can," ordered our lad, as he knelt beside the wounded man and dashed water in his face. "It is a matter of life or death for us all."

In another minute Captain Hall came running to the post, and in a few words Rob explained who he was and what had happened, at the same time exhibiting a proof of identity given him by the American minister.

"He sent word," continued Rob, "for all foreign inmates of this compound to pack up immediately and be prepared to retreat to the legation at a moment's notice. Now I will leave this wounded man in your care, for I must hurry back and let him know what has happened. Can you let me have one of your men to identify me at the Italian barricade across Legation Street? If I go alone I am afraid they won't let me pass, for they were ugly and threatened us when we came out."

"Certainly. Turner, go with Mr. Hinckley, and see him safely past the barricade."

"This is a rum go," said the marine, as they left the gate and hurried towards Ha-ta Street. "I've done a lot of funny things in the Philippines, and seen a lot more in China, but I'm blessed if ever I expected to safe-conduct a bloody Boxer through the streets of Pekin."

"Perhaps he is safe-conducting you," replied Rob, indicating, as he spoke, a group of Chinese soldiers wearing red Boxer hats, who were regarding the marine with very ugly looks.

"I don't know but what you are right," admitted Turner. "They do look wolfy, and I almost wish I had another pukka Johnny along to come back with me."

"I'll come back with you if you will go all the way to the legation with me."

"Done! The cap'n didn't say how far I was to escort you. He only said, 'past the barricade,' and maybe there's more than one by this time. But what's the matter with riding? We'd get there twice as quick. Hi, there, 'rikisha coolie. You wanchee catchee one piecee dollar? You makee go ossoty Melican consoo house. Savvy?"

"All litee sojo man, can do," was the reply; and a big, double jinrikisha, drawn by two coolies and pushed by two more, rolled up to where the Americans were standing. Even on the eve of open hostilities the thrifty Chinese of Pekin were perfectly willing to make an honest dollar by serving their enemies.

Jumping in, they set off at a great pace, the 'rikisha men yelling at the top of their voices for pedestrians to clear the way, and not hesitating to knock right and left those who failed to heed their warnings.

Acting on Turner's advice, Rob took off his red hat, and, sitting as low as possible, was partially screened from observation by the marine, who held himself very straight and sat well forward. The guard at the Italian barricade made a motion as though to halt them, but Turner, yelling to his coolies to keep on or he would jab them with his bayonet, called out:

"It's all right, Dagoes! Official business! Can't stop! So long! See you later!"

Then they bowled up Legation Street at a rattling pace, clattered over the imperial canal bridge, and in another minute were at the American Legation. Five minutes later the electrifying news of Baron von Ketteler's assassination had been told.

"That settles it!" cried the minister, who was a veteran soldier of the great American civil war. "Now we know exactly where we stand. The Chinese have declared for war, and they shall have war to their hearts' content. As for us who are in Pekin, we will stay right here and fight for our lives. If we are wiped out, the Chinese nation will cease to exist shortly afterwards. Even if we survive to be rescued, the punishment visited upon it for this day's crime will be one of the bitterest in history. But now we haven't a moment to lose. Are you willing to return to the mission with an order for its inmates to set out for this place within half an hour?"

"Of course I am, sir," replied Rob.

"Then go, and come back with them. I will at once notify the German Legation of this terrible happening, and advise that they send a squad of marines to bring back their wounded interpreter. God bless you, lad! I am glad to have you with us in this time of our trouble."

"And I, sir, am mighty glad to be here."

In less than an hour after Rob's report to the minister a long procession of refugees issued from the mouth of Filial Piety Alley, and turned into Ha-ta Street, where it was watched by crowding thousands of impassive Chinese. First came twenty American marines, hardy-looking fellows, bronzed by long service in the Philippines, under command of Captain Hall. These were followed by the American women and children of the mission and one hundred and twenty-six Chinese girl pupils of the mission school. Then came Chinese Christian women with their children, followed by a large body of Chinese men and boy converts. After them marched a stern-looking group of German marines, bearing and guarding a stretcher, on which lay the wounded legation interpreter whom Rob had been so instrumental in saving. The rear was brought up by a body of resolute-appearing missionaries armed with rifles and revolvers. With these marched Rob Hinckley, no longer disguised as a Boxer, but clad in the costume of his own people, and bearing himself with the self-confidence of one who had undergone a long experience in affairs like the present. The Chinese converts numbered over one thousand, and every member of the long procession was laden with food, clothing, household effects, or whatever portable things they had considered of greatest value.