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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In the Yellow Sea, by Henry Frith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In the Yellow Sea
+
+Author: Henry Frith
+
+Release Date: December 25, 2011 [EBook #38406]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN THE YELLOW SEA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art]
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: "I ALSO DROPPED IN THE BLUE SEA BEHIND HIM."  _See page_
+121.]
+
+
+
+
+
+In The Yellow Sea
+
+
+
+HENRY FRITH
+
+
+
+
+LONDON
+
+HENRY FROWDE,
+
+HODDER & STOUGHTON
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Title page]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+Perhaps a few words of explanation as regards this volume may be
+permitted.  The following extract from a letter, from a relative who
+addresses me as "Uncle Harry," will suffice at first.  His letter is
+dated "Shanghai, November 1897":--
+
+
+"Here are all the papers, with manuscript.  Some of the latter is
+translated by a friend, and some is newspaper work.  But I daresay you
+will be able to work up the matter.  Do it as you like best; but don't
+give me away, please.  You will find some additional information in
+Vladmir's work, and in the _Mail_, etc. etc.  But I am only sending you
+my experiences and adventures.  Call them what you like.
+
+"JULIUS."
+
+
+Here then is the narrative, in which the writer does not spare himself.
+He certainly has had adventures by land and sea, between China and
+Japan--"'twixt Jack and Jap"--during the late war.  I have used his
+papers and extracts in the compilation of the story; with gleanings
+from _Heroic Japan_ and newspapers, which I have examined, with
+history, for my own benefit, and to verify my "nephew's" account of his
+adventures during that stirring time in the Far East.
+
+HENRY FRITH.
+
+UPPER TOOTING, S.W.,
+  _March_ 1898.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAP.
+
+     I. A DISAPPOINTMENT--I ESCAPE MY FORETOLD DESTINY--THE
+            _OSPREY_--THE STORM
+    II. A TERRIBLE POSITION--A PROPHETIC VISION--SINKING!
+   III. THE STEAMER _FÊNG SHUI_, FOR CHINA--CAPTAIN
+            GOLDHEUGH--DISCIPLINE AND A ROPE'S END!
+    IV. BOUND TO CHINA--THE VOYAGE AND MY EXPERIENCES--_CASH_ IN HONG
+            KONG--RUMOUR OF WAR
+     V. A SECRET MISSION--KIDNAPPED!--THE SCHOONER--THE ASSASSIN
+    VI. SHANGHAI: ITS IMPRESSIONS--MURDER!--A RESCUE, AND A HAPPY
+            ENCOUNTER
+   VII. THE _FÊNG SHUI_ CHANGES HER NAME FOR LUCK--THE TRANSPORT--THE
+            JAPANESE MAN-OF-WAR--SURRENDER OF THE _KOWSHING_
+  VIII. THE END OF THE _FÊNG SHUI_--CAPTURED AND PRESSED!
+    IX. THE BATTLE IN THE YELLOW SEA--THE EVIL GENIUS OF "FÊNG SHUI"
+     X. A TRANSFORMATION SCENE--I BECOME A "CHINESE"
+    XI. CHINESE LANGUAGE--"HELD UP"--BETRAYED!
+   XII. ABANDONED!--I FALL AMONG THIEVES, BUT FIND SOME "GOOD
+          SAMARITANS"
+  XIII. KINCHOW--ARRESTED BY CHINESE SOLDIERS--CAPTURE OF THE CITY
+   XIV. THE SACK OF KINCHOW--RELEASED--"CASTLED"--A CHECK
+    XV. AN ADVENTURE ON THE HILLS--THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF
+          DEATH--TALIEN-WAN
+   XVI. PORT ARTHUR--THE MASSACRE IN THE TOWN--RELEASE
+  XVII. EXPLANATIONS--ON BOARD THE _NANIWA_ AGAIN--THE BLOCKADE OF
+          WEI-HAI-WEI--ON SERVICE
+ XVIII. ON BOARD THE TORPEDO-BOAT--BREAKING OF THE BOOM--CAPTURE OF
+          WEI-HAI-WEI--CONCLUSION
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+I ALSO DROPPED IN THE BLUE SEA BEHIND HIM
+    (_see p._ 121) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"THE RAIN'S A-COMIN' THICK"
+
+WE PROCEEDED TO THE CONSULATE
+
+I SAW THE UNLUCKY _FÊNG SHUI_ PLUNGE DOWN BY THE STERN SUDDENLY
+
+ONE CHINESE VESSEL WAS MOST FEARFULLY PUNISHED
+
+THEY LAUGHED AT THE STONES I THREW AT THEM
+
+THE CHINESE WERE LYING ANYHOW
+
+THE DEED WAS DONE!  TORPEDO-BOAT NO. 6 SPED AWAY
+
+
+
+
+IN THE YELLOW SEA
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A DISAPPOINTMENT--I ESCAPE MY FORETOLD DESTINY--THE _OSPREY_--THE STORM
+
+"There, that settles the matter," said my stepfather irritably.  "The
+lad's no good for the navy!"
+
+"Why not?" asked my mother, pausing in the act of pouring out the
+breakfast tea for me,--my parents preferred coffee.
+
+"Because they say his sight is defective--that's all," replied my
+stepfather.  "That's a pretty ending to his career!"
+
+Mr. Bentham was a persistent grumbler.  I had already remarked that
+trait in his disposition, and it annoyed me.
+
+"I am quite sure his eyes are all right," said mother.
+
+"Then perhaps you'll kindly tell the Admiralty so," said my stepfather
+("Daddy," I called him).  "There's the medical decision.  He's been
+plucked on sight."
+
+"And _I_ am certain there's nothing the matter," said my mother.  "I
+will take him to Mr. Jones, an old friend of his.  You will find he is
+perfectly sound."
+
+"My dear Emily, what is the use of discussing the matter?  Julius is
+deficient.  There's the letter, read it for yourself.  It's a great
+nuisance.  I suppose he'd better go to Granding and Smith's now.
+Granding will take him"--
+
+"Granding and Smith's!" I exclaimed suddenly.  "To the warehouse in St.
+Paul's?  Oh, why?  I _can't_ go into a shop."
+
+Hitherto I had been silent, but when this terrible fate was presented
+to me I spoke out.  The very idea of a warehouse was abhorrent to me.
+
+"My dear Julius, you must learn obedience.  We have been educating you
+for the Royal Navy, you have failed, and"--
+
+"For no fault of his own," interrupted mother quickly.
+
+"My dear, _did_ I say it was for any fault of his?  I wish you would
+not introduce irrelevant remarks.  He has failed to satisfy the
+examiners in eyesight, so"--
+
+"I don't believe it!" exclaimed mother firmly.
+
+My stepfather made no reply.  He silently folded the report in its
+official folds, finished his coffee,--still in silence,--rose quietly,
+and deliberately left the room.
+
+"Where are you going, Mark?" asked my mother anxiously.
+
+"To my study, until you have settled the question with the Admiralty,"
+he answered satirically, as he closed the door.
+
+We were silent for a while.  At length I said timidly--
+
+"Mother, _must_ I go to Granding's?  I hate it!  Why can't I go to sea?"
+
+"We shall manage something, I daresay, dear," she replied.  "I am
+afraid your father is vexed about this.  He was anxious for you to
+succeed, and he is disappointed."
+
+"But, mother, _I_ can't help it if my eyes are bad.  They don't look
+weak.  Shall I go to old Jones, the oculist?"
+
+"We will go by and by; meantime, let me see your father.  I am sure
+Granding's warehouse will not suit you.  The confinement will be most
+trying to your disposition.  There may be some mistake about your
+eyesight; though I fear, even if so, it cannot be amended.  Wait here
+until I return.  Ring the bell, and tell Ellen to clear the breakfast
+things away, dear."
+
+My loving mother left the breakfast-room, and I seated myself at the
+window to await her return.  I was very much upset,--savage, in
+fact,--and considered that the doctors had spun me on purpose.  My eyes
+were perfectly sound, I knew, at least I thought I knew, and it was
+"favouritism."  I had heard of such a thing; and the medical board
+were, in my angry estimation, stupid!  There was nothing the matter!
+
+When my mother returned to the breakfast-room she found me silent and
+cross.  The idea of giving up all my wishes for the navy, just because
+a doctor chose to say my eyes were not sound, was absurd!  But even
+then I could not help myself; and, however ridiculous I fancied the
+decision to be, I was compelled to accept it.  I had failed!  The
+medical gentlemen--one, rather--had decided against me.  I was most
+indignant, and inclined to be sulky, when mother had explained all this
+to me.  For some days I was greatly upset, and went about "like a bear
+with a sore head."
+
+Perhaps I had better not dwell upon that period during which, I now
+must confess, I behaved badly.  My parents were most kind and
+indulgent.  They perceived my disappointment, and made allowances for
+me in all ways, including pocket-money.  They did not worry me, but let
+me find my level while openly discussing the question of my prospects.
+
+During these weeks I continued my boating and sailing trips.  I was
+well known on the beach; the sailors, with a tender regard for me and
+my pocket,--which they did not wish to see either too heavy or too
+light,--indulged me to the top of my bent; and I believe had I
+suggested a voyage to France, or the Channel Isles, old Murry and his
+son Tim would have carried me off in their boat, which I called a
+"yacht" when describing her.
+
+The _Osprey_ was a tidy little "ship," and many a splendid sail we had.
+I had already learned a good deal respecting ships and shipping, could
+handle a boat, and steer fairly well.  Thus weeks passed.  I grew a
+tall lad; my face was browned by sun and sea, and I quite forgot
+business,--had even been reconciled to my disappointment as regards the
+navy, and was repairing my eyesight.  Alas!  I was just too old for the
+service then, and my stepfather began to make some arrangements for my
+future.
+
+I heard the names of Granding and Smith of St. Paul's mentioned, and
+shuddered.  A counting-house and confinement in place of liberty and
+fresh air!  What had I done to deserve this prison fate?  It was not my
+fault that my eyes had been weak; and even mother had thought that
+"business" was not suited to me.  But the blow fell!
+
+The decision had evidently been made.  My fate was fixed.  I began to
+be restless, but made no inquiry, and kept away from home as much as
+possible.  But one day, late in summer, the hammer fell upon my
+"lot"--I was knocked down to the drapers!
+
+Mother came in and told me my fate.  "Daddy" had determined it!  It was
+Granding and Smith, or a local bank,--I was generously permitted to
+take my choice.
+
+Then I arose in wrath, and made some unkind, not to say rude, remarks
+concerning my stepfather and Granding and Smith.  Naval surgeons and
+examiners also "caught it," and, indeed, my expressions pained my fond
+mother deeply.  Till I had apologised for my violence she declined any
+assistance on my behalf in future.
+
+Of course, I said I was "sorry," and kissed her penitently.  She
+perceived my repentance was sincere, and forgave me.
+
+"Run away now, Julius, there's a good boy.  Take a boat, and sail about
+until this ill-feeling has subsided.  Your father only means it for
+your good, remember that."
+
+"Yes, I daresay he _means_ all right, mother, but that does _me_ no
+good!  I want to go to sea--I mean in the navy--and I shall do no good
+any other way, I tell you plainly!"
+
+"My dear boy, that is just nonsense!  You have plenty of ability, and
+will, in time, be very glad to reflect that you were induced to go into
+business.  Business is really the best career, your father says."
+
+"_You_ said it wouldn't suit me, and I know it wouldn't!"
+
+"My dear Julius, your father thinks it best for you."
+
+"_He_ isn't my father, and I _won't_ go to Granding.  There!"
+
+With this defiance I rushed from the room, took my straw hat, and
+hurried away into the bright warm sunlight in search of the sea.
+
+I had not far to travel.  We lived then within two miles of the
+Channel, and close to a tiny station, at which a few branch trains
+stopped during the day.  Perceiving that one of these tiny trains was
+approaching, I hastened on and caught it.  In five minutes afterwards I
+was crunching the shingle, near the boats, on the beach.  Several
+boatmen accosted me; I knew them well.  They humoured me,--I liked them.
+
+"Mornin', sir!  Fine mornin' for a sail," said Murry, a queer, old,
+weather-beaten salt, who had served in the merchant marine.  "Goin'
+out, sir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," I replied shortly.  "How's the tide?"
+
+"Young gentleman's arskin' for the tide, Tim," remarked another salted
+fellow.  "As if he wasn't a sailor now!"
+
+"I am no sailor," I replied savagely.  "I'm plucked!"
+
+"Plucked!  What d'ye mean?  Thrown overboard?  Who's been pullin' your
+leg, sir?"
+
+"It's true.  My eyes are bad, the doctor says," I muttered.  "He's an
+ass."
+
+"Your eyes bad?  Well, that beats!  Why, I wish I'd one o' them at your
+age!  It's a mistake, whoever said it, I say that much."
+
+"Well, anyway, I'm not to be a sailor--not in the navy, anyhow.
+Perhaps never at all.  But let's shut it up.  Where's the boat?"
+
+"Yonder she swims," said Murry.  "Ye can go where ye like to-day, if
+you're not venturesome too much."
+
+"Why, do you expect a storm?" I asked, looking at the blue above.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't say it mightn't squall a bit.  There's thun'er about
+too.  Better take a hand with ye."
+
+"Better take a second hand," added Tim; "them mare's tails is
+subspicious.  How far d'ye think o' goin'?"
+
+"Round Ratcham Head, and away to Greystones.  I suppose we can fetch
+that?"
+
+"Ay, ay; tide's makin', and we can come back with a flowin' sheet agin'
+it, proper.  Here's my lad, Tim; he can go for the prog.  Suppose
+you'll want somethin'?"
+
+"Of course.  Here's the money.  Get anything you like, and some beer.
+Look slippy, Tim.  Come back as soon as you can."
+
+Tim touched his cap, took the money, and set off rapidly in the
+direction of the main street--the only one--of Beachmouth, which was
+then a small, almost unknown, watering-place.  Now it is growing
+rapidly.  Our house and grounds have already been purchased for
+building purposes, and in the few years which have elapsed since my
+disappointment the changes have been many and various.
+
+I waited with impatience for Tim's return.  The sea was calm.  The
+breeze, which was off-shore, was gentle from the north-west, westing,
+and the sky was deep blue, with a haze hanging about, indicative of
+heat in the future hours.  The distant vessels--not steamers--were
+lazily dipping in the offing, not making much way, but still
+progressing, so we could hope for a breeze outside.
+
+The dirty, chalky cliff sheltered us, and accentuated the rays of the
+sun, which, reflected from the water, burned and blistered us that
+summer more than usual, but as I was so much on the sea perhaps I felt
+it more then.  At anyrate, that August day I felt the heat greatly, and
+became impatient for Tim's return with the "grub," so that we might get
+away, and sail down Channel, away into the west perhaps.
+
+After what seemed an hour, but was really twenty minutes, we sighted
+Tim carrying a parcel and a jar, three tumblers being hung around his
+neck, and his jacket pockets bulging.  One glance satisfied me, and I
+called to Murry to come along.
+
+"I'm a-comin'!  I'm a-comin'!  We'm goin' alongside in Bill's skiff, ye
+know.  The boat's all ready--ballast and all.  Don't ye worrit
+yourself, Mister Jule; Tim's comin' on, hand over hand."
+
+Tim was certainly very warm when he stepped into the small boat, and
+when he was seated old Murry sculled us over to the _Osprey_, a small
+"yacht," if one may say so--a fore and aft sailing-boat, boasting a
+little recess which was covered by a hatch, and called the cabin.
+There was room for ten or twelve people, and she could accommodate
+more.  She carried the usual fore and aft sails, with a mizzen, and
+sailed very fast.  In fact, she was a rather smart boat, and easily
+handled, being stiff and strong, with pretty lines; she looked smaller
+than she really was because of her fine shape and slender appearance.
+
+The _Osprey_ could stand rough weather, as I well knew, and when we
+hauled up the mainsail, and set the jib and foresail, I felt happy for
+the first time that day.
+
+"Here's the change," said Tim, handing me a small sum, in which
+sixpence shone proudly in a nest of coppers.
+
+"Pouch it, Tim, please.  Now, Murry, what's the course, eh?"
+
+"Well, I should say, keep her close hauled myself.  Keep your luff,
+sir, that's what it is, and then you'll have all your run back.  But as
+you like."
+
+"I want to make Greystones, though," I said, as I glanced ahead.
+
+"Well, ye can tack in.  Ye see, it's this way: the tide's agin' ye, and
+when ye weather the Ratcham ye'll want all the luff ye can find to
+fetch Greystones this wind, anyway--and it's a squally bit down that
+gully."
+
+"Yes, that's true; but we can fetch in.  So you think I'm a sailor,
+Murry?" I continued, referring to our previous talk.
+
+"That ye be," he said.  "Eyes, indeed! as if ye couldn't see like a
+cat.  Why, I've see ye make out the rig of a coaster when Tim couldn't,
+and he's been at sea since afore you come."
+
+"How old is Tim?" I asked, with my despised eyes watching ahead.
+
+"Why, about your age, I should say.  Fifteen, ain't it?" he shouted to
+his son.
+
+"Fifteen what?" called back the lad, from forward behind the jib.
+
+"Years, ye donkey-foal!" replied his father.  "Your age, I says."
+
+"You oughter know, _dad_!  But I believe I'm thereabouts.  What
+then--what of it?"
+
+"Nothin'--don't you think it," was the reply.  "Mind you keep your eyes
+to windward, seems a change like."
+
+"I've been thinking o' that cloud yonder, dad; seems like to spread.
+What d'ye think o' standin' in a bit?"
+
+"Nonsense!" I exclaimed sharply.  "We can't weather the point if we
+keep in.  As it is the tide seems sucking us into the cliffs."
+
+"There's no call for hurry," said Murry.  "But when ye can lay a point
+inside--well, half a point--do it.  The sky's getting kind o' hazy."
+
+We had run well down the coast, slipping over the small waves, and
+darting merrily along.  The boat was sailing well up in the wind, close
+hauled; and every now and then, with all my care, I could not prevent
+the sail shaking a bit.  This back lift required me to keep away
+farther out, and then we found the wind coming more abeam, and fresher
+at times.  Again it died away, and luffed up once more.
+
+All this time the sun was blazing hot, like a furnace heat in its
+effects.  Even the wind was warm, and appeared as if from a stove-pipe.
+It was nearly midday, and the heat was tremendous.  So I suggested
+lunch.
+
+"Suppose we stand out a while, Murry, and pipe to dinner."
+
+"Ay, ay," he replied, with a grin at my assumption of phrase.  "It's
+eight bells, ain't it?  Then make it so!"
+
+"We don't want any 'observations,' Murry, I think," said I, smiling.
+
+"No, sir; I ain't going to offer any except 'Hands, splice the
+mainbrace!'"
+
+Tim laughed, and handed out the beer jar, and a quantity of slices of
+beef and bacon, some bread and condiments, pickled onions in a bottle,
+and a huge piece of strong cheese.  Altogether it was a splendid
+dinner, and we fell to, lying gently over to the wind, and enjoyed the
+fare, the "ship" almost steering herself.
+
+"Well, that's good catering, Tim.  I think you are a splendid steward
+for a small craft," I said, after an interval, during which our
+attentions had been directed to the thwarts, on which our food was
+spread.  "Now I think we may clear up, and keep our course."
+
+"The weather don't seem so willing to clear up, though," said Murry.
+"That big, black cloud is sailing up hand over fist.  That's a thun'er
+squall, sir, and we'd better reef the mainsail."
+
+"For a summer squall like that!" I exclaimed.  "Why, we shall be under
+shelter of the cliff before it comes up; and its coming off shore, you
+see, not on shore."
+
+"Exactly," replied Murry, rising.  "Bear a hand, Tim, my lad.  Get in a
+couple of reefs.  Lower the foresail afore ye come aft."
+
+"Oh, come, Murry!  I believe you're frightened.  Why, it's only a puff
+off shore, anyway."
+
+"That's just it, sir.  Tie them reefs, Tim, smart.  The squall will
+catch us out here unless ye luff up, Mister Jule."
+
+"I am luffing up all I can," I replied.  "The beastly ship won't stand
+up to it, somehow!  What's the matter?"
+
+"It's the thun'er in the air does it.  Ye see the breeze is backin' and
+fillin'.  Give me the tiller, and go ye forward with Tim.  Now, just be
+easy."
+
+Murry did not often interfere with my sailing, and, therefore, I made
+no further objection to vacate the post of honour.  He loosed the
+sheet, and held it in his left hand while steering the boat.  Ever and
+anon he cast a glance above the cliff in the direction of which we were
+running obliquely to save all possible wind, but we did not make so
+much headway, as we wished to reach beneath the point of Ratcham Head
+for shelter.
+
+"There she comes," cried Tim.  "What a black 'un!  Whiz! that's
+lightnin', sure."
+
+"Yes, certainly.  We're in for it, I think," I replied.
+
+"Father don't like it, I can see.  He's allus skeered in a big storm.
+Mother, she was struck that-a-way," he whispered.
+
+"How dreadful!  In a boat you mean?"
+
+"In this very boat it was.  They was out lookin' after nets.  Father he
+was stoopin' forrad, a'most in the water, and mother she was steerin',
+when _smack_ come the lightnin' and kill her stone dead, settin' up
+like a statoo, she was; and when father shouted at her to keep up, she
+set, and set, until he went on savage, and then found her struck.
+There it is again!"
+
+It was!  Behind the cliff, which showed up whiter than ever, an immense
+bank of cloud was extended as far as we could see landwards, but only
+occupying a portion of the sky on both sides.  To east, west, and south
+the horizon was clear, but great hanging tendrils were seeking to grip
+the blue below, and were curling up and retreating or advancing by
+turns; but apparently also always gaining ground, though the movement
+of the mass was imperceptible to us.  Nevertheless, the blackness
+increased, and at length the rumbling of the thunder became distinctly
+audible.
+
+The wind rose, and came rushing across the waters, taking up the little
+waves in spin-drift, and indicating a bad quarter of an hour for any
+craft caught unprepared.  The boat's head was necessarily put more
+west, and so, with the wind more on the beam, the rate of sailing
+increased.  The clouds came up steadily, the wind began to bluster
+suddenly, and to roughen the edges of the waves more and more.
+
+The old fisherman hauled on the sheet, and sat over more to the weather
+side.  He made no remark for a few minutes, then he cried--
+
+"Get in under the hatch there, forward, and haul a tarpaulin over ye.
+The rain's a-comin' thick.  Hear that!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE RAIN'S A-COMIN' THICK"]
+
+A tremendous burst of thunder came crashing upon our bowed heads as it
+seemed.  Tim routed out a tarpaulin, and he and I rolled each other in
+it.  It was a covering for the sails, which the old man used at times
+much to his friends' amusement.  However, on this occasion we did not
+complain, for the rain, and, I fancied, even hail, came down with
+fearful force, and ran out of the lee scuppers, though with difficulty
+it escaped.
+
+Notwithstanding all our protection we were getting wet.  The wind rose,
+the thunder roared, the lightning flashed past us, the little yacht
+bounded and dipped.  At length a fearful burst of flame struck us, and
+we actually screamed in terror.
+
+Then the next moment the wind caught the sail, and flapped it with a
+terrible noise which mingled with the thunder.  The boat careened over,
+righted, and flew before the wind like a frightened gull.  I felt Tim
+rise, and go astern; I heard a cry of pain and anguish.  Then I
+subsided upon the seething deck blinded and helpless!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+A TERRIBLE POSITION--A PROPHETIC VISION--SINKING!
+
+When I had rubbed my eyes, and began to take in the surroundings, I
+felt drenched by the rain and sea.  My hands were sticky, and cold and
+damp.  My clothes clung to my limbs, which were stiff under me.  My
+straw hat, with the ribbon of which I had been so proud--a yacht-club
+ribbon--was sopped, out of shape, and off-colour like my drenched face.
+The squall was still passing, but the thunder had ceased.
+
+The sea was very lively, and the wind boisterous.  We were running
+close-hauled and fast, dipping and slapping; the mainsail stretched
+stiffly over the boat, reefed still, and the jib was as taut as a
+board.  Daddy, I thought, was steering splendidly in such a sea, but I
+at once perceived that the cliffs had sunk deep into the water behind
+us, and that the line of the horizon was continually broken with the
+rolling waves.  A change, indeed, and in a few moments!  A great change!
+
+I sat up, feeling a peculiar sensation of dizziness, and a
+breathlessness, a desire to gasp for breath--a taste, moreover, of
+something unpleasant, almost sulphurous, but not of sulphur.  Something
+had happened!  I looked around me; astern I saw Tim gripping the sheet
+in one hand, the tiller in the other, and dragging at the sail, half in
+the boat, half out.
+
+"What's the matter, Tim?  Is the skipper asleep?"
+
+I often called Murry the "skipper" for fun, as he called me his "young
+gentleman," meaning midshipman.
+
+Tim made no reply.  Perhaps my voice had not reached him, so I shouted
+at him--
+
+"Tim, ahoy!  Whither bound?  What ship's this, anyhow?"
+
+"The Dead-ship," replied the young sailor.  "Come aft, if ye can, and
+bear a hand.  I can't manage the sail and steer this way."
+
+Feeling alarmed, I scrambled up, and in an instant I saw that some
+fearful accident had occurred.  The mainsail was lying half in and half
+out of the boat, dipping and lashing the waves, and bringing the
+_Osprey_ down by the quarter and stern, deeply.  No wonder I felt
+drenched, no wonder the boat was uneasy; and Tim had need of all his
+nerve and skill to keep his course.
+
+I clambered astern and hauled in the sail which had come down full,
+with the gaff, upon the stern-sheets, and nearly swamped us.  I
+recollected the cry I had heard.  What had happened?
+
+My cheerfulness was quenched in a second.  I was face to face with
+death for the first time!  I could not credit it!
+
+Yet I knew it I could see nothing but the sail, the blackened spar, the
+tangled ropes, the mainsheet still gripped in Tim's hand, held, too, I
+fancied, _by another hand--the hand of his dead father_!
+
+This impression suddenly seized me, and the idea burned into my brain
+like a dart--a hot nerve-thrill.  Murry had been struck by that fearful
+flash, and I must have been laid out senseless.  The peculiar feeling
+and sensation caused by the "electric fluid" I still remember, and do
+not wish to experience them again.
+
+I felt afraid as I seated myself silently and with carefulness beside
+Tim.  I questioned him with a look; he replied with a nod.  Neither of
+us made an attempt to speak.  He kept the boat's head close to the wind
+as possible, but we drifted out farther and farther all the time.  We
+had no grapnel, and had we shipped an anchor we had not line to hold
+the boat there.  All Tim could do was to keep up until a fishing-smack
+or some other craft could assist us.
+
+Meantime we hauled the sail in board, and then, having lashed the
+tiller, we managed to roll it up and get it away from the body, which
+lay in the small, sunk, stern-sheets, still half supported.  Murry was
+dead!  My heart thumped in my throat, and a horrible feeling of
+hysteria attacked me.  I suddenly burst out crying, and then sniggered
+in shame amid sobs.
+
+"That's how mother was took," said Tim at length.  "Can't we carry him
+in to the cabin place, think ye?"
+
+I nodded assent.  With great difficulty we managed to place the fine
+old man upon the lockers; the rolling and jumping of the boat was
+excessive, and imparted a weird movement to the body of the sailor.
+
+He lay perfectly uninjured to all appearance.  There was a blue mark on
+his neck, and his jersey had been split.  Those were the only signs of
+dissolution.  Poor Murry!  He was a fine hearty sailor, and I am sure
+all his mates missed him for many a day.
+
+This terrible incident affected us both deeply.  Tim said a few words
+only, but I could perceive that he was feeling deeply, though his
+training and habit did not tend to sentiment.  My intention was to get
+back as quickly as possible, and I said so.  Let us get home!
+
+"Whatever course are you steering, Tim?" I asked.  "We're making _out_,
+not home."
+
+"We shall never get home unless by land--unless we run ashore," replied
+Tim grimly.  "She's leakin' like old boots."
+
+"Leaking!  What do you mean?" I asked in alarm.
+
+"I means leakin', that's plain enough, I think.  She's takin' the sea
+in fine, and I dessay in a few hours we'll see her beached."
+
+"Where?" I asked quickly.  "You're keeping off shore now."
+
+"Can't land under these cliffs, anyhow.  We must bail and run soon.
+That's our only chance I take it, Mister Jule.  'Spose you looks and
+bails; there's a dipper there.  See to the well.  Come, we'll lash the
+tiller, and she'll lie up a while in the wind if the mainsel catches
+her astern."
+
+"But surely we can get ashore well enough.  There are several vessels
+yonder; let us run out and board one."
+
+"And be swamped likely.  No, sir; let's weather the point and then we
+may get in on the eddy a bit.  See here, we're driftin' now; we can't
+signal, the weather's thick a'ready, and likely as not a fog will come
+up to-night.  There's bad weather about now.  So let's try for the leak
+anyhow, and fix it."
+
+We made an investigation which occupied some little time.  We found the
+vessel was leaking, not badly; and if we could set the mainsail we
+could sail fairly well.  The wind was unfortunately rising fast, and
+the day had completely changed.
+
+I was surprised to find that time had passed so rapidly; it was three
+o'clock already.  We were some miles out then, and still drifting out.
+
+We determined to repair the gaff as a preliminary, so Tim set to work,
+and I assisted him as much as I could.  That was not much, however, and
+all the time the day declined, the sea rose, the wind increased, and
+the _Osprey_ jumped so that our efforts were not quickly successful.
+
+"I say, Tim, can't we rig up the sail on the stump, and let her drive?
+We shall surely run against something bound homewards, or to London, or
+somewhere, and get ashore."
+
+"I'm thinkin' we must chance it!  The drift is dashing up too thick,
+and I'm feelin' like tea-time.  Tell ye the truth, Mister Jule, I ain't
+the spirit for this.  Think o' father there!  How can we go back with
+that story?  I'm gettin' 'down' over it."
+
+"Oh, I say, Tim, none of that, please!  Cheer up! we mustn't say die,
+you know.  We have had a bad time, I know that, but we can't alter the
+_facts_.  It's Providence, you know."
+
+"Ye didn't say that this mornin' when you was savage about your
+eyesight," retorted Tim.  "There was no 'Providence' in that.  It was
+bad words and hanging people then."
+
+"I was savage then, I know, and sick of things.  But 'there's worse
+things happen at sea,' remember; and this is the worst I ever knew.
+Besides, it's a matter of self-defence and preservation, Tim.  So let
+her drive; we'll be picked up certain.  Let's do our best!"
+
+"Very well, sir; you're master!  Only, just see the weather!  If we
+gets out yonder we'll never get back!"
+
+"And if we lie here dipping and leaking we shall get nowhere!  We can't
+hoist the sail, can we?  No; well, then, loose the jib-sheet and drive
+out, there's plenty of steamers in the offing.  I don't want to go home
+in such a hurry, and if it was not for"--
+
+I stopped suddenly, my eyes had rested upon the outline of the poor old
+skipper's form, covered with the tarpaulin, amidships.
+
+"Beg your pardon, Tim; do as you think best.  I'll say no more.  Let us
+lay to as you say, and try it."
+
+There was a pause for a few moments.  The spin-drift drenched us anew.
+
+"Mister Jule," said he,--Jule being, of course, short for Julius,--"I
+think I understand ye.  But, sir, you're the 'boss,' and arter all, the
+old dad--he can't hurt.  He's 'done his bit,' and done it well!  We'm
+alive-like, and we mustn't give in, must us?  No, sir; we'll trim the
+boat, and run into the sea-way, and take what the Lord sends us.  What
+d'ye say?"
+
+"Done with you, Tim!  Here's my hand on it.  We'll sink or swim
+together.  Is that right?"
+
+"Yes, sir; that's hearty!  I rather thinks it's sink more than swim.
+What you says I dessay's right; we may sink, and lay-to that way.
+Let's drive!"
+
+"Ay, indeed!  I am inclined to make a run for it, and _do_ something."
+
+Before I had finished speaking this _ultimatum_ Tim had loosed the
+jib-sheet, and I shifted the helm a bit.  The wind was lashing us then
+across Channel; the afternoon was glooming, the sun had disappeared to
+our starboard beam, and the sea became higher as the tide turned and
+carried us away from the "dirty cliffs."
+
+"We shall smile at our fears to-morrow," I said, in an effort to be
+cheerful which my heart did not respond to.
+
+Tim Murry made no reply, and we still ran seaward silently.  Then I
+suddenly became dreamy--listless.  I did not realise the circumstances,
+the sea seemed rocking me to sleep.  Tim approached and looked at me,
+took the tiller from me, and I fell into a calm dream of home.  I
+remember it well even now.  The whole dream was for me a reality.  My
+stepfather was looking at me, while I appeared to be on board a large
+ship like a man-of-war.  Guns were mounted fore and aft, a number of
+men were running about, there was some great excitement.  Yet I was not
+on the large vessel long; I was on a steamship next.  The large
+man-of-war attacked us, I could not say how, and the ship I was in sank
+with a roar of steam and whistling and--
+
+"Rouse up, sir, look alive!  Steamer close aboard of us.  She's
+whistling; she's seen us.  I waved to her.  Now we must leave this
+sinking boat."
+
+I started up.  The evening had fallen.  The _Osprey_ was half full of
+water.  I had been dreaming of sinking--the reality was very near.
+
+"Let us shout," I cried.  "Say we're sinking, Tim."
+
+"That's no lie, Mister Jule.  The steamer sees us right enough.  Will
+she be in time?"
+
+"What a time she takes," I muttered.  "Somehow I can't believe it all.
+Is it _really_ true, Tim?"
+
+"Rather!" replied Tim.  "There's the boat launched!  Don't you believe
+the water's up to your boots now?  Look at it!"
+
+I suppose I was still half asleep.  I gazed at the swishing sea, and
+had no fear.
+
+"All right, I can swim!  You said we wouldn't, Tim!"
+
+"You're nearer sinkin'," he answered.  "Dad will never see the home
+again, arter all.  Well, well, it's the Lord's will, that it is."
+
+It was a sad and painful ending to a boating excursion.  But at least
+we were saved, and going home.  How delightful it would be to see
+mother again, to tell her all my adventures, to confess my temper, and
+to try to do all she had told me to please Mr. Bentham.  Yes, I made up
+my mind to behave well, and give up the sea--if I must.
+
+"Step in youngster," said someone.
+
+My reverie had been suddenly cut short.  I looked up, the steamer's
+boat was alongside.
+
+"Just in the nick," remarked the officer.  "How did you lads get into
+this pickle o' fish?  Lucky we sighted you."
+
+"Yes," I responded in a sleepy voice.  "Is Tim there?"
+
+"Aye, I'm here," he said.
+
+"And your father's--body?" I asked.  "Bring him out, please."
+
+"What?" exclaimed the steersman.  "A body--a dead body!  Not for us.
+Push off, lads."
+
+"You won't take it?" I cried.  "Won't you bring it ashore?"
+
+"No time to go ashore, youngster!  There, you see, just in time!
+See!--she's sinking!"
+
+I looked.  The _Osprey_ began to lurch and dip as the men pulled away.
+I stared in dread suspense, half dead, I fancied.  Then we increased
+our distance.  The _Osprey_ lifted and fell, appeared again,
+disappeared; rose again, and just when one expected to see it once more
+the sea hid it and bore it out of sight for ever.
+
+I think I shouted; I know I leaped up in haste, but a firm hand was
+placed upon my collar, and I sank back unconscious of all around me
+save the darkness of sea and sky.  My senses left me!
+
+So Murry had gained a sailor's grave.  "There in the lone, lone sea--in
+a spot unmarked but holy," he lies at rest until the last call for "all
+hands" is piped.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE STEAMER _FÊNG-SHUI_, FOR CHINA--CAPTAIN GOLDHEUGH--DISCIPLINE AND A
+ROPE'S END!
+
+When I again recovered consciousness I found myself in a comfortable
+berth, in what appeared an airy cabin on the deck of a vessel.  The
+distant churning noise which attracted my rather wandering attention,
+and the shaking of the furniture, told me that I was on board a screw
+steamer.  From the cabin windows I perceived a dim light upon the sea.
+The steamer rolled and plunged and shook herself with great energy, and
+at times the lamp hung, apparently, quite sideways across the room.  As
+I continued to gaze rather listlessly about me, my eyes fastened
+themselves upon two words, of which I could make no sense nor meaning.
+These were painted upon a locker in golden characters, above some
+peculiar characters, and read--
+
+FÊNG-SHUI.
+
+
+What was Fêng-Shui?  I had never heard of it.  I puzzled over it.  Was
+it a name, a motto, or a spell of some kind?  It seemed to my still
+obscured brain "neither fish nor fowl nor good red herring," and the
+painted characters beneath the words looked even funnier than those
+upon a tea-chest.  FÊNG-SHUI!
+
+The letters burned into my brain; they kept recurring in a kind of
+sing-song refrain, and finally adapted themselves to the "Tit-Willow"
+song in the _Mikado_.  _Fêng-Shui, Fêng-Shui, Fêng-Shui_!  As I lay
+staring at the locker my mind turned the song anew--
+
+  A poor little sailor-boy lay in a berth,
+    _Fêng-Shui, Fêng-Shui, Fêng-Shui!_
+  And never could tell what was meant on this earth
+   By Shui, Fêng-Shui, Fêng-Shui!
+
+And so on, _ad infinitum_, till my senses reeled again.  At length,
+being almost desperate, I rose, and was in the act of quitting the
+horrible cabin, when a man in uniform--merchant service--came in.
+
+"Hallo!" he exclaimed, "what are you up to?  Sleep-walking?  Get back
+directly, d'ye hear?  Smart now!"
+
+He aimed a blow at my back, and literally ran me into the swinging cot
+which I had just vacated.
+
+"Are ye mad?" he inquired, with a touch of the brogue of northern
+Ireland--a most amusing accent to my mind--which gave a comic turn to
+his most serious remarks.
+
+I made no reply immediately, only by staring.
+
+"Ah! the boy's off his head!  D'ye hear me?  Are ye deaf and mad?"
+
+"No," I replied; "neither, I think."
+
+"Ye _think_! Ye're not sure!  Then bedad _I_ think ye're mad.  What
+made ye jump out o' bed, then, like a lunatic?"
+
+"I was wondering where I was, and thinking of those queer letters.  I
+am better now.  I was confused when I woke up."
+
+"Oh, that's better!  Sure it was a miracle ye woke at all; we all
+thought ye dead as Kerry mutton.  What's ailing ye?"
+
+"Nothing, except those queer letters."
+
+"What!  The ship's name, is it?  That's nothing but _Fêng-Shui_, and
+it's written in Chinese besides."
+
+"Oh, thank you, I see.  I couldn't make it out.  What does it mean?"
+
+"_Wind and Weather_, and a lot more, in China.  Ye'll see in time.  Be
+easy now, I tell ye."
+
+"In time!  What do you mean?" I asked, starting up.
+
+"What I say.  In time!  By and by,--when ye get there."
+
+"Get where?  To China?"
+
+"That's it," replied my new acquaintance.  "Ye've hit it plumb."
+
+"But _I_ am _not going_ to China!"
+
+"Aren't ye, bedad!  Well, we'll agree to differ on that."
+
+"What rot!" I exclaimed rudely.  "Surely you're going to London?"
+
+"Not till I get back, round the East.  Then, maybe I will."
+
+"Do you mean to say that this vessel is bound to China?"
+
+"I do; and ye're bound to go with it."
+
+"Then I _won't_!  I want to go home to Beachmouth.  Can't you put me
+ashore anywhere?--I don't care where it is."
+
+"Can ye swim?" he asked, looking at me with a funny wink.
+
+"I can, of course.  Well?"
+
+"Then ye must swim home.  We're away in the Channel, and France is on
+the port-beam, if ye know what that is."
+
+"Of course I do.  Do you think me an idiot?"
+
+"I did--a while ago.  If ye're not a fool ye'll stay where ye are.  Of
+course, ye're a bit mad now, but by the mornin' ye'll be well.  Lie
+quiet now, and I'll send ye some food."
+
+"No, thank you, I am not hungry.  I am thirsty and chilly, though.  Why
+can't I go home?"
+
+"Because, unless I stop to put ye aboard some ship, ye can't.  I can't
+stop now till daylight, anyway; and then we shall be about in the Bay.
+By that time I expect ye'll want to stay where ye are.  Lie quiet now,
+I'll send the steward to ye with a lemon drink.  Maybe in the morning
+ye'll feel better.  Anyhow, ye must remain here--for the present, and
+keep yer claws in, like Tim Connor's cat."
+
+"Are _you_ the captain?" I asked, with some deference.
+
+"So they tell me," was the quaint reply, as he left the cabin.
+
+The captain of the _Wind and Weather_!  Perhaps I had been too
+"cheeky."  What would he do to me, I wondered.  He seemed a nice man.
+Then I began to wonder what had become of Tim.  He had not been given a
+cabin.  Why had the captain taken such care of me? he had never heard
+of me, I was sure.
+
+While thus groping in my mind for assistance and ideas, the steward
+appeared with a warm drink, which smelt of lemon juice, and some
+spirit--I think whisky.  I had never tasted spirits, and declined the
+draught then.
+
+"If you don't drink it the doc will come and fix you," said the
+steward.  "Better this than him.  He's a 'nailer' at nastiness.  Take
+my advice, drink this, and you'll sleep like a top."
+
+"On one leg, do you mean?" I asked, taking the glass and smiling.
+
+"Anyhow, after that.  There, you've some sense in you, I see.  You came
+up pretty limp from the boat.  Now lie down, and sleep till mornin',
+I'll come and see after you."
+
+"I say, steward, wait a second.  What's the captain's name?"
+
+"Goldheugh--Martin Goldheugh--and a first-rate captain, too, I can tell
+you.  But you must do as you're bid, mind; no skulking.  Now shut your
+eyes and keep quiet.  Good-night."
+
+I murmured something.  The drink I had imbibed was mounting to my head;
+I felt warm and comfortable.  Then I began to count the distant throbs
+of the engine, and just as I had reached three hundred and sixty-two
+I--woke.
+
+It was broad daylight.  I rubbed my eyes in surprise.  _Day_light!  Had
+I slept (like Scrooge in the "Christmas Carol") through a whole night
+in a few minutes.  It could not be daylight, surely?  I had only
+counted three hundred and odd beats of the engine at supper-time, and
+already morning had come.  My first glance fell upon "_Wind and
+Weather_"--the _Fêng-Shui_ sign; and then my heart beat fast.  I
+flushed hotly.  What would my parents _think_? what would they _do_?
+
+I confess I was miserable and greatly upset.  I was at sea, and for the
+first time very unhappy.  My thoughts rushed to my mother, then to my
+indulgent stepfather, and I compared them with other fellows' parents
+who were so strict and stiff and severe.  Neither my own father nor
+mother, not even Mr. Bentham, had been really severe with me.  Most of
+my troubles had been caused by my own wilfulness and obstinacy; and, I
+then confessed, my disobedience!  Yes, they had advised and guided me,
+while I, in my conceit, fancied I knew best, and consequently came to
+grief at last.  Punishments came at times, and I rebelled, got punished
+again, and sulked.  I perceived then that my parents had been just, and
+I regretted now that I had been so rude, and had parted from my mother
+so brusquely and unkindly.
+
+My melancholy reflections were disturbed by the entrance of the
+steward.  I was pleased to see him.
+
+"Good-morning," he said.  "Sleep well?"
+
+"Splendidly!  Where are we, steward?"
+
+"Off Ushant.  We shall get a tossing presently."
+
+"What do you call this?" I asked, as the waves came rushing past the
+bulwarks.  I could see great mountains rising and sinking outside, and
+white foam dashing up.  The air was cool too, and raw.
+
+"That's nothing at all; wait a while.  The wind's rising fast, and
+we'll have a fine sea presently.  Are you getting up?"
+
+"What's the time, please?  I feel better now."
+
+"It's seven bells in the morning watch--half-past seven, you know."
+
+"Yes, I know _that_," I replied.  "Can I have breakfast?"
+
+"Of course; whatever you like--in reason."
+
+"Where will you reach port and land me?"
+
+"I can't say; maybe at Gib--or Malta.  We're in the Bay now.  It's all
+the Bay between Ushant and Cape Finisterre."
+
+"It's awful rough, I think I had better lie still," I said.
+
+"As you like.  The swell comes in here from the west, you see.  But it
+isn't any rougher than the Atlantic between Ireland and America."
+
+"I suppose you have sailed all around England, and also abroad?"
+
+"Yes, I've been in a few places in my time.  I was a schoolmaster once."
+
+"You--a schoolmaster!" I exclaimed, sitting up with a jerk.
+
+"Yes.  Then I left the business, and went to sea as a purser's mate in
+the American trade.  I saw a bit, and learned more geography than I
+could teach.  I suppose you know all the celebrated sea places?"
+
+"Oh yes; Trafalgar, and all those, of course."
+
+"And Dungeness, Beachy Head, Harfleur, and Ushant close here, on the
+great first of June.  I could tell boys all about them better now.  Ay,
+ay; but let's not think of them.  You want breakfast--all right."
+
+He disappeared, and in a few minutes another man entered with a tray of
+good things, including marmalade and jam, toast, and hot rolls.  What a
+splendid breakfast I made.  I _almost_ forgot my home then.  But the
+reaction came, and I felt miserable once more.
+
+At half-past eight--I mean one bell in the forenoon watch--I said I
+would get up.  I received some assistance from the steward, who had
+dried my clothes, but they had shrunk sadly.  I made inquiries for Tim.
+
+"He's forward all right,--you mean the fisherman, don't you?"
+
+"Yes, Tim Murry.  I should like to see him."
+
+"You can see him on the forecastle, if you like.  You can walk forward
+when you've found your legs.  Gently does it."
+
+I was greatly amused by being advised to take care.  Why, I had been
+out in vessels in _very_ rough seas often!  The idea of the steamer
+being so bad was ridiculous.  So I stepped out on deck, and was just
+about to gaze around when I was thrown forcibly against the port (lee)
+bulwarks, and the breath knocked out of my body.
+
+Wildly I grasped at the shrouds and halyards within reach.  I gasped,
+turned blue and pale, and felt as if I was dying.
+
+"Hold up!" cried the steward, who had come out behind me.  "Don't try
+to kill yourself, young fellow!  You're too venturesome.  Here, let me
+lead you to the companion, and sit there by the steps."
+
+He assisted me to the companion stair, and placed me in safety by the
+entrance to the little saloon.
+
+The captain was on the bridge close by, over the chart-house.  The ship
+was flush-decked, broken only by the commander's cabin, the charthouse,
+and the skylights, masts, and funnel.  Forward was the men's berth and
+hatch.  I could only observe these points when the captain hailed me.
+
+"Hallo, my lad, are ye practisin' for the slack-wire?  Would ye like a
+sling for yer legs?"
+
+I blushed because the mate and steward laughed.  The sailor at the
+wheel grinned silently.
+
+"All right, captain," I replied, "I'll have a sling, please.  Hoist
+away!"
+
+The mate--I thought him the mate--on the deck laughed again, but in a
+different key.  The captain spoke to him in a low tone.  The officer
+came aft and beckoned to me to approach the bulwarks.
+
+I staggered up as bidden, and in a moment he had secured me with a rope
+to a belaying pin amidships, beneath the bridge.  The rope hurt me, and
+pressed hard upon my waist in front.
+
+"Let me go," I cried, struggling to reach the deck, from which I was
+just lifted by the rope; "I can't breathe."
+
+"You can shout, anyhow," replied the mate.  "You'll find your level
+presently.  Then you'll walk circumspectly."
+
+"Can you spell it?" I sneered.  I was annoyed then by the laughter.
+
+"I T," was the answer.  "And you'll spell 'rope's end' if you're
+impudent, my lad.  So put that in your pipe!"
+
+"I don't smoke," I retorted.  "Let me go, please."
+
+"Presently.  Keep quiet, as the captain says.  You'll be glad
+presently.  How do you feel now, eh?".
+
+"None the better for seeing you," I said rudely.  "Let me go!"
+
+"No, no; you must feel better first.  You see this rope's end, you'll
+feel it presently.  Just a little pleasant warming.  See?"
+
+He then suddenly laid the rope across my shoulders sharply, and on my
+back a few times.
+
+"That will keep you," he concluded, stepping forward and leaving me to
+my reflections.  "Now you know the ropes," he cried jeeringly.
+
+I was angry, and made up my mind to fight the mate when I got released.
+The captain did not interfere at all, though he saw all that had
+occurred.  However, I suspected he would have said something had he
+disapproved.  I was very savage, though not really hurt--except in my
+inmost feelings.  I wriggled, and kicked, and yelled aloud, but no one
+took any notice of me whatever.  At length I subsided,--I felt rather
+sick and faint.
+
+"Cut him down," said the captain to one of the hands; "he's had enough.
+He'll lie quiet now."
+
+The man at once untied the knot which I could not reach; I fell on
+deck, and felt terribly ill.
+
+"Come along o' me," said the sailor.  "Just stand here to leeward!
+You'll be all spry in a few minutes now.  Hold up, matey!  Why, you're
+a greenhorn, and no mistake!  Shave my cat's whiskers, but you _are_!"
+
+I felt too unwell to dispute the question.  I considered that I had
+been most unkindly treated; that the captain and crew, including the
+mate most particularly, had been almost brutal!  I longed to quit the
+ship and to return home.  Even Granding and Smith's, I believed, would
+be more pleasant than the steamer.  I began to _hate_ the sea, the
+waves, the voyage!  Was _this_ the beautiful Ocean on which I had
+sailed so joyfully so often?  What a mercy it was that I had been
+plucked in eyesight!
+
+My eyes were open now, long before the usual nine days.  I could see
+things in a different light.  No doubt the Royal Navy was different
+from this "tramp" steamer, but it was all the same feeling _at_ sea!
+Oh, my head! my head!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BOUND TO CHINA--THE VOYAGE AND MY EXPERIENCES--_CASH_ IN HONG
+KONG--RUMOUR OF WAR
+
+"I've been thinking about ye," said the skipper, two days later, when
+my head and legs became more easy, and obedient to my will.  "When we
+reach Gib ye must make yer choice--and I think ye'd better stay with
+me."
+
+"Yes, sir," I replied doubtfully; "I suppose I must."
+
+"There's no must in it, youngster.  I'm bound for Hong Kong and Canton,
+and, further, I don't keep any idlers on board.  If ye go with me ye
+must look lively.  Yer mate, Tim, yonder, is already worth his salt.
+He tells me ye're a cadet."
+
+"I wanted to be; my eyes were wrong, the doctor said."
+
+"Then ye're fond of the sea?  Now, here's my idea: I'll keep ye, if ye
+like, aboard, and, please Goodness, bring ye home.  If not, ye must
+telegraph home from Gib, and I must send ye back in some liner,
+somehow.  Make up yer mind, it can't take long."
+
+"I suppose you think me a fool?" I exclaimed testily.
+
+"I do _not_," he replied, with the emphasis of the native Irishman;
+"but maybe I will when I hear yer opinion."
+
+"Then, I'll stay," I replied, feeling rather undecided nevertheless.
+"But what will they think at home?  My mother will fret."
+
+"Well, I'm sorry for yer mother, but I think she'll survive.  I know
+something about ye from the boy forward.  Now, tell me the truth about
+yerself.  Who are ye, anyhow?"
+
+I told him the truth.  He listened quietly, nodding at intervals, and
+finally said--
+
+"All right.  Now, my lad, listen to me.  I'll be the making of ye, and
+yer mother won't know ye when ye go back, eh?"
+
+I hardly fancied that this would be an advantage for my parents, but I
+said nothing, and the captain continued--
+
+"I'll make a man of ye, so I will.  I'll just wire to yer daddy, and
+tell him I've got ye safe and sound, and will bring ye back.  I'll
+clothe and feed ye and teach ye something, and maybe ye'll come back a
+second mate for the Company--the Shanghai and Hong Kong Tea Company."
+
+"Thanks," I said briefly, rising as I spoke.
+
+"Hold on a minute, there's one lesson first.  When ye speak to the
+captain, say sir; d'ye mind?"
+
+"Yes, sir," I replied, blushing furiously as I stood before the master.
+
+"Very well, that's the first thing.  Now, what can ye do?  Can ye hand,
+reef, or steer?  Speak up!"
+
+"I can't furl a sail, sir.  I can reef a fore and aft sail, and can
+steer a little."
+
+"Very well.  Look here, now, I'll keep ye, and put ye under my man;
+he'll trim ye a bit, and Mr. Rose, the mate, will set yer lessons.  By
+the time we reach the China Sea I expect ye'll know the ropes.  Ye must
+work for your living here,--no skulking, now!"
+
+"No, sir," I answered respectfully.
+
+"That'll do; I'll take the responsibility of ye, and bedad ye'll have
+to mind me!  But I understand ye are a gentleman; so'm I, and ye'll be
+taken care of.  Ye'll be a man before your mother yet."
+
+This I believed highly probable, and nearly said so, but the looks of
+the captain deterred me.  He proceeded--
+
+"Just keep quiet till we make Gib; then I'll see ye fix'd up, and put
+to work.  My steward will berth ye and feed ye.  Ye needn't go amongst
+the crew, mind; and needn't keep watch--unless ye like--at first.  Now,
+are ye satisfied?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I am; and am very grateful to you for all your kindness."
+
+"That's bully, now," he exclaimed.  "Here's my hand on the bargain.
+Ye'll do, when ye get the starch out of yer collar.  We don't want any
+airs here, mind ye.  What's yer name?  Jule, is it?--what?"
+
+"Julius, sir," I replied, feeling terribly small.
+
+"Julius Cæsar?  No, it can't be that, I suppose.  Never mind, we'll
+call ye Julius until ye become a mate.  In my country they'd say if ye
+wasn't the _mate_ ye'd be the boy to _serve it_! D'ye mind that?  Come
+up now, and get a breath of the wind, young Cæsar."
+
+I laughed, and thus I became a sailor.  But how different was the
+introduction from that I had anticipated!  I was rigged out as a
+cabin-boy in the steamer, and carried away to the Far East, instead of
+being trained on the _Britannia_ and serving in a man-of-war.  Many a
+night I lay half-crying in my bunk, thinking of the change in my
+prospects, but the days passed quickly, letters came from home, and I
+had plenty of money afterwards, but the first step counted very much in
+my career, and I grew fast at sea.  I said so once to the captain.
+
+"Mind ye don't grow fast ashore," he said.  "Cut yer wisdom teeth first
+here."
+
+I could not get much "change" out of the skipper.
+
+But I am anticipating.  I was still a cabin lad, and under orders.  I
+was taught many things, such as knots and splices, heaving the lead,
+the names of the ropes, and was sent aloft when I had become accustomed
+to the vessel.  We didn't sail much, but at times we hoisted a topsail,
+jib, and spencer (or mainsail) when the wind was on the quarter, and
+time was pressing.  We steamed through the Mediterranean, and had I
+time I could tell you my experiences and pleasure in seeing the places
+which as a lad I had read about.
+
+What lad of fifteen would not have been delighted, as I was, by seeing
+Capes St. Vincent and Trafalgar?  The steward, the captain's man, my
+chief, so to say, told me many anecdotes about them, and the battles,
+the prizes, Nelson, and other heroes.  Gibraltar, Naples, Malta, the
+canal, where we saw mirages in the sand, Suez, the Red Sea, Colombo,
+and away to Hong Kong, whence we proceeded to Canton.  All these
+experiences were delightful.  I almost forgot home in the new and
+charming scenes of the East, though I found some drawbacks in the
+Chinese people and the climate.
+
+We voyaged and traded between India and China for eighteen months,
+until I became, as the captain had declared, a mate under him, and
+though acting, I could act fairly well!  I was then a grown lad, nearly
+seventeen, and full of energy.
+
+We were at Hong Kong in the year 1894, a place I always liked, and the
+first visit to Victoria I never shall forget.  It was in the end of the
+year after leaving home.  Hong Kong in my mind had been always
+associated with a song which we used to sing in the bedroom at my first
+school about a "gay cavalier" who, having been disappointed by the lady
+he loved, declared, lyrically, that she "might go to Hong Kong" for
+him!  This fine and interesting ditty, as we then thought it, came into
+my head that day when the _Fêng Shui_ steamed into the harbour.
+
+What a beautiful scene!  Perhaps you think that because I am young and
+(a little) verdant I exaggerate the beauties of the panorama.  Well,
+ask your friends.  Let them tell you of the blue sky and sea, with the
+numerous vessels sailing and at anchor, the men-of-war with flags and
+pennants of all nations, the sampans, the junks, the hundreds of
+strange rigs and faces (and languages as of Babel all around you)
+floating on the beautiful water, from behind which rises "the Peak,"
+the highest point of the mountain chain which dominates the town of
+Victoria, which is built along the slopes.
+
+And, indeed, upon a steep slope it rests, in an apparently insecure
+basis, inasmuch as the houses appear to be tending to the sea, as if
+thrust by those behind; so that one almost expects, when one returns
+after an absence, to find a row missing, and the larger houses lower
+down on the hill.  Above them are the woods or thickets of the
+mountains, and, at times, the low clouds upon the Peak.  Opposite is
+China, bare and rugged.
+
+When you land in Hong Kong--at least this was my youthful
+experience--you are inundated by coolies who will carry your baggage,
+for a few _cask_, upon a bamboo pole, resting upon the shoulders of two
+"porters."  A single porter may be employed, but in this case your
+(light) load will be balanced by him at the end of the pole and
+sustained by a weight at the other, in the weighing-machine method.
+These fellows trot up the hills with the burden which sways upon the
+pole, and though you may wonder why the man does not walk quietly, you
+will soon discover that the flexible bamboo is most easily borne at a
+jogtrot when laden, because it adapts itself to the pace, or the pace
+to it, as it swings.  Try it, my young friends, and you will agree with
+me that a swinging trot is the easiest mode of progression under the
+circumstances.
+
+"Cash" in Hong Kong, and in China generally, is of course in
+signification the same as in Europe, but in China it is specific,
+definite.  The _cash_ is a bronze coin, in value about the tenth of a
+penny, with a square hole punched in it, so that the purse-bearer can
+string hundreds of them over his shoulder like a bandolier of
+cartridges.  The _cash_ is usually slipped upon a cord, knotted in the
+centre, and the money passed on over both ends.  When a hundred _cash_
+has been strung on each end a knot is tied, and two other hundreds are
+added as before, up to usually one thousand _cash_, which then
+represent a dollar.  Three shillings and ninepence at most, if good
+money, but frequently it is mixed.  In some ports eleven hundred _cash_
+equal a dollar.[1]
+
+
+[1] _Cash_ is very ancient, it dates to 2300 B.C.  The "sword cash" was
+in use about 221 B.C.; the circular, with square cut, is of David's
+time in Israel.  Value, 1800 _cash_ = 1 oz. silver.
+
+
+The dollar and cent are the money values in China,--copper _cash_ and
+paper notes.  A five cent piece represents about twopence farthing.
+Provided with _cash_, and even sometimes with a purse-bearer, one can
+"shop" in China if you are careful to give about one-third of the value
+of the article demanded.  Let me now resume my story in 1894.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+"Jule," said the skipper to me one day, "take the belt and come with
+me.  I want to make a few purchases and to do a little bit of business.
+I think we shall make money."
+
+I accordingly procured sufficient _cash_, and we were passing the club
+of Hong Kong, which, by the bye, contains a nice library, when a
+gentleman accosted the captain.  The stranger looked like a Japanese.
+He was short, intelligent, quiet, but decided in his manner, and spoke
+English fairly well.
+
+"Captain Goldheugh, I believe?" he said, raising his hat in salute.  It
+was not the salute of an inferior, though; there was no servility in
+the man's manner.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the captain, responding in kind.
+
+"Can you favour me with five minutes conversation?" asked the young
+man.  "Perfectly private matter."
+
+"Certainly," was the reply; "shall I accompany you?  We may talk here."
+They drew aside within the shelter of the house, and appeared to be in
+earnest conversation, which continued for some minutes.  Meantime I
+strolled back and forwards watching the mixed assortment of people, of
+whom there are specimens from India and Arabia and other lands in
+abundance--negroes, Europeans, Parsees, Chinese, British, Portuguese,
+and French, coolies, and some--very few--Japanese; so the gentleman who
+had accosted my skipper was rather remarkable, perhaps.
+
+When the pair had finished their chat, the skipper came back to me, and
+said--
+
+"Jule, my lad, ye need not carry the _cash_ to-day.  Unless I am
+mistaken we are in for a fine deal.  Mind now, keep your mouth shut.  I
+think we'll make a profitable business of this."
+
+"What is it?" I asked, as we returned to the waterside.
+
+"Well I'm going to trust ye now, as a gentleman.  What d'ye think of a
+war?" he asked.
+
+"A war!" I exclaimed.  "Where?  In Europe do you mean, against us?"
+
+"No, here; in China perhaps."
+
+Such an idea had never entered my mind.  The fact of impending war in
+China had not been presented to me; all seemed peaceful.
+
+"Who is going to fight?" I asked.
+
+"Perhaps no one.  But ye saw that Jap there?"
+
+"Yes; a nice fellow I thought, sir."
+
+"Well, he has made me an offer, and if my suspicions are correct we'll
+make a little haul of cash.  English cash--pounds--not this miserable,
+crawling, centipede kind of stuff which wouldn't buy a scarecrow a meal
+for Sunday.  No, bedad, Jule, my boy, we're in luck."
+
+"I hope so, sir.  How?"
+
+"Don't ye know I told ye about some business when we started that had
+reference to a mandarin chap, one of the Company's customers, for whom
+I had advices.  Now, mind ye, this Jap has shown a hand--only a finger,
+I may say, but a finger points somewhere; and it just indicates the
+very direction in which I was going later.  D'ye take me?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  It seems that the John Chinaman and the Jap have their
+heads in the same direction."
+
+"Exactly.  Jack and Jap is the business entirely.  I have business both
+in Japan and China.  I know the seas about here, and they both know I
+know them.  So my friend has 'offered' me for the steamer.  What d'ye
+think of that?  But he desires secrecy--a private cruise."
+
+"The Japanese man you mean?"
+
+"Ay, the Jap.  But I was going to-day to the Mandarin Johnny to hear
+_his_ business, and if he means the same, I smell _war_, my lad!"
+
+"But how will that benefit you, sir?"
+
+"It will benefit the Company if the Government takes up any transports,
+and makes a contract with the _Fêng Shui_.  See?  Now let us go on
+board, dress, and see the mandarin later."
+
+We went off in a sampan to the steamer, which was lying off a little,
+awaiting orders.  The captain took me ashore, dressed in a neat
+uniform, and I rather fancied myself in it.  We landed, chartered two
+"rickshas," or jinrickshas, a Japanese importation, and were trotted
+out to the bamboo-shaded house, amid the scent of lovely flowers of all
+colours and perfumes--frangipanni, jessamine, roses--which the natives
+arrange in tasteful bouquets in the streets.
+
+The "ricksha," pulled rapidly by the coolies, passed along the hilly
+thoroughfares under the hot and stifling sunlight.  It was not a very
+bad day either, and yet in our cool white suits, and under wide
+umbrellas, the heat was quite sufficient that afternoon, and we were
+compelled to change on our return from our "pidgin" with the "Number
+One Johnny"--the high-class mandarin, to wit.
+
+This mandarin lived in a bungalow, and affected certain tastes in
+deference to his neighbours--the English.  He spoke the language well,
+and though he was dressed in Chinese fashion, and was a perfect
+Chinaman in appearance, he had risen above his people in many ways.  We
+entered the house, which was almost destitute of all the attributes of
+British houses, no curtains, nor carpets, nor rugs, nor anything to
+_heat_ one to look at; on the contrary, all things were cool--bamboo
+chairs, high casements, wide windows, stained floor, fans and punkahs
+waving automatically, it seemed, but, of course, pulled outside.
+
+We were ushered in by a Chinese "boy," and into the presence of the
+"Number One man."  He was dressed in the usual well-known fashion--a
+loose robe, with trousers, long sleeves to his garment, stuff shoes,
+and of course a fan.  His keen eyes were shaded by spectacles.  His
+shaven head and pendant pigtail and queer eyes betokened the true
+Chinaman.
+
+After salutations, by rubbing his hands over each other, he asked in
+what he had deserved the tremendous honour which my captain had done
+him in visiting his most miserable hut.
+
+The captain in reply mentioned certain instructions he had just
+received, and suggested that the "Number One man" knew something of his
+errand.  What did the mandarin think of the steamer _Fêng Shui_?
+
+"It is a solid vessel, and can carry soldiers?" he asked quickly, after
+some other remarks had passed.  The Chinaman dispensed with any
+compliments just then; he offered us tea, but did not taste it then.
+
+"Yes," replied the captain with deference, "she will suit for a
+transport.  _The Japanese wish for her_."
+
+The spectacles flashed at us, the fan waved, but no irritation was
+otherwise expressed.
+
+"Has the Japan Government purchased the 'inside' steamer?" (screw).
+
+"No, highness; I declined the offer.  I am awaiting yours."
+
+"Your terms for the steamship for three months, if we wish to send it
+with your crew to Corea?"
+
+The captain paused a while, then he named a sum which made me look out
+of the window, I nearly smiled.  I did not know the value of steam
+transports fitted for service; it meant hundreds a day!  Hundreds for
+that small steamer and crew--and, of course, officers.
+
+At length the transaction was completed.  The tea was drunk then, not
+before.  We bowed ourselves out, and regained the _Fêng Shui_, where
+the mate was in charge.
+
+"Well," said the first officer, "what's happened?"
+
+The captain told him our experiences, and mentioned the conclusions at
+which he had arrived.
+
+"Look here," he said in a low tone, "mark ye this, there's going to be
+a fuss between these two countries.  They are both trying to get ahead
+of the other, and I understand that Corea has a finger in the pie.
+That Japanese I told ye of--the man I pointed out to ye," he continued,
+addressing the mate--"ye know."
+
+"Ay, ay; but he's not a Jap!"
+
+"Not a Jap!  What d'ye mean?" exclaimed the captain angrily.
+
+"What I say, captain; _he's_ no Jap!  He and his pal are Coreans.  _I_
+can see that.  Look at his sleepy face under that 'bowler' hat--a
+disguise!  He isn't a Jap; and he wants a secret passage, you say.
+Things are getting mixed all round.  He's up to no good."
+
+"Well, maybe ye're right, Rose," replied the captain.  "But why do ye
+think the Corean men are cutting in against us?"
+
+"I only know what I have seen; I've seen two Coreans searching for a
+vessel to-day--and on the sly, I hear.  They are up to something; and
+it's all round queer, because they have a Chinese and a Japanese with
+them.  Four together, and only the Jap looks honest."
+
+"They can't hurt us, so no matter.  I'd like to know what they are
+scheming, by the same token.  There's war in it, and the Company's
+agent knows it.  I'll fix it, and we may have to steam for Shanghai on
+sight.  We'll get steam up, Mr. Rose; pass the word for Jenkins."
+
+Mr. Jenkins was the "chief engineer," and he came to confer with the
+captain in due course.
+
+I obtained leave for the evening.  Fancying that I could clear up the
+mystery of the Japs and Coreans, I took a sampan, and went out on
+search through the harbour for the hired, secret vessel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A SECRET MISSION--KIDNAPPED!--THE SCHOONER--THE ASSASSIN
+
+As I did not wish my chief to know whither I was bound, I went ashore
+first, and strolled about in the cooler hour of the evening, and even
+penetrated into the queer Chinese slums where little drums of the
+peddlers, and the chatter and smells and heat, soon drove me back to
+the parade, away from the houses of the natives.  Their stupid faces,
+so smooth and greasy-looking, their odd dress, long pigtails (of the
+men), the coarse, rolled hair, pinned in masses (of the females), both
+sexes being costumed nearly alike, quite put me off.  Even some
+experience of the country has not impressed me in favour of the native
+of China.
+
+So I returned to the water, and calling a "sampan" got the number of
+the man taken--for many people have been "missed" from a Chinese boat
+at evening--and told my man to propel me across the harbour towards
+Kow-loon.  This is in China, where the change of the scenery is marked
+and wild; but I did not come for the prospect, I wanted to search the
+further side of the harbour, which is about a mile across and ten
+square miles in extent.
+
+If the Coreans had an idea of secrecy, I imagined they would rather
+seek a small sailing vessel--perhaps a junk rather than a steamer,
+though, of course, the latter would be more speedy, and more certain if
+a storm arose.  But they would sail by the north channel, so I made for
+the north point, the extremity of the peninsula of Kow-loon, which is
+under British authority by lease.
+
+I passed amid the ships of all kinds, large and small, which crowd the
+harbour; boat-houses (literally dwelling-houses) of the natives who at
+Hong Kong, as at Canton and Shanghai, and other places, live in the
+wherries in aggregate thousands.  Small and limited is the
+accommodation, truly, when a family, with a pig, and perhaps ducks,
+live on board.  The chances are in favour of drowning; but the _male_
+children are tied to the gunwale; the girls are let to go as they
+please, and if they disappear--it is "only a girl"!  There is little
+care for life in China--of the natives, I mean--and least of all for
+female children.
+
+The evening was drawing in, and I had not found any vessel on which I
+recognised the so-called "Japs."  There were hundreds of ships of all
+sorts, and I was pleased to hear a hail in English from a clipper
+schooner as I was passing in the dusk.
+
+I pulled alongside the vessel whence the "hail" had come, and, when
+close aboard, I recognised the speaker as a friend who had assisted me
+once or twice in the past when I had been unhappy and in need.  His
+name was Eagan.
+
+Glancing along the trim and natty decks of the schooner, I gained the
+gangway.  The little ship was ready to put to sea, the anchor was
+already weighed, and the schooner was only fast to a buoy, for the
+breeze was light.  I recognised the craft as a former smuggling vessel,
+and named _Harada_ by her late owner.  She traded in "natives" up the
+coast, and to Formosa, the Pescadores, and as far as Shanghai, or even
+farther north.
+
+"Hallo! back again?" I cried, as I clasped Eagan's hand.
+
+"Why, certainly," he replied; "think I'd scooted?  What are _you_
+prowling about for?"
+
+"Simple curiosity," I said.  "Thanks, yes, I'll have a 'peg," I added,
+as he indicated refreshment by a nod in the direction of the cabin.
+
+"A tidy berth this," I continued.  "Suits you, anyway."
+
+"Yes, not badly.  What's your _simple curiosity_ led you to?  I can
+estimate the curiosity, but I don't see where the simplicity comes in."
+
+"Really?" I asked, as I watched him mixing a soothing draught.
+
+"No, really.  What's your spot?  What's your little game?"
+
+"My game!  I'm just sculling around--that's all."
+
+"By accident.  One of your freaks, o' course!  Still acting on the
+_Fêng Shui_, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes; but confirmed now--second."
+
+"Ah!  Going north yet?"
+
+"Presently--I mean by and by.  When do _you_ sail again?"
+
+"When I receive sailin' orders.  Maybe to-morrow--maybe never."
+
+"Come, Eagan, you're mysterious, for _you_!  Your anchor's a-peak, and
+you are loosing sails.  You are just off.  What's the game?  Whither
+bound--honour bright?"
+
+He paused and looked at his tumbler, then raised it and looked at the
+lamp through the liquid the glass contained.  He slowly brought his
+eyes back upon mine, and said--
+
+"Honour it is!  Chemulpo perhaps--Shanghai certain."
+
+"Oh!" I exclaimed.  "I say, Eagan, what's your _Jap_ up to?"  He
+started and stared at me, then he replied--
+
+"I say, Jule, what's your _Chinese_ up to?"
+
+"_Rats_," I replied.  "What's the coil _here_?"
+
+"_Snakes_," he retorted.  "What's your notion?"
+
+He suspected me; and I fancied that I had by accident hit upon the
+Coreans' vessel, or of the vessel they had chartered, perhaps.
+
+I kept staring at the skipper; he was silently staring at me.  Neither
+would say the word he was anxious to say.  A pause ensued.
+
+"Well," I said at length, "I must be off.  No more, thanks.  'Pegs' are
+likely to upset one in the dark; anyway, they don't steady one."
+
+"P'raps not," he replied.  "Well, so-long, mate; we'll meet sometimes,
+I hope."
+
+"Certain!  I see your sails are loosed, Eagan.  I'd better be going.
+Ta-ta!"
+
+"Good-night.  Hallo! where's your boat?"
+
+I rushed to the side.  My sampan and the boatman had disappeared.
+
+"Hang it!  I say, skipper, send me ashore, please," I cried anxiously.
+"We may sail by daybreak."
+
+"I'm just as sorry as sin, but I can't.  My dinghy's ashore, and I've
+no time to man another.  I guess you'll have to wait a while."
+
+"What do you mean?  Remain here?  I can't."
+
+"Guess ye must, Jule boy, till morning.  Say, there's a signal.  That's
+my boss comin' alongside.  Show lights!" he called out.  "Gangway!"
+
+Three or four men, dark-featured fellows, Chinese apparently, came
+abaft, and a European mate came up from the cabin somewhere.
+
+I saw a light flashing from a boat which quickly came alongside the
+schooner.  I walked to the counter and watched it.  The occupants were
+two short men in the stern, two natives in the bow, and two sailors
+rowing.
+
+The lanterns gleamed as the men stepped on deck from the stern-sheets
+of the boat.  They were wrapped up, but I knew one of them.  He was the
+quasi-Japanese officer whom my captain had spoken with.  These men were
+escaping perhaps--whither?  What plans had they been maturing--what
+plots had they been framing in British territory?
+
+The foremost arrival did not notice me, the second did,--he I did not
+know at all,--but neither made any remark to me.  The officer, as I may
+term him, turned to Eagan, and said in English, clearly--
+
+"Stand out at once, please.  Make for Shanghai direct."
+
+Eagan nodded merely, and said, "All right, boss."  Then he gave a few
+orders which the mate repeated, and in five minutes the schooner was
+passing out by the north channel.
+
+"Eagan," I said, "where are you taking me?  I _must_ join my ship."
+
+He shook his head, and went to the wheel himself, leaving me raging.  I
+followed him.
+
+"Do you hear?" I cried.  "This is piracy.  I'll give the alarm if you
+do not put me ashore.  Hail a boat!"
+
+"Just lie low, Jule.  Wait till we reach Shanghai, you'll find the
+steamer there, I expect, and if not you can wire; so be easy, boy."
+
+"I'll make a row for this!" I cried, feeling enraged with him.
+
+"If ye do I'll put ye overboard.  The crew are Chinese, and no one will
+care except me.  So, keep still, and I'll land you safely up at
+Shanghai; best so, I tell ye."
+
+"Then you are hired to carry these fellows; I see.  There is something
+wrong here, Eagan, and you shouldn't do it."
+
+"It's no business of mine, lad.  I'm paid for the passage, and when
+they land it's finished.  Your old screw will be in Shanghai before us.
+There's nothing wrong in the case so far as I see _yet_; I'll tell you
+more in a while.  Go and have some supper."
+
+I was very much annoyed by this departure, and began to grumble at the
+skipper; he only laughed at first, and then got angry in his turn,
+until the mate came aft and dragged me below, where we supped in amity.
+
+"Take no notice of anything," said my new friend; "but, 'tween you and
+me, there's going to be trouble about this.  For one of these chaps has
+been induced by the other to clear out of Victoria and to go to
+Shanghai.  I can understand some of the lingo, and it's plain to me
+that the man named Oh Sing, or Kim,--I can't quite catch it,--is rather
+frightened of the boss, whose name is Lung.  The Lung man won't let him
+out of his sight, and if a chance comes I suspect Mr. Lung will punish
+the other fellow."
+
+"What's his object, then?" I asked.
+
+"Can't say.  Eagan is suspicious, too, of these Coreans.  One fellow is
+evidently nervous, and keeps his Japanese servant near him all the
+time.  The captain don't want any fuss on board this ship, you
+understand."
+
+"Well, I shall say nothing.  We shan't be long in reaching Shanghai,
+and there I can quit, eh?"
+
+"Certainly--why yes, of course.  Now, when you're finished, we shall go
+on deck.  The captain will want to go down then, and you shall watch
+with me if you like.  Keep your eyes skinned."
+
+"You scent danger then?"
+
+"In two ways.  The glass is falling; that, after such a jumpy time as
+we've had, means tempest.  You know that?"
+
+I nodded, and he proceeded.
+
+"Then, again, we must never leave these passengers to themselves,
+unless the weather's very bad, because there'll be trouble.  If the
+weather's bad they'll all be sick, and near dead anyway.  So let us
+pray for typhoon, mister."
+
+"I shall not," was my reply.  "When you see the barometer waltzing down
+to twenty-eight degrees or so you'll pray for something more
+interesting to yourself!  Keep an eye upon the Coreans by all means,
+but watch the glass whatever you do."
+
+We were strolling up and down the weather-side of the deck.  The wind
+was off shore, and a bit abaft the beam.  As we cleared the Channel we
+spun along the ripples, sending the "phosphorus" flying around the
+stern, and light-up the forepart to the chains.  The sky was perfectly
+clear, and the mate hoped to reach Formosa quickly with such a breeze.
+
+We were still strolling at four bells, ten o'clock, and then I felt
+inclined to turn in somewhere.
+
+"Take my bunk in the inner cabin.  If you hear anything, just let me or
+the skipper know.  Those fellows have a game on if I am not mistaken;
+but no 'revenge' in this ship, I say."
+
+He nodded at me significantly in the soft light by the binnacle.  The
+steersman was a Lascar.  The crew was composed of a variety of natives;
+but in the cold weather of the northern sea the Lascars were as
+dead--and died too.
+
+"Good-night," I said.  "I'll find my way."
+
+I stepped softly down the stairs, and passed through the "saloon" or
+eating-cabin.  I found the berth close by, and tumbled in by the dim
+light of a swinging candle-lamp of the spring-up pattern, as we used to
+call it.  The company in the saloon had dispersed; the captain had
+quitted it some time before, and the two Coreans and the Japanese
+servant, who stuck to Oh Sing, parted.  The man Lung, I fancied,
+disposed himself in the saloon.  The other came and looked at me, and
+perceiving that I did not stir, he, after a pause, _crawled_ out, hands
+and knees, on the floor, and vanished in the darkness outside the berth.
+
+The wind was rising, the sea was following suit.  I slept lightly as
+usual, when I was awakened by a breathing close to my face.  I opened
+my eyes quickly, and started up.
+
+A knife flashed in my face.  I seized it, and shouted, "Help!"
+
+At the moment I cried out I sprang up.  Someone at the same time
+extinguished the already expiring lamp, and as I leaped upon the
+deck-floor I distinctly heard _something_ retiring.  I called again,
+and the captain came down into the dark and silent saloon.
+
+"What's the matter?" he asked.  "Is that you, Mr. Julius?  Had a bad
+dream, I reckon, eh?  What are you doing here, anyway?"
+
+He turned a ship's lantern upon my scared countenance as he was
+speaking.
+
+"No; someone came into the berth and flashed a knife in my eyes.  If I
+had not called out I would have been stabbed."
+
+"Nonsense, nonsense," said the captain, who still blinked the light
+upon my alarmed looks.  "There are no murderers here, lad.  But tell me
+how you came in here; this berth belongs to the passengers."
+
+"The mate told me I would find a bunk in his berth."
+
+"Likely; but this isn't his.  This belongs to one of my passengers--to
+Mr. Oh Sing."
+
+"To him!" I exclaimed, recalling the hints of the mate.  "Then perhaps
+somebody intended to stab _him_!"
+
+The skipper looked at me steadily for quite half a minute, without
+speaking.  Then he replied--
+
+"Better come on deck, sonny; you'll see no knives there, and may bear a
+hand for me.  I think, somehow, a storm is coming up.  Look slippy
+now," he said, as he went to examine the other "rooms" astern.
+
+I looked as slippy as possible, but "look sleepy" was just then the
+more correct expression, as I ascended the stairs to the deck.  The
+breezy, somewhat cool, night soon dissipated the feelings of sloth
+which remained in my eyes, and I was able to grasp the aspects of the
+surroundings, which were, after all, pleasanter than the revealed
+dangers of the cabin.
+
+The mate was forward, and I took up my position by the wheel so as to
+look well ahead and around.  There was a low grating astern, on that I
+stood and cast my eyes over the sails.
+
+The schooner was slipping away north-east, the wind still just a little
+abaft the beam, and filling all our sails.  The _Harada_ was a topsail
+schooner--that is, she carried small square sails aloft on the
+foremast, and as I reflected, with a fast-beating heart, upon the very
+narrow escape I had had below, my glance was fixed upon the topsail,
+which seemed pulling hard at intervals.  Then the wind would slacken
+again, the cloths would remain at their former tension, and all well.
+
+The sky was beautifully blue-black and clear, and I calculated that we
+should reach Shanghai in about six days, supposing no bad weather
+intervened.  I felt very happy and comfortable there, in command,
+nominally, of the vessel, though I wondered why the skipper remained
+below.
+
+After a while I became convinced that the breeze was increasing, and
+more than that, in a jerky, uncertain manner which I did not like.  We
+had plenty of sail on the vessel, jib, stayforesail, topsail, fore and
+aft foresail, and mainsail.  I fancied we ought to furl the topsail at
+anyrate, and I called the captain through the skylight.
+
+Eagan came up smartly, and after a comprehensive look around, said--
+
+"Mr. Julius, just call the hands, will you?  Watch will reduce sail,"
+he cried.  "Be smart, lads!"
+
+The watch, who had been resting in the "shade" of the bulwarks, at once
+arose at the summons, and I ran forward to call all hands, but the mate
+anticipated me and turned the men up.
+
+"Come, Mr. Julius, will you lead the men aloft for me?  I must get the
+mainsail stowed and the jib down."
+
+"Aloft, boys!" I exclaimed, and was in a moment leading the hands up
+the rigging.  "Crikey," it did blow up there then!  All of a sudden, as
+it seemed, the wind increased, and when we attempted to secure the sail
+it flapped and banged us about so that it was with great difficulty we
+even commenced to secure it.  But the six skilful hands managed it, and
+by holding on "by our eyelids" and "legs and necks" we got the square
+topsail secured to the yard in fair style.  Luckily the true tempest
+had not then broken, and we got the yard down.
+
+Then came the struggle.  Sail after sail was reduced as fast as
+possible, and came down rapidly, racing the mercury in the tube which
+was leaping lower and lower.  All hands were on deck except the
+passengers, and the sea came drifting in foam and spray across the
+ship.  The _Harada_ dashed into the short seas, which rose landward, as
+if ejected by big hands underneath with no roller-force; but the wind
+made noise enough in the shrouds and cordage to deafen us, and even the
+boats slapped and almost danced adrift from the davits, and filled with
+rain-water.
+
+I thought we would escape easily, but Eagan roared in my ear that this
+was the beginning.  He was right.  The furious blast seized the sturdy
+little ship at one moment, and snapping some ropes like whipcord, sent
+them flying around our heads and beyond.  The schooner dipped and
+dipped, lower and lower; strake after strake disappeared, until the
+planks seemed to become lost, and the vessel to be settling beam under.
+The passengers set up a horrible scream, they were too greatly alarmed
+to fight, no doubt; and even the best of us thought of the great and
+solemn inevitable end.
+
+All this time the sea was most terrible, the wind and darkness were
+awful, the foam simply a white mist around us.  The vessel suddenly
+rose up again, was again depressed, again lifted as the squall
+subsided; and after four such experiences, each one bringing our masts
+down to the waves, and the last one smashing the mizzen-topmast short
+at the cap, we floated more steadily.  The wind changed, smote us again
+on the starboard quarter, after blowing in a circle for a couple of
+hours, and we rested on a trembling sea, drenched with spray and rain,
+and dishevelled.
+
+Most fortunately our masts stood the strain, and our ballast did not
+shift.  Had the latter given way we must have been swamped, or we must
+have cut away the masts.  However, we pulled through the cyclone, or
+"typhoon" as they call it out there, and in seven days we ran into the
+river at Shanghai not much the worse after all, though with a jury
+topmast and spliced rigging.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+SHANGHAI: ITS IMPRESSIONS--MURDER!--A RESCUE, AND A HAPPY ENCOUNTER
+
+The steamer had proceeded up the coast, threading the Chinese
+Archipelago in the direction of the southern entrance to the
+Yang-Tse-Chiang, as English people mis-name it.  The Chinese name it
+_Kiang_, or _Ta Kiang_, the former being the "river," the latter the
+"great river" (Kiang-tsi being the province).  The Kiang runs for three
+thousand miles through North and Southern China, and is available for
+steamers for a long distance inland.  The contrast between the blue
+ocean and the mud-tinged waters of the river is observable far from
+land.
+
+To approach Shanghai we were compelled to proceed carefully in our
+little ship, because the Woosung River, on which the settlement is so
+well situated, is narrow and shallow in comparison with the Kiang.  But
+when the last corner is turned and the concession comes into view, with
+its wharfs, brewery, cathedral, trees, fine houses, quays and streets,
+well supplied with water, gas, electric light, post-offices,
+telegraphs, and pillar-boxes; police of sorts, from the British
+"blue-bottle" to the Chinese "copper" in knickerbockers and gaiters,
+supplemented by the Sikh or Indian guardian of the peace in a blazing
+turban, who would more quickly disperse any youthful gathering in
+England by his mere appearance at the corner than the "bobby" of
+British aspect at home, the visitor is astonished.
+
+The schooner anchored in the stream, and I was greatly surprised by the
+evidences of wealth which the beautiful houses and the esplanade, the
+wharfs and shipping, denoted.  All these are so different from the
+ideas which the average and untravelled Britisher has conceived of
+China, that if he do not visit Hong Kong on the way out, nor stay in
+San Francisco on the way round, he will be fairly astonished at
+Shanghai, when he first views the settlements, and its prosperity.
+
+Three concessions line the river, namely, the English, the American,
+and the French.  The two former are united in their Government, and
+separated by creeks and bridges.  The English and American settlements
+are well kept, clean, and well looked after.  The French, which lies by
+the Chinese outside-settlement, was rather badly kept, and even a
+British "ricksha" was not permitted to cross the French line.  A
+roadway lined by trees, like a boulevard, runs between the houses and
+the river, which is embanked, like the Thames in London.  The Chinese
+city of Shanghai is walled and separated from the "foreign devils'"
+location, it is most truly Chinese, which means a great deal.  Woosung
+is the port.
+
+I was pondering upon my intended movements, when Eagan came amidships
+to where I was gazing at the crowded river, and asked me what I
+proposed to do.
+
+"Suppose you'll go ashore and have a spree?" he said.
+
+"Can't I stay where I am?" I asked.  "I have not much money, and am
+ignorant of the place, though I hear there are boarding-houses for
+sailors."
+
+"Hum--yes," he said doubtfully.  "We're going into dock, and I think
+you'd better go to the hotel.  My passengers are landing, and are going
+to the Japanese hotel in the American section, now.  They won't mind
+you anyhow.  The place is cheap and good, I hear.  If you stay there
+to-night you may find the Consulate in the morning, and get a wire
+perhaps, or letters, or any news possible."
+
+I thought Mr. Eagan wished me away, and I consented to his suggestion
+at once.  He seemed relieved by my assent.
+
+"See, now," he proceeded, "here's _cash_ for you, never mind paying.
+We're bound to refit, and you'll have twice the fun ashore than you'd
+have with me in the 'muss.'  You've never been up here?  Laws!  Then go
+ashore with my passengers.  Never mind the want of baggage, it's aboard
+your ship," he said, winking, "but I'll lend you a change, and a few
+things till to-morrow."
+
+Under the circumstances I considered that Eagan's plan was best, and
+besides he did not want me any more than the four passengers, and I did
+not press the matter further.  The skipper gave me some dollars and a
+quantity of _cash_, and passed me amid the crowd of chattering coolies
+who scented passengers and a job.  After a struggle, in which Eagan had
+upset several of the most unfortunate of the coolies, the valise he had
+filled for me was hoisted by the chosen one of the mob, and borne by
+him to the Japanese hotel in Honkiew, the "American" settlement, which,
+with the British and French settlements, are entirely separated from
+the Chinese city, though the rich Chinese prefer the foreign quarter.
+
+The foreign concession is surrounded by streams and ditch from the
+rest, and is virtually an island isolated.  The river bounds one side,
+and brooks the others; one crossed bridges and ditches, and finds
+change _and_ decay!  There is an Anglo-Chinese settlement, but all the
+foreign side is clean, well lighted by lamps and electricity, with fine
+houses, warehouses, and public buildings.  Shanghai is no longer China
+in the settlements.
+
+In the American settlement my friend Eagan, whom I suspected was an
+American bred, had indicated the hotel on the Broadway.  To this I
+repaired, and was quickly furnished with a room which in itself was not
+lavishly supplied in this manner.  However, it was clean, and proved
+comfortable, and I slept, rocked, in imagination, by the heaving sea.
+
+I awoke late, and was engaged in various "extension motions" ere
+preparing to dress, when my calisthenics were suddenly brought to a
+conclusion by the sound of a pistol shot.  Was this imagination?  I
+hastily attired myself in pyjamas again, but before I had quite
+finished, another, and another shot rang out in the corridor!
+
+I dashed out, but seeing no one, though inhaling the smoke of the
+discharges, I ran to the head of the stairs.  Three or four others came
+on the scene immediately, and a number of persons came rushing up from
+below.  I pushed on, and stared in horror at the sight.  A dead and
+bleeding body lay before me!
+
+It was that of Oh Sing, or Kim, the smaller of the two Coreans who had
+sailed in the _Harada_.
+
+I started back.  Then Lung had been revenged!  I began to appreciate
+the danger I had escaped on board the schooner.  Here was the victim,
+shot dead in the "Japanese" hotel!  Truly I had had a most marvellous
+escape.  Lung had evidently intended to assassinate his companion in
+the berth which I had unwittingly occupied.  What had been the object
+of the murderer?  These reflections hurried through my mind like
+lightning, and the spectators began to compare notes concerning the
+incident even while carrying the dead man back to his room.  As we thus
+retraced our steps, we managed to put the facts together, and when the
+doctor arrived he asked me what I had witnessed.  My testimony was
+brief but important, and the Consul's representative arrived during the
+interview.
+
+The unfortunate Oh Sing had been shot by three bullets, so all the
+discharges had taken effect.  He had been shot through the cheek--the
+left--and again through the stomach--wounds which tended to prove that
+the man must have been lying down when attacked, and that the assassin
+had entered the bedroom.  The left cheek being perforated tended to the
+assumption that the poor victim had been lying on his right side, away
+from the door, when attacked.  He must then have turned, half rising
+up, and received another bullet in front, and then he had fled.  The
+third ball had penetrated below the shoulder, and had found its billet
+in a vital part, for the man had died at the end of the corridor, by
+the stairs down which the man Lung had escaped.
+
+This was a most unfortunate occurrence for the hotel people, and I
+fancied I knew then why Eagan had been so anxious to get the
+passengers, including myself, ashore; and why he had kept the Coreans
+apart when on board.  He knew something--and guessed the rest.
+
+Having given my name to the Consul, and been advised to remain in
+Shanghai for a while, I had breakfast, for which I had little appetite,
+and sauntered out.  My first visit was to the docks to acquaint Eagan
+with the news, but I ascertained that the _Harada_ had sailed at
+daybreak, "leaving no address," so I was compelled to retrace my steps.
+
+I was now in a quandary.  If the _Fêng Shui_ did not come up soon I
+might be arrested as an accomplice in the murder, and all day I
+strolled about within the settlements listening to the strong
+expressions of disgust for the deed.  The murderer must be hanged--that
+was only justice.  The feeling against the Japanese was in a measure
+increasing, and one knows how racial dislikes are fomented in the Far
+East.  I began to look around me cautiously.  I had been already in the
+witness-box, and some fanatic might think it proper to whet his knife
+upon my ribs.  This opportunity I did not desire to afford him.
+
+But for all my care I, of all people, was drawn into a dispute, and
+concerning an arrest--or perhaps I should say an attempted arrest.  I
+was strolling up the road which turns aside from the Bund--a street in
+which European wares are displayed--when I perceived two rather
+peculiar Chinamen following a third Chinese, and evidently "shadowing"
+him.  Perhaps I might not have remarked them had not the "shadowed" man
+halted beside me as I was looking at photographs displayed in a
+well-known shop.  I turned sharply to look at the man.  He struck me as
+different from the ordinary Chinaman, not a coolie, yet not a mandarin
+certainly.  A "middle-class" I may say; a trader, perhaps, but surely
+not a native of South China.
+
+To my astonishment he addressed me in excellent English.
+
+"Can you permit me to accompany you, sir?  Please be cautious."
+
+I stared at the fellow; then thinking that trouble might arise, I made
+no reply.  He spoke again.  The men stood watching us.
+
+"Do not turn away.  I am in danger in these clothes.  Can you assist
+me?  I am a Japanese officer."
+
+"A Jap!" I exclaimed.  "Why this disguise, then?  What are you doing
+here?"
+
+"I have been travelling in China.  The Chinese suspect me in
+consequence of the murder here.  Can I accompany you a while?"
+
+I paused a moment, and at length consented.  We proceeded to the
+Consulate, and were seated upon the bench there, when my new
+acquaintance replied to my request for information by saying--
+
+"I am a sailor--a Japanese junior officer.  Those men intended to kill
+me.  I am searching for news.  They are arming against us."
+
+[Illustration: WE PROCEEDED TO THE CONSULATE]
+
+"Yes," I replied; "I hear as much.  How can I protect you then,
+supposing you are a Japanese officer?  How can I tell that?"
+
+"I can produce my authority, sir," he said gently but firmly.
+
+"Will you disclose your identity to the Consul, then?"
+
+"I would prefer not."
+
+"How, then, can I protect you?  I have no proof of your mission."
+
+"If you permit me to remain with you until evening, I can then meet
+protection."
+
+"Why not address some other Englishman--a merchant or shipper?  There
+are many officers and sailors better than I."
+
+"The merchant would not credit a 'Chinese.'  The natives do not mix
+with the foreigners except in business-talk--'pidgin,' you know.  If
+they betrayed me I might be killed.  I intended to leave here sooner,
+but have found no vessel in which I can yet sail.  The Japanese steamer
+will arrive to-night.  Let me remain with you.  You will be sorry if
+you do not, I daresay."
+
+"You speak English very well," I said.  "You have been in London?"
+
+"Yes," he answered; "I was attached to the Japanese Embassy a while--at
+least, I was a student in London, and met with much kindness.  My
+brother, who is in our army, was also in England at one time."
+
+"Can you tell me the names of any people in England who knew you?"
+
+"Oh, certainly," he said, smiling at me as if I had asked an awkward
+question.  Then he mentioned several people well known, and at least
+one family with whom my people were acquainted, their residence, and
+friends.  I was almost convinced.
+
+"Very well," I said after a pause, "I will take you to the hotel; but
+you must talk bad English, and attend me to the various places I want
+to see."
+
+"Can do," he replied promptly.
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked, in surprise.
+
+"Can do; makee talk chop-chop.  Alle same Melican-man."
+
+"Pelican?  What _do_ you mean?  Are you sensible?  What's Pelican?
+Food?"
+
+"No," he replied, smiling broadly, "Melican-man is an American in the
+pidgin.  Melican."
+
+"Oh, I thought you said _pelican_ first, not _pigeon_."  He smiled.
+
+"I was chattering coolie-pidgin.  'Can do' means 'can,' simply.  I
+implied that I would attend you, that's all.  Please be careful."
+
+"Of you, or of myself?" I asked, smiling in return.  "All right, let us
+go to the hotel.  You can remain there a while, then we will take a
+stroll, and perhaps by the time we have returned we may find your ship
+in the stream.  I am also expecting a vessel."
+
+"Which vessel?  British?"
+
+"Yes, British built,--a steamer, _Fêng Shui_.  Heard of it?"
+
+"Not a steamer.  _Fêng Shui_ is Chinese--superstition.  The men are
+leaving us, see!  But they will return.  Shall we move?"
+
+We rose, and looked round us.  I felt rather nervous.  Suddenly my
+young Japanese cried--
+
+"There she is!  _Kyodo Maya_.  My ship for Japan."
+
+"A merchant steamer!" I exclaimed.  "Not a warship."
+
+"Yes, 'Union Steam.'  I go home.  You have saved my life.  Let me wait
+until the boat comes ashore.  I join my ship at Chemulpo."
+
+I was quite puzzled.  Was this man true or false?  If false, what could
+he gain by selling me?  He appeared honest, and certainly two men were
+watching us still.  He had laid himself open to suspicion, at least.
+
+"Come with me, sir," he said.  "If you will come on board the steamer
+you will understand this.  I assure you I am true, and thankful for
+your society."
+
+"I am also awaiting my ship.  Perhaps your vessel may not wait to put
+me ashore again, and"--
+
+"I am an officer," he interrupted.  "The captain has instructions for
+me."
+
+"But not for me.  See, the men are approaching again.  A boat is being
+launched.  Shall we go to the wharf now?"
+
+We hastened down.  The sun was setting, and the Japanese had certainly
+had an escape.  Even then the bandits looked ugly and revengeful.  The
+"officer" was full of thankfulness and gratitude to me.
+
+"Remember," he said, "if ever we meet I am your debtor.  My name is
+Tomi Taijiro.  My relatives are in the navy and in the mercantile
+service.  My elder brother is in the army.  You will remember you have
+saved my life."
+
+"I am pleased to think so," said I.  "If so, I am truly glad.  I hope
+we shall meet again.  If so, once more, I shall claim your promise.  I
+believe you."
+
+He bowed deeply, lowly fashion, and I wondered for the moment.  But his
+costume warranted the obeisance, and the boat came near.  The two men
+approached us through the throng, and Tomi whispered--
+
+"On guard!  I dare not call assistance.  Stand firm!"
+
+Meantime the steamer's boat was approaching, impelled by Japanese.  The
+Chinamen came closer.  We shifted away amongst the people, and I hailed
+the boat.  The officer made a sign to the coxswain.  The men pulled
+harder.
+
+At that moment the assassins rushed in.  In another moment we might
+have been struck, or even killed.  But we turned suddenly, and
+unexpectedly separated.  Each seized a "coolie"--so they appeared to
+be--and with real luck avoided a stab.  In a second both men were
+swimming for life amid the shouts of the spectators, amid alarms and
+cries from natives.
+
+"What is it?" asked some anxiously.  "What has happened?  Were they
+thrown in?"
+
+"An accident," I replied, nodding at Tomi as I turned away.  The boat
+came up, and he was rowed away, to the surprise of the onlookers on the
+wharf, who had not seen the struggle.
+
+Then I returned, and remained indoors next day till afternoon.
+
+As no one molested me, I became more easy in my mind as the day wore
+on, and I began to look about me with more interest.  From the fine
+parade along the river,--the Bund it is called,--with its turfed
+slopes, Shanghai is alive, right away to the men-of-war, local
+steamers, and launches.  The streets are full, even crowded, with
+passers-by and rickshas--the original "Pull-man car of Shanghai."  On
+the Bund the business is performed, and its occupants are indeed busy.
+It is a wonderful sight for the stranger from Europe, who expects
+things to be Chinese-like.  In the Maloo, or chief road, cabs,
+broughams, barrows, and horsemen jostle each other daily.
+
+This is not China!  It is London, Paris, New York.  Fine houses and
+broad pavements; banks, hotels, imposing buildings, a cathedral.  Great
+ships and little boats, sampans.  Vessels loading and unloading, noise
+and bustle, cranes and steam-whistles.  Babel of language, and the
+never-ceasing chatter of the Chinaman and his friends.  _Cash! cash!
+cash!_  Merchants, coolies, rickshas, runners, porters; Chinese dodging
+the carts, and avoiding the "foreign devils"; yet, at times, driving in
+British landaus driven by a Chinese.  Such a confusion, such fun and
+variety; yet all over it, for me, hung the shadow of the crime of the
+Corean which led to War!
+
+I crossed the bridge, and visited the Chinese-European sections,--not
+the city of Shanghai,--and the French Quai des Fossés, and the familiar
+notice of the continent of Europe--"defendu!"  The Chinese possess in
+their section no landaus, they hire wheelbarrows like Mr. Pickwick's.
+Here one can examine the shops and the natives at leisure.  You may see
+the deformed feet, and the really unpleasant supplies of food which the
+Chinaman consumes, and the frequent coffin which he will occupy later
+when he dies of "carrion dishes."
+
+And all this primitive, conservative, old-world practice in the midst
+of modern civilisation--electric light, steam, and even comparatively
+broad streets, high houses, and wide roads,--but not China.
+
+I put in the three last items because Chinese natives have no roads, as
+we called them, no high houses as in Europe, and no _streets_.  The
+streets are alleys; the houses deep, not high; the roads, paths!  All
+is topsy-turvy; even the house-roof is made and put up before the
+walls; and politeness consists in depreciating oneself to the visitor.
+The lady of the house is a nonentity, and the meaning of "wife" is
+merely "_the woman who uses the broom_" or servant!  In Shanghai
+Anglo-China you may be amused and interested, but in a Chinese town,
+such as Amoy, or Shanghai, or Hankow, you will be disgusted, and unless
+strong in all ways, come away absolutely sick and ill.  The sights, the
+smells, the open drains, the filth, the putrid food, and the personal
+dirtiness, will, in a quarter of an hour, repel all but the devoted
+seeker and the confirmed and robust smoker.[1]
+
+
+[1] The wealthy Chinese are yearly becoming less conservative in their
+habits, and their wives are now in evidence in carriages.
+
+
+But when within European districts one may see something, and satisfy
+legitimate curiosity; perhaps even in the peep-shows, though here again
+the taste of the native is for "high" meats; and "blue" incidents, as
+in the theatre and such places, are evident.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+When I arose next morning I heard that Lung had been arrested, and that
+the inquest was to be held at once.  Lung did not seem in any way
+interested, and declared that he had acted under directions from high
+authority in Corea.  However that may have been, he was not hanged nor
+imprisoned, but handed by the consuls to the Chinese, and departed in a
+man-of-war.
+
+Being much interested in the case, I kept watch, and discovered that
+the man would be conveyed away by night to Corea.  As I was wondering
+how I could find out the fact, and conceal myself from the police, I
+saw a well-known figure making for the Consulate, near which I was
+seated.  I rushed up and accosted the new-comer.
+
+"Captain Goldheugh!  This _is_ luck!"
+
+"Julius!  By thunder! is it yourself entirely?  Well now, look at that!
+I was going to the Consulate for ye.  Look at that!"
+
+This was an apostrophe, a favourite expression with the skipper.
+
+"And ye're not dead at all?" he asked, after a hearty shake, twice
+repeated.
+
+"Not at all," I replied, laughing.  "Delighted to see you, captain."
+
+"So am I, bedad!  Why, the steamer was _crying_ for ye, and wouldn't
+steam scarcely, and we declared it was the name did it--_Fêng Shui_, no
+less.  I am thinking of changing it.  I am so!"
+
+"Why, sir?  Surely _Fêng Shui_ is no harm?"
+
+"No harm, is it?  Bedad, it may mean anything--in China; and as we're
+Chinese now--a Chinese transport I think I'll make it, bedad!--I'm
+going to the Consul to _report_ the _Kowshing_.  I never did like the
+name _Fêng Shui_--in China.  I was told it was unlucky."
+
+"Why?  What does it mean?" I asked, as we continued our way.
+
+"_Fêng Shui_?  I told ye it means 'wind and weather,'--but also their
+influences; things which cannot be exactly understood, but which, like
+electricity, are evident.  In China _Fêng Shui_ generally means a
+grave."
+
+"That's cheerful, anyway," I muttered.
+
+"And whether the place is 'good' or 'bad' depends very much upon the
+imagination or estimation of the persons interested.  There are
+'professors' who profess to understand _Fêng Shui_, but I needn't say
+they are mostly humbugs, and only try to make money out of ye.  But I
+think China is getting much wiser, and less conservative in many ways.
+Ye'll see ladies on bicycles soon--I mean Chinese women; and when ye
+_do_, ye may depend the old restrictions are broken away."
+
+"Then the _Fêng Shui_ is doomed, you mean?"
+
+"Yes, it will be; and the steamer must change her name.  Look here,
+Julius, between you and me and the bedpost, the mate and myself have
+made up our minds to stand the racket for the Company, and chance it.
+The agent holds off, but I see my way to profit by the fuss."
+
+"What fuss?  This murder?"
+
+"Bosh!" exclaimed the captain.  "The _war_!  The Chinese and Japs are
+already at loggerheads about Corea.  This murder business will cause
+the Japs to interfere.  China has already sent soldiers to Corea, and
+the Japs have the right to do the same.  Now ye'll see sparks fly!"
+
+"I'm afraid I do not quite understand it."
+
+"Well, well!  Can't ye understand the difference between Conservatives
+and Progressives?  Yes!  Then Japan is progressive, and the Chinese the
+other way.  The Johnnies objected to Corea being made progressive, as
+the Japanese tried to make it, because Japan is advancing to European
+perfections.  That very fellow who was killed two days ago was an
+adherent of Japanese advance, and the old Coreans' style opposed him.
+Some years ago (in 1882) the Japanese had to fly out of Corea; they
+sent troops to punish the natives, the Chinese did the same, for the
+sake of making peace.  But the Corean Progressives attacked the Corean
+Conservatives, who retaliated, and drove the Progressive party out in
+1884.
+
+"Then it was arranged that both China and Japan, the Conservative and
+Progressive motive-powers, should each send troops to Corea if the
+other did, and the treaty between Li Hung Chang and Count Ito lasted
+for nine years, till now--1894.  And _now_," concluded the skipper,
+"Mr. Oh Sing, or Kim, has again thrown the fat into the fire.  He's
+been killed,--he was a 'Progressive,' ye understand,--and the consuls,
+or one of them, has caused the murderer to be sent by the Chinese to
+Corea to the king, free and unpunished!  Bedad, my lad, we'll see more
+sparks out o' these flints yet!"
+
+"Then the Conservative Corean has killed the Progressive Corean?"
+
+"Just so; and the Chinese, being Conservative, have saved the murderer,
+and sent him home in a _man-of-war_!  In a Government ship!  Sent him
+home with honours!  Sure the Japs won't stand that."
+
+"I suppose it was a planned thing?"
+
+"Certainly; a plot,--a decoy.  You, somehow, came in the vessel, and, I
+hear, got into trouble almost.  If the King of Corea instructed the man
+Lung, or Hung, and if he goes back unpunished, then ye'll see some
+'fun,' as people call it."
+
+"And the Chinese expect something?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, they do.  They're searching for transports on the quiet; and when
+I have changed the _Fêng Shui_ to _Kowshing_, and settled the bad luck,
+then we'll just go up to the Yellow Sea, and look in at Taku."
+
+"Why at Taku?'
+
+"Because I _hear_, quite by accident (accidentally on purpose, as my
+uncle used to say), that the troops for Corea will embark there, if
+anywhere at all.  My game is ready, and the steamer will be there.  If
+I can get the job, I makee much cash; if not, then perhaps one catchee
+die, and get one piecee coffin, as Johnny Coolie might say.  But alle
+samee some day.  Are ye hungry, Julius?  Let's chow-chow, eh?"
+
+"Indeed I am, sir; very hungry."
+
+"So'm I.  I'm a'most dying with the _forgortha_--the hunger, ye
+know,--myself.  Come on then, and have bird's-nest soup and roast rat."
+
+"No thank you," I replied with a shudder,
+
+"Oh, come on, boy!  Have lunch with me, and drink good luck to the
+_Kowshing_ and peace to the _Fêng Shui_.  Come!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE _FÊNG SHUI_ CHANGES HER NAME FOR LUCK--THE TRANSPORT--THE JAPANESE
+MAN-OF-WAR--SURRENDER OF THE _KOWSHING_
+
+We were compelled by circumstances to remain a few days at Shanghai,
+and almost every hour begat new rumours.  Sunday itself was no day of
+rest for the Spirit of Conjecture; she was busier than ever, and
+whether on the Bund or on the concession road, where everybody met all
+the world and his wife and family, the speculations were numerous and
+important.  Only the ugly Amas (Chinese "ayahs"), and their usually
+pale European charges, were exempted from the general discussions.  The
+Chinese, too, were quite quiet, but also perfectly alive to the
+situation.  Those of the settlers who played lawn tennis or other
+games, or cycled,--as most of the "foreign" men did,--paused to discuss
+late events on the grounds, or on the Marine Parade.  The Chinese
+drove, or perhaps walked, but did not "go in for games" as the "foreign
+devils" do; it is better, they think, to pay people to do all this to
+amuse them.
+
+The steamer quitted Shanghai, and made her way into the Yellow Sea,
+which is beautifully blue, and derives its name from the Ho, or Yellow
+River.  Near the land it is more muddy, but steaming at sea through the
+ocean depths the water is blue as an Italian sky.  We made our way up
+to Taku, or Tien Tsin, the well-known port of Northern China.  We
+passed close by Yung Cheng, and rounded Wei-hai-Wei, passed the
+islands, and steamed through the Gulf of Pechili to Taku at the mouth
+of the Pei-Ho.
+
+I was very much interested in this place because a cousin of mine had
+been engaged in the expedition against the Taku forts in 1859, and I
+recollect my admiration when my cousin returned with some beautiful
+Chinese robes, and other articles, which he had purchased, or found, in
+Pekin after the capture of the capital.  These spoils still exist in
+the possession of my cousin's family.
+
+While embarking Chinese soldiers for Corea, we heard many reports of
+the Chinese fleet, the attack of Japanese in Seul, and such
+intelligence, which confirmed my captain in his impression that war had
+already virtually been declared, and that the struggle would be fought
+out by sea and land, between China and Japan, in the Yellow Sea and in
+Corea.  So he made haste to embark the soldiers,--some twelve hundred
+men with twelve guns,--and, when they were settled on board, the
+steamer followed the other transports, of which nine had already
+sailed.  There were two other English steamers employed in the service,
+but we didn't think that any fuss would ensue, because we trusted to
+the "red ensign."
+
+"Well, Julius," said the mate to me, when we had crossed the bar at
+Taku, "here we are on service."
+
+"Yes," I replied; "but it is only transport service.  There will be no
+fighting.  We can't fight, and no one will harm a British ship."
+
+"Let us wait till we reach Corea.  When we reach Asan, and land the
+troops, we shall be able to sing 'Rule Britannia.'"
+
+"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at the mate intently in the dim
+light.  "There is no danger, is there?"
+
+"I suppose you know that the Japanese warships are out in this sea, and
+they expect to meet some Chinese vessels?"
+
+"But we're not Chinese; we're English."
+
+"Just so," said the mate.  "Hadn't you better look after the troops,
+and get them settled.  If any storm gets up, or anything happens, they
+will be like children, and _we_ can't hold them."
+
+"Who's the major?  He's not a Chinese, anyway!"
+
+"No, he's a German, I believe--a Von something--a good fellow, I think.
+You see the Herrs are getting the thin wedge in in China, quietly.
+Look at their travellers already--commercial, I mean--they are turning
+_us_ out!  This major is teaching the army to shoot.  They are very
+young in the modern sense.  Just see that the Johnnies are quiet."
+
+They were peaceful and resigned.  So far as I could ascertain, none of
+them, except the generals, had any notion of what they were sent to
+do--except to fight _somebody_; but they were apparently quite passive
+in the matter, and gave themselves no concern either way.  They were
+machines then; but later they roused themselves unpleasantly.
+
+It was early in the morning of the 25th July 1894; I had been on deck,
+but came up again about eight a.m. because I was informed that the
+islands were in sight off Corea.  I knew the mate was on watch, and he
+might want me.  So I came up to him.
+
+"I say, Julius," he said, "just call the captain!  There's an ironclad
+ahead, and I can't quite make her out.  She carries the Rising Sun, but
+there is a white flag over the Japs' colours.  Look alive!"
+
+Just glancing ahead I thought I could see the vessel referred to, but
+of course I called the captain at once.
+
+"Where are we?" he asked, rising quickly.
+
+"Oft Shopieul Island, I heard, sir; in the Corean Archipelago," I added.
+
+"Thanks," he replied; but whether he was sarcastic I could not divine.
+I at once hurried on deck again, and searched the sea.
+
+The captain then came upon the bridge, and I heard him chatting with
+the mate.
+
+"I suppose she's a Jap," said the latter; "but I can't grasp the white
+flag."
+
+"Dip the ensign, anyway; it's the proper thing.  Hoist the red rag," he
+said.
+
+The signal-hand quickly bent the ensign of the merchant navy; it rose,
+fluttered out, dipped, and rose again to the peak, blowing out plainly.
+
+"I say, he takes no notice," cried the captain.  "She keeps her course
+to the north-east.  Now what in thunder does _that_ mean?  It's an
+insult, bedad!"
+
+"She's steaming at a fine rate, sir.  Looks as if she was in a hurry."
+
+"Running away, bedad!" laughed the skipper, turning his glass upon the
+large ship.  "Ah! a man-of-war and a Chinaman,--a trick, I believe."
+
+"Really so?" exclaimed the mate.  "If so, there's been a 'tit up'
+yonder, and Jap has licked Johnny, but I heard no guns.  Excuse me,
+sir, what's that yonder?--a schooner, I say."
+
+I heard him, and got a glass from the signalman near whom I was
+standing.  But the schooner was not the _Harada_, so far as I could
+see.  She had no foretop-sail-yard.  She was steering south-east, a
+long distance away, and looked an old style of vessel getting away.
+
+By this time the news had spread through the steamer, and penetrated to
+the Chinese intelligence forward.  The soldiers came up in numbers, and
+the officers, accompanied by the European passenger, began to chatter
+and make all kinds of inquiries and observations.  The Japanese flag
+had evidently raised the "dander" of the Chinese.  They understood that
+the man-of-war was a Chinaman, but could not understand the white
+feather of retreat or escape.
+
+By degrees the excitement increased, and the crew of the steamer became
+very much interested.  The native fireman even came up to look around,
+and though unable to see anything, descended again, much impressed with
+the result.
+
+Notwithstanding our native English assurance, one or two of us--I need
+not make invidious comparisons--began to suspect danger.  The captain,
+mate, and the German military passenger were perfectly calm and
+unembarrassed, and the _Kowshing_ proceeded at a good pace to her
+destination.  The chief men were on the bridge.  I was within hail, and
+at times stood upon the ladder to see better, and to hear better, what
+the prospects might be of seeing war.
+
+We still kept our course, and had approached within a mile or so of the
+island from the north-west, when three men-of-war came out from the
+land in our direction.
+
+"What do you make them?" asked the captain.
+
+"Japs," was the reply.  "We are getting into a hornet's nest, I think."
+
+"The British ensign will surely protect the steamer?" asked the foreign
+passenger.  "There is no necessity to alter the course."
+
+"Precious little use, anyhow," remarked the mate.  "We must keep going,
+though I fancy the ships will not appreciate the Chinese troops on
+board.  We may be compelled to return."
+
+When the Chinese commanders perceived the Japanese vessels approaching
+they became rather excited--the soldiers also crowded forward, and
+there was no appearance of fear amongst them.  There was some anxiety,
+certainly, on board, and when the leading ship passed on and fired two
+blank cartridges, there was a feeling of uneasiness evident.
+
+"Stop her," came the order when the two guns and the signal had been
+interpreted.  My heart beat loudly at the sound of the unshotted guns.
+They meant heave to--anchor.
+
+The steamer hove to and waited, tossing gently upon the sea.
+
+"What are they up to?" was the question expressed or implied.  "Tell
+them we understand, Julius."  "Ting, ting" went the telegraph to the
+engine.
+
+The man at the signal halyards and myself sent the bunting aloft.  The
+flags said, "We have stopped"; and again we waited, lopping and
+rolling, as the anchor plashed away into the blue sea at eleven fathoms.
+
+"I say, are we prisoners?" I asked the mate when he came back
+amidships, having seen the anchor let go.
+
+"Looks like it," he replied crossly.  "Must wait the Japs' convenience,
+I see."
+
+The Chinese generals then began to plague the captain with demands
+which the German officer translated and repeated.  There was great
+confusion.
+
+"That ship's the _Naniwa_," I heard someone say.
+
+"She's returning.  All right, we may proceed, I presume."
+
+"She is only going to confer with her mates," said the engineer, who
+had come up.  "But the captain is asking something."
+
+I made out the signal as directed, and it spelt "May we proceed?"  The
+engineers anxiously awaited the reply, and the crew expected the order
+to weigh.
+
+But to my dismay, and certainly to the disappointment of all on board
+our steamer, the reply came from the Japanese, sharply--
+
+"Heave to, or take the consequences."
+
+We looked at each other, the Chinese commanders were furious.  The men
+made ready their rifles, and got up ammunition.  Things began to look
+black all round.
+
+The Chinese commanders demanded to know what had been said, and when
+they had been informed a discussion arose.  So greatly were they
+exercised that the foreign officer suggested that the soldiers might be
+sent below, because he feared a disturbance if any Japanese came on
+board; and also, I think, he fancied we all were in danger if the
+troops became mutinous.
+
+This advice, backed up by the officers of the steamer, was acted upon,
+and when I had assisted in carrying out the order with the
+quarter-master, Louis, we came on deck again, and we saw the same ship
+again approaching us on the port side--on the beam; she took up a
+position so that she could enfilade us with her starboard battery, and
+we could see that she had prepared to fire her broadside.
+
+I really could not believe we were in danger.  It seemed so absurd to
+think that our Japanese friends could threaten a British ship sailing
+under the ensign, and employed in transport duties.  I said as much to
+the mate.  He shook his head.
+
+"You see, we are in the enemy's pay, and the Japs must have the first
+blow if they mean war.  Still, I suppose they will take us off the
+steamer, and make the Johnnies prisoners.  Here comes a boat.  We shall
+soon find out all about this business."
+
+"The Japanese are armed," I said.
+
+"Certainly they are.  They are on the warpath.  I hope we shan't lose
+our scalps!"
+
+I laughed at the idea, and the mate walked forward to keep watch and
+order ahead, without echoing my misplaced merriment.  He seemed to take
+things seriously.  How absurd!
+
+"Gangway!" came the order, and the captain went down to receive the two
+Japanese officers who intended to come on board.  They were received
+with politeness, the lieutenant and his sub demanded to see the
+steamer's papers.  For this purpose they went into the chart-room.
+
+Meantime I was staring at the boat and the Japanese sailors, neat and
+tidy fellows, and at the youthful officer keeping guard.  My heart
+leaped.  I recognised him as the youth whom I had assisted that evening
+in Shanghai when the feeling against the Japanese ran high.  He
+recognised me at the same moment, and smiled.  I advanced and saluted
+him; he replied in kind, and we exchanged greetings.  It was Tomi!
+
+"May I inquire what your captain intends to do with us?" I asked after
+a while.
+
+"I cannot say," he replied.  "My officer and your captain will
+doubtless arrange matters."
+
+"We are not at war," I persisted; "we cannot be harmed."  I glanced at
+the English ensign as I was speaking.
+
+His eyes followed mine, and he touched his cap politely, then looked at
+me.  "Will you come on board?" he asked.  "I will assist you now, if
+you like."
+
+"Why?  What for?"  After a pause, I replied, "No, thank you.  I am on
+duty, of course."  But I thought it kind of the middy.  He knew the
+danger.
+
+"Stand back, please; here is my officer," he said quickly.  "Be silent."
+
+He at once became distant as the land, and shut up like an oyster.  He
+perhaps was afraid to be seen speaking to me.
+
+The captain and the Japanese lieutenant then appeared.  The latter
+said--
+
+"I will convey your message, sir, I understand that this vessel is
+under the charter of the Chinese Government to convey troops from Taku
+to Asan.  Is that correct?"
+
+"Perfectly," replied the captain.
+
+The lieutenant continued, "There are eleven hundred soldiers on board,
+with arms and ammunition and supplies.  Are you prepared to follow the
+_Naniwa_, sir?"
+
+"I am willing to do so," replied the captain.  "Will you favour me with
+your esteemed name?"
+
+"Lieutenant Hitomi," was the reply.  "Yours, sir, is Goldheugh?"
+
+The captain bowed; the lieutenant bowed in response, and was then most
+politely escorted to the gangway, whence he was rowed to the _Naniwa_,
+as he had named her.  She was painted white, and had one funnel.
+
+She was, and is, a fine ship, and I scrutinised her size and guns and
+equipage of modern appearance.  She was armed with two 26 c.m.
+twenty-eight-ton Armstrong guns; six 15 c.m. five-ton Krupps; besides
+machine guns--a heavy armament for a ship of something under four
+thousand tons, I estimated.  She carried three hundred and fifty-seven
+men, and could steam eighteen knots.  These details I learned later; at
+the moment of the lieutenant's departure I was fascinated by her guns.
+It seemed so unreal to me.  War was so unexpected by us, though I
+gathered that it had been brewing for months.  Still it is always
+disturbing and alarming, even if one is _not_ face to face with it, as
+I was.
+
+When the Japanese officer had returned to the ship, the Chinese
+generals came up with the German officer to make inquiries.  The major
+was not present when the explanation had been made, but he understood
+that our captain had mentioned him as a "passenger."
+
+"I did so, sir; I told the lieutenant.  Did you not hear what I said?"
+
+"No," replied the passenger.  "If you had called me, as we agreed "--
+
+"Bless my soul, what time had I to call anyone?" exclaimed the captain.
+"The man didn't wait for any explanations.  He asked me questions, and
+when I had replied he was off like a shot; and maybe he'll treat us to
+one presently, though I suppose it isn't his fault.  What are the
+generals going to do?"
+
+"They declare they will resist.  You should have stipulated to return
+to Taku, they say; and they will rather die than be taken prisoners."
+
+"Bedad, they may have to do it!" muttered the captain.  "Julius, hoist
+the signal for a boat.  The Chinese fellows are breaking loose, and
+we'll be murdered in a minute.  We're between the devils and the deep
+sea now, and may go anywhere.  Call assistance!"
+
+The German gentleman in vain attempted to influence the Chinese.  He
+could speak their language, but they did not listen.  The officers
+declared they would fight.  They had eleven hundred against the three
+hundred and fifty Japanese, and they could prevail!  In vain the major
+declared that the ship's guns must destroy the steamer if she fired at
+us.  The generals were obdurate.  They directed their men to guard the
+bridge and gangway, to kill any European who resisted, and to load all
+rifles.
+
+"We have your protection," they said to the captain.  "If you withdraw
+it on the part of England, we shall shoot you.  You have made a
+contract with us, you must complete it.  Take us to Asan, or back to
+Taku, and forfeit the charter."
+
+This was translated to the captain, and he swore.  He signalled for the
+Japanese to send a boat, and the reply came--"Send at once."  We then
+waited in the greatest excitement, fearing for all on board who were
+not Chinese, because the soldiers threatened, and made the most
+horrible signs to us all the while suggesting death and torture.
+
+It is almost incredible, but it is true--no romance is here.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE END OF THE _FÊNG SHUI_--CAPTURED AND PRESSED
+
+The tremendous excitement of the Chinese was due, as I then understood,
+to a signal from the _Naniwa_, which we found out meant "Weigh; cut or
+slip."  This was rightly interpreted as a command to follow the warship
+and surrender, and the Chinese absolutely declined.  I wished we had
+run away and beached the steamer.
+
+We were on the bridge then.  I mean the officers; and the captain
+attempted to persuade the Chinese officers to be quiet.  But the
+trouble increased every minute.  Soldiers loaded their rifles, and took
+up their positions as sentries at the ladders, so that at the first
+symptoms of surrender the British would be shot; and when the Asiatic
+begins to kill he becomes a fiend.
+
+Under these circumstances the captain made an appeal to the Japanese.
+Goldheugh and the mate conferred with the German officer, who was a
+"drill instructor" of the Chinese troops, and the cry went up--
+
+"Send a boat.  Must confer personally."
+
+When this signal was perceived, and explained, the generals threatened
+to shoot us all; the soldiers at once thronged the deck, and advanced
+to the gangway, so that if the Japanese came on board again they ran a
+great risk of being killed.  The signal was replied to by "Send
+immediately," and we waited amid a fearful uproar, and desperate
+resolves upon the part of the Chinese to cut our heads off.
+
+We were silent and expectant.  The explanation was agreed on by all the
+Europeans, and it was with great difficulty that the Chinese leaders
+were at length induced to order the men from the gangway.  The Japanese
+did not come alongside at once.  They perceived the difficulty and the
+risk for us.
+
+When the lieutenant did come up he was informed of the state of the
+case.  Captain Goldheugh and the German officer fully explained the
+cause of the delay.
+
+"We can do nothing," said the former.  "You desire us to weigh anchor;
+the Chinese will kill us all if we attempt to obey.  Cannot your
+captain permit us to return?  _We_ had not heard of any declaration of
+war before we sailed.  We have not in any way broken the laws of
+nations."
+
+"The Europeans must quit the ship," said the Japanese.  "That is my
+suggestion."
+
+"We cannot.  You perceive the difficulty.  What shall we do?  You may
+let us return to Taku.  This is the Chinese demand."
+
+The Jap shook his head doubtfully.
+
+"I will inform my superior," he replied.  "You must be ready to act
+when the answer comes, whatever it may be."
+
+He then returned to the boat, and the crew gave way rapidly.  All these
+arrangements had occupied quite three hours and a half, and it was then
+nearly "one bell,"--half-past twelve,--for I remember the bell being
+struck at the time the Japanese boat was proceeding to the cruiser,
+which lay about half a mile away.
+
+"Julius," said the captain, "tell the engineers and firemen to come on
+deck; and hark ye, my lad, put on a life-belt."
+
+"A life-belt!  What for?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Do as ye're bid," he said, descending from the bridge, and entering
+the chart-room, and later, his cabin.  Meantime I gave the order, and
+the engineers and firemen came up, some went forward to wash.
+
+We had not much time to spare.  The Chinese sentries had left the
+bridge before this, and the "calm that precedes a storm" had settled
+upon us.  The pause was broken by the expected reply from the cruiser--
+
+"Leave the steamer at once."
+
+The captain shrugged his shoulders, and called to me--
+
+"Have you told the engineers?  Signal, 'I am not allowed,' and ask for
+a boat for us.  Be ready all; there's mischief now."
+
+When the captain had made this reply, he spoke to the mate, who quitted
+the bridge, and made some preparations to depart.  The next thing I
+remarked was a red flag at the foremast of the cruiser, and a signal
+abaft--"Can't send boat."
+
+"Then we're done," said the chief engineer.  "What's that red flag?"
+
+"Looks like 'Fire,' but it can't be that," replied his mate, who had
+retreated aft with the mate of the steamer.
+
+"She's taking up position," said the mate.  "See!  What's that?  By
+thunder, it's a torpedo!  That's another.  Hurry, lads.  Fly!  Jump!
+They intend to sink us with the Chinese fools!"
+
+I stood irresolute, not from fear, because I could not realise the
+extreme danger of the situation.  "A torpedo," the engineer had said.
+I had never seen one before; and was it possible that this black thing
+which was rushing like a small porpoise at us was intended as a
+destructive weapon against a friendly vessel?  What would happen if it
+struck the steamer?
+
+Before it touched us, however, a fearful thunder of guns rang out at
+one moment, and a curious sound of grinding or rattling.
+
+"A broadside!" shouted the chief mate, rushing forward.  "Leap, Julius;
+jump overboard!"
+
+He rushed at a belt, and disappeared as the steamer heeled over under
+the fearful impact of the shot or shell, and I also dropped in the blue
+sea behind him.  The effect of the broadside was to depress the steamer
+upon the starboard side.
+
+The crash was fearful!  Even as I fell into the water I felt the
+concussion, and the roar of the discharge was terrific.  Since then I
+have heard "guns going off," and have been startled by them, but this
+hurricane of shot was fearful.  When I again rose, supported by my
+belt, the air was enveloped in steam, and thick with dust, while the
+sea was sprinkled with coal ashes.
+
+The "quick-firing" guns were peppering the survivors on the doomed
+ship, flashing from the _Naniwa_ like crackers.  The Chinese kept
+firing in reply at anyone in the water, and at the ship's boats, which
+had been lowered, but not with the intention to save life at first.
+The Japs fired without mercy at the wrecked and sinking steamer and the
+Chinese troops.
+
+Mechanically I swam in the direction of the island.  I had no time to
+fear the bullets, but perhaps I owe my life to the small ladder which
+supported me, and beneath which I managed to float, and propel myself
+at intervals, while the firing continued.  The Chinese replied
+aimlessly from the steamer, killing their own people on the principle
+of the scorpion which attacks itself when in imminent danger of death.
+Numbers of Chinese were swimming, and were slain in the water; a few
+were saved, with three or four Europeans, by the Japanese and by a
+French vessel which came upon the scene, but the vast majority perished.
+
+I learned these details afterwards; at the time the noise and shouting,
+the crackling of the machine-guns and the rifle fire, were most
+bewildering, and how I managed to keep afloat and unharmed is to me,
+even now, astonishing.  Had I not been perfectly at home in the water I
+think I must have drowned from sheer nervousness; the exertion itself
+would have exhausted me before the boat came and rescued me.  As it
+proved, I kept my head and my life-belt.
+
+Then I saw the unlucky _Fêng Shui_ rise up a little, roll a bit, and
+plunge down by the stern suddenly, carrying hundreds of living,
+wounded, and dead Chinese into the vortex of the Yellow Sea.  The
+_Naniwa_ had struck a decisive blow in the war.  Then my mind sprung
+back to the evening on which I had been rescued by Captain Goldheugh
+from the sinking yacht, in which I had dreamed of a sinking steamer
+attacked by a man-of-war, amid steam and the roar of artillery.  Was
+this prophetic?
+
+[Illustration: I SAW THE UNLUCKY _FÊNG SHUI_ PLUNGE DOWN BY THE STERN
+SUDDENLY]
+
+A murmur of strange voices aroused me for I swam mechanically, as I
+ascertained later, in the direction of the Japanese cruiser.  I raised
+my head, and perceived a large boat closing upon me gently.  A word of
+command; I was seized and dragged on board the launch amid the Japanese
+crew, and to my delight I perceived Mr. Rose, the mate of the steamer.
+There were some other boats afloat with Japanese and Chinese occupants,
+but the former fired upon the latter at every opportunity.
+
+We were carried to the _Naniwa_ and, I am glad to say, well treated by
+our captors, who supplied our wants, and those of the others rescued.
+We received no apologies, however, though food and dry clothing were
+supplied.  The captain also was rescued by another boat, but we did not
+"chum" with him; and we found that a sentry had been placed at the
+doors of the cabins respectively, to avoid and prevent any comparisons
+of our treatment.
+
+During the evening we were asked separately many questions, and desired
+to make a statement to the captain of the cruiser.  At eight bells we
+anchored for the night, and I slept thankfully till the morning.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+Very early in the morning of the next day I was awakened by the noise
+of a brief and sharp conversation outside the cabin wherein I was
+lying.  There was a sound of firearms, a clash of a sword, and in the
+dawning light I perceived a young officer advancing from the door.
+
+Impulsively I arose, bracing myself for an encounter, but the
+ambassador was on peace intent.  He was my young friend the midshipman
+to whom I had been of some assistance at Shanghai.  He began directly,
+without any preface.
+
+"How are you feeling, Mr. Julius?  I have been thinking about you, and
+have ventured to see you.  What are your plans?"
+
+"I have no plans.  My captain and mate are prisoners, and I am in
+custody," I replied.  "Why ask a prisoner what his plans are?"
+
+He put up his hand deprecatingly, and shook his head.
+
+"You are not a captive," he replied; "at least only until we can
+restore you and your officers to the British ships.  Your captain will
+return to Nagasaki, I believe, and thence to Hong Kong, perhaps.  But
+if you have liberty to remain, why not stay with this ship?"
+
+"Enlist in the Japanese navy?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Not enlist; join us.  My uncle is commander here now, and he is
+already pleased with you, and grateful for your assistance to me.  He
+himself has suggested your joining the ship.  You were intended for the
+English navy, you said; and you may do us the honour of accepting the
+offer."
+
+I made no immediate reply.  The suggestion was pleasant to my ears.
+Perhaps I might volunteer if Captain Goldheugh had no objection.
+
+"Well?" asked the young Japanese.  "I must request a reply, as my watch
+will be called at eight bells."
+
+"Yes; I will volunteer if my captain will permit me.  But must I
+actually join your service?"
+
+"I presume not.  The idea is merely one to enable you to see some
+service, and I am certain you will be a credit to the _Naniwa_."
+
+He bowed and smiled.  I jumped up and responded.
+
+"You are too kind, Tomi," I said.  "Please tell your most honourable
+uncle that I will, if permitted, be most happy to join his ship, though
+he nearly drowned us in the _Fêng Shui_."
+
+"That would have been a misfortune," said Tomi.
+
+"The steamer was always unlucky," I replied.  "Her very name is a
+reproach, and the captain changed it to _Kowshing_."
+
+"Which was even a greater ill-luck.  But I am on duty.  We weigh at
+four o'clock this morning.  I will tell the commander of you."
+
+He retired quickly.  The time was passing, and the hands were about to
+weigh anchor.  Before I had finished dressing in the sailor's clothes,
+with which home-made (Japanese) attire we had all been supplied, a
+message came for me, and I was released politely from the surveillance
+to that time observed.  At this point I may say that all the officers
+and men, and later the Japanese ashore, treated us all most kindly.
+But all the same I think that in war they would be most formidable
+antagonists, because they "go" for their aim at once, risking all for
+country; even killing themselves if they do not succeed as they intend
+to do, and they spare neither themselves nor their opponents, not even
+to the farther verge of cruelty, if aroused.
+
+But I did not know so much of the Japanese character then, and I admire
+it still.  In all my dealings with them--and I have met many
+influential Japanese and others--I have found them polite and
+courteous, with a fine tendency to business, and to "take the turn of
+the market" for themselves.
+
+Soon after eight bells the warship weighed anchor, and I was permitted
+to go on deck amidships, or forward of the bridge, and while I was
+gazing alongside my midshipman friend accosted me.
+
+"Your captain is aft," he said.  "Perhaps you would like to see him."
+
+"Is he a prisoner?" I asked, as I gazed at a Chinese gunboat close by,
+which had been captured when conveying despatches.  "What's that
+vessel?"
+
+"She's a Chinese boat, _Tsaokiang_," replied my friend Tomi.  "We have
+caught her, and shall send her captain and crew with your officers in
+the transport.  You can visit your captain if you wish."
+
+This was my desire, and accordingly I proceeded astern, under escort
+and by permission, to the cabin in which Captain Goldheugh was
+interned.  He welcomed me gladly from his cot.
+
+"Ah! my son, so ye've got free of the Japs, have ye?  Sure I'm still in
+limbo, though I must say the fellows are civil enough.  We're steaming
+to the rendezvous, I'm told."
+
+"Yes, sir.  I came to ask your permission to stay on board here."
+
+I rushed at my fence, you see, and yet in trepidation when I realised
+the obstacles.
+
+"What!" exclaimed the captain.  "Remain on board the Jap's cruiser with
+the fellows who smashed us into smithereens, and made a 'holy show' of
+the _Fêng Shui_?  Bedad, a March hare isn't in the same run with ye.
+He's mad this time, anyway," concluded the captain.  "Stark and
+staring!  Are those straws in your hair?"
+
+"No," I replied, smiling, yet nervously.  "The fact is the captain of
+this ship has offered me a berth, and"--
+
+"By the powers o' Moll Kelly this beats the world!" cried the captain,
+relapsing into native idiom.  "The Jap captain offers ye a berth.  Ah,
+go out o' that!  He wants ye to take the cruiser into action, so he
+does!  That's what he means.  Well, well," he sighed resignedly, "look
+at that!"
+
+He nodded his head up and down three times, as if perfectly, but
+unwillingly, resigned.  I felt smaller by degrees.
+
+"All right, _admiral_," he said suddenly.  "By all manner o' means.
+Won't I make them proud at home when I tell them that the young runaway
+is the admiral of the _Naniwa_--what's that mean?  In Ireland 'Nanny'
+is an old _nurse_--and she here is your wet-nurse, bedad!  Oh, it's
+grand entirely, _your honour_!"
+
+This affectation of manner puzzled me.  The captain was "putting on"
+this, I perceived.
+
+"If you object, sir," I began.
+
+"Is it me object!  Not at all!  Go and leave your ship--she's left
+ye--and your friends.  What for?" he asked suddenly and almost
+fiercely.  "What d'ye want to do?"
+
+"To serve in the Japanese navy," I said, "as a volunteer, and see some
+service for a while.  The captain here has told his nephew, who asked
+me to tell you too."
+
+"The dog began to bite the pig, the pig began to go, and the old woman
+(that's me) begins to get over the stile.  I see!  Well, do as ye like,
+Julius, my boy, I'll not stop ye."
+
+"Really?  Oh, you are kind, captain!  Still, if you order me"--
+
+"Ah! go on!  Ye won't stay long I expect.  But if ye _do_ it will do ye
+good.  I don't understand why the captain of the ship has made ye the
+offer, but as he _has_, and ye are already dressed up in Japanese
+clothes, maybe he wants to see whether ye're worth your salt!  All
+right, Admiral Julius, 'Go where Glory waits ye,' as Tommy Moore says,
+and 'when Fame elates thee, then remember me,' that's all.  Here's the
+lieutenant."
+
+The officer came in, we saluted, and the captain accepted the polite
+invitation to breakfast by and by, and the lieutenant retired.
+
+"Now, admiral, quit, if ye please, as I'm going to 'draw on my
+stockings,' and--dress myself.  I suppose _ye'll_ breakfast in the
+cabin, while _I_ am pigging in the ward-room.  Be off, I tell ye!
+Don't stand there staring like a stuck pig.  Hurry, now!"
+
+I obeyed, feeling that the captain was annoyed, but my feelings of
+adventure rose in me, and as he had consented, however unwillingly, I
+decided to assume his acquiescence in the matter, but he apparently
+feared the future.
+
+There was another interview with my captain afterwards, and a chat with
+the mate and others, who subsequently were transferred to the transport
+_Yayayama_ with the Danish gentleman,--also a captive from the despatch
+boat,--the Chinese crews of it, and the surviving soldiers of the _Fêng
+Shui_.  I need not dwell upon the parting.  I felt sorry to leave my
+messmates, but against this feeling came the knowledge that I was
+adrift already, and must go to Nagasaki first, then find conveyance to
+China and perhaps to Europe.  I had no money, and no chance of finding
+any then.  My parents, particularly my dear mother, would be much more
+pleased to receive a telegram announcing my entry into the Japanese
+service, than a wire for money and announcing shipwreck!  The captain
+(Goldheugh) had promised to write about me, and I found out afterwards
+that not only had he done so, but had spoken well of me to Captain Toyo
+of the _Naniwa_.
+
+The _Tsaokiang_, which had appeared before the sinking of the steamer,
+was a prize to the _Maya_; and all her officers and crew having been
+transferred as indicated above, the _Yayayama_ steamed away for Japan.
+I remained in the cruiser while she sent boats to search for the
+fugitive Chinese vessel, which had fled away ashore.  She was found and
+destroyed by the Japanese boats' crews as she lay beached.
+
+Then the cruisers joined the fleet, and war was declared on the 1st
+August 1894, "after the ball" at Phungdo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BATTLE IN THE YELLOW SEA--THE EVIL GENIUS OF "FÊNG SHUI"
+
+It would not be interesting to the reader to peruse the details of our
+cruise off the Chinese and Corean coasts after the declaration of war
+till the middle of September, but a passing reference to the actions of
+the squadron may be made.
+
+The fleet was under the command of Admiral Ito,[1] who later made an
+attack on Port Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei, which are opposite each other in
+the Gulf of Pechili, the latter port being in Shangtung, and the former
+in Manchuria, North China.  The admiral did not communicate his ideas
+to many people, but it leaked out in the fleet that he was keeping the
+Chinese in check while his transports were carrying the Japanese troops
+to Corea.  Meantime the Chinese fleet remained in harbour at
+Wei-hai-Wei, and the Coreans assisted the Japanese troops.  So the
+Chinese soldiers were marching southwards, and the Japanese northwards,
+the respective fleets being in the Yellow Sea.
+
+
+[1] Now "Marquis" Ito, Prime Minister of Japan.
+
+
+The Yalu River separates China from Corea, and by that entrance the
+Chinese came by sea, the land forces came from Manchuria.  The Japanese
+from Chemulpo, Gensan, and Fusan, the fleet having left the Taidong
+River, which is across the peninsula, opposite to Gensan, cruised along
+the Corean shore searching for transports; and the _Naniwa_, in which I
+was, was one of the First Flying Squadron, composed of four ships,
+_Yoshino_, _Naniwa_, _Akitsushima_, and _Takachiho_.
+
+This was the arrangement in September when, on the 16th of the month,
+we left Taidong River, our division being commanded by Rear-Admiral
+Kozo in the _Yoshino_.  The main squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral
+Ito Sukahiro, was inclusive of the flagship _Matsushima_ and five other
+ships, with a couple of small vessels of no great importance.
+
+While in Corea I managed to get a kit and outfit, and though feeling
+strange in my new surroundings, I was treated well, and in a most
+friendly manner as an Englishman.  Many of my messmates in the fleet
+had been to England, and some had studied there, so they knew that a
+naval cadet was not an upstart, and if he were he would be quickly
+brought to his bearings.  At anyrate I got on very well with the
+Japanese officers and "subs," though the crew were not so friendly.
+
+"When shall we find the Chinese fleet?" I asked one day, when after
+cruising about not even a trail of smoke had been visible.  But the
+reply was a half shrug and a smile; no one knew when, but everybody was
+evidently impatient.  All were prepared for action,--well disciplined
+and trained.  The admiral had confidence in officers and men, and they
+obeyed orders calmly and smilingly; and if they looked unenergetic, and
+at times listless, they quickly "perked up" when "business" was
+"toward."
+
+It seemed to me curious that the ships had not fallen in with the
+Chinese as everyone anticipated.  Every "Jack"-Jap was full of fight,
+strong language (_not_ swearing), and disdain of the Chinese.  But we
+ascertained that the astute John had landed his soldiers in transports,
+under the protection of his warships, while the Japanese fleet had been
+temporarily refreshing themselves in the Taidong River.  The Chinese on
+the 16th September landed their troops at the Yalu, and returned home
+thence--at least they started back homewards across the Yellow Sea.
+
+The Japanese vessels made for Hai-yang, a large island off the
+Manchurian Peninsula, and considerable irritation was displayed when
+the lookouts declared that no Chinese ships were in sight.  The chief
+officers were on the bridge or in the tower, and as the morning wore on
+and nothing appeared, the disappointment increased.
+
+Suddenly a hail startled some of us, and the Japanese smile widened.
+
+"What's the news?" I asked my neighbour.
+
+He could not reply in English, but pointed to the horizon over the
+port-bow.  We were proceeding under easy steam, the day was fine and
+pleasant, and I managed to make out a darkening or smudge upon the
+horizon in the north-east.
+
+"Smoke!" I exclaimed aloud.  "The Chinese ships, I expect."
+
+My Japanese friend at that moment came up to announce to me the great
+news.  The Chinese fleet was approaching!
+
+Then the discipline of the Japanese sailor was observed.  At once, at
+the word "beat to quarters," every man and officer was in his place,
+and the proper arrangements were made for disposing of the wounded and
+supplying ammunition.  In fact, so far as I could ascertain at the
+time, and subsequently by inquiry and reading, the condition of the
+Japanese navy is equal to that of any European nation, if it is
+deficient in the size of the men and in numbers.  The cool and yet
+defiant manner of the crew struck me greatly, and all the vessels went
+into action like bulldogs.
+
+The day was beautifully fine, with a calm, almost quiet, blue sea, over
+which twenty vessels at least were approaching each other.  In the
+arrangements I was in a measure overlooked, and kept out of sight of
+the officers as much as possible, watching ahead.  All the ships had
+cleared for action and beat to quarters.  Eight bells,--noon.
+
+There's a signal!  I wondered what it meant, but I soon saw the object
+of it.  The flagship _Matsushima_ was quickly making the arrangements,
+and our ship, with three others, was commanded to proceed to attack the
+Chinese.  These "flyers" steamed ahead, the _Yoshino_ in advance,
+against the great Chinese ironclads, ten or twelve immense vessels, of
+different sizes and speed, like the Japanese, but two of the Chinese
+ships, named _Lai-yuen_ and _Ching-yuen_, came first, the rest
+extending behind them like wildfowl.
+
+As the four Japanese vessels went on they did not fire.  Then a most
+fearful roar arose in front, a mile off, and the sea became alive with
+spray and jets of water.
+
+"Shell-fire," whispered my friend as he passed, carrying an order below
+astern.  Shells!  I had heard of shell-firing, but never had expected
+to see it.  The sea was torn up all around the Japanese as they steamed
+swiftly on, but certainly our vessel was not hit, and I did not see any
+man touched.
+
+But soon after all the vessels began, and such a fearful din and such a
+pall of smoke it is impossible to describe properly.  The concussion of
+the big guns deafened me, the spitting of the smaller ones irritated
+me; and yet we passed the enemy with little damage to the _Naniwa_, and
+without a single casualty amid the crew.  If anyone had told me at the
+time that the ship would escape serious injury I would have derided him.
+
+Now, how shall I describe this naval battle, as I am not one of those
+wonderful correspondents who see everything at once, and that amid the
+smoke and thunder and crashing of shot and guns and shells, 'mid the
+shouts and cries of victory and the shrieks of the dying, or the more
+ghastly wounded?  I could see the other ships coming up behind us in
+our wake, the _Naniwa_ was the last ship of the leading squadron, and
+the Chinese phalanx advanced, firing steadily and punishing us.  I
+heard fearful thuds and crashes beside me, and saw, amid the white and
+murky smoke of the guns, flames shooting up and flashes from the
+broadsides and tops of our opponents.
+
+I sheltered myself as much as possible, and waited while the heavy
+smoke drifted away slowly.  We could see signals above it, astern, from
+the flagship, and I was thankful when our speed carried us on beyond
+the Chinese vessels, though the din and the smoke became more fearful
+each moment.  I had no real idea, or rather had no idea of the reality,
+of war.  I had read of sailors _seeing_ cannon-shot coming towards
+them, and of others ducking before shells; but I saw no missiles, and,
+until I saw the result, did not know where to look for them.
+
+After passing the Chinese ships, and firing like demons until the ship
+actually quivered on the glassy water, we all--I mean the first four
+vessels--left the enemy on the starboard quarter, and turned to port.
+We had passed thus along in front of, and to the starboard side of, the
+Chinese, and now, in response to signals, rounded back, starboarding
+the helm, and came _behind_ the advancing Chinese, having driven the
+small vessels away to the north.
+
+Then the conflict began again for us, while the main squadron were
+attacking in front.  I could perceive that some of our ships were
+getting badly hurt.  One of the Japanese vessels came through the
+Chinese line most bravely, but came out shattered and in flames.  Her
+bulwarks were smashed, and her deck shambles enveloped in fire, as she
+had met two Chinese dragons, veritable monsters, iron-cased.
+
+Then we came in behind the main squadron, as the Chinese swept on and
+round to starboard to cut off our stragglers, and the main line of our
+ships came on on their quarters and gave them none.  The "Rising Suns,"
+their rayed naval ensigns, blowing out in the draught--for there was
+little wind--advanced with deadly intent, the flags floating proudly
+amid the smoke and flames.
+
+Close came the fire, and still closer, as the Japanese "circled" in two
+divisions, and in opposite directions, around the Chinese ships.
+Shells crashed and shot thundered, bullets whizzed and sang in all
+directions, and over all the flame-streaked smoke of guns and furnaces
+poured out and hung upon the scene, as if to conceal man's awful
+passions and fierce conflicts.  Through this Gehenna we rushed at great
+speed, tossing the water upon our sterns and bows, to leave it seething
+astern jotted with plunging shot.
+
+One Chinese vessel, in particular, I noticed, which was most fearfully
+punished.  We dosed her well, and passing on saw her sinking slowly,
+certainly, her decks battered and bathed in blood, her dead and wounded
+left, and her living crew shouting for the aid which never could come,
+as the ship heeled over and sank helplessly, the cries of the doomed
+Chinese being audible even above the fearful roar of the opposing guns.
+
+[Illustration: ONE CHINESE VESSEL WAS MOST FEARFULLY PUNISHED]
+
+We, the _Naniwa's_, continued our chase of two Chinese ships for a
+while longer, and would have destroyed them willingly had not our
+captain seen a signal of recall.  As he had both eyes--and not one
+blind side--he was compelled by discipline to return to the main
+squadron.  It was then about half-past three p.m.  In all these
+encounters the _Naniwa_, being last in the line, did not receive any
+damage, nor did I see a dead or severely injured man.
+
+But when we came near the flagship I learned what war was.
+
+We had come back as ordered at full speed to the main body, and found
+them all in full conflict, the terrible effects of the heavy guns being
+visible to the unaided eye, and the shells were still causing flames to
+break out in the opposing ships.  One of the big Chinese ships tried to
+ram us, and we had a narrow escape.  I ran forward to my young Japanese
+friend, and stood by him.  But the ships made such a tremendous attack
+upon her that she was almost helpless.
+
+"Suppose she _had_ rammed us?" I said nervously to my friend.
+
+"We should have been picked up," he replied carelessly; and this cool
+reply from a Japanese lad is deserving of mention.  It was worthy of a
+young Nelson, who in such surroundings could quietly contemplate the
+sinking of the ship, in full assurance that his mates would pick up all
+they could even in the midst of the battle.
+
+This faith was justified in some degree, for the great Chinese ship was
+shot through.  Time after time the Japanese shot and shell struck her,
+battered her, splintered and dinted her.  Her inner fittings must have
+been shattered, and her guns dismounted.  Still she persevered.  She
+pluckily retaliated until we perceived she was listing to starboard
+more and more, her port-side being less exposed.  She was sinking.
+
+Sinking!  Yes, I could see she was settling amid the smoke, and she
+herself in flames.  An awful sight!  We, with other ships, kept our
+circular course around the poor vessel; it seemed cowardly.  She was
+burning fiercely; great masses of smoke rose up and drifted over the
+ships, and yet she did not strike, but fought it out, until at length,
+blazing, she plunged suddenly down, and slowly disappeared, hissing at
+her enemies, shrouding them in what seemed a deep shadow after the
+brightness of flame.  It was like the sudden sunset on the sea.
+
+Then I felt almost sick and angry with my friends.  The fearful
+destruction of life which I had witnessed made me feel "bad," and
+savage too.  I was curiously placed, and was debating with myself, when
+a great shell, and then another, from the big guns of the Chinese
+flagship came plump upon the Japanese flagship.  No one, I think, who
+has not witnessed the effect of modern artillery can conceive of the
+destruction which these two shells caused in the ship attacked.  My
+reflections were suddenly banished.
+
+Fancy a mass of metal discharged into a warship's steel armour, and
+bending it, shattering it, smashing the gun behind the shield, and
+dashing on almost unchecked, plunging almost into the magazine,
+exploding the ammunition near it, and killing all there.  Then, not
+satisfied, it set fire to the ship, which burned for a long time.  The
+other shell apparently had made a big hole in the port-side, by the
+lower deck, struck upwards to the opposite side, and sent a gun
+overboard, or tumbled it below.  The loss of life was tremendous; about
+eighty killed and wounded by these two discharges alone, besides the
+other damage done by the explosion of the quick-firing ammunition which
+lay around.  Had the fire thus caused reached the magazine, the
+_Matsushima's_ career must have ended then and there, and the Japs
+would have had to lament a terrible loss in their admiral.  As it was
+the guns had to be manned by marines and recruits afterwards.
+
+But the _Ping-yuen_, which had done this damage, was also seriously
+injured and "fired."  Had not other ships come to her assistance, I
+think she must have been destroyed.  Thus the battle raged until the
+Chinese, outmanoeuvred, separated themselves from their enemy and
+dispersed.
+
+The evening was by this time closing in.  It was already five o'clock.
+The great Chinese ironclads continued the contest as long as possible,
+their action being directed by the German officer--the same, I was
+given to understand, who had been released with the passengers in the
+_Kowshing_.  Why this German soldier was intrusted with the control of
+the Chinese squadron was one of the topsy-turvy "Celestial" decisions
+which happen in China, where the admiral himself had served in a
+military capacity.
+
+The firing slackened.  The Japanese ships had quite outmanoeuvred their
+opponents, and at length they steamed away from the fatal circle on
+which the "Rising Suns" threw a lurid light.  The circling vessels
+moving to the attack in opposite directions gave the Chinese no
+quarter; the latter became confused and fought independently, while the
+Japanese, as I can testify, kept touch with each other, and implicitly
+obeyed the signals of Admiral Ito.
+
+So the Chinese fleet was crumpled up, the great ironclads alone
+displayed confidence, and they, at dusk, retreated, followed by the
+Japanese at a respectful distance, fearing torpedoes, of which the Japs
+had not one in action, having left their boats in harbour.
+
+At six o'clock the battle was ended.  Then, while slowly pursuing the
+enemy, the doctor's report was presented.  To my unbounded astonishment
+the _Naniwa_ had absolutely not one man reported dead or even wounded.
+No doubt there were some contusions, but the hands assembled later, and
+not a man was missing at quarters.
+
+As soon as I could, I joined my young Japanese friend and engaged him
+in conversation.
+
+"Have the Chinese cut and run?" I asked, after some few remarks and
+congratulations had passed.  "What shall we do now?"
+
+"Pursue them.  You perceive we are following them in a parallel course.
+They will take shelter in Wei-hai-Wei."
+
+"But has not some change taken place in the ships.  I see the flagship
+has been doing something."
+
+"Your eyes are pretty smart," he replied.  "The admiral has transferred
+the flag to the _Hashidate_.  The _Matsushima_ requires repair, and is
+lying up for Japan.  We have gained a victory."
+
+As if to accentuate his declaration, at that moment the admiral
+appeared upon the deck of the _Hashidate_, amid lights, and cheering,
+marines presented arms, and all the crew uncovered dark heads in the
+dying daylight.  From ship to ship the cheering spread, and speeded
+many brave souls to heaven in the excitement attendant upon the martial
+strains of the solemn "Kimi-ga-yo," the National Anthem.  Far over the
+now quiet sea, and amid the still evening air, the music died away in
+the distance.  The lusty singing accompanied by the band made all
+pulses beat as fiercely as in action; and as a good omen a falcon flew
+down and perched upon the _Takachiho_.
+
+"Look, look!" cried my friend.  "The falcon alights.  He rests upon the
+main topsail-yard of the ship.  Surely someone will capture it?"
+
+"Not very likely," I replied, "unless it is tired or tame it will
+quickly escape.  We shall not be able to ascertain at anyrate till the
+morning.  What a curious incident!"
+
+"It means good luck," said my friend.  "For hundreds of years our
+philosophers have agreed that the falcon brings good fortune to the
+Japanese.  So this is a splendid omen for us, and a bad one for our
+enemies."
+
+"I am pleased that I am a friend, then," I replied, laughing.  "The
+bird, I hope, has nothing evil in store for a _volunteer_."
+
+"I do not think so," he replied, joining in my humour.  "But here's
+something to interest us both," he continued, as a marine approached
+and saluted.
+
+A few sentences were exchanged, and my young friend turned to me,
+saying--
+
+"Here's an opportunity for a volunteer.  Do you understand the Chinese
+language?"
+
+"I can make myself understood in it, a little," I answered.  "Why do
+you ask?"
+
+"Because someone has suspected you of being a _spy_," he replied.  "You
+must see the captain at once, and explain matters to him.  One of the
+officers has sent me the message; I must speak to the lieutenant.  Wait
+here for me; someone has been talking about you.  Wait a while."
+
+Then he went aft, leaving me to think of this new misfortune.  The
+trail of "Fêng Shui" was over it all.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A TRANSFORMATION SCENE--I BECOME A "CHINESE"
+
+While I ruminated upon this most unexpected incident, my ears were
+almost insensible of the shouts and singing, the cries of "Nippon
+Banzai!"--Japan for ever!--the music, and the general enthusiasm.  Who
+had been so base as to state that I was a Chinese spy?  Perhaps one of
+the crew who had rescued me from the sinking steamer, and had noticed
+me in the company of the German officer, a well-known adherent of the
+Chinese.  If so, my fate was sealed.  The yardarm on which the falcon
+had perched appeared to me to be my ultimate destination, or to suggest
+it.  The more I ruminated upon my prospects, the less I liked them.
+
+Meantime the _Naniwa_ pursued her course, the lookouts keeping a most
+careful watch for torpedoes.  I kept an equally anxious watch for the
+midshipman.
+
+At length he returned, having had an interview with the captain.  His
+expression puzzled me, because it gave me no assurance of relief, and
+yet did not suggest despair.
+
+"Well?" I asked, as soon as he came within speaking distance.  "Am I to
+be boiled in oil?"  This was an attempt at levity which my heart did
+not respond to.
+
+"No, not yet," was the alarming answer.  "But you will have to leave
+the ship."
+
+"Leave the ship?  Why?"
+
+"Because you must.  A rumour has arisen about you, and the men do not
+regard you with favour.  An opportunity will occur to put you ashore,
+and then you will be landed with others."
+
+"Then you think me a traitor!" I exclaimed.  "I swear I am not!  Why,
+you must know yourself that I an Englishman and honest."
+
+"Yes; I said so."
+
+"Won't the captain believe you, then?  What can he think of _you_?"
+
+"He believes me, certainly."
+
+"Hang me if I understand you!" I exclaimed irritably.  "What is the
+fuss about?  What is to be done?  Let me know the worst?"
+
+"The fact is as I said: you will be sent ashore.  You understand some
+Chinese?"
+
+"But the dialects differ.  Surely your _clever_ captain knows that?"
+
+"Yes; and there lies the point.  Four men--our men--are going ashore.
+They are interpreters of the fleet.  The men have an idea that you are
+mixed up with the Chinese.  So the captain thinks it better to send you
+ashore with the interpreters, who intend to search the places and
+report upon the country."
+
+"Really, your captain is very kind, but I can't travel in China as a
+Japanese, or perhaps as an Englishman in your service."
+
+"No," replied my friend calmly.  "You must go as a Chinese."
+
+"A Chinese?  Play the spy, you mean?  Never!"
+
+"Then you may be shot; because the impression amongst the crew, as
+reported, is hostile to you."
+
+"But the captain can settle that.  What's the use of his being captain
+if he can't quench this falsehood--if he wishes?"
+
+"His wishes are not concerned, his ship is; and _his orders_ are to
+land you with the explorers from the fleet.  No one will harm you in
+our service, because you shall have a permit.  When you meet the army
+you will be safe."
+
+"But why not put me aboard a British vessel?  There are several in
+these seas.  That is the most sensible plan.  Ask the captain that?"
+
+"I am afraid his mind is made up on the subject.  If you had not been
+suspected of Chinese inclinations, you might have got sent away easily.
+You rather favoured the Chinese, you remember?"
+
+I then recalled some expressions I had used after my release on board
+the _Naniwa_ respecting the conduct of the Japanese ships in respect of
+the steamer _Kowshing_.  These remarks must have been heard and
+commented upon.  I felt annoyed, and said--
+
+"Then I quite believe there are Japanese spies on board.  When am I to
+clear out?"
+
+"When opportunity occurs," the young man replied, rather coldly.  "You
+need not think you are under arrest meanwhile."
+
+"Thank you," I said; "I will try to deserve the clemency."
+
+Then he left me to my reflections, and I remained staring at the sea,
+and thinking of the future, until the hour and the change of the watch
+warned me to seek my hammock.
+
+We had sighted nothing during the night, and in the morning the smoke
+of the retreating warships was all we discerned.  Whether the Japanese
+squadron had had enough fighting I cannot say.  At anyrate, the admiral
+did not hasten the pursuit, he returned in the direction of Talien Bay.
+
+The combined squadron now discovered some remnants of the encounter of
+the day before, at which "all hands" gazed with satisfaction and
+interest.  As we advanced to Hai-yang Island the distant smoke of some
+steamer caused the admiral to despatch a cruiser to intercept the
+vessel, but whatever she was she escaped.  My interest in the chase,
+and in the general surroundings, was keen, because I knew not what fate
+might befall me; and if the steamer had been a Britisher I might have
+been transferred to her.
+
+But no such luck was mine.  As I gazed around the ship, and realised
+the effects of the action, and recalled the remembrance of it, I felt
+depressed.  The roar, the smoke, the flames, and the rattle of the
+great fight had all died away and disappeared.  The heavy black pall of
+smoke which had shrouded the vessels had been lifted long before, and
+nothing but a stranded Chinese vessel and fragments of the encounter
+remained.
+
+A signal fluttered, and the _Chiyoda_ was sent upon its ghoulish errand
+to destroy the wreck of the stranded ship.  This proved to be the _Yang
+Wei_, which had run aground.  A torpedo effected the desired result,
+and shattered the vessel to atoms, after which brilliant episode the
+_Chiyoda_ came pelting up to the squadron again.  Then the whole array
+proceeded to the anchorage, where some of the disabled Japanese ships
+had repaired.  There we ascertained that the falcon which had flown on
+board the _Takachiho_ had been easily secured, and placed in a cage;
+and when, later, one of the imperial chamberlains came to convey the
+Mikado's congratulations to the admiral and the fleet, the bird was
+committed to his charge for conveyance to the Emperor.  I heard, long
+afterwards, that the bird was named after the cruiser, and was then
+living in the imperial aviary at Tokio.
+
+However, this is by the way.  My personal adventures were at the time
+much more interesting to me, and yet I was neither kept in bondage nor
+for a while put ashore.  But one day the verdict was delivered, the
+sentence pronounced, and my farewell was made.  The circumstances were
+as follows:--
+
+A lieutenant came into the berth with my friend, and by him I was
+informed that I must prepare for departure.  We had been acting as
+escort to a number of transports in Japanese waters, and any chance of
+escape had been carefully prevented.  So when the lieutenant came in
+with his interpreting junior, I was almost pleased to meet them and
+hear my fate, though it was tinged with despair.  Anything then
+appeared to me better than submission to the polite suspicions to which
+I had lately been enduring, and even thus my position as an Englishman
+and a sailor preserved for me a greater degree of toleration than would
+have been granted to most other foreigners.  The recital of my
+adventures and training, particularly my rescue of the young Japanese
+officer, pleaded in my favour; but the rumours from the forecastle,
+which had penetrated to the ward-room, compelled attention, and in
+war-time any underhand practices, if only suspected, always bring
+disaster.
+
+The fleet, as I have said, had for some time patrolled the Manchurian
+coast, seeking for a landing-place for the lately raised army, of which
+Marshal Oyama was appointed general-in-chief.  The division had landed
+in Corea near the Taidong River, and thither the men-of-war proceeded
+when the arrangements for the disembarkation had been concluded.
+
+It was on the 23rd October that the whole array of transports, escorted
+by a number of warships, left the river; and next day, an eventful day
+for me, they anchored off the Manchurian coast at some little distance
+from shore, in thick and misty weather.  All hands were alert, though
+nothing had occurred to alarm us, but when the vessels became
+discernible from the shore some excitement was manifested, because the
+natives had never seen such an array of force, and could not believe in
+its advance.  They knew the water was shallow, and though their junks
+could come in, and lie at ease under the shadow of the hills, the great
+vessels would be wrecked, they knew.
+
+The _Naniwa_ had anchored when the two officers came to the berth in
+search of me, and made the final proposition, as I anticipated.  My
+young friend interpreted the decision.
+
+"The captain and officers," he said, "have no alternative in this
+matter, though I am instructed to say that in their opinion you have
+not willingly transgressed nor plotted against his Imperial Majesty.
+Therefore they offer you the opportunity to go ashore with our scouts,
+and to act with them.  Will you accept the offer?"
+
+"Pray accept my thanks for the courtesy.  But what if I decline it?"
+
+"Then you will be dealt with in a more severe manner."
+
+I paused before I replied to this.  My temper rose, and I felt that any
+dispute was to be avoided.  Still I could not withhold a protest.
+
+"Your captain can, of course, hang me, but I am perfectly innocent.
+Cannot he send me aboard some American or British ship?"
+
+"We have no means of doing so," he replied, when this renewed demand
+had been translated.  "You must decide at once, and, if you do accept
+the offer, make your preparations."
+
+"Well then, I must accept, I suppose.  What preparations do you refer
+to?"
+
+"You must appear as a Chinese, and accompany the interpreters ashore,
+and bring back the intelligence to the Commander-in-Chief."
+
+I was staggered.  My heart beat loudly.  Was this Japanese method?
+Then the punishment was really intended to fit the supposed crime.  I
+was accused of being a spy.  The Japanese would make me one in fact!
+This was carrying the war into the enemy's country with a vengeance.
+
+"Impossible!" I gasped.  "I cannot.  You surely will not compel me to
+play the spy?"
+
+The lieutenant perceived my indignation, and said something to the
+junior officer.
+
+"You must decide quickly," he said.  "The troops will soon be landed."
+
+This was a form of speech which I discounted.  The vessels were miles
+away from shore.
+
+"Who will be my companions? and shall I be treated well?"
+
+"Certainly.  One of your associates can speak French, you can also
+speak a little Chinese.  They will be told that you are an English
+correspondent of a newspaper.  You sketch?"
+
+"A little."
+
+"Then your arrangements will be easily made.  You will go as a
+traveller, as many of your compatriots have already done in Asia-Minor
+and farther East.  Put aside the idea of 'spy,' sir; think of your
+safety only.  You will be a traveller, and can move as you please."
+
+"You do not expect me to return?"
+
+"No, indeed!  Pardon me, we want to get rid of you."
+
+I smiled faintly.  "Very well," I said.  "How can I find the dress?"
+
+"Very easily.  You shall see.  This is settled then?"
+
+"Decidedly!"
+
+"That is good.  The captain will supply you with _cash_, and give you a
+pass to roam as you please; but the Chinese may interfere with you."
+
+"You will give me a revolver?"
+
+"Yes; and plenty of ammunition.  A knife may be useful--or sword."
+
+"Perhaps; but why a sword?"
+
+"To kill yourself, if necessary, and save yourself torture," replied
+the young man calmly, as he retreated in the wake of his superior.
+
+I shuddered, and stood staring after them as they ascended to the deck;
+then followed them, and looked around me once again on the Yellow Sea.
+It had never warranted its name before in my eyes.  It did then.
+
+We were anchored off a village almost as primitive as some in Cornwall;
+and the sandy beach, the cliffs, and the more distant hills, somehow
+reminded me of England, though the junks destroyed the illusion, and
+the costume of the astonished natives dissipated any resemblance to the
+sturdy west-country fishers of my own land.  I wondered how the troops
+would manage to embark; but I soon perceived a party of Japanese had
+landed in a small boat, and had planted a flag on one of the hills.
+
+As we were all watching them, some soldiers quitted one of the
+transports, and then the ships, in obedience to a signal, moved in
+closer, feeling their way, and steering "for the flag" on the hill.
+The soldiers had included a party of engineers, and after a while they
+began a long pontoon-bridge in the shallow water, to land the artillery
+and horses.  I was intensely interested in the calm and deliberate
+manner in which the Japanese set to work.  They had apparently no fear
+of interruption by the enemy, for I saw some of the men-o'-war,
+scouting in the offing, capturing a few junks, and finally a small
+steamer, which proved a great assistance in towing and landing troops
+and supplies.
+
+These arrangements were not made nor completed in a day, nor in ten.  I
+think a fortnight elapsed before I was once more warned for service,
+and a complete suit of Chinese dress procured for me.
+
+My young mentor brought it to me below.
+
+"Here is your uniform," he said; "your travelling dress.  Don't look so
+angrily at me," he continued; "indeed I cannot help it."
+
+This pacified me somewhat, and after all the change was nothing more
+extraordinary than Burton's.  I began to perceive that the Japanese
+captain was, perhaps unwittingly, doing me a good turn, for some
+Englishmen were certain to turn up with the army, and with them I could
+be assured of protection.  Unfortunately, I could not "have it out"
+with the captain, either to thank him, or to condemn.
+
+The Chinese dress is so simple, that one wonders it is not adopted more
+generally.  The night-suits and day-suits are almost identical, and the
+dress of ladies and gentlemen, in pattern and material, are almost
+alike.  The trousers, tunic, or kirtle, need no decided measurement,
+for one measure is sufficient for each garment, as from hip to ankle,
+or from neck to the knees, as the case may be.  In winter, wadding is
+quilted into the clothes, and several suits worn over the innermost, so
+that a man may be apparently stout until unrolled, or undressed.  The
+suits wear for years, as the fashion of the Chinese passeth not away;
+and when the old suit is discarded, it is relegated to night-duty--goes
+on the "night-shift," as the miner says.
+
+There was no difficulty in arraying me over my body-clothing in Chinese
+costume, and in a few minutes I was transformed into the outer
+semblance of a Chinaman _with_ a crop of thick hair.  The dresser then
+shaved my face, and made me up, and he began to shave my locks.  This I
+resented, and was about to resist forcibly, until the young officer
+interfered and made peace.
+
+At length I was attired, painted, and coiffe; my delicate skull was
+shaven; a long lock was retained, and to this a proper pigtail was by
+artifice attached.  When this caudal appendage was fixed, and my whole
+appearance touched up, I caught sight of myself in a mirror, and, after
+a struggle with my pride, burst into a roar of laughter.
+
+It was too ridiculous!  The "coolie," butcher-blue suit, the queer
+shoes, the long sleeves, the wide trousers and loose tunic, made me
+feel as if dressed for a fancy ball, and my amusement was only checked
+by the presentation of the revolver and some cartridges.  I was
+instructed to rely upon my chosen companion for all else, and for
+example.  We were to travel in pairs, and I was to keep silent, as much
+as possible, for my own sake and his.  My young friend, the middy, gave
+me several hints as to behaviour and manners, and my own experience
+dictated several more, which I could employ with advantage.
+
+When my costume had been completed by a cap, I was taken on shore by
+the young officer, Tomi, and put under the care of a Japanese
+interpreter, who seemed to be a good sort of fellow.  Tomi urged him,
+with much native eloquence, to be vigilant, and to look after the
+Englishman, who was one of those "crazy creatures" who risk their lives
+in the search of information.  The Japanese apparently understood the
+nature of the animal.  A Chinese would have thought me a lunatic, for
+even a man who hunts, or "sports" in any way, is regarded by Celestials
+as stupid.  "They should get men to do all this for them," they say of
+the British athlete.
+
+The natives were perfectly quiet, and we (the scouts) were directed to
+proceed across the isthmus, first along the coast to Putsewo, or
+Pittozo-wo, and thence across towards Fuchow.  The former place is
+about twenty-eight miles from where we had landed, and in the direction
+of Port Arthur.  The other two scouts were directed to proceed further
+in the direction of Kinchow, which is at the opposite side of the
+peninsula, where it is narrowest, there being only about two miles
+distance between the shores of Talien Bay and the Nan-Kua Pass.  The
+peninsula then expands.  Port Arthur occupies the eastern side in the
+bay, at the extremity.
+
+My companion, named Hoyo, or Hoko, took a rather nervous farewell of
+the officer.  Tomi clasped my hands, and repeatedly assured me that my
+life had been frequently in danger, and had I remained I must have
+fallen a victim to the enmity of the Japs.  He again protested that he
+was for ever my debtor, and had even volunteered to accompany me in my
+expedition, but had been refused.
+
+"Take this badge," he concluded, "it is a private token of a Japanese
+naval officer.  If ever in the company of our fleet, or even with the
+army, and in trouble, produce it.  It is the Emperor's gift, and will
+assure you of safety.  Farewell!"
+
+He wrung my hand, touched his cap, and turned away to the boat, while
+Hoko and I mounted the sandy shore which ascended beside the river
+Hua-yuan.
+
+Thus I was again "dismissed" from naval service, and cast upon my own
+resources, and slender they were indeed!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CHINESE LANGUAGE--"HELD UP"--BETRAYED!
+
+We started in the gloaming, carrying small packs and some supplies, for
+we did not know whether the natives would suspect us, or assist us,
+even if they were not distrustful.  Hoko "cheered me up" by relating
+slowly, for my benefit, the list of likely tortures which the Chinese
+practised upon the enemy.  The list need not be recapitulated in full,
+but cutting-up (alive), beheading, and hanging, first by the heels,
+were amongst those most usually inflicted upon the prisoner, and
+perhaps the most "merciful."
+
+My spirits were not thereby elated, and scarcely had we reached the
+road when a picket of Japanese soldiers accosted us.  They were quickly
+satisfied by my companion, and laughed at us as we parted with them.
+This interview was succeeded by others, and in each case we got away
+safely.  At our last halt Hoko consulted his map, and gave it to me to
+ponder in the lantern-light of the picket guards.  Again we resumed our
+journey, and this party proved to be the last post of the Japs at that
+time.  Thenceforward all was dark and unknown.
+
+When we had proceeded a few miles, hunger assailed us, and after a
+short time we agreed, chiefly by signs, to rest in the glade into which
+we had wandered from the road.  The Chinese tongue never seemed to me
+so wanting in expression as then.  My command of language is not
+despicable in English, and on board ship; but in that glade in the
+society of the Japanese scout I felt kinder dumb!  There was no need
+for silence.  The Chinese language embraces about forty thousand
+strokes or letters (or signs rather) in writing; while only about three
+hundred and fifty are spoken.  Hence the same _spoken_ word represents
+a number of different--vastly different--things in writing; and the few
+hundreds of words represent so many more thousands of characters or
+signs!  Even a Chinese may communicate with a friend in another
+province by _writing_; but he very likely will not understand his
+_dialect_.
+
+The Chinese language, I may state, depends really upon the _tones_ of
+voice, not upon the actual pronunciation of the words, and these tones
+are even increased in the Mongolian dialect.  In Manchuria, perhaps,
+the bulk of the population is of Mongolian descent, a superior, a
+braver, race than the ordinary (I don't say "pure and simple")
+Chinaman--for "John" is not that.  But practice and tone of voice will
+teach much; and this tone will entirely alter the sense of the speaker
+if he misapply it.  In some languages one may speak by "ear."  Ear is
+of no account in China.  There are certain "radical signs" and a number
+of "primitive" signs; characters are made by combining both, and are
+written downwards.
+
+As may be anticipated, I had not made much progress in the Chinese
+language, but I could chatter "pidgin" English, which is so useful in
+the Treaty ports, and so useless in China proper, which is arrived at
+by changing every "r" to "l" and adding the "e" doubled when it is
+single, as in "alle samee," "makee laugh," "alle samee Elopean man,"
+"no wantchee."  "Number one" means "proper," and "chop-chop" "quickly,"
+in this language; while "play-pidgin" is merely "talk," and "top-side
+pidgin" is religion, or religious converse.
+
+One soon becomes conversant with the business talk, for "pidgin" means
+"business" in the mind of the trader and the coolie (or labourer).  But
+let me resume my narrative.
+
+The night was very chilly, and the early morning misty, as my companion
+roused me up and told me that we must be going.  Let it be remembered
+that our conversations were only carried on piecemeal, and when I
+mention them you must understand that signs assisted us greatly.  But
+the man was honest, I believed, and had no thought of any treachery
+towards me.  We conversed in southern dialect a little, and made signs.
+
+We presently reached a river which I learned was called Pilu (or
+Pihliu), and proceeded to a small village where we got some food, which
+I did not relish, but had to eat in order to keep up my character.  We
+learned that the invaders were expected, and that it would be better
+for us to keep away to the north-west, else we might get into trouble.
+We therefore assented, and passed on for a while, intending to change
+our route as soon as possible, but fate had ordained otherwise.  My
+companion had intended to proceed in the direction of Putsewo, and then
+strike westward again, marching by a compass and map which I had
+secured in my tunic, but when we took the advice of the well-meaning
+villagers we left our former direction, and when again essaying to
+recover our route we came to grief.  For a long time we wandered amidst
+the hills and rough country seeking a track, but finding nothing
+promising, until almost suddenly we descended a hillside and found
+ourselves near a rather substantial village, from which there was no
+escape without questioning from the natives.
+
+Hoko quickly gave me to understand that I was his brother, that we were
+South Chinamen seeking a ship at Port Arthur, and that we had been
+north and intended to return to Chefoo.[1]  We had rehearsed this
+little play before, and my South-China lingo was supposed sufficient to
+deceive the Mongolians.  If necessary, my guide informed me, a little
+"geomaney," or "wind and weather" fortune-telling, would keep suspicion
+at bay.  So, primed with a few simple maxims, I braced myself for the
+encounter.
+
+
+[1] Chefoo or Chifu.--H.F.
+
+
+The natives were decidedly of the race of Didymus.  They did not credit
+half our assurance, and we--at least I--wished we had more of it.
+Certainly the interpreter remained as cool as possible, and his calm
+method of lying would have discredited Ananias of old, and deceived St.
+Peter himself.  I give my impressions of the examination to which the
+interpreter was subjected.
+
+"Your name?" demanded the chief of the villagers.
+
+"Ho-wuh-Chang."
+
+"Where do you come from?"
+
+"Panchwang, in the province of Fuhkien."
+
+"Where have you been?"
+
+"At Takushan."
+
+"Whither bound?
+
+"Chefoo and Shanghai."
+
+"Who is this man?"
+
+Here the interpreter made a pretence of great reverence and respect, as
+he answered--
+
+"My all-enlightened brother of _Tau_."
+
+This reply drew attention to me, for Tau is the "priest" of Chinese
+theosophy or magic art, and is accordingly respected, for every
+Chinaman fears Tau, the more so as he has no idea what it is, any more
+than its votary.  Tau is "The Right": what one cannot see, nor hear,
+nor seize.  It is a kind of "_Fêng Shui_" in its essence, and Tau is
+the true Reason for all things in the universe, the Great Primitive
+Cause in the world, not a religious dogma.
+
+The Tauist, then, becomes by inheritance, or profession, a kind of
+priest, a miracle-man, supposed to be versed in ancient lore, able to
+tell fortunes, and decide social questions with authority as regards
+the work and operations of nature, and "Fêng Shui"--the effects of wind
+and weather.  Superstitious as the Chinese are, these attributes confer
+great authority upon the adherents and practice of the Tauists.  Hence,
+if I was not found out, my companion concluded we should escape.
+
+Unfortunately one of the villagers perceived the accent of the Japanese
+interpreter, and declared him a Corean!  This at once gave cause of
+mischief, and my companion was searched, his small knapsack, or pack,
+was turned upside down, and all the while a rush of epithets assailed
+us both.  I carried no pack, but had the compass and map and revolver
+in my possession.  If the suspicious and antagonistic villagers had
+found those articles our fates would have been sealed, and a cruel
+death must have ensued.
+
+While the natives were thus examining the Japanese, I was not molested,
+though several glances were directed at me, and some remarks
+made--which I did not notice.  All the time I was endeavouring to
+discover some means whereby I could satisfy, if I could not alarm, the
+villagers, but for a while no idea appeared to my mind feasible.  The
+pack had been examined, the Jap had been interrogated freely and
+rudely, and now my turn was approaching.  Fortunately the villagers had
+been informed that I did not wish to be disturbed, but they had evident
+intentions of finding things out for themselves!
+
+Luckily, I possessed one of the attributes of the Tauists, perhaps
+quite as sincere as theirs--the knowledge and anticipation of the
+ordinary phases of weather.  The morning had been misty and almost
+frosty, and a change of wind, I noticed, had been causing a fog to
+arise.  Hitherto it had been almost imperceptible even in the hills,
+the vale was clear; but while looking about me I noticed the vapour
+gradually creeping down the slopes behind the men who barred our way.
+My plan was quickly matured: the mist would serve us well.  I
+remembered Fennimore Cooper, and the eclipse as adapted by Haggard in
+_Solomon's Mines_, and hoped for success.
+
+I calmly approached my companion, and managed to give him a hint, in
+French, that he was to make me out a necromancer; thus I intended to
+play upon the fears of the natives, and he must back me up.  Meantime,
+if we were attacked, I would shoot as many of the assailants as I
+could.  My suggestions and gestures were understood, and when the
+natives advanced to search me, demanding some explanation, the
+interpreter motioned them to stand aside.  He told them to be careful.
+I was a necromancer--one who had the weather "in the palm of his hand";
+was related to the _genii_, and if I (and he) were interrupted further,
+and our peaceful progress barred, the immediate consequences would be
+serious, and the future disastrous for the village.  Their graves would
+suffer, their families die; and I could change them themselves into
+stocks and stones, and cause them to disappear from the village.  In
+fact, I could transform them!  When once the Japanese Ananias had fully
+embarked upon the marvellous, his imagination carried him away more
+completely than ever the villagers could be.  If we were properly
+treated, he added, money might be showered upon them!
+
+While the interpreter was thus hoodwinking the villagers, one or two of
+whom seemed sceptical, I bethought me of a simple trick which I had
+practised in "parlour magic" at home.  If the fog did not serve my
+purpose I could convince the natives, so I beckoned to the chief
+sceptic, and taking a piece of money from my wallet, which contained
+little of value, I placed the coin in his palm, pressing it firmly into
+the hand and closing the fingers.  He looked pleased, and retired,
+keeping his fingers closely shut as directed; my "assistant" hinted if
+the man were unfriendly his coin would disappear, at which the villager
+called up a smile or grimace as a protest, evidently hypocritical, and
+his associates also watched him.
+
+Seeing the gift, they came forward with much curiosity, and as I
+examined their features I found that some of the men were fairly
+honest, and a "tip" would not be thrown away upon them, though it must
+be merely a token, not a gift.  So while bestowing these "tips" I kept
+my eyes upon the weather, and by the time I had given all the men small
+presents, as they fancied, but only a few of the most influential
+actually received money, the mist came rolling down thickly.  To escape
+was now my intention.
+
+It was rather amusing to see the party of men standing in a row
+helplessly with their right hands guarding the magic gifts thus
+bestowed by the "Tauist."  The interpreter had already grasped the
+situation, and at my request desired the natives to turn at the
+necromancer's order, step ten paces, and open their hands.  The order
+was impressed upon them by myself.  I waved my hands and made as if
+impelling some invisible force to urge these simple superstitious men.
+They moved in obedience to my order, slowly, and when I had counted
+six, pausing between each number, the interpreter and I rushed away
+through the glade, and into the mist, which perhaps the Chinese may
+have fancied I had induced.  The last I saw of my dangerous adherents
+was a line of stupid-looking men each gazing at his closed hand, and
+speculating upon what it contained for him.
+
+I am afraid most of them were disappointed when they had released their
+grasps of the magic gifts, and they found money in only four palms, and
+those of the most influential of the party.
+
+Meantime my faithful companion and I hurried away into the mist, which
+effectually shrouded us, and pursued a devious course, now and then
+halting to listen for the pursuers, for we did not doubt they would
+pursue us.  But we heard nothing to alarm us, and made good progress
+when the mist lifted later.
+
+We congratulated ourselves greatly upon this ruse, but it would not
+serve us again.  I managed to explain the trick to the Japanese, who,
+when I had finished the laboured sentences, told me of some far more
+intelligent tricks which he had seen performed, and tried to explain
+them to me.  But I was a very simple amateur in these matters, and
+could do little beyond the easy _legerdemain_ of the drawing-room at
+home.
+
+"It was a dangerous game," said Hoko, "and if any of the men meet us
+again they will kill us."
+
+"But they won't catch us," I replied, with all the fine assurance of a
+sharp "hare" in the schoolboy paper chase.  "We can turn, and return on
+our path.  How do you propose to travel?"
+
+"I am considering," he replied.  "Please lend me the map and compass.
+It was well they did not search you, because you would have been
+killed.  The map would have betrayed us."
+
+"You can keep it," I said with great magnanimity.  "By all means keep
+it.  I can steer by the points of the heavens, and by my watch, and the
+sun and stars."
+
+The Japanese nodded, and concealed the articles in his dress.
+
+"The pistol?" he asked presently.  "Is it ready?"
+
+"Yes.  I think I will keep it, thank you.  Shall we continue our
+journey?"
+
+He nodded again, and we proceeded cautiously for several miles, bending
+and twisting the route until we were both certain that we must have put
+miles between us and the enraged natives, whom I had some reason to
+fear notwithstanding my assumed influential character.  The interpreter
+proposed a halt, and being hungry I gladly acceded; then, having eaten
+a few cakes and refreshed ourselves, we rested.  I slept soundly for
+some time.  When I awoke it was dusk, and I was alone!  Alone!
+deserted! betrayed!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+ABANDONED!--I FALL AMONG THIEVES, BUT FIND SOME "GOOD SAMARITANS"
+
+Raising myself upon my elbow, with sleepy eyes I looked around me.  I
+was half hidden by brushwood, and did not recognise the place as that
+in which I had lain down.  I at once scrambled to my feet, and made the
+unpleasant discovery that my companion had quitted me, and had managed
+to abstract my revolver.  Then a great rush of blood flushed my veins.
+I had been betrayed!  The Japanese had managed to extract from me the
+compass and map, had stolen the revolver, and had dragged me into the
+brushwood to die, perhaps.
+
+I stood, utterly depressed; I cursed the fellow who had thus betrayed
+me, and the officers who had sent me to my doom.  I swore that if I got
+back I would be revenged upon the treacherous Japs, who after ridding
+themselves of me had sent me to die in the wilderness.  Yet the
+interpreter had really saved my life, I thought, at first.  "Yes,"
+replied Reflection, "because you were armed."  Yes, that was so.  Still
+why, if he had desired my death, had he not shot me at once when he had
+stolen the revolver?
+
+I cast myself down in despair, and again looked around me.  I had been
+hidden evidently, dragged when asleep into the small thicket and thrust
+out of sight.  What then had become of the interpreter, and why had I
+been concealed?  These were questions which I could not answer, nor
+could I conjecture any reasons for the man's conduct.  Perhaps he had
+been instructed to get rid of me, and not to kill me, and had taken
+this opportunity.
+
+This was maddening.  Here was I in a perfectly strange country in
+disguise, and certain to be taken prisoner either by Chinese or Japs,
+and in either case sure to be ill-treated.  To be sure the Japanese do
+not kill their prisoners, and they appeared lenient to the natives so
+far as I could ascertain, but in those cases the natives were
+submissive and frightened.  I doubted not that amid the excitement of
+battle the little sleepy-looking Japs would quickly arouse themselves
+and slay without compunction.  The Mikado's men are quiet and polite,
+pleasant and kind; but under any superficial polish, even under the
+influence of real kindness, there lies a strong and determined, slowly
+and surely rising determination, which when it rises to "boiling-point"
+cannot be stayed.  An explosion must ensue, as the enemies of Japan
+will find out some day.
+
+Lying there in the chilly darkness, which an already waning moon only
+partly dissipated, I reflected upon my condition.  I determined to find
+my way to Port Arthur, avow myself an Englishman, and if questioned
+declare the advance of the Japanese.  Why should I keep their faith
+when they had betrayed me?  I would "give them away," as they had
+forsaken me.  That would be my revenge.  Some of the Chinese officers
+surely could speak English or French, and even a little German, picked
+up at a tutor's, might assist me, though my knowledge of the last-named
+tongue was limited to phrases.
+
+Having made up my mind, I curled myself up in the brushwood and lay
+undisturbed, rather hungry and excessively miserable, until kind sleep
+overtook me about midnight.
+
+As soon as daylight enabled me to see, I examined my dress and pockets,
+and found that, with the exception of a sum of money in my belt, I had
+been regularly "cleaned out."  Everything of any value, except the
+belt, had been stolen, and I marvelled how the thief had succeeded.
+Perhaps the liquor which he had given me had stupefied me; the "rice
+spirit" is somewhat "heady."  At anyrate there I stood, a coolie in
+appearance, untidy, unshaven, bedraggled, cold and hungry, and quite
+unable to help myself.  I could only draw in my belt tightly to appease
+my hunger, and prevent the qualms I dreaded.  Luckily I found a stream,
+washed and drank of it, and then made my cast south-east again.
+
+The air was frosty and fresh, and I walked rapidly to warm my chilled
+frame, but had not proceeded more than two miles, as I judged, when
+three men who were coming across an adjacent path from another
+direction espied me.  I had no chance of retreat, they saw me at once,
+and to my dismay I perceived others behind them.  No doubt a village
+was near, or a large farm perhaps, though single farms are not frequent
+in China.  The villages are walled, and every foot of ground belonging
+to these farmers is utilised and fertilised, so that the best results
+are obtained by continual attention; and the land is of course taxed,
+the taxes being paid to the public exchequer.  "Anything," even the
+shaven hair of the villagers, is put into the ground; vegetable and
+animal refuse is of course in request.  Tobacco is used to kill
+insects, and the zebu, or buffalo of the country, is the labouring
+animal, which takes the place of the horse or ox; and milk, butter,
+etc., are almost unknown.  There are ducks, and fowls, and hogs, the
+last especially are plentiful, and in China the "black hog," instead of
+the "black dog" of the British nursery, may very likely "get upon the
+children's backs," and cause ill tempers.  The dog and the cat here
+pass their time pleasantly, but the stranger must _cave canem_.
+
+The villagers--farmers--came upon me, and stood a little away, staring
+in wonderment at me.  Then they surrounded me, and made inquiries which
+I ignored,--not from pride,--and then they tried more questions, and
+searching ones.  Fortunately they found nothing, but they conferred
+together, and indicated that I must return with them to the village.
+Of course I had no alternative, and accompanied them, where, in a kind
+of shed, I was commanded to strip!  In the most emphatic fashion I
+declined, folding my arms and exclaiming, "Englishman," and added--what
+they knew already--"Fan Quei" (foreign devil).
+
+They then paused, but suddenly seized me, and while some held me down,
+the rest dragged off my clothes, until they came to the belt around my
+waist, that they did not take away, perhaps thinking it was something
+magical, it being ornamented and worked, but they felt it, and
+evidently discussed it.  Finding nothing in it--luckily the distributed
+coin escaped them--the fellows gave me my clothes, and sent for another
+person.  While I was dressing, the person arrived--a true Chinese of
+Canton breed, such as we may see in East London, England.
+
+He, in turn, stared at me curiously, and asked a question.  I made a
+lamely expressed reply in Chinese as I understood it; but the man, to
+my great delight, asked in "pidgin," "Wantee go sea?  Melican-man?"
+
+"Yes," was my reply, greatly relieved; "England.  Elopean man--wantchee
+Shanghai.  What fashion man here?"
+
+"Alle samee, Melican-man.  Sabee _cash_, chop-chop, eh?"
+
+"Yes," I nodded; "plenty much _cash_."
+
+"Alle light; no watchee long talkee.  One piecee man wantee _cash_.
+Chow-chow?"
+
+I nodded again.  I was hungry.  "See dless?" I said.
+
+"Ah! dless come more better!  Makee laugh, not number one."
+
+No, it certainly was not proper then, but I laughed, and the villagers
+were surprised at the conversation.  The coolie understood my "pidgin,"
+and I felt much happier.  I had cash, and even silver, so I could
+reward him if he assisted me; but suppose he tried treachery?
+
+This seemed probable, but I must risk something.  He said something to
+the villagers, who replied vehemently.  The coolie, who was a waiter
+from Port Arthur, as I understood, said to me--
+
+"Number one topside-man say plis'ner!  No can do: walkee!"
+
+"Cannot you get me away then?" I asked in "pidgin" of the coolie.
+
+"No lun away.  Too much, man--no go long; no tink!  Get dless,
+chop-chop!"
+
+This was unfortunate; escape seemed hopeless.  So far as I understood
+the coolie, he found that we could not escape from the villagers at
+once.  He was quite willing to assist me, knowing that I would pay him,
+but the farmers were very suspicious.  Had they found out the little
+pocket in my belt in which I carried the Japanese permit, and my small
+store of coin, they would have killed me.  Cowardice is usually cruel.
+
+My captors quickly gave me to understand that they meant business.
+They produced a bamboo pole, which they passed behind me, and under my
+arms, to which they tied it.  They left my legs free, because they
+intended me to walk, as I understood, to Putsewo, where the "pidgin"
+man said the Chinese troops were quartered.  I hoped the Japanese might
+come up there meanwhile; but then, between Jack and Jap, I would be
+fixed between two stools, and either might cut the support.
+
+As soon as I had been fully dressed, and the pole fixed, I was put in
+the care of two of the men, with the coolie acting as the go-between.
+The last mentioned told me my destination; had he known that my captain
+suspected me of being a _spy_, I knew my fate would have been sealed.
+I begged him to release me.
+
+"No can do!" was the reply.  "Too mutchee fear!  Maskee!" (by and by).
+
+I was obliged to be content with this, and when the men had given me a
+meal of rice and water we set out.  The coolie held the end of the rope
+in his hand, and the farmers walked close behind me, one on each side,
+so that at the first attempt to escape they could intercept me.
+
+The rope was so twisted and so taut around my hands that I implored the
+coolie to loosen it.  After consultation, he complied, saying, "Maskee,
+maskee," and evidently willing to assist me, but hinting at cash.
+Making an excuse to halt, I managed to hand him a little silver, as a
+guarantee, and to my delight found my bonds slackened.  Still the other
+two men kept watch, and took turns at driving me like a pig to market.
+
+The day was already waning, and I began to speculate upon release
+during the evening.  There had been several delays since breakfast, and
+again my escort halted to advise themselves of the route, the
+cross-country direction, before night fell.  As we were all standing,
+three of the party chattering like magpies, in the dusk, I felt the
+rope twitch and then slacken.  My senses were at once awakened.  The
+Port Arthur servant was keeping me alert, and I saw he was pointing to
+some huts below us.  Another village!  I must act!
+
+I looked around me in all directions, and made up my mind to rush the
+hill beside me and hide amid the boulders.  I had no thought beyond
+escape, and when some minutes later "my coolie" dropped the end of the
+rope suddenly, exclaiming, "Kinchow!"  I knew my chance had come, and
+the direction.  The yellow fellow gesticulated in the face of my
+captors.  I was free!
+
+With a leap aside like a deer I darted away up the slope, and slightly
+turning my head I perceived that the coolie had got mixed up with the
+farmers, and was hindering them.  Never were a few pieces of silver
+better bestowed, I thought, as I bounded up the hill, pursued by my two
+captors, while "Kinchow" rang in my ears--where or what Kinchow was,
+unless "Chincow" was meant, I did not care.  I was free; free in the
+gathering darkness truly, alone and unarmed, but even so, unharmed and
+with a chance for life.
+
+I was in dread lest the dangling rope would trip me up, and as I ran I
+tried to get it up higher.  Luckily it trailed behind me and did not
+touch me.  So I sprang up, leaped some small streams, not thinking of
+any definite direction but doubling like a hunted hare, disappearing
+behind rocks and again striking a new course, but always away from the
+twinkling lanterns which I could now distinguish below me, and I
+fancied I heard dogs barking.
+
+This was most alarming.  Though I had not heard of bloodhounds in
+China, the ordinary dog when accompanied by his master was quite
+unpleasant enough, and in bulk formidable; when at last I rested upon
+the hill, and listened intently, I felt assured that the alarm had been
+given, and that my captors had sent to the village for assistance.
+Then I girded up my loins indeed, and though terribly handicapped by
+the rope around my shoulders, I made a desperate effort, and kept
+through a wood and around the boulders near the summit of the hill.
+Kneeling down, I placed myself between two rocks facing the ascent from
+the village, and could distinguish nothing at all below me.  After a
+while I saw a few roving lights _descending_, and then knew that until
+the morning pursuit had ceased.  Fervently I thanked God for my escape,
+and, feeling rested, began to attempt release from the rope.
+
+I do not know whether any of my readers have ever attempted the "rope
+trick" when bound by one of a sceptical audience, but my release was
+far more unlikely.  The rope had been knotted with a will, and though
+"where there's a will there's a way," I could find no way save by
+rubbing my arms against the sharpest edge of the next convenient stone,
+and a nice way it was!  Suffice it that I succeeded in cutting the
+bonds, and in scraping my shoulders, in a manner suggestive of the
+lash, or birch rather; but the relief was worth all the pain and
+exertion, and when I lay down to rest, not on my back, I fell asleep
+with a thanksgiving upon my lips.
+
+Morning was hardly putting a candle in the east, when, stiff and numb,
+I attempted to rise.  At first waking I was apprehensive whether I
+would be able to get up, but by degrees I unlocked my muscles, and
+extended my limbs.  Then as soon as there was light I quitted my stony
+shelter, and proceeded through the wood.  But when I came to an opening
+in the bushes I for the first time perceived what a terrible risk I had
+run.  The rocks under which I had sheltered had fallen from above, and
+only paused in their descent over another precipice which ended in a
+stream strewn with boulders; beyond the stream lay the village deep in
+the millet-fields, lately harvested, bristling with stubble, and higher
+up the cliffs whence the rocks had fallen.
+
+The situation reminded me, distantly, of Beatenberg in Berne, when once
+I lay beneath the cliffs, gazing below at the rocky mill-stream which
+makes its way to the lake of Thun through a narrow, precipitous gully.
+But what an escape I had had!
+
+My first care was to put as great a distance as possible between the
+village and myself, and so I clambered up and across the hills, having
+seen no one and heard nothing to alarm me.  I descended the rocky, not
+precipitous, slope on the other side, and struck into a side valley,
+but whither it would lead I did not care.  It led me to water and
+refreshment, and then I hid the rope before resuming my journey to
+Kinchow.
+
+For hours I wandered on, meeting no one, and fearing to encounter
+anyone.  Some unpleasant-looking birds kept me company for a while, and
+gave me "the fidgets."  I began to think of vultures, and shuddered
+when they seated themselves at a little distance and blinked, as I
+thought, at each other, nodding at me at intervals.  I maintain now, in
+defiance of bulls of Ireland, these were the most "beastly birds" I
+ever saw!  They laughed at the stones I threw at them, for they simply
+rose half a yard when I made good practice, and settled again at once,
+till I gave up stoning them, and disinterred the rope thinking to lasso
+them, or one of them.
+
+[Illustration: THEY LAUGHED AT THE STONES I THREW AT THEM]
+
+But they were as 'cute as a weasel, they could not be caught asleep;
+and finally, tired and hungry, I wandered on, cursing the birds, the
+Japanese, the Chinese, and my ill-luck which had been the cause of my
+adventures.  As evening approached the "beastly" birds disappeared.  By
+that time I was half silly, and felt inclined to do something
+desperate.  Still I tramped on till dusk, when a light in a small
+house--one of four such--beckoned me to cheer up.
+
+I perceived that these were farms, and the usual crops were in
+evidence, such as rice, sugarcane (which the coolie is fond of
+chewing), pulse, potatoes, wheat, tobacco, and some vegetables.  The
+rice crop had been gathered,--the late sowing I mean, for sometimes
+three crops are reaped, the last reaped in November, when vegetables
+are planted.  Rice wants water, cane does not, and this is, therefore,
+profitable, as irrigation is dispensed with.  Rice is the stable food,
+and even the landlord is paid in rice, which may amount to as much as
+three hundred and fifty pounds, or perhaps more, per acre.
+
+Fortunately for me, on this occasion, a woman was washing some article
+outside the house, and though as a rule the Chinese female is ignored
+and secluded, the peasant, the labourer-woman, is in evidence.  To this
+peculiar specimen I addressed myself in a language she had never heard,
+and could not understand.  But she could interpret signs and pantomime,
+while she seemed inclined to assist me.  When she disappeared I was
+left in doubt, but after a while she brought me food in a saucer, the
+origin of which I was too madly hungry to discriminate.  Whether rat,
+dog, or snake I cared not.  I am sure it was horrible at the time, but
+I managed to eat it, and was not ill, though inclined thereto.  She
+supplemented this mess by a dose of rather bad salt fish and pickled
+cabbage, with some rice plainly boiled; and this I did enjoy.  There
+was plenty of water; and when I bestowed upon my host the magnificent
+sum of one penny (English value), she believed me a wandering idol.
+Her pleasure was marked, and she actually indicated a place where I
+might rest in quiet under a thick coverlet which she brought me to the
+shed she pointed out.
+
+Then I was "in clover," and when I had ascertained that I was in no
+danger I asked for "Kinchow" and its direction.  The female drew some
+lines with her finger on the ground, and pointed in a direction in
+which I had been advancing.  Then shutting me in she left me to sleep,
+which I did gladly for some hours.
+
+But next morning I felt quite unable to rise, and when yet struggling
+to get up, the farmer and his wife and son all appeared, and stood
+staring at me.  I begged for mercy, thinking they meant me
+harm--perhaps the farmer had suspicions; but he evidently had heard of
+_cash_ from his wife.  He was polite and kind, brought me food which I
+could _not_ eat,--the supper had already upset me,--but consented to
+leave me quiet to sleep, as I begged them by signs to do.  Briefly, I
+remained there three days, and spent several pennies in _cash_ (about a
+hundred) in making myself perfectly "at home."
+
+On the fourth day I engaged the lad to be my guide by a promise of
+_cash_, and started for Kinchow feeling in good company and in good
+spirits.  For the farmer had been paid, and he and I had managed to
+make each other understand.  He had got the idea into his head that I
+was a Russian seeking Port Arthur, and agreed to put me on my way.
+Three whole days had been passed in coming to this understanding by the
+aid of a friend of the host, a rough map, and of course _cash_.  At
+length I saw my way to liberty.
+
+Alas!  I was checked at the outset.  The weather changed, and while I
+had anticipated snow perhaps, and frost later, the wind brought up big
+clouds, and a thunderstorm arose with pelting rain.  The young farmer
+declined to advance until the weather moderated, so we waited, and then
+in the pauses of the tempest retraced our steps to the hospitable farm.
+There two more days were spent in picking up Chinese and dropping
+_cash_.  Meantime my spirits fell, and at times I felt seriously
+depressed.  The chances of escape through the Chinese and Japanese
+lines seemed to me to become less and less, and the situation was the
+more intolerable because I could not freely express myself, and gain
+protection or assistance.
+
+During my enforced further sojourn with the farmer's family I
+endeavoured to induce them to lead me direct to Port Arthur (or, as it
+is called by Chinese, Lü-shun-Kou; by Japanese, Ryojunkõ).  But the
+guide demurred to this.  He evidently was afraid of the invading army,
+and it became increasingly evident to me that I should have to look
+after myself if we came within shot of the Japs.  With such forebodings
+I set out again with my fearful guide, and struck the telegraph posts
+upon the Pulantien (Port Adams) Road.
+
+If the reader will examine a map he will perceive that there are two
+main roads in the Sheng-King peninsula, both leading to Port Arthur,
+the western from Fuchow, and farther north still the other along the
+coast road by Putsewo and Talien Bay.  Above the place which the
+British called Port Adams in 1859, the roads unite.  These two tracks,
+stony and rugged, through and amid hills, wind their way to Kinchow,
+near which the peninsula becomes very narrow, and, in fact, is only
+about two miles wide--or less.
+
+It was the All-Hallow's Eve when we came cautiously into the first
+village, and found the peasants much alarmed at the near approach of
+the Japanese.  Scouts had reported the advance, and a number of carts
+and men were bringing supplies for the army in the town, and for the
+cavalry outside it.  My guide had a brilliant idea,--no less than one
+for the supply of vegetables, and he managed with my _cash_ to lay in a
+stock, which he suggested we should carry into Kinchow, and go through
+it to Port Arthur.
+
+His leaden face lighted up when I praised his plan, though I have
+reason to think now that I rather called him names in my imperfect
+vocabulary.  However, he seemed pleased, on the whole, and we set out
+on the 1st November to penetrate between the line of formidable forts
+which defended the approaches to Kinchow, on the hills along which the
+stony track meanders.  The whole aspect of the country through which we
+had lately travelled is undulating; seamed by depressions, or ridged by
+hills, so that we were rising and falling all the time with our hopes
+and fears.  I was particularly nervous, because if anyone chanced to
+clutch my artificial pigtail I would be a "lost mutton."  The moral
+character of the Chinaman depends upon--or shall I say _in_--his tail.
+A Chinaman _sans_ pigtail is an outcast.  The Manchus live and dress
+like the Chinese, and supply the best food for powder in China.
+
+We had some trouble--more perhaps in my imagination--on our way to the
+town, over whose walls the terrible Dragon was waving on banners and
+flags in most defiant fashion.  If the Chinese resistance would only
+accord with their preparations and defences, the little Japanese would
+certainly be repulsed, I thought.  As we advanced I felt like a man
+forced into a trap, for if discovered I had no chance for life from the
+Celestials, while the Rising Suns would have no quarter for those taken
+"in arms."  Chinese pickets were scattered amongst the hills, and some
+fine men were in the ranks.
+
+No doubt there were hundreds of men within these forts, though we saw
+few of them, and I wondered whether they kept watch at night carefully,
+for indeed they appeared rather sleepy in the morning, though ready
+enough with their rifles.  They could thus command both roads into
+Kinchow from a distance over the hills and dales.
+
+I had fancied that I heard guns during the night, but perhaps it was
+thunder.  At anyrate the night was boisterous, and the morning chilly
+and wet.  A long column of carts met us, and we with the natives winded
+our way down the track, passing two villages of few houses, and nearing
+the city, for from the hill we came close to it, and entered by the
+northern gate.  Assuming a most "fearful" carelessness, which in less
+anxious times might have proved my undoing, I walked by my guide's side
+watching every movement, and scarcely noticing the glances cast upon
+us.  Luckily my companion was recognised and well known, and our
+mission was patent.  We had brought food, and entered the town by the
+Gate of "Eternal Tranquillity," a misnomer as it proved.
+
+We made our way into the town amid soldiers, horses, and peasants.  The
+walls were lofty and solid, the gates well defended, and I understood
+that all the approaches were mined, so that the attacking force would
+be blown up outside _if the mines exploded_.  At anyrate, it seemed a
+very formidable place, and capable of a successful resistance.  The
+guns were mounted on the bastions, and all ready for a siege.  The
+soldiers were swarming in the streets, quartered on the people whom
+they had come to defend, and swaggering as much as they could.
+
+My guide escorted me to an eating-house, a small, and, I thought, very
+dirty place, amid the peasants; and there he heard the news, for though
+all seemed on the alert and not alarmed, they knew the Japanese were
+approaching rapidly.  We managed to get some satisfying food, and in
+escaping observation amid the soldiers who were enjoying themselves,
+and in excellent spirits.  My guide was amused, and when I had paid for
+our entertainment, he made for the south gate, guarded by Manchus.
+
+There we found exit denied, for the soldiers were stationed there in
+force, whether to run away first, or to prevent the townspeople from
+doing so, I could not determine.  But we were stopped and questioned
+and searched.  My heart sank to my shoes.  The end I considered had
+come.  What defence had I?  I could not even reply to the questions
+which the "sergeant," so I deemed him, put to me.  My guide had quickly
+cleared himself, and was standing chattering to the officer of the
+gate.  My time had come, and I braced myself to meet the inevitable
+fate which was impending.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+KINCHOW--ARRESTED BY CHINESE SOLDIERS--CAPTURE OF THE CITY
+
+As I have said, my heart sank as the sergeant came up roughly and
+prepared to strip me again.  Such an indignity I was unable to resist,
+and when the man indicated a spot apart where my costume could be
+conveniently removed if needful, my anger rose, and I made some
+remarks, which, as a fancy display of Chinese, may have given rise to
+curiosity, but as a means of release were void of effect.  As I
+continued to address the "sergeant," he stood still, and gazed at me in
+as much surprise as a Manchu soldier usually exhibits.  Seeing this, my
+anger and expostulations grew more fierce.  I waved my arms,
+gesticulated, performed _sleight-of-hand_ movements with my fingers,
+and in fact exhibited such manifest tokens of ability to take a
+"first-class" at Earlswood (England), that the man retreated to make
+inquiry respecting me, and I breathed again.
+
+What was my late companion doing all this time?  He had apparently
+deserted me, and this after all my lavish--in a Chinese
+sense--expenditure of _cash_.  Again my bad feelings predominated, and
+I felt truly disgusted with my "luck."  There was no loophole for
+escape, and though the disappearance of the sergeant was a blessing, it
+might really result in death.
+
+The man had left me alone in the hut,--I cannot call it house,--and
+when my ill temper had quickly evaporated I began to think of escape.
+The door was open to the passage or side street, and when I peeped out
+I perceived a soldier, armed, standing sentry at the end of the _cul de
+sac_, as the alley was.  Escape seemed impossible.  I was again a
+prisoner; whither could I go, what could I do were the thoughts which
+surged through my excited brain.  The Chinese (or Manchu) soldier had
+me in his keeping, and perhaps had orders to kill me if I attempted to
+escape, pending the return of the lieutenant of the guard.  Meantime, I
+was absolutely helpless.  In any "civilised" country one might have
+managed to intercede for oneself, but there in Manchuria the case was
+different.  I was lost!--strayed!
+
+During the minutes already at my disposal I considered all the
+available plans of evasion I had heard of.  Captives in stories, and in
+all the imaginative books which I had devoured, always had a friend
+who, whether a Freemason or not, had means at hand to circumvent the
+villain!  But there was no villain in my case; nothing unusual, nothing
+out of the way in my circumstances, and this dead-level of experience
+appeared devoid of any person who could undertake the role of the "god
+in the machine," and release me.  Here was the sentry, there the lofty
+gate, its platform surmounted by a two-storeyed tower, from which the
+advance of the enemy was doubtless perceived, or would shortly be
+perceived.  Neither sentinel nor entrance seemed likely to afford me
+passage.  Ah! the sentry was approaching.  I shrank back into the hut,
+and peeped through the opening of the door.  The sentry came on slowly
+and somewhat limply.
+
+He had a rifle and ammunition, and seemed well equipped.  He passed the
+place of my concealment, and I began to hope that he would pass on, and
+permit of my escape to the main street, which, being full of people,
+might afford opportunities for it; but to my disgust he turned, and
+came directly towards me.  As he came nearer I retreated into the gloom
+of the hut, and not perceiving me, he came in.  Still uncertain, he
+advanced carelessly, I fancied, and at that moment something prompted
+me to make a decided effort at release.
+
+He was carrying his rifle on his arm above the elbow, not in any
+European soldierly manner; a sword or bayonet was at his side.
+Suddenly I made a spring like a tiger upon the man, and in a second had
+him thrown.  He struggled manfully, and attempted to strike me with a
+knife, but I was half-maddened, youthful, and strong.  I hit him
+violently between the eyes, and dazed him; then wresting the rifle from
+his relaxed grasp, I banged it upon his head in a manner which I
+afterwards regretted, and darted from the hut.  As I ran into the alley
+I encountered my late guide, who was then coming in search of me.
+
+His surprise was genuine, and he made some inquiries by the pantomime
+method, assisting it by a few words, which I interpreted to indicate
+surprise at my escape.  I told him in the same tongue what had
+happened, and he was aghast at my temerity!  He dragged me back at once
+hastily, and I was unable to resist him.  When he saw the unconscious
+soldier he became calmer, but still apparently greatly in the same
+haste, motioning me to assist in taking off the man's outward dress.
+Seeing some prospect of escape, I helped him, and then putting his own
+clothes upon the soldier, who never stirred all the time, but lay
+passive as the dead, my guide quickly dragged me out with him, a
+prisoner, having first hidden the rifle and ammunition, keeping the
+sword of the sentry.
+
+But I understood his plan.  Armed he might assist me, and quit the town
+in the dusk of the evening.  Proceeding by side streets, and avoiding
+the largest--all very small--thoroughfares, my rescuer reached a house
+at which he was recognised as I supposed, but I was wrong.  He had
+merely brought me to an opium-house, where he intended to remain a
+while till an opportunity arose for leaving the city.
+
+This was a most dreadful experience, because, of course, the idea of
+opium smoking to me was abhorrent.  To lie there upon one of those hard
+bed-planks, inhaling a pipeful of sticky stuff, which though
+exceedingly minute, is always--at first at anyrate--most sickly.  My
+guide seemed to think it essential, I supposed, to my safety, and I
+made shift to comply with his suggestions, but speedily became
+unconscious, which, I presume, he desired.
+
+My sensations were _at first_ unpleasant.  As a smoker of tobacco I
+have had my most deadly experiences when learning to smoke, but
+certainly in my case the attempt I made was not so unpleasant in
+Kinchow opium smoking.  But the moral effect of the surroundings was
+bad, and even though acknowledging the risk and my guide's anxiety, I
+would not attempt opium again.  The flavour is not unpleasant, and is
+rather aromatic perhaps.  The smoke is inhaled as usual, and expelled
+by the nostrils.  Before I became unconscious I felt quite happy, and
+full of a pleasant sense of content, as if "I wouldn't call the Emperor
+of China my uncle"!  This happiness lasted into oblivion, into which I
+was lulled that evening by the sound of cannon-fire.
+
+Unfortunately I cannot tell how long I remained in the den, because the
+Chinese have no clocks, and those which are imported from America and
+elsewhere are not in favour with the people.  The day had died, and I
+felt rather "seedy" when I made an effort to get up.  The cannonade and
+firing continued at a distance during my sleep, and later, when I made
+a serious attempt to rouse myself, I heard the roar of distant guns.  I
+suppose that when the effects of the opium had passed away I had slept,
+and in my dreams heard the noise.  Daylight was near then, and when I
+could plainly discern things I discovered that I had been carried into
+another room, and was alone.
+
+This did not alarm me, because all was perfectly still in the house.
+Possibly the Chinese were sleeping, and my Manchurian guide had placed
+me in a place of safety.  I began to understand his good nature, which,
+whether the result of _cash_ or not, was quite praiseworthy and
+opportune.  So far as I could perceive I was free and unfettered.  I
+rose and looked about me.  It was about five a.m.
+
+There was nothing remarkable so far as I could discern.  The day was
+breaking rather sadly, and still the sound of firing continued from the
+direction of the hills, across which I had already passed, on the
+Fuchow Road, and I considered that the Japanese were already shelling
+the forts.  If they succumbed there would be no chance for the town
+under assault, and under the circumstances I deemed it desirable to
+prepare for my departure.
+
+My simple toilet was quickly arranged, and I descended to the narrow
+alley, hesitating, even when I reached the street, whither I should
+bend my way.  Perhaps I could manage to get out of the town by the
+north gate, at which I had entered; and made my way thither amid the
+press of civilians and soldiers, the latter of whom seemed to be
+impressing men to convey ammunition to the upper portion of the gate
+and the castle walls.  These coolies were quickly at work, and were
+directed to ascend the walls in places, or to bring the rifle
+ammunition to the men lining the loopholes.
+
+Amongst these labourers I soon discerned my guide, and had just made
+myself known to him when he by signs suggested that I should assist
+him.  As an officer was approaching I deemed it politic to comply, and
+thus escape detection.  So I willingly seized a case of cartridges, and
+assisted my friend in distributing them to the sharpshooters.  While
+occupied in this way I caught sight of a means of ascent to the
+battlements above, and at once ran up to the upper platform, where, in
+the still dim light, I remained in hiding, peeping from behind an angle
+of the wall through an unoccupied loophole.
+
+I was now above the firing line, and as the daylight increased I made
+out the condition of affairs.  All this time musketry, or rather rifle
+fire, had been accentuated by big guns, and I could perceive the
+Japanese struggling over the hill (Mount Potau), and advancing upon the
+fort.  The advance had been made in the dusk of the dawn, and now when
+the day was clearing and a bright morning was promised I could make out
+the Chinese retreating before the Japanese, in a panic.  So far as I
+saw, the Chinese did not make any decided attempt to withstand the
+attack.  They streamed from the fort, delivering a feeble fire, a
+volley, and a dropping fire, then another volley; but all the time the
+Japanese assailants kept charging into the confused mass of Dragon-led
+men, who suddenly broke away, and "pelted" in the direction of the
+castle.
+
+But the Manchus were not altogether defeated.  They had been taken
+napping, no doubt, but they made an effort, assured by the
+reinforcements which came from the other forts.  Across the road they
+halted, and began a terrific fire upon the advancing troops, and from
+the rocky redoubts the Chinese also began to make good practice.
+
+This was getting "warm"; the smoke rose slowly from the guns and
+rifles, as the white-banded caps descended the slope where they had
+captured the forts first.  There were other forts upon the rocks nearer
+the town, and I could not think that these, perched three hundred feet
+above the road, in rugged and difficult positions, would be taken, or
+indeed reached.  The Japanese tried, however, and the Celestials above
+pelted them with shot in a fearful manner as they advanced; but when
+the Japs reached the bases of the cliffs they simply climbed up like
+schoolboys, ignoring the leaden hail, some of which passed over their
+heads.
+
+This seemed madness; but another force was at the same time climbing on
+the left (my right) side of the picture, and was making a line so as to
+ascend to the left rear of the redoubt.  Still another regiment
+ascended behind the first, and all the time these Japanese men were
+being tumbled off the rocks by the bullets of the Chinese above.  I
+could see bodies falling and striking heavily on the rugged and pointed
+edges of the rocks; but still the Japanese climbed, and when the
+artillery found a chance they "chipped in," knocking corners off the
+Chinese and their defences.
+
+There was a pause for a little, and some arrangement appeared to be
+made by the Japanese troops, who kept climbing, climbing.  Then came a
+sudden rush upwards and sideways, and I could see no result until the
+cannon ceased firing gradually.  Then I saw the defenders rushing away,
+pursued by the Japanese, who shot and bayoneted them unmercifully.  The
+fugitives fell by dozens, and were killed.  Dark spots lay thickly upon
+the summit of the hill, and in the ravines near, while the Dragon
+standards were displaced, and the Rising Sun uplifted in their place.
+Such a stampede I never expect to see again, and the killing was done
+systematically, because when two advancing bodies of Japanese troops
+took the entrenchments by storm, a third company did not enter the
+redoubt, but went on in chase of the flying enemy.
+
+While I was thus sheltered, the soldiers in the town were all in
+readiness to repel the expected attack.  The dispersed Manchus, or
+Chinese, were cut off from the gate; and it seemed to me that a strong
+column, with guns, was approaching from Fuchow.  The question was now
+serious for me.  I did not dare retire because the Chinese were
+immediately below.  I did not venture to go up higher because I must at
+once have been seen and shot as a deserter; or perhaps cast down from
+the walls.  Meantime time was pressing.  The exterior defences of the
+town and citadel had been taken, and after all I had witnessed it
+seemed to me that Kinchow was doomed.  The assailants were converging
+upon the town, in which uproar and dismay were already rife, while the
+advancing troops were being shelled by the Krupp guns mounted upon the
+Chinese fortifications.  The situation was, at least, embarrassing.
+
+It was, I suppose, about nine o'clock that morning, when I grasped the
+fact that the artillery was getting into position.  It was difficult
+for me to make out these arrangements, situated as I was a full mile
+from the advancing troops, though in an advantageous position for
+witnessing the attack from the top side of the north gate, built like a
+railway arch in the surrounding wall of the town, a wall twenty feet
+high, and surrounded by the edifice already mentioned--a kind of pagoda
+erection.  But when I beheld puffs of steely smoke rising from the
+hillside, and heard the shells--at first a few, and then incessantly, I
+crouched behind the masonry, and did not dare to look out.
+
+My head seemed to swim as these furious missiles came hurtling along
+over the wall and gate, crashing, bursting, killing, and maiming all
+out of shelter in the streets, and even in the hospital buildings
+erected inside the gate, which yawned like a small tunnel in the wall.
+The unfortunate donkeys, and more unfortunate men in attendance, were
+blown into atoms at times, the streets were filled with dead and
+wounded, and on them lay ruins of the town; while the defenders, though
+firing steadily, could do little because the black smoke of the
+bombarding guns shut out all except the ploughed-up earth, the
+shrieking shells, the dead and wounded by the wall, and within the
+"castled city."  Outside, the ground was ridged by shot, and the noise
+of the contest was simply indescribable.  The bursting and cracking,
+mingled with the fearful detonation of the guns, of which I should say
+forty assailed us, at once gave me a sensation of splitting headache
+and a giddiness which I had never experienced.  Stones split and
+fractured, wood disappeared in gigantic matches and splinters, the iron
+gate resounded and shook, the noise of the arch below being
+thunderous--yet it stood; and when the salvoes ceased a while, and the
+smoke cleared a bit, I looked out and saw some soldiers advancing
+closer amid the furrowed ground, and the dead Japs who lay outside.
+
+The Chinese in shelter fired still from the loopholes at the Japs, and
+the Japanese came running up to the gate, while the guns again sent
+messages of iron into the town.  The Japanese soldiers managed to reach
+a small cluster of houses--a deserted kind of village, if one may so
+call it--facing the gate.  One of these huts was standing in advance of
+the rest, a peculiar position for a house, and so the Japanese thought,
+because the officer in command must have sent a party to examine it,
+right before me, and some of the venturesome ones never reached it.
+The men ran up amid the rifle fire from the wall, and judging by the
+time it took to gain entrance, the hut was barricaded.  The men fell
+fast, but at length the survivors gained admission, and apparently
+found nothing.[1]
+
+
+[1] It was ascertained afterwards that the wires of the "mines" were
+cut there.--H.F.
+
+
+My attention had been directed to this hut, but then the Japanese
+troops advanced in masses, rushing at the walls.  But they could do
+nothing.  Chinese of all sorts, soldiers and coolies, rained bullets
+and missiles at them when they reached the walls and attempted to climb
+up.  It was impossible to scale these smooth surfaces, great masses of
+brick eighty feet thick, from the summit of which the people were
+hurling stones, and firing guns and rifles.  In this I saw my
+opportunity, and joined the defenders on the ramparts.
+
+What immediately followed is a little confused in my mind.  We could
+see the soldiers retreating, leaving their dead and some wounded on the
+field, while crashing shells came, again devastating the defenders'
+ranks.  But the Chinese stuck to it and replied in kind.  We all seemed
+wild, and even I became careless in showing myself in the excitement
+and the roar of the battle.  I actually saw men cut across their blue
+clothing in an instant, steeped in blood, and yet they seemed to move
+and writhe.  Their associates took no notice of them.  Life in China is
+of no value apparently, and when the spectator in his turn falls in
+silent anguish, the survivors thrust him aside, and seize the weapon
+they themselves require.  Many fell over the wall and died amid the
+enemy, when they _slipped_ from the ensanguined battlements, or
+platform.
+
+At length the defeated stormers retired baffled.  But while the
+defenders were perchance congratulating themselves, another band rushed
+up.  The crowd of assailants had been defeated, the yelling multitude
+at the base of the smooth walls were chagrined, but they sent another
+force.  Meanwhile we kept up the fire, and I saw a few Japanese lying
+close to the west end of the wall, apparently dead, but occasionally
+stirring as if in pain.  I pointed them out to some soldiers, who
+glanced and took no further notice, because the attack was about to be
+renewed; but I wished I could have put the poor fellows in safety, or
+tended them.  A vain wish, and one later repented.
+
+Again the Japanese advanced carrying boxes.  Some of them then ran in
+close to the great iron-lined gate, and, notwithstanding the furious
+firing, remained under the shelter of the arch until they had
+accomplished their design.  It was evident.  These were engineers, and
+they intended to blow up the gate.  It was a most terribly anxious
+moment when the men hurried off, not unscathed, and some of us waited
+for the result.  The Chinese mines had failed, would the Japanese be
+successful?  I retired to the west side, where the bricks of the wall
+at the corner project a little, as we see in isolated brick houses.  To
+my consternation, at that moment I perceived three Japanese _mounting
+the "ladder" of bricks_ to gain the summit of the walls.  I shouted,
+but at that moment my voice was drowned in the uproar of the explosion
+under us, and I, with others, was thrown down amid the ruins of the
+masonry.
+
+The tumult was fearful.  The great gate was rent, the stones flew far
+and wide, the wall bulged, and at the same moment the apparently dead
+Japanese, who had been lying in wait, came rushing up, and cut down the
+gunners before them.  One soldier, the leader, pulled away the Dragon
+flag, and shouted "_Banzai_!"  I saw no more.  Struck by a glancing
+bullet I sank back, almost insensible, behind the western parapet; and
+the last sounds in my ears were the vociferous cheers of the Japanese
+as they poured through the dismantled gate, and took possession of the
+"castle-town" of Kinchow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE SACK OF KINCHOW--RELEASED--"CASTLED"--A CHECK
+
+When my scattered senses returned, I could not quite understand my
+position.  Had I been wounded?  Yes, I remembered something striking me
+on the head.  Whatever it was it had grazed my temples, and my hand
+sought the wound involuntarily.  My fingers came away tinged with
+blood, my head felt very uncomfortable and dizzy, but after a while I
+sat up and began to wonder what was the matter.
+
+The Chinese soldiers--all those left alive, I mean--had disappeared.
+Dead or wounded men lay around me, but few of the latter moved, and I
+began to suspect that the victors had killed most of them.  My own
+escape from death seemed marvellous, for I lay almost helpless.  The
+shouts, shots, and shrieks below in the town told me of the fearful
+scenes, the pursuit of the vanquished, the death of the fugitives.  I
+attempted to rise to my feet, and had just supported myself by the
+parapet, when a Japanese picket approached.  The men were almost
+savage, their weapons were bloodstained, their dress disordered and
+dusty, and splashed with blood; they were shouting, and indulging in
+what seemed to me fiendish merriment; they were drunken with excitement
+and the spirit of slaughter; they bayoneted the few living Chinese
+within reach, and then levelled their rifles at me, laughing still.
+
+Holding up my hands, I called out the few words I had heard on board
+the _Naniwa_, "Long live Japan!" and added in English, "I am no enemy.
+Look!  I am a friend."
+
+Whether the appeal touched their hearts or they recognised the English
+tongue, they certainly perceived that I was not a native Chinese or
+Manchu.  They examined my appearance closely, saw my stained and
+painted face, through which spots of white British skin appeared, and
+my blackened features, which could not belong to any Celestial being,
+and they looked surprised.  One fellow, in sheer brutality, as he
+intended, seized my pigtail and wrenched me round to torture me, when,
+behold, it came away in his hand!
+
+A shout of laughter succeeded at the expense of the brutal soldier,
+whose face was a study for a caricaturist, and his profound surprise
+saved my life.  At this juncture I recalled the badge and permit which
+the captain and officers had given me.  In a moment I had grasped them,
+and even as the angry soldiers advanced with sanguinary threats to
+bayonet me, the priceless permit, and, even more than it, the badge of
+the naval officer, arrested my would-be murderers.
+
+I was saved!  The levelled rifles were shouldered, and when the men had
+talked together, they intimated to me that I must accompany them--to
+their officer, I presumed.  Securely guarded, I proceeded, taking care
+not to exhibit any of my disgust at the many terrible scenes I noticed,
+until we met an officer who was wearing white gloves, and appeared
+almost a dandy in the midst of slaughter and destruction.
+
+My "pass" and badge were shown to him, and finding I could not
+understand his language, nor even "Corean-Chinese," he bade me
+accompany him to the general's quarters.  I paced the streets, closely
+followed by my original captors, the observed of all those by whom we
+passed, maddened soldiers triumphant, Chinese civilians despairing, and
+dead heaps of fugitives, who received no quarter.  It is true, as a
+Japanese told me, "We do not kill our prisoners, as the Chinese do."
+No, they do _not_ kill prisoners in cold blood--but they leave as few
+as possible to survive the battle.
+
+We passed through the narrow streets, now thronged with Japanese, past
+the shops with their suspended lanterns and long scrolled signs, but
+had not reached the officer's destination, when a Japanese saluted,
+and, glancing at me, said a few words to my leader.  I gazed at the man
+in surprise, and some diluted pleasure, because I recognised him as my
+former associate Hoko, the scout with whom I had been travelling, and
+by whom I had been robbed.
+
+Our eyes met in mutual recognition.  He made signs to me, and uttered a
+few sentences in French, asking whether I had presented my permit, and
+how I came to Kinchow.  He informed the officer; and the man being an
+accredited interpreter and trustworthy, the officer dismissed my unruly
+escort, and bade the interpreter take care of me pending his own
+arrival at headquarters.
+
+We exchanged few remarks during our passage to the general.  I was
+stiff and sore, aching in head and limbs, weary and dishevelled.
+Besides I had a grudge against the interpreter, and anxious for
+release.  He seemed quite careless of my feelings.  In this manner I
+accompanied my preserver to headquarters, where as an interpreter he
+was welcome, and in a few minutes I was introduced into the presence of
+the general.  My conductor briefly explained matters, mentioning the
+fact of my having been rescued from the _Naniwa_, and the manner in
+which I had been received by the officer as an English gentleman and a
+seaman.  A Japanese officer, who spoke English fluently, was able to
+confirm this statement by my interpreted account, and thenceforward all
+was plain sailing.
+
+"What did the general wish me to do?" I asked the officer in English.
+
+"He will send you to Port Arthur when we go there, and when we take the
+place he will no doubt permit you to find your way to an English ship."
+
+"Then I am again a prisoner?"
+
+"Not at all, you can proceed whither you please.  There is not the
+least objection to your getting shot, if you prefer that end."
+
+"I understand; you think the Chinese will oppose your forward movement?"
+
+"Certainly they will.  The fleet is at Talien Bay, though, and we have
+the enemy in a sack.  They may resist, but they must be beaten; there
+is no cohesion.  We are united, firm, and drilled.  The Chinese cannot
+stand against us."
+
+I acquiesced, but continuing, I said--
+
+"Suppose any Power comes to the assistance of the Chinese?"
+
+"Then we shall still fight," he replied.
+
+"Even Russia or Germany?" I asked quickly.
+
+"Ah, that is a different matter!  Russia is dangerous--she wants so
+much.  But, unless she is _too_ intrusive, we shall not oppose her.  We
+do not _fear_ her even, though she intends to rule the East some day.
+She shall never rule Japan.  Come with me, I have the pleasure to
+convoy you."
+
+"You think the Chinese will not resist you?" I continued as we
+proceeded to his quarters--or rather, to the house where he had
+temporarily taken up his lodgings by right of sword.
+
+"No, I do not say they will not resist; I say they will not win.  We
+have had a very simple and easy task hitherto."
+
+"Port Arthur is almost impregnable, I hear."  He smiled,--the Japanese
+frequently smile.
+
+"Ah, the Chinamen will not stay.  Our preparations are already being
+made.  In less than a week we shall secure Port Arthur.  You shake your
+head?  You will see."
+
+When we reached the house which the officer had made his own, by
+conquest, temporarily, he gave orders to a soldier, who I supposed was
+a tailor, for he came and took my measure with his eye, and walking
+round me made his notes in his mind.  When he had departed, my kind
+military friend caused me to rest, sent me food, and had my clothes
+removed and sent me a supply of fresh water, in which I revelled.  My
+shaven hair caused him some amusement, but he supplied me with a cap
+which the useful tailor had procured, and when I awoke from my sleep
+next morning I found a new semi-European suit awaiting me, with some
+underclothing.
+
+My thanks, and some suggestions respecting remuneration to the tailor,
+were laughed aside, and the officer then informed me that he knew my
+acquaintance the sailor Tomi well, and the interpreter had informed him
+of my first meeting with him, as had been related on board the
+_Naniwa_.  On further inquiry, I ascertained that my military host was
+Tomi's brother, and this quite accounted for the manner in which he had
+received me.  The brother had been in London, and had met much kindness
+there, so they had in my case repaid it in full towards me.
+
+This officer, whose kindness I shall ever remember, sent me a note to
+say that the army was advancing, and the interpreter would accompany me
+towards Port Arthur.  I was pleased to hear this, and anxious to
+interview the man again, but he did not appear till evening on the 7th,
+when he brought the news that the army from Kinchow had taken the forts
+above Talien, and the Japanese fleet had arrived in the bay.
+
+This seemed to me incredible, but I ascertained subsequently that the
+Chinese garrison had retired, and the fleet had fired at empty forts
+until the troops displayed their flags upon the deserted ramparts.
+
+"Is the _Naniwa_ in the bay?" I asked.
+
+"Yes, she and the other vessels are there now.
+
+"Can you send me away from there?" I said.  "Can Lieutenant Tomi" (I
+called him lieutenant) "find a passage for me to Chefoo?"
+
+"Will ascertain," was his reply.  But he came no more that evening.
+
+Meantime I made my plans for escape.  I had had enough of war and
+battles in strange countries amid strangers.  With my own countrymen a
+campaign would have been comparatively pleasant, but under my present
+circumstances the adventure was not very enjoyable, and though I had
+been singularly fortunate in my cruise, I considered prudence the
+better part of valour, and a timely retreat was advisable, so I
+determined to elope at the first opportunity.
+
+Provided with clothes, and possessing cash; furnished with a permit
+like a special correspondent, I made my way about the cantonments and
+bivouacs of the Japanese army, and heard a great deal respecting their
+exploits, yet in no boasting manner.  Certainly the officers and men
+were elated, but that was but natural under the circumstances.  It is
+true they were very much incensed at the Chinese, and swore fearful
+vengeance upon them when they again attacked; but that was not
+surprising when one saw the Chinese proclamations for so much for the
+head of a Jap--as if for a savage wolf in Old England--and an increased
+reward for the body of a prisoner.
+
+Mind, these placards were displayed upon the walls, printed in
+character, in yellow, and signed by the chief of the district in the
+name of the Emperor of China.  Japanese soldiers were decapitated, and
+hacked when dead.  Even the trees were bearing ghastly fruits of savage
+warfare at times.  So one can hardly wonder if the Japanese retaliated
+upon their foes, however much we may regret their subsequent vengeance.
+When one sees prisoners hanging by the feet to the branches of a tree,
+and fearfully and horribly mutilated besides by the Chinese; and, when
+dead, pelted by lads "for fun" as the bodies swing in the wind, one
+hesitates to dub the Chinaman a decent _savage_!  But this is Chinese
+warfare, and must end in clearing away the nation from the earth which
+advocates and practises such barbarities.
+
+The army was under the command of Marshal Oyama.  The general who had
+released me was General Yamaji, a rather sleepy-looking man, wearing a
+moustache and long _goatee_ upon a rather fat face; his hair was thick
+and long, and his ears appeared to me very long and big.  He wore
+medals and stars, one in the centre of his chest; he had a profusion of
+lace in curling cords, so to speak, upon his sleeves, epaulets and
+shoulder-knots.  The marshal, when I saw him, was decked with
+stars--quite a galaxy.  He had rather a humorous face, and it was quite
+devoid of hair.  Some of the other officers appeared as well set up and
+"groomed" as British officers, their short hair, shaven cheeks, and
+trim moustaches, all aiding the resemblance, with bright keen
+expression and smartness of manner.
+
+While making these observations, which I have recorded as they occurred
+to me, I lost no opportunity to escape to the sea, but though I was
+permitted to wander about, and even assisted in my searches, I found no
+opening for retreat.  There were correspondents of European, and even
+Japanese, newspapers and illustrated periodicals, but though they were
+most polite and sympathetic, none of them assisted me in the way I
+desired.  Whether they credited my narrative or not one cannot say, but
+they--perhaps wisely--did not seem actually anxious to get me away by
+stratagem.  On the other hand, they were not unkind.
+
+On that memorable 7th November the guns of the Japanese warships were
+heard outside, and speculation was rife.  The troops had already
+advanced to Talien Bay, where forts protect the peninsula of the
+"Regent's Sword," as the narrow isthmus is called.  If the invaders
+captured these forts, the road to Port Arthur would be open, and
+Shing-Ching would be at the mercy of the Japanese.  They did not
+hesitate to advance against these strongholds.  Three detachments
+marched bravely on, supported by artillery and cavalry, and I followed
+as a spectator, well in the rear, but not out of range.
+
+The troops advanced full of determination, and were received with an
+equally decided fire--for a short time.  The assailants took no notice
+of these rounds, but, dropping a few of their number, rushed on; I,
+surprised at myself, followed, keeping under shelter as much as
+possible from fragments of soaring shells, which were few and far
+between.  The troops reached the forts, and with a volley mounted to
+the walls, protected by their artillery.  Then came a pause, then a
+distant cheer, renewed again and again.  The Japanese flag was waving
+over the forts, and the Chinese, pursued by bullets and shell-fire,
+were running away as fast as their feet could carry them.  The
+fugitives had quitted their guns--in many cases undischarged--and were
+"cutting away" to Port Arthur, their flying forms looking as unlike
+soldiers as possible to European eyes, their heads being bound up as
+with silk handkerchiefs--perhaps to keep the pigtail out of harm's way,
+for I noticed this head-dress was almost general with Chinese.
+
+The Talien forts were thus captured, to my extreme surprise.  I climbed
+up the hill and reached one of them afterwards; and while seeking a way
+to the seaside, considerating which path I had best pursue to escape to
+the outlying fleet in the bay, a friendly hand was placed upon my
+shoulder firmly, and held me.  I turned suddenly, startled by the
+sudden arrest.  Five Japanese soldiers had come upon me, bringing two
+unfortunate Chinese prisoners.  They bound me in silence, and led me
+away, making no reply even by gesture to my complaints.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+AN ADVENTURE ON THE HILLS--THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH--TALIEN-WAN
+
+For a while I was passive.  Then, realising the danger of this new
+situation, I made violent efforts to escape my captors.  A prod of a
+sword-bayonet was the only reply, and the sharp steel point caused a
+cry of pain to escape me.  What had I done?  I looked at the men who
+had captured me.  They did not appear to be regular soldiers.  They
+were armed indeed, but they lacked the uniform, the gaiters, and the
+knapsacks, so heavy to be borne, which the Japanese regular infantry
+wear.  Where were the white-crowned caps or the white bands of the
+regiments I had seen? nor was the grenade-star of the engineers
+visible.  Then I guessed that these men were
+camp-followers--coolies--robbers, perhaps, who had got out of hand and
+intended to kill or torture the Chinese.  Finding me in the fort, and a
+stranger, they had seized me too.  No one amid all the hurrying
+soldiers took any notice of my escort save to glance at us.  The
+spectacle of Chinese prisoners was too common then.
+
+"The Japanese never kill their prisoners."  These soothing words came
+into my mind as the party of camp-followers descended the hill--not in
+the direction of the camp which I had quitted, but in that of the
+seaside.  As we advanced I could see the warships shelling the villages
+along the coast, punishing the innocent natives.  My captors also saw
+them, and gesticulated savagely.  Then the idea struck me that I was in
+the power of banditti!  Men who made war equally upon both sides, and
+in Japanese garb or in Chinese dress plundered or murdered all alike.
+The two Chinese, my companions in misfortune, wore buttons on their
+hats.  They were perhaps mandarin officers.  The buttons seemed to me
+to be of glass or crystal, and the men were perhaps of moderately high
+rank.  The coral button is the highest token, and descends to blue and
+lapis-lazuli, to crystal and gilt buttons.
+
+These officers made no reply to the remarks which I supposed were
+addressed to them, if they understood them.  But when we had reached a
+retired ravine amongst the twisted hills which bound that coast, our
+captors raised their pistols and evidently demanded money, tearing at
+our dress, and searching our garments and persons.  All this time the
+Chinese gentlemen submitted to the insults with a truly Christian, or
+Chinese, patience.  But one could discern the flash of the eye and the
+movement of the face which spoke of the passion within.  When we had
+been robbed, we were bound by our ankles and made to stand against the
+slope of the hill, half-naked, wholly chilled, and destitute.  Verily,
+between Jack and Jap I was having a cheerful season.
+
+My belt and all my money, my "pass" and badge, which I prized most
+highly, were confiscated.  The Chinese officers were even worse
+treated--their clothing was appropriated, their rings and distinctions.
+All this time no one had taken any trouble about us.  Everyone
+apparently was occupied in fighting or pursuing the fugitives, of whom
+a number had been taken to the rear.
+
+When the robbers had completed their work, and prevented our escape,
+they slowly retired to the end of the ravine, covering us with their
+purloined rifles as they went backward.  At times these pleasant
+gentlemen halted, aimed at us, and again retired, till I began to think
+they would leave us, bound, to die there of cold and hunger.  Then
+again I fancied they intended to shoot at us as targets, and practise
+upon us, and this idea was almost confirmed by the way in which they
+separated into a line; they took up positions apart, and looked to
+their arms.  The suspense was torture!
+
+I looked at my fellow-prisoners of olive complexion, they were
+perfectly passive, and apparently unconcerned by these manoeuvres.  But
+I was not.  After the first glance at them I concentrated my gaze upon
+the robbers, who evidently wished to put us away to the place where no
+tales can be told.  I watched the levelled rifles, I heard a voice say
+something, I saw five faces laid upon the gun-stocks, and uttering a
+cry fell flat on my face as a heavy body came hurtling down the ravine
+and kicked up a furious dust beyond us.  The roar and the detonations
+arose simultaneously.  Then more guns, but perhaps blank--at least they
+did no visible harm; and then, after a while, silence: deadly, thick
+silence in the solitary ravine near the village on the cliff!
+
+I lay still, half-suffocated, breathing with great difficulty, but
+quite afraid to move.  The shells had ceased, the "blank shots" had
+stopped resounding amid the hills, the robbers had fled--for I could
+not hear them, and the Chinese I knew were habitually silent.  But the
+silence was particularly impressive after the late uproar, and even
+though I was glad to lie unmolested I began to wish for a change from
+the death-like silence of the now gloomy ravine.  The sun was
+disappearing into the clouds beyond the farthest hills, and still no
+one came.  I determined to rise.  I moved, and felt rather dizzy;
+perhaps I had been asleep!  I sat up.  What had happened?
+
+I gazed around me in all directions, unable to comprehend the result of
+the adventure.  The first objects which met my wondering eyes were the
+five camp-followers lying in all sorts of attitudes, dead and
+mutilated; their rifles lay at their feet or rested upon the bodies.
+They had been instantly killed; and, indeed, partly destroyed.
+
+Turning my head seaward I beheld the ships at a distance, and close by
+me the Chinese officers resting limp and lifeless against the rocks,
+wearing the same stolid expression upon their now pale-yellow features,
+their eyes being nearly closed altogether.  Again I asked myself what
+had happened?  What--who--had killed all these men and yet spared me?
+
+My first movement was directed to my feet.  I managed to unbind my
+ankles, and after a while was able to walk steadily.  Then, moved by
+curiosity first--not by compassion, I regret to say--I advanced
+cautiously towards the camp-followers, still clad in the leggings and
+loose blouses, a kind of undress uniform.  I went up and stood over
+them.  They were dead, blown to pieces by a shell, I decided; their
+rifles lying upon their chests, or beside them.  But what had killed
+the Chinese officers, then?  They, too, were dead.  It was not possible
+that the shell would have slain them also and left me alone alive!
+
+I took up one of the rifles and examined it.  It had been discharged.
+Another, and another!  Yes, all five were empty!  Then the fellows had
+fired at us as I had anticipated.  Anticipated is the correct
+expression.  I had anticipated the discharge by one second, when I
+beheld the flying body--the shell--in the air dark against the sky and
+flaming.  I had fallen flat: the bullets had struck above me; the fiery
+message had completed the tragedy of the day.
+
+That was all!  By some impulse I had flung myself on my face, no doubt
+in fear you will say--perhaps.  I was very young, and did not wish to
+pose as a hero when there was no gain in bravado and no dishonour in
+stooping.  I have read of soldiers "ducking" at a cannon-ball, and why
+is it blameworthy in me--a lad almost--if I winced at the bullet of the
+assassin?  At anyrate I didn't see the good of being killed, and I
+"ducked" to the shell, and to the expected bullets.
+
+What could I do now?  Evening was closing in, and to wander amid those
+hills alone would be to woo death once more.  Yet to remain there with
+the dead was worse.  So I took a look at the robbers, and ventured to
+search the pockets of the leader of the party, from which I took my
+precious "passes" and the money, which were still in my belt.  Then,
+having secured them as before, I quitted the scene of slaughter, and
+made my way across the darkening hills, thankful to the Providence
+which had preserved me from a horrible death.
+
+All the night I wandered aimlessly--fancying that I was near the camp
+and the fires, but finding deep and black ravines between myself and
+them.  At length I gave way, and seating myself in a deserted spot, not
+without qualms concerning wild animals, and commending myself to
+Heaven, I slept and dreamed.
+
+My dream figured a kind of Robinson Crusoe incident.  The savages were
+preparing their feast on the desert island, I thought, and were passing
+back and forward in front of the flames.  Even in my dream the air "bit
+shrewdly"--and I shivered and looked on.  A vivid dream indeed!  I
+could almost fancy I was awake.  I could see the men and the fire, and
+distinguished dark forms carrying others and throwing them into the
+flames.  My senses were leaving me.  Was this a dream or a vision of
+the fiend's concoction?  Was I _mad_?  Had my trouble unhinged my mind?
+
+I shut my eyes and tried to think.  I pinched myself, and thumped my
+chest.  I was awake!  Opening my eyes I sat up.  Still the same weird
+scene: the black mountain glade, the bright, cold sky studded with
+stars, the great leaping flame surmounted by thick vapour which rose
+slowly and crawled along the hill inland.  What could it be?  I lay for
+a while, and then crept nearer and nearer to attempt to distinguish the
+actors in this Walpurgis night-drama enacted on the Manchurian Brocken.
+
+Nearer and nearer I came, lying still a while and then proceeding.  The
+actors were _men_: I decided that; but their occupation?  I lay and
+looked.
+
+It seemed to me very astonishing that these funereal figures should be
+thus occupied in such a stealthy manner in an outlying spot amid the
+hills.  What they were destroying I could not discern, because all the
+surroundings beyond the glare of the fire were more intensely dark than
+the atmosphere, but I could see, time after time, that the men carried
+burdens, and cast them into the flames.  Then the fearful reflection
+came into my mind--
+
+These men, Japanese, were thus disposing of their prisoners by torture!
+Yet I heard no cries, nor saw any resistance.
+
+Again I crawled nearer, nearer.  I was then within the circle of
+leaping light, and lay as still as possible.
+
+Two men appeared near me.  They looked around them, and, horror of
+horrors! saw me extended upon the coarse herbage, my staring eyes
+reflecting the glare of the flames, no doubt.  They at once came
+towards me, their blackened faces and untidy dress causing them to
+appear absolutely repulsive.  They might have posed, in such
+surroundings, for fiends incarnate.
+
+Without a word they raised me by shoulders and below the knees; in a
+careless, rough manner they advanced towards the fire, which was
+blazing fiercely at a little distance.  I could feel the heat of it,
+but so upset was I, and so perplexed, that I could not utter a sound.
+My tongue was a piece of dry stick in my mouth, my lips were parched
+and cracked, and I was almost in a fever.  The whole seemed a horrible
+nightmare--the fire and smoke, the blackness of the more distant
+surroundings, the black inquisitors, like the assistants pictured in
+illustrations of the burnings under Queen Mary, which I had seen in the
+_Tower of London_--a favourite book of mine.  All the accessories were
+frightful, stupefying, maddening! yet I could utter no complaint, nor
+was I able to resist my captors.
+
+But fortunately this hypnotic trance did not continue.  The smell of
+oil (petroleum) penetrated my half-conscious brain, and aroused me from
+my stupor.  The oil was blazing in the fire, the receptacles--and
+bodies, I had fancied them also--were steeped in oil, the pungent smell
+of which had aroused my faculties.  I wriggled in my bearers' hands,
+and they let me fall suddenly and heavily with some loud exclamations.
+
+Other assistants in this holocaust came up at this, and all of them
+chattered and stared, but I understood none of their remarks or
+exclamations.  Left to myself, I rose to my feet, and stood there in
+the circle as if the victim of some usury game.  To my requests for
+information they only replied in the Japanese language,--so far I could
+understand,--and then again the pass and badge proclaimed my identity.
+These relics were passed from hand to hand, and I felt what perhaps a
+custodian of the Bank of England feels when he first sees a lump of
+uncoined gold passing from hand to hand amongst privileged spectators
+to the door of the vault, and wonders whether the precious sample will
+return to him.  Thus was my attention directed to my credentials.  They
+did come back; and when the men had burned all the bodies and coffins
+they took me to the camp again.
+
+Then I understood the scene I had witnessed.  The Japanese habit is to
+burn the bodies of the dead after an engagement, for sanitary reasons.
+The coffins are steeped in oil, and then burned in some remote place,
+after certain rites performed.  I had wandered into this Gehenna, and
+had been rescued from the fire into which I had been so nearly cast.
+
+When we returned to the camp my identity was firmly established.  My
+acquaintance, Hoko, the interpreter, was summoned, and he again
+constituted himself my guardian.  Well it was that he did, for in
+twelve hours I was in a high fever.  My brain had been overtaxed, and
+my body so reduced, that recovery seemed almost hopeless, as I
+afterwards was informed.  But the attack was sharp and short.  In less
+than two weeks I was on my legs again, tottering indeed, but useful,
+and my first question asked of the officer who spoke English was--
+
+"Can I get away from Port Arthur?"
+
+"Perhaps.  We have not taken it yet."
+
+"Ah!" I said, "then it is different from what you imagined?"
+
+"No; we have been compelled to await the heavy guns."
+
+"When will they arrive?"
+
+"They are expected immediately.  When they are planted we shall assault
+the forts and seize the port."
+
+"Has there been fighting?"
+
+"Yes; outposts and pickets have been engaged frequently."
+
+"Is that artillery now?  I hear firing."
+
+"Yes; there is another attack developing.  We do not fear."
+
+There was a pause, then I asked--
+
+"What day is it, pray?"
+
+"In your calendar it is the twentieth of November."
+
+"The twentieth!  Then I have been here ill for thirteen days?  How can
+I ever repay this kindness and care?  Most heartily I thank you, sir,
+and"--
+
+"But say no more, please.  I am glad.  Farewell."
+
+He hastened away, leaving me overwhelmed with gratitude, and highly
+appreciative of the courtesy and kindness of the Japanese officers both
+of army and navy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PORT ARTHUR--THE MASSACRE IN THE TOWN--RELEASE
+
+When the Japanese officer had retired so modestly from my outburst of
+gratitude, I made up my mind to see all I could of the affairs of the
+war, and to reach a place of safety.  I soon found that I was premature
+in this, because, though an engagement was actually taking place then,
+I had no chance of seeing it.  The afternoon was advancing, and, as a
+matter of fact, the fight lasted in all only a couple of hours
+altogether--chiefly a matter of artillery.
+
+During the same evening, and part of the night, the rumbling of the
+heavy guns was audible.  These had been actually dragged by bands of
+coolies across the hill-paths and tracks for two successive days and
+nights incessantly; and when these fellows, whose pay is infinitesimal,
+were regaled with little bags of rice and some fish rations, wrapped
+carefully in paper, they waited in the most disciplined manner
+patiently, until their turns came.  Their dress was not uniform, but
+here again, I must say, the Japanese are wonderfully amenable to
+discipline in all services.
+
+I had already made some observations about Port Arthur, and
+subsequently I was enabled to supplement them.  The defences of the
+place were, and are now, doubtless, almost impossible to surmount.  It
+is the "Gibraltar of the East."  Around, and high above the harbour,
+which has a narrow and difficult entrance, are forts, on the mutual
+assistance principle of chained defence, on the hills from west to east
+on the northern shore there are, in all, thirteen forts of heavy guns,
+including the two near the shore.  Again, at the west, is
+Huang-chin-shan, or Golden Hill, a fort which can sweep its guns in all
+directions.  "Shan" is "hill," so Chi-huan-shan is Cock's-comb Hill,
+and I-tzee-shan, Chair Hill.  The first three by the west (northern
+side at Chair Hill) are very important forts.
+
+If we cross the strip of water at the mouth we reach the Tiger's
+Tail,--a piece of land, long and narrow, just opposite the West Port
+(the East Port is the dock-basin, or harbour, as contrasted with the
+ordinary harbour, West Port).  On this Tail of the Tiger stand eight
+more forts, and all these twenty-two important defences were armed with
+large and quick-firing guns, perhaps more than three hundred in all,
+with an army behind them of twenty thousand Chinese nominally, but most
+likely many thousands less in fact, perhaps not more than twelve
+thousand or fifteen thousand effectives--if one may describe the
+Chinese as "effective."
+
+The Japanese had one hundred cannon, and these were quietly placed in
+position during the evening and night of 20th November, on high ground.
+The forts to be assaulted were those by Chair Hill on the land side
+(north of harbour), and then those more eastward--Pine Hill, Dragon and
+Cock's-comb Hills.  These forts were really the most important from the
+land side assault, and when we consider that the elevation of the land
+is great,--from 350 to 1500 feet, though, of course, less a great deal
+near the shore,--the difficulties of the assault can be imagined.
+
+I awoke early, about midnight, and "dressed," which means wrapped
+myself up, and stepped out to listen to the tramping of the battalions,
+which were already taking up positions for the assault.  As the morning
+advanced, the moon rose up, and shone clearly.  The Japanese soldiers
+had no doubt of results, and the forts were to be attacked in a
+specified order, while a counter demonstration was threatened at the
+farther side.
+
+It was impossible to rest, so I staggered to the limits of the camp in
+the darkness, the lanterns shining like fireflies as the troops
+advanced.  They were all in readiness at two o'clock a.m., and just as
+dawn was due the artillery opened the attack, and awoke the slumbering
+Chinese in the town.  If the men in the forts were asleep, they quickly
+arose, and replied in kind from all directions, and the flashing of the
+guns indicated the fearful fire which was being directed at the
+Japanese artillery, the camp, and the troops,--the last now just seen
+climbing up the hills, or crawling in the grass, to the attack, by
+ravines and slopes and gullies.
+
+The roar was simply awful!  The thunder was incessant.  The shells came
+blazing across the sky, tore lines in the advancing troops, and
+ploughed the hillsides in all directions.  This cannonade continued for
+quite an hour; it really seemed as if the fearful firing, noise, and
+thick smoke, would never cease around us.  Daylight came, and then the
+Chinese played havoc with the assailants, who fell fast.  But the
+Japanese guns were silencing the Chinese by degrees, and the men crept
+up to the forts, compelled to halt at times and take breath,--the last
+which many of them ever drew,--for the fire was fearful, and no command
+could be heard.
+
+At length the three doomed forts were reached by the rear approach, and
+the only mode of capture was by climbing the thirteen feet walls!  This
+was a feat in any case, but when the attempt was made amid a continuous
+fire, the situation seems impossible.  The Japanese, however, succeeded
+by fixing their bayonets into the wall, and climbing by those impromptu
+steps to the top of the parapet, where they engaged the Chinese hand to
+hand.  Others, again, were hoisted up by means of a rope, which a
+private soldier had let down after climbing up to the top by the
+inequalities in the masonry of the wall.  These acts of heroic bravery
+were to be seen frequently, and at different points.
+
+The assailants fell by hundreds at a time, but as soon as the survivors
+gained the advantage, and reached the platforms, the Chinese fled
+helter-skelter out of the forts, down the hills, in the direction of
+the sea, and the Japanese dashed after them, firing, or bayoneting the
+stragglers.  Here were mandarins, officers, and soldiers, armed and
+unarmed, flying for dear life, and in numerous instances losing that.
+
+As soon as the Chinese had evacuated the defences on the western side I
+essayed to climb up, but was forced to pause, not only from physical
+weakness, but because of mental disturbance.  Already the Red Cross was
+in evidence tending and succouring the wounded and dying, and
+despatching the former to Kinchow, and subsequently to the Port Arthur
+Hospital.  The Chinese, who did not understand, or certainly did not
+practise this humanity, frequently fired at the devoted bands, who thus
+suffered for their devotion.
+
+As I advanced I rendered some assistance, I am pleased to think, but
+the numbers requiring aid were beyond expectation.  The Japanese
+suffered greatly.  Tens and dozens of dead bodies lay in groups in many
+places, and this slaughter was all around one.  When the forts were
+stormed the Chinese became the victims and paid heavily for the
+Japanese dead.  A terrible revenge was taken, and when the Pine Tree
+fort blew up there was a loud shout of victory.  Thenceforth the
+invaders had all their own way.
+
+And such a way!  Midday had struck, as the phrase is, when the first
+forts were taken--Inland, and then the remaining forces came on to
+reduce the coast line of forts and redoubts, including the large Golden
+Hill fort already named, which by its cannon turning in all directions
+had caused much loss in the distant Japanese ranks.  Preparations were
+made to storm this place late in the afternoon.  The Chinese were still
+resisting under all possible cover in rifle-pits and trenches and
+redoubts, but all the time the Japanese were encircling them and the
+town--their usual method.  I noticed that at sea the fleet circled
+round the Chinese ships, and now on land the soldiers came up on three
+sides.
+
+Following the troops I watched them from a distant height forming a
+_cordon_ around the devoted town, which contains about a thousand
+houses built Chinese fashion (usually in one storey), two theatres,
+temples, hotels, and banks, besides the extensive docks fitted with all
+modern appliances, torpedo factory, a railway, cranes, workshops, and
+basins for ships and boats.  The place is well supplied with water, and
+later I witnessed a curious scene in those docks.
+
+When I had struggled as near as I deemed prudent, armed with a Japanese
+rifle, cartridges, and a cap, I fancied I could hear a band playing.  A
+musical welcome from the Chinese was perhaps the most curious of the
+many curious and contradictory things in China, but it was certainly a
+military band in the town, while the brigade beyond was storming the
+forts.  I made inquiry as well as I could, and ascertained that the
+Japanese had already occupied the town, and the band was playing them
+in with their National Anthem, which I recognised as having already
+heard on board ship in the hour of victory.
+
+The day was now coming to a close.  Golden Hill remained in Chinese
+hands, and the fighting was for a while suspended.  Still Port Arthur
+was in possession of the Japanese, and the remaining fort when attacked
+next morning was found empty.  The garrison had deserted it in the
+night.
+
+That night of the 21st November 1894 will be remembered by all who live
+to think of it.  Why? you may ask.  Simply because the Chinese were
+slain in the most savage and unrelenting way in the town.  On the hill
+a chill and piercing wind rose that night, and the sufferings of the
+wounded must have been terrible.  I made my way at dusk, under shelter,
+behind the hill I had scrambled up before, and found the Japanese lying
+on their faces still, thickly.  The Chinese were lying anyhow on that
+hill, and on the other slope; half-clothed, nearly always unarmed, and
+seldom in any "uniform" dress.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHINESE WERE LYING ANYHOW]
+
+These are common instances which indicate the temperaments and courage
+of the two nations.  The Japanese shot in the forehead or chest falls
+_forward_ and dies.  The Chinese I saw were fugitives who had cast away
+their weapons and clothing the more easily to escape and to be mistaken
+for civilians.  I must add that the Japanese wounded never seemed to
+complain or cry out.  Their fortitude under the most deplorable
+conditions, amid terrible injuries and wounds, was Spartan-like--heroic.
+
+That cold night, for which all were unprepared, found those on the
+hills badly off, though wearied to death they lay, some beside
+watch-fires some in the darkness, dead asleep; while the soldiers in
+the waking town conducted themselves like absolute fiends.  As already
+stated, the soldiers were exasperated by the brutality of the Chinese,
+but that was scarce a reason for the wholesale and deliberate murder of
+civilians, women, and children in cold blood.
+
+Next morning, under the guidance of a soldier and the interpreter, I
+essayed to reach the town.  We descended the hill, my companions
+looking triumphantly upon the devastation and the evidences of death,
+which, though now familiar to me, were none the less terrible.
+
+The town was reached, and we entered it near the dock where is a
+reservoir of water, a kind of lake, one may say, at the foot of the
+sloping ground.  There even my callous companions halted.  The pool was
+full of dead bodies floating in all kinds of attitudes, head downwards,
+or extended on the back or face bleeding or bloodless, many women, and
+even young children.  There they lay, some floating, as I have said,
+some pressed down by others, some lying half in and half out of the
+bloodstained water, all killed by violence, by the rifle-shot or
+bayonet, and hacked as savages would not have thought of doing.
+
+And this was the act of the merciful Japanese!  I turned sick and faint
+with horror, rushed away into the town to escape from this most fearful
+scene.  Presently I was compelled to seat myself in sheer illness, my
+companions were also ashamed I believe.
+
+After a while I rose and made my way through the streets, but here
+again were horrors piled up even if possible more awful than the first
+experience.  Houses, shops, inns were pillaged, fired, plundered!  Men
+and women dead--mutilated--every possible shame had been inflicted, and
+even then, in daylight, the Japanese soldiers were looting and killing
+all in their way, binding up bundles of plunder, or chasing an
+unfortunate Chinaman to death amid the laughter of his fellows.
+Fortunately I was properly protected, else my doom had been sealed, for
+the dead lay so thickly in the streets and passages, that one had to
+tread carefully for fear of stepping upon a body; and if a Chinese was
+discovered seeking his dead friend, relative, wife, or child, the first
+Japanese butcher would kill him, and then slash him into slices with
+his sword.
+
+For true barbarity the inflamed Japanese countenance in a passion of
+killing is the most repulsive.  What the night had witnessed I tremble
+now to think.  Of what we witnessed of the awful results it is
+impossible even to do more than name, the details are quite unfit to
+describe.  The dismemberment of the bodies even of children and women
+will always remain a stain upon the Japanese, on the soldiers for
+executing such awful rapine and murder, on the officers for not
+stopping such scenes of bestial violence.
+
+Amid such scenes in the docks next day the field-marshal presided at a
+grand luncheon, where hundreds of officers attended, and numerous
+newspaper correspondents assisted, and drank the health of the Emperor
+of Japan.  Whom of those hundreds who stood at the long tables spread
+in the dockyard, and feasted upon potted and tinned food, thought of
+the massacred Chinese?  Even then, perhaps, dark and silent murder was
+being done while the bands played stirring airs, and officers
+congratulated each other upon their own successes while the curses of
+the dying natives were heaped upon the savage soldiery.
+
+"Find me a way from this fearful place," I begged at last, when I had
+vainly sought escape by boat.  "Is there no junk, no vessel, in the bay
+which will shelter me and carry me to Chefoo?"
+
+My despairing appeal was carried to the ears of the officer who had
+already befriended me.  He came towards the ruined inn, where I was
+resting, and inquired what I wanted.
+
+"Means to leave this horrible place," I said briefly.  "The _Naniwa_ is
+in the harbour.  Cannot you manage to communicate with your brother?
+He may assist me to reach the opposite shore."
+
+"Is that all?  Why, there are several British vessels in the gulf."  He
+then quickly said a few words to my companions in their own tongue, and
+left me.  I am glad to think that he and some other officers had been
+staying the massacre of the night.  "I will follow you," he added.
+"Wait beyond."
+
+As we made our way through the narrow streets westward to the Port, the
+natural harbour, the sights were beyond description.  Even there dead
+lay in the streets and shops, which, still hung with the Chinese signs
+and open as in a fair-ground, were wrecked and dabbled with blood.
+Fortunately the weather was cold, and when we reached the harbour, or
+West Port, the soldiers were dragging dead bodies from the water, where
+they lay thickly.[1]  Men, women, and children had been hunted down and
+slain in the water.  The few junks on shore were also filled with dead
+bodies of fugitives and crews.
+
+
+[1] Should any reader need evidence of these days let him see the
+illustrated papers of the time.
+
+
+My interpreter shook his head.  He could do nothing.  Remembering his
+former conduct, I began to fear that he had some sinister object in his
+mind's eye.  I asked him what I should do, and then as he paused in his
+reply, I demanded why he had robbed me before.  My fears were then
+allayed, because I saw the Japanese officer, Tomi's brother,
+approaching.  But the interpreter remained perfectly calm to all
+appearance.  He merely deprecated any reference to such an unpleasant
+incident, by a shrug of the shoulders, and an appealing movement of his
+hands.
+
+"Then you intended to destroy me!" I exclaimed.  "What do you propose
+now?  May I ask you, sir, to question this man about his conduct while
+in my society, when, as I have told you, I was robbed by him and left
+alone to find my way across the isthmus."
+
+The interpreter's nimble tongue was at a loss for once.  He could not
+advance any excuse.
+
+"Did this man rob you?" asked the officer.  "Speak, sir."
+
+"Yes," I replied.  "Let him deny it if he can."
+
+The Japanese officer turned to the interpreter and said something to
+him, motioning to the soldier who had accompanied me to advance.
+
+The traitor fell upon his knees, Chinese fashion, but what he said I
+could not understand.  He produced the revolver, however, and some
+papers.
+
+"He declares he was instructed to take these from you, for fear of your
+safety if they were found upon you by the natives.  Is that so?"
+
+"Not at all.  I was given the pistol and money by your brother for my
+protection.  He had already defended me, and the captain of the ship
+urged my departure as a scout, knowing some Chinese.  They hoped I
+would remain with the army, reach Port Arthur, and so get away."
+
+"Then you _were_ suspected on board?" he asked sharply.
+
+"Yes, because I was sailing in the Chinese transport, I think.  Your
+honourable brother assisted me, and intended to send me to the British
+fleet."
+
+"He had no authority to do so.  But I am sure the captain would have
+landed you at Chemulpo had you desired it."
+
+"I did not want to be landed.  I am a sailor, and wished to continue on
+board until I could be sent to Shanghai or Chefoo."
+
+"It appears to me now that you did wrong.  You had better have landed
+and made your way, with the assistance of your consul, to China.  But
+matters seem also to have been against you.  As for this man's
+statement respecting the robbery, I do not believe it.  He has traduced
+my brother."
+
+Then followed a few sentences in the Japanese language, which sounded
+particularly harsh.  I saw the man seized by the soldier, and cried
+out.  The officer turned to me inquiringly.
+
+"What do you intend?" I asked.  "What punishment?"
+
+"I shall strike off his thievish hand."
+
+"Oh no!" I pleaded.  "There has been slaughter and hacking enough!  Let
+him go free!"
+
+"He has lied concerning my brother.  He deserves to _die_!  I shall
+only prevent his robbing in future.  Take him, and keep him in guard."
+
+The soldier tied the man's hands together with his belt, and drove him
+away before him, leaving me with the officer.  My appeal had been in
+vain.  As a fact, I had no energy to continue the question, because my
+bodily strength was waning fast.  The excitement which had so far
+sustained me was already disappearing, and the disgust which had
+replaced it did not tend to keep me up.
+
+The Japanese officer perceived this, and beckoned me to accompany him.
+I saw he was anxiously looking at my pallid face.  What would have
+become of me had he not come to my rescue I did not venture to think.
+I followed him closely, and retraced my bloodstained steps through the
+lately prosperous-looking streets, then well furnished with shops, now
+a terrible line of dismantled houses; goods lying upon the ground amid
+the dead, and accentuating the desolation.
+
+My conductor took me to an inn, or hotel, in which resided,
+temporarily, several Japanese.  These gentlemen, I ascertained, were
+journalists and artists employed by the newspapers and others, for the
+Japanese people took the greatest interest in the struggle with China.
+Two of these men spoke English quite sufficiently for conversational
+purposes, and they made me welcome by request of the officer.
+
+"When opportunity occurs," he said, "we will send you home.  Perhaps we
+may despatch you to one of your men-of-war vessels.  Farewell!"
+
+I had only time to thank him for the idea of such a happy despatch,
+when I felt faint and sick.  My new friends immediately removed me to
+an upper chamber,--a rather unusual thing in China,--and laid me upon
+the couch or bench which was then being warmed by the hot air from the
+fire or "furnace."  Handing me a thick counterpane, which the
+increasing cold made acceptable, my friend left me to recover
+myself--my strength and my self-possession.
+
+It was long before I was able to rise.  The day passed.  Food was
+repugnant to me.  My brain reproduced all the horrors I had witnessed,
+and I shuddered as with ague.  The night was still more dreadful, as my
+solitude was invaded by three of the company, and I was thankful when
+morning again dawned and left me alone, if listless and ailing.
+
+I must pass rapidly on, for nothing occurred to alarm me.  I lay quiet,
+eating and sleeping and thinking.  My new companions amused me by
+telling me their adventures, and listening to mine.  They taught me
+some of their language, and I imparted to them some English.  The
+weather grew worse, frost and snow set in, with bitter winds; and I
+learned that the headquarters of the army had been fixed at Kinchow,
+till the second army--Port Arthur force--made northward for Kai-ping.
+The Japanese fleet was in Talien Bay.  Winter had set in in earnest,
+and transport was very difficult.
+
+Christmas passed.  Such a Christmas it was, too.  I felt like the boy
+who had been left at school while all the other fellows went home for
+the holidays.  Most of my companions had scattered, but two stayed, one
+for some Government business, and the other awaiting orders as to the
+disposal of the quantities of plunder and stores, before leaving to
+join the fleet.  We conversed in a mixture of Japanese and English, a
+dialect which did more to keep up my spirits than anything save
+release, because we laughed at each other's mistakes all day.  The
+weather became very cold, and as the year came to an end I began to
+feel "hipped," and really uneasy.  But the New Year caused a change in
+the troops' quarters, and indirectly in mine, for when the second army
+advanced, or rather a portion of it advanced, to the north, to join the
+Yalu army, I was very agreeably surprised by a visit from the officer I
+knew as Tomi's brother, and, best of all, he was accompanied by Tomi
+himself.  This visit was paid in the month of January 1895, when I was
+feeling extremely "low."
+
+My astonishment was great as my pleasure at the meeting, and in my
+delight, being also conceited about my new attainments, I exclaimed in
+"dog" Japanese--
+
+"Tenno Heika Banzai!  Nippon Yüsen Kabushiki Kaisha!  So glad to see
+you again!"
+
+Somewhat to my astonishment the two officers touched their caps, and,
+looking at each other, burst into a hearty peal of laughter.  I stared.
+What had I said?  I felt guilty and nervous, then annoyed at the
+laughter.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, what's the joke?" I said.  "Have I in any way
+offended you?  Pray accept my excuses--in English.  I assure you"--
+
+"Please excuse _us_," said the naval officer, seizing my hand.  "We are
+delighted to learn that you have mastered Japanese as well as Chinese
+and French.  Thank you for Emperor _and Company_."
+
+"I think you do not quite understand," remarked my military friend.
+"Do you know what you _did_ say?"
+
+"Yes--at least I think so.  I intended to cheer your Emperor and you,
+and to wish success to the Japanese united arms.  I suspect I made a
+little mistake."
+
+"No, no!" cried the young lieutenant Tomi.  "It was beautiful!
+Splendid!  It sounded so well, too.  Didn't it?" he asked, turning to
+his brother.
+
+"Yes; and so exactly to the point," added the captain, laughing again.
+"You are already an interpreter, Mr. Julius."
+
+I felt rather "at sea" at this renewal of the merriment, but the
+officers quickly subdued their laughter, though it occasionally burst
+out in spasms while they alternately announced their business.
+
+"We have another mission for you, Julius," said the younger.  "A
+pleasant little trip to an English man-of-war perhaps."
+
+I leaped to my feet in delight.  "Really?" I said.  "You mean that?"
+
+"Oh yes, certainly.  _We_ understand English," he said, laughing.
+
+I blushed, and felt annoyed with Tomi.  But I dare not show this.
+
+"When you and your brother have _quite_ finished laughing"--I began.
+
+But this attempt at dignity set them off again, and though really
+angry, I was compelled to join them.  The whole business seemed so
+ridiculous.
+
+"Pray pardon us," gasped the elder officer.  "This is really
+business--from the admiral."
+
+"The admiral!" I exclaimed.  "Does he know anything about me?'
+
+"Of course, certainly; and when you talk to him in _Japanese_"--
+
+This caused another explosion, and I made condemnatory remarks
+concerning the native smile.
+
+"Well," I asked coldly, "any further _joke_?"
+
+"This is no joke, indeed," said the sailor.  "The Admiral Ito wants a
+letter conveyed to the _Severn_--what you call it--cruiser, for
+conveyance to Admiral Ting, the Chinese naval commander.  The little
+difficulty arose about the messenger being a Japanese, and then I
+reminded my captain that you were in Port Arthur, and trustworthy.  My
+brother had already told me so much.  The immediate result has been our
+presence here, and our request to bring you to the admiral.  Will you
+come? we will fit you out again."
+
+"And I am to join the _Severn_?"
+
+"Perhaps.  At anyrate if you carry the letter, and bring back an answer
+or not, you can act as an ambassador."
+
+"With pleasure," I cried, delighted to think I was again to be restored
+to British protection, and to see English faces.  "I will accompany you
+at once."
+
+I made some few--very few--changes in my appearance, which was a bit
+remarkable for an English youth, or "man."  My stubbly hair, my thick
+wadded costume,--_a la Chinois_,--for your Chinaman pads his garments
+until his bulk, in winter, vies with Mr. Daniel Lambert, of pious
+memory.  Thus, something like a clean scarecrow, crossed with the Fat
+Boy in _Pickwick_, I accompanied my deliverers.
+
+As we quitted my quarters, I said as pleasantly as possible--
+
+"Tell me the mistake I made when you came in?"
+
+They smiled at the recollection, and the sailor-boy said, nodding at
+me--
+
+"It was all right, really.  You only said, Hurrah for the Emperor! and"
+(here he choked)--"and called out for the '_Japan Mail Steam Company_.'
+That's all."
+
+I laughed aloud at the connection.  What I intended to say I have now
+no idea, and my Japanese friends never enlightened me.
+
+This was my last attempt at Asiatic languages--on service.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+EXPLANATIONS--ON BOARD THE _NANIWA_ AGAIN--THE BLOCKADE OF
+WEI-HAI-WEI--ON SERVICE
+
+During our journey to Talien Bay, which had become the Japanese naval
+base after the demolition of Port Arthur, I put a number of questions
+to Tomi and to the military officer, his brother, whom I now learned
+was attached to the army staff.  Several of these inquiries had
+reference to the movements of the army and navy, but some questions
+were personal to myself.  At last my kind friends threw off their
+official reserve, and cheered my heart with the prospect of release.
+
+I began by asking how the young lieutenant had found me out, and why,
+having sent me adrift, he had thought of seeking me again.  I told my
+adventures briefly.
+
+"I am sure you did it for the best," I concluded, "but all the same
+your plans nearly cost me my life."
+
+"We had no choice, I am sorry to say.  The report that you were a
+Chinese spy had been so insisted upon that even Japanese discipline
+wavered on board.  When you confessed to knowledge of Chinese, the plan
+of sending you as a scout with the interpreter was adopted, and I gave
+you all the assistance I could."
+
+"Yes, indeed.  But the interpreter proved false.  He robbed me, and
+left me helpless."
+
+"True; he has paid for his treachery.  Yet, had you been taken
+prisoner, and the map and pistol found upon you, your life would have
+been forfeited and awful tortures inflicted," added the elder brother.
+
+"I did not realise that contingency," said Tomi, "nor did I imagine the
+interpreter would be false.  He evidently regarded you as an enemy;
+perhaps he thought he was serving us by putting you in danger.  On the
+other hand, he did you a service by concealing you and taking the
+compass and revolver."
+
+"Well, that is one way of looking at it," I said.  "Let the matter rest
+there.  Now, may I inquire why, and how, I have been sent for? and how
+I have been discovered?"
+
+"The second question is the easiest to answer.  Inquiries and letters
+are awaiting you.  The English captain from Shanghai"--
+
+"What!  My skipper, Captain Goldheugh?" I interrupted.
+
+"I think he is the same.  The captain who commanded the Chinese
+transport, _Kowshing_."
+
+"Rather _Fêng Shui_," I said.  "The same man.  What of him?"
+
+"He has come up in an American steamer, and has made inquiries about
+you all around the coast--at Chefoo and at Talien-wan.  He boarded the
+_Naniwa_, and we told him all we knew.  My brother had previously told
+me something about the interpreter, and a Britisher in camp.  So we put
+our ideas together, and decided then you were the missing man."
+
+"And the captain has letters for me?"
+
+"Several; and despatches also, I understand.  Inquiry from the consul,
+too; so your Government think you are of some importance."
+
+I laughed, and said, "I suspect my father and mother, were alarmed, and
+set the diplomatic wheels moving.  Then I am to go home?"
+
+"Yes; but meantime we have a favour to ask, and we had considered it
+possible you would assist us on the way back."
+
+"Certainly; when I have announced my safety at home, I can do all you
+require, I hope."
+
+"It is merely to convey a letter to the English admiral in the gulf
+outside Wei-hai-Wei.  You have several ships there, and Admiral Ito is
+sending a squadron to keep watch on Tengchow and Wei-hai-Wei."[1]
+
+
+[1] Pronounced Way-hi-Way.--H.P.
+
+
+"Then you intend to capture and occupy Shengtung?"
+
+"So it is understood, but we cannot decide that.  The _Naniwa_ or other
+vessel will convey you to Tengchow, close to Chefoo.  There you will
+find your friend Goldheugh, or perhaps at Chefoo."
+
+"That seems good enough," I said.  "But why send _me_?  Why not one of
+your own officers?"
+
+"You are neutral," replied the young lieutenant, "and the communication
+is to the Chinese Admiral Ting.  Both Chinese and Japanese respect
+English good faith, and any intervention by your force will prove its
+honesty of purpose."
+
+I could only bow to this compliment, and did so with becoming gravity.
+"I am quite ready," I said.  "When properly equipped and clothed I
+shall be at your admiral's service."
+
+"Then I must bid you farewell," interposed the soldier, as we came in
+sight of Talien Bay.  "We shall never meet again, perhaps, but I trust
+you will not judge all the Japanese soldiers from the specimens at Port
+Arthur.  They were exasperated and triumphant, they were victorious all
+along the line, and irritated by the execution of prisoners."
+
+It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what the Japs would do if they
+were beaten, but fortunately I did not raise the discussion.  It will
+be time enough to ask that question when they are pitted against a less
+yielding enemy.  At present the Japanese have much confidence in
+themselves, and are most enthusiastic.  Time will show results.
+
+My parting with the staff-officer was most friendly and regretful.  He
+had nobly paid his debt to the English lad whose countrymen had
+accepted him as a friend.  And for my own part I think the English
+would do well to ally themselves closely with the Japanese nation,
+which is a coming factor in the Eastern world.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+I need not dwell upon the details of my mission.  Let it suffice that I
+accompanied the _Naniwa_, one of the three ships composing a flying
+squadron to bombard Tengchow if necessary.  On the 18th January 1895,
+the three ships sailed--the _Yoshino_, _Akitsushima_, and _Naniwa_, and
+after a trial engagement of blank cartridge they shelled the place.
+
+When the feint was made the snow fell thickly, and so bad was the
+weather that any attack was out of the question.  The bombardment was
+also delayed next day by a snowstorm, but in any case the ships were
+only employed to divert the attention of the Chinese fleet and army
+from the main attack of the chief Japanese squadron, and the army,
+which was landing in Shengtung.  The Chinese sent their men to support
+the force at Tengchow, and meanwhile the Japanese troops landed at
+Yingching Bay, at the eastern extremity of Shengtung; and I did not see
+Captain Goldheugh.
+
+When the Japanese arrangements had been carried out, and the army
+landed, the navy being concentrated in the Bay of Pechili, I was
+enabled to convey my missive to the admiral, and by him sent, per the
+_Severn_, to the Chinese admiral at Wei-hai-Wei.  The letter itself was
+afterwards printed in the _Japan Mail_.  It urged the Chinese to
+surrender.  Admiral Ito stated that his "friend" Ting would be well
+treated if he would yield, and save much bloodshed.  "I entreat you to
+credit my sincerity," he concluded.  "I address this letter to you in
+pure friendship, and if happily you accept my counsel, I will, with
+your permission, address some further remarks to you on the subject,
+giving practical effect to the idea."
+
+Admiral Ting did not reply, and when the 29th of January came, the
+fleet, which had meantime been making preparations to attack, began the
+bombardment.  The army had already been feeling its way on land, and on
+the 30th it advanced and encountered the Chinese troops on the
+headlands, and drove them down to the seaside by Wei-hai-Wei.  But then
+the Chinese fleet in the harbour came into action, and we heard the
+guns at ten o'clock a.m., and it was supposed that the Japs had
+retired, as indeed was the case.
+
+But the eastern forts were taken later by the Japanese, who manned the
+captured guns.  We subsequently heard many interesting and even
+romantic accounts of this attack, which succeeded so well that when the
+boats from the fleet made an attempt to break the east boom in the
+harbour they were fired at by the Japanese, thinking the _Chinese_ were
+attacking from the sea side.  This was on the night of the 30th January.
+
+These incidents were related to me later, but I can tell something of
+the attack by sea, and I never wish to join in such another under such
+circumstances.  It was not because I had any fear, that was not in my
+mind; but I did not at first take any real interest in the business.  I
+wanted to be landed at Chefoo, and sent home, or, at anyrate, back to
+Shanghai.  Instead, I was in the midst of storm and stress--winter of
+the most terrible, fire and cold, both almost equally deadly.  As luck
+had it, the First Flying Squadron, in which the _Naniwa_ was included,
+was "left out in the cold"; but I warmed up later to war-pitch.
+
+Before I proceed with my narrative I must give you an idea of the
+surroundings.  Wei-hai-Wei embraces a wide bay, perhaps twenty miles in
+extent, with hills crowned by forts and batteries on land.  On the sea
+front it is protected by two islands, one (Lui-kung) of fair size, and
+inhabited; the other, Sih-tao, is merely the foundation of a fort.  The
+former island separates the harbour into two entrances, in the eastern
+of which lies the smaller island-fort.  At the opposite side is deep
+water, and in all directions on mainland and islands, on sea and shore,
+are defences--forts, batteries, mines, and ships of war--all Chinese.
+The Chinese fleet consisted of fifteen men-o'-war and gunboats, and
+thirteen torpedo-boats.  The Japanese fleet numbered twenty-four ships
+and sixteen torpedo-boats.  Besides these latter ships were numerous
+other vessels "looking on" and watching the struggle with the greatest
+interest.  The captain of the _Naniwa_ offered to send me on board an
+English ship, or convey me to Chefoo, but I thought I would see the
+match out--the end was not far off.  Having gone so far I thought I had
+better complete the tale, and curiosity was at length aroused; my poor
+services were even enlisted on one occasion.
+
+Besides the defences already mentioned, the Chinese had fixed two
+substantial booms across the bay.  Steel hawsers, supplemented with
+great baulks of timber of immense thickness, anchored by chains and
+grapnels, were supplied with torpedoes on both sides, in addition to
+the mines outside.  Had any European or Japanese soldiers been in
+possession of Wei-hai-Wei, or Port Arthur, it must have been
+impregnable, and if Russia seizes either place we shall find this out.
+
+It was evident that the capture of Wei-hai-Wei depended upon the
+destruction of the boom; and this seemed to be an impossible feat.
+When the strength and position of the obstruction were considered, the
+desperate nature of the service might well have daunted the Japanese,
+who would be exposed to the fire of the forts and batteries in nearly
+all directions.  But if the assailants hesitated it was only in order
+to make sure of the result.
+
+The weather continued very bad, but worse was approaching.  I had had
+no further news respecting Captain Goldheugh, and no one thought about
+my departure.  The Japanese vessels were divided into five squadrons.
+The main squadron consisting of the flagship _Matsushima_, the
+_Chiyoda_, _Itsukushima_, and _Hashidate_.  The four flying squadrons
+included first the _Yoshino_, _Takachiho_, _Akitsushima_, and _Naniwa_.
+The other three flying squadrons and the three torpedo-flotillas may be
+mentioned generally.
+
+On the 30th January 1895 the Admiral Ito decided to attack.  All the
+vessels united outside Wei-hai-Wei, and began patrolling the coast.  At
+intervals, and later more constantly, we heard the heavy guns as the
+eastern forts were attacked by the troops ashore, and these continuous
+roars made us impatient of inaction.
+
+"I wish I could do something," I said at last to Tomi.  "Can't I join
+you if you go out in a torpedo-boat?  Wouldn't your captain give me a
+chance to do something?"
+
+"Perhaps he might.  He would not refuse a volunteer; and you could
+steer the boat I suppose?  Shall I ask the lieutenant?"
+
+"Please," I replied.  "Anything will be better than loafing here!"
+
+"We shall not 'loaf' as you call it.  The admiral has signalled us to
+be ready to support the attack, and no hammocks will be slung to-night."
+
+"All right," I said; "the sooner the better!  Where are we making for
+now?"
+
+"For the western entrance.  The main and second squad are guarding the
+eastern.  That island with a fort upon it may give us a hint presently."
+
+We continued to steam slowly to and fro all the morning.  The roar of
+the engagement increased every minute, and all hands became excited.
+It was like a cat watching a mouse in a cage.  We were so many cats
+prowling about the cage in which numerous Chinese "mice" were calmly
+seated watching us, while the dogs of war inland were worrying the dogs
+ashore.  We could do nothing at our end, though it was pleasant to see
+the No. 3 and No. 4 squads had begun to throw shells at "long bowls" in
+the direction of the eastern batteries to support the land attack.
+
+It was aggravating to see the big Chinese "mice" steaming inside the
+harbour, followed by some small craft--like micelets--between the
+islands, and assisting the forts, yet never venturing out into the
+gulf.  But as the day wore into late afternoon a great white smoke
+arose on shore, and a fearful explosion rang the knell of the fort;
+with telescopes we could see the Chinese running away.
+
+The admiral at this time signalled our No. 1 fleet to join him, and we
+went back to the long line, spreading ourselves all across the harbour
+outside.  Then an order went out to try the boom that night, and the
+Chinese began to find our range from the islands, whence they began
+"pilling" us at frequent intervals, with the setting sun behind them,
+which interfered with the Japanese accuracy of fire.  We managed to
+creep in to the east side and keep up the watch.  Tomi was right; there
+was no hammocks slung.  The men lay around the guns on mats.
+
+That night was cold, and when I rose, shivering, I was glad to get warm
+clothing.  As the day passed the snow and sleet came heavily down, and
+at last the storm hid everything.  The wind and sea rose, and the
+thermometer and barometer fell fast.  The ships were then fully exposed
+to the fearful storm on a lee shore; the thermometer was below
+freezing, and all chance of reducing Wei-hai-Wei more distant than
+ever!  The climax for us came when the admiral, with three squadrons,
+retreated to the shelter of Yengching Bay, leaving us--the first
+squad--on guard in the snow and storm.
+
+Yet not a single murmur arose from the ships which continued to watch
+the harbour, though the chances of the escape of the Chinese in such
+weather, and in such a gale, were infinitesimal.  So the last day of
+January and the first of February passed in fearful discomfort, and
+without any opportunity of distinction, though all the other Japanese
+ships were in shelter, and thus left the Chinese to their own devices.
+When the cat is away the mice will play, and this proverb was fitly
+illustrated in this case, for on the 1st of February Admiral Ting
+destroyed all the guns in the western forts.
+
+This was a very sensible move on his part, because he knew that if the
+enemy attacked and captured them the Japanese could have turned the
+Chinese guns against his fleet in harbour!  So while the storm raged
+the Chinese sailors spiked the guns,[2] and thus caused a breathing
+space for the beleaguered inhabitants of the forts and ships.  On the
+3rd there was some exchange of "civilities," but the snow again caused
+a truce.  That evening we had a little consultation on board the
+_Naniwa_, and the speculations as regarded our success were numerous
+and varied in their way, but the ultimate result was never doubted.
+
+
+[2] An Englishman led the sailors that time.
+
+
+"We must win," said one.  "We hold the place now.  We have seen the
+Chinese retreating.  We have captured most of the forts.  The Chinese
+may as well surrender!"
+
+"They are too proud," said another.  "The eyes of Europe are upon them."
+
+"And on us," interrupted a third.  "Shall we give way now?  Certainly
+not!"
+
+"What can we do then?" I ventured to ask (Tomi translated).  "Cannot we
+attack by sea and break the boom? such things have been done."
+
+I had read of this, and though I could not at the time recall the
+historical incident, the fact was impressed upon my mind.
+
+"We must await orders.  But it must come to that," said a senior.
+
+"Mr. Julius will help when the time comes," said Tomi.  "He will be on
+board one of the boats, I daresay."
+
+"If permitted," I said.  "When the weather moderates we shall see."
+
+In this way we tried to cheer ourselves, and in other ways we managed
+to pass the terrible days of wind and snow.  The ships were completely
+covered with snow, an inch thick, at least, even though the roll of the
+vessels shook off the flakes continually.  The thermometer went down to
+twenty-five degrees below freezing, and that was quite sufficient for
+us at sea.  When on the 3rd the weather improved we heard the news
+announced that the torpedo-boats were to have an innings, and I became
+excited.
+
+I had never actually witnessed the attack of a torpedo.  When formerly
+in the _Naniwa_ I had seen a Chinese vessel sunk off Hai-yang, but had
+only seen the effects.  Now, if permitted, I would perhaps see
+something new!  A very novel experience indeed, because torpedoes had
+never been used in warfare before then.  At intervals we had been
+exchanging shots and experimenting upon the boom, but none of us in our
+ship had been engaged.  We were policemen, and little else.  But the
+attempt had to be made, and, by what I may call accident, I was in the
+first attack.
+
+There was an officer named Kosaki--a splendid fellow--who had done
+excellent service under fire before in a torpedo-boat, and he was
+attached to boat No. 6.  There were ten boats employed, and the news
+was known that day, and there was talk of volunteers trying to proceed
+in her, for they all knew that "No. 6" was bound to do something!  Tomi
+told me this.  He had been ordered to carry a report to the main
+squadron, and suggested that I should accompany him.
+
+"Perhaps you may have a chance to join the torpedo-boat," he said.  I
+thanked him, and muffled up we were rowed to the flagship, where Tomi
+delivered his message.  Then we perceived that the first squadron was
+closing in, and we waited on board the greater ship, which was firing
+at the Lui-kung Island as well as the smaller one.  Lui-kung is
+precipitous and unassailable: the batteries were concealed, and some of
+the guns, I think, were depressed and raised, like the Moncrieff
+carriages at Woolwich long ago.  The ships could not reach in close:
+the water is shallow, and the guns were well served.  Meantime the
+Chinese rested behind the shelter of the boom.
+
+"I hear we shall attack the boom to-night," said Tomi.
+
+"Is there any chance of my finding a berth in the flotilla?" I asked.
+
+"Ask the commander," said my friend.  "The captain of No. 6 is a
+warrant officer.  He might consent.  Shall I try for you?"
+
+I nodded assent.  Perhaps it was a silly ambition!  Tomi had a chance
+and grasped it.  As the "captain" of the boat was descending the side
+Tomi arrested him, and made the request.  Something was said, and then
+Tomi returned to me.
+
+"Well?" I asked, feeling rather "half-hearted" about the result.
+
+"You may join as a correspondent, but must not tell your experience
+till the place is taken--if you survive."
+
+"He said so?"
+
+"Yes.  'Let him come and die, if he wishes it,' he said."
+
+"Then I just _will_ go--and chance it!" I said boldly.
+
+"All right.  He is waiting.  Good luck to you."
+
+I hurried away, and in a short time was on board the little boat which
+was tossing and plunging in the lumpy sea in the lee of the large
+vessels.  Retreat was now impossible.  The die was cast.
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+ON BOARD THE TORPEDO-BOAT--BREAKING OF THE BOOM--CAPTURE OF
+WEI-HAI-WEI--CONCLUSION
+
+My first impressions regarding a torpedo-boat were, firstly, that the
+deck rests dangerously near the water; and secondly, that the craft
+itself is unsafe--at least, unsteady.  Then the vessel,--or "ship," as
+I believe it is called,--is, if cabined, certainly "cribbed and
+confined."  There is not much space to live in; perhaps the sailors who
+man her are not expected to live--much.  Where they usually sleep,
+unless in the coal-bunkers or in the engine-room, I do not exactly
+know.  They did not sleep at all while I was on board, and I understand
+that they never change nor wash (or "hardly ever"), under service
+conditions.  So far as my rather limited experience goes, existence on
+board this ship is by no means enjoyable, save when in harbour, and
+then it is useless.  When at sea in roughish weather, and on service
+particularly, the "pleasure" must be deadly-lively.
+
+The torpedo-boat is about one hundred and twenty-five feet long, and
+perhaps twelve feet at beam.  There are larger craft than this, I
+think, but these dimensions will suffice for the usual limits.  The
+torpedoes are fixed from the tubes, which, in my "ship," extended one
+on each bow and astern.  There is a steering-tower, or "conning-tower,"
+fore and aft, and very small space for living in.  There are no
+bulwarks to prevent one sliding away into the sea in a calm, only a
+rail with stanchions, upon which a wire rope is stretched as a
+protection.  But in bad weather the sea does not wait for the sailor,
+it invades him, and washes everything overboard which may be loose,
+carrying the men off if they do not go below or lash themselves.  The
+rolling is absolutely fearful, and I am informed that when the officers
+eat they must feed each other like infants, one holding the cup, or
+plate, while the other drinks, or eats, from it.  All the services are
+tinware, and the food is also tinned, and water is plentiful inside and
+out, and leaks.
+
+To this kind of experience I was quite new, and the haggard spectre of
+_mal-de-mer_ presented itself all the time.  How the sailors usually
+manage I do not know; they must suffer, I imagine, at sea.  But a dozen
+sick men in that boat!  Well--curtain!
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+February the 3rd was the most anxious night I had hitherto passed.  I
+was assisted on board, and I think Tomi introduced me to the officers
+as a British newspaper correspondent.  At anyrate, I was politely
+received, fed, and entertained so far as possible, but the
+accommodation was decidedly very limited--much more than the welcome.
+
+I managed to understand that we would not actually attack.  The idea
+was to make the breach sufficient to admit other boats next time; so,
+after all, we should not run any fearful risk, I fancied.  But I did
+not know then that we were to go inside the boom,--into the
+harbour,--as I had little opportunity to talk, even had I been
+acquainted with the Japanese tongue, I made only mental observations--I
+was afraid of making mistakes in my language again.
+
+The day died; the moon rose and disappeared; then came the turn of "No.
+6."  When blackness fell upon the water--a darkness in which the boat
+was almost buried--the engines began to beat silently, the screws
+revolved almost noiselessly, and we skimmed away towards the places
+already determined upon.  The men lay close, only the helmsman, the
+officer himself, was visible.  I lay by him, by permission, and two men
+watched forward.  This was no torpedo attack, it was a survey.
+
+An hour passed.  There was no spot at which an entry could be made on
+the west side, and a long search only revealed a small space between
+the rocks on the eastern side and that end of the enormous boom which
+stood up threatening us in the dark.  This barrier seemed bigger than I
+had ever imagined, and its mass seemed, from our small craft, so
+enormous, that I almost despaired.  Dynamite could not injure it from
+outside.  Perhaps gun-cotton or powder would, if applied inside the
+harbour where the resistance was less.
+
+At last!  Searching closely, the boat found the spot where the barrier
+ceased,--a very small passage, through which it seemed almost
+impossible to drive the boat in safety.  But the hands which held the
+helm were incapable of nervousness.  No tremor shook those iron muscles
+as the boat's head was turned rock-wise.  It was sink or swim then--a
+torpedo in the path would end it for us.  But unheeding, or rather
+disdaining, the danger, the skipper turned the boat's head to the small
+space in the sea.
+
+The rocks grumbled at us as we slowly and deftly passed.  The sullen
+murmurs of the waves were supplemented by the swishing of the revolving
+screws, or drowned perhaps by the former.  Still the boat skimmed on,
+and then almost noiselessly brought up in the harbour, within the range
+of the Chinese torpedo-squadron, which speedily perceived the intruder.
+
+The situation was peculiar.  We were in hostile waters; the ships and
+torpedo-boats, and even the forts, quickly woke up.  Shells came
+whizzing in our direction.  We could see them streaking the blackness,
+like meteors, then flying shrieking over our heads, and plunging or
+bursting in the sea beyond the boom, or within it.  But not one touched
+the Japanese boat, which lay dark and silent by the boom, though had an
+electric searchlight been used by some approaching vessel we must have
+been discovered at once.
+
+The cold was intense as the devoted vessel cracked the ice which lay on
+the agitated surface of the harbour, but we did not mind it.  The sound
+of the ice, one imagined, must have announced our whereabouts to the
+Chinese, but as we moved swiftly the aim was not accurate, and we lay
+alongside the barrier, silently, to prepare for the charge which the
+master had determined to explode against it.
+
+The mine was laid with great difficulty, not only because of the
+darkness and the penetrating cold, but because of the unsteadiness of
+the little craft, which surged against the boom, and crackled loudly at
+every concussion.  At length the job was complete, the charge was laid,
+the battery by which it was intended to explode the powder was
+prepared, the wire already extended.
+
+Now the critical moment approached.  A few directions, a few words of
+warning, a caution to the engineers, an order to the steersman, then:
+Ready?  Fire!  Away! away!  Get out of reach as quietly and as quickly
+as possible.
+
+We made tracks, noisy ones too.  The island fort burst into fire, and
+more shells came tearing around us, but nothing else happened.  The
+mine had failed!
+
+Investigation at once discovered the reason.  We had not proceeded far
+under the star-shower of shells when the report was made.  The wire was
+cut! cut by a fluke of the anchor, which had chafed through it.  There
+was no alternative, we must return.
+
+In a few moments the boat was heading back, careless of the meteoric
+display around us.  The skipper sprang up from the wheel-shelter and
+refastened the wire, unheeding the increasing storm of projectiles,
+which flew around us and pitted the icy water like hail.  But again he
+was met by failure.  The charge refused to ignite, and there was no
+other chance now save handwork,--that is, by doing it himself, amid the
+greatest danger of death by shot or shell, or drowning from the boom,
+or explosion,--and all this in the black darkness, relieved only by the
+gleams of murderous shells.  The crew worked well and bravely, excited,
+as one may say, perhaps, by the coolness of their chief.  The shot came
+leaping, ricochetting over the harbour; the shells screamed most
+unpleasantly in our ears; fingers were numbed, and our breathing was
+like steam amid those exertions.  But the skipper landed on the boom,
+fixed three very destructive charges, and resumed his post at the
+wheel, ready, when the engines were moved full speed ahead.  The deed
+was done!
+
+Then the line was pulled taut, the detonator exploded, the three
+charges flared, the boom was rent, and the torpedo-boat No. 6 sped away
+over the sea, past the staring flotilla at a distance, keeping her
+perilous course, past the narrow entrance, amid such a cannonade as I
+had had never dreamed of,--a duel now between the victors and the
+victims of the outrage.  But the boat returned, unharmed, in the
+darkness, and in a short time showed her lights in the offing, out of
+reach of the hail of shot and flaming shell, to enjoy the rest which
+the gallant crew had fairly earned when the report had been received.
+
+[Illustration: THE DEED WAS DONE!  TORPEDO-BOAT NO. 6 SPED AWAY]
+
+This was an expedition conducted with great intrepidity, and crowned
+with immediate success, the results of which proved most disastrous to
+the defence.  Next night two flotillas penetrated the harbour through
+the wider breach No. 6 had made, and a fearful engagement ensued.  In
+this two torpedo-boats were lost, and in No. 6 the tubes were frozen,
+so the torpedoes were not discharged.  One of the first two boats
+referred to was blown up by a shell, but the great man-o'-war,
+_Ting-yuen_, was scuttled by a torpedo or torpedoes, and next day sank
+slowly in sight of the fleet.  The Japanese had had two boats lost and
+two injured.  The latter were sent to Port Arthur to repair.  The boat
+I was in was struck fifty times, once by a shell.
+
+This was "warm" work, but next night it became warmer still, for the
+leader of the expedition reported that the admiral, with tears in his
+eyes, had told him of the necessity of destroying the rest of the
+fleet, and the danger of it.  On that second night, the 4th, we knew
+that many men had been killed by shot, that many besides had been
+scalded, and many actually frozen to death in the water, even under
+comparatively fortunate circumstances.  The admiral and his captains
+knew the danger, and the latter fully appreciated it when next day a
+further attack was determined upon.
+
+"You may be unable to return through the breach," said the admiral.
+"The Chinese will be prepared and alive to the danger."
+
+"I am quite ready," replied the officer addressed, calmly.
+
+"I am grieved to order the attack.  But there is no help for it.  It
+must be done for our country's sake.  Do your best, as I am sure you
+will, and emblazon your name upon the scroll of fame."
+
+With these words the admiral dismissed the commander of the flotilla,
+and with a touching farewell.  They "could scarcely have expected to
+meet again," says the narrator of the interview.
+
+When the officer rejoined his boat he communicated his orders, and did
+not hide the danger.  Death was almost certain, there were no lanterns,
+no plans, no orders, no signals.  The boats cast off everything not
+necessary for the attack, as a forlorn hope goes into action unfettered.
+
+"Our boats and our bodies are the enemy's."  This was the signal.  But
+little hope, and less alarm, was displayed.  At a quarter to three a.m.
+(February 6th) the boats left the fleet to destroy Chinese ships, but
+our torpedo-boat came back, having collided with the boom in the dark.
+So I returned unharmed.
+
+We, outside, could not see the results until daylight, but the roar of
+the cannon, the flashing of the sweeping search-lights, and the
+bursting of the shells could be perceived in the darkness.  We saw
+rockets signalling in the harbour, but until the boats returned great
+anxiety was felt.  At daybreak they all returned safely, and reported
+three ships sunk.  These were the _Wei-yuen_, _Lai-yuen_, and _Pao-Hwa_.
+
+On the 5th I had rejoined the _Naniwa_, by permission, and saw that the
+contest could only end in one way soon.  When the news came on the 6th
+February that the three ships had been sunk there was great rejoicing,
+and many congratulations were exchanged in the squadron.  On the 7th we
+all took part in "the ball," shelling the forts and firing for a couple
+of hours until my head seemed splitting, and I was perfectly deaf for a
+while after.
+
+We were in the middle of the smoke and din when a signal was made high
+above the vapour that the Chinese torpedo-boats were escaping by the
+western passage in the direction of Chefoo.  The First Flying Squadron
+was ordered to pursue them--the _Yoshino_ leading us.  She is a very
+fast cruiser, her speed being twenty-three knots, the rest being not
+much more than eighteen.  We spun along, full speed, and some alarm was
+caused in the _Naniwa_ by a shell which plumped into the coal-bunker.
+Fortunately the protection afforded by the coal prevented any serious
+damage being done, and the Chinese boats were all destroyed save two,
+which managed to elude the pursuers, though crippled, and to reach the
+treaty port--Chefoo.
+
+I was anxious to go there too, as I believed I could find protection,
+but of course the _Naniwa_ could not land me at that time.  The ship
+returned to the blockade; the attack and bombardment was resumed on the
+8th February, when the combined squadrons, having silenced the fort on
+Sih Island, destroyed some hundreds of yards of the terrible boom, and
+cut it up.
+
+These tactics were continued during the next three days, when the ships
+attacked with flags flying as if in anticipation of victory.  The
+severe bombardment was continued, the Chinese pluckily replied; they
+did considerable damage to the enemy; and the attack was continued
+until night.  Still the Chinese admiral resisted, though the losses he
+had sustained in ships and boats were most serious.  The once large and
+formidable Peiyang Fleet had dwindled away, and now only four ships and
+a few gunboats represented the former powerful array.  The end was at
+hand.
+
+We heard afterwards some particulars of the concluding days of the
+contest, which must have been severely trying for the Celestials.  In
+our fleet the termination of the war was everywhere discussed.  Port
+Arthur captured, its forts denuded of guns, Kinchow, and other places
+inland in Japanese hands; Wei-hai-Wei on the brink of destruction--what
+chance had the Chinese admiral and generals?  Better had they accepted
+the offer of the Japanese and surrendered at first.
+
+We were all awake early in the morning of the 12th February, because
+experience told us that the enemy must either resist to the death that
+day or capitulate.  The blockade was so close, the odds against the
+Chinese so great, that we had already wondered at the sustained
+resistance, The extreme limit of Celestial endurance had been reached,
+though we did not anticipate the result as it actually happened.
+
+As the grey winter day rose out of the sea to port, all eyes were fixed
+upon the batteries and the ships in harbour.  Telescopes swept the
+hills and platforms, the traces of the wrecked boom, the almost
+deserted islands, the shattered forts.  As men gazed in silence, broken
+only at intervals by duty orders, a sense of depression fell upon me,
+as if something unpleasant awaited us.  Yet precautions had been
+taken--nothing could harm us.  Nevertheless one _felt_ something was
+approaching.  The snowclad hills lay silent and cold over all--a shroud
+spread over dying Wei-hai-Wei.  Surely that small Chinese gunboat
+cleaving the lumpy water had nothing to do with the _dénouement_.  One
+boat amongst so many ironclads and torpedo-boats could not do any harm.
+It was only eight o'clock then.  "What do you say, Tomi?  A _white
+flag_!  Surrender!  Never! never!"
+
+"Yes it is," said Tomi, laughing.  "Hurrah! you would say in England.
+The admiral has surrendered.  There goes the message of peace.  He is
+making for the _Matsushima_.  We win! we win!"
+
+We looked again.  All the ships' companies were on the alert, but
+though every mind had at once grasped the position, scarce a mouth yet
+betrayed the feelings of delight and satisfaction that must have been
+experienced.  What would the admiral's reply be?  Three torpedo-boats
+at once came to escort the stranger, and to make inquiry concerning her
+business--at least so we interpreted the conversation which seemed,
+judging from gestures, to be proceeding.  A boat left the Chinese
+vessel, and the messenger was carried on board the Japanese flagship.
+
+The message must have been important, because some officers were
+quickly summoned from other of our fleet.  Subsequently a steamer
+quitted the squadron for the eastern shore, presumably to acquaint the
+Commander-in-Chief of the army of the incident, but these were only
+surmises at the time, though afterwards verified.
+
+That afternoon the news ran through the ships that the Chinese had
+surrendered, and Admiral Ito had accepted the offer.  He trusted fully
+to Admiral Ting to act as he desired, promising safe-conduct.  But when
+next day the gunboat again appeared she carried her flag "half-mast."
+Ting and his generals had committed suicide.  They could not face the
+disgrace,--a disgrace which they knew would be visited upon all their
+families, for in China retribution is exacted from all the family for
+the fault of one.  Ting had taken opium.
+
+The melancholy signal to the fleet was received with honest regret.
+There was no exultation over the fallen enemy, no music brayed out
+triumphal strains of victory, only the wailing notes of funeral marches
+in saddened plaints echoed across the water.  The gunboat was returned
+to the Chinese so that it might convey the admiral's body to China, and
+the place surrendered with all its contents, its troops, sailors,
+ships, and material, to the Japanese, who will retain it till the
+English come.
+
+Thus fell the fortunes of Wei-hai-Wei, the details of which may be read
+in many published books and Eastern newspapers.
+
+The Chinese troops were sent to Chefoo or to other places of safety;
+and the ships captured, not including the released gunboat, ten in all,
+were manned by Japanese sailors, and proceeded under these prize-crews
+to Japan.  The released boat, _Kwang Tsi_, was employed as a transport,
+and in this way I found safety at last.
+
+As soon as the arrangements had been concluded, I made application to
+be sent to Chefoo, where I anticipated to meet Captain Goldheugh.  I
+had had no messages from home for some time save those delivered to
+friend Tomi, and now that the excitement of war and adventure had
+subsided I was anxious to leave.  Perhaps had I made application to the
+British commander he would have given me a passage to Shanghai, but I
+had been expecting to meet my captain at Chefoo, and determined to
+proceed thither.  As the gunboat was sailing I requested a "lift" in
+her, but was warned not to go.
+
+"Your life would not be safe," said one of the officers.  "Try a junk,
+the distance is nothing, and a junk is safe enough.  You pay him when
+he returns with a letter saying you are safe."
+
+"But I have no money--at least, hardly any."
+
+"Quite so," replied Tomi cheerfully.  "That is my affair.  You will see
+your captain, no doubt, and he will assist you.  We will signal a junk
+somehow--presently.  The fleet is returning westward."
+
+I thanked my kind entertainers heartily, and protested against their
+thus paying the piper.  But Tomi was a favourite, and the captain's
+nephew.  The captain himself at once "shut me up," good-naturedly, and
+though he could not send me in one of his boats to Chefoo, he managed
+to procure me transport to the port, and sent a sailor with me as
+surety for my safety.
+
+Having taken a regretful farewell of my kind friends I embarked on a
+junk in the harbour, such a queer craft she seemed.  Tomi was in
+command of the ship's boat which put me on board, and we had quite an
+affecting parting.  But both hoped to meet again, promising to
+write,--a promise since kept up, when newspapers do not sometimes take
+the place of letters.  (Tomi has sent me much information since, and
+has translated several articles accompanied by pictures.[1])  However,
+we parted rather sadly, and on the 19th February I lost sight of the
+fleet, and reached Chefoo before dark.
+
+
+[1] These are mentioned in the Preface.--H.F.
+
+
+A cruise in a junk is not unpleasant, but she seems to a European a
+very queer boat.  The size varies, of course, from a thousand tons
+downwards; the particular craft I engaged was about half that burden,
+or perhaps less, teak-built, and carrying a high poop; she had two
+masts, the mainmast with a large sail was very lofty indeed; and she
+carried a crew of, I think, twenty men--I believe there are more at
+sea.  At anyrate she suited me, and so I came to Chefoo in the _Ching
+King_, and was landed near the English houses.
+
+Chefoo or Chifu is the name of the treaty port, which is in fact the
+"European" settlement as distinguished from Yen Tai the native town.
+The port is open all the year, and being also a healthy place is more
+or less frequented by others than business men.  The English settlement
+is on the left, the Chinese town on the right, and in the centre rises
+the "signal hill" which divides them.  When we reached the "stranger"
+town we found several vessels sheltered there, and numerous junks,
+boats, and small craft lying darkly in the water, while the hills above
+were thickly covered with snow, giving quite an Alpine aspect to the
+surroundings.  Chefoo is a kind of "suburb" of Shanghai, though
+"outside the radius," and hither come the ships to their haven under
+the hill, to the sandy shore, to deal in cottons and "shirtings" with
+the Celestial inhabitants of the (as usual) dirty Chinese town.
+
+My heart beat more rapidly than usual when I stood upon the poop-deck
+of the junk and surveyed the harbour.  The signal was greatly in
+evidence, but the trim, even, respectable houses of the English quarter
+fixed my attention first, and then my eyes wandered to the shipping,
+particularly to the agitated red ensigns, which made me thrill with the
+hope of seeing English faces and clasping English hands, speaking the
+familiar language,--very familiar in ships,--and of once more meeting
+Captain Goldheugh late of the _Fêng Shui._
+
+      *      *      *      *      *
+
+I was landed safely, and sent my acknowledgment by the junk, which at
+once made her way back.  As I watched her gradually disappearing, now
+lost, now evident, amid the vessels, I reflected upon my late
+adventures, and made up my mind to write them down, and, in the
+familiar words of the hymn, to make "Bethel" out of "my stony griefs,"
+to improve the occasion and to profit by the trouble I had endured.
+Then I turned half sadly to the hotel, and was almost immediately
+hailed loudly in unmistakably British accents.
+
+"Young Julius! ahoy!  Hallo there, ye half-bred Jap!--come alongside
+and speak me, or I'll run ye down.  My stars! here's a caper.  By the
+powers o' Moll Kelly! is it yourself?  It is so!"
+
+The speaker was standing behind me.  Had I not sheered off to port I
+must have collided with him.  I had gone ahead and left him in my wake,
+when I was suddenly brought up all standing.  My assailant was
+Goldheugh himself.  Good Paddy Goldheugh!  I was truly delighted,
+though not greatly surprised, because I had been expecting to find him
+at Chefoo.  Still the meeting was most cordial.  We shook hands in the
+most hearty manner, and when, after some moments of this exercise, we
+adjourned to the hotel, I told all my news, and awaited his--after I
+had made a few inquiries for letters, and for Tim, who had gone home.
+
+No black edges!  Thank goodness!  No ill news?  No!  In fact, the
+contrary.  My captain was in command of a tidy steamer belonging to his
+old company, and temporarily on the coast.  He had the berth of first
+mate for me with him, and a "lump of compensation," he said, for
+shipwreck.  He had been satisfied, and hoped I would be.  I was!
+
+When he reached his ship he handed me a batch of letters and papers of
+domestic interest, and a welcome draft upon the Shanghai Bank.  All
+these composed a sort of pastoral symphony which made me feel contented
+and happy amid the voices and murmurs of congratulation and admiration
+at my experience.  Three days passed in perfect peace, reading,
+writing, and adding up my ideas--and funds.  Then we quitted Chefoo,
+and steamed past Wei-hai-Wei, then in Japanese hands, toward Shanghai,
+and my war experience 'twixt Jack and Jap--'twixt China and Japan--was
+ended.
+
+We heard that the Japanese fleet sailed to the Pescadores, and annexed
+them, and the campaign was continued after a while in Manchuria.  A
+treaty of peace was agreed upon by which Japan was to receive an
+immense indemnity to retain Formosa, the Pescadores, and the possession
+of Port Arthur and Wei-hai-Wei.  But Western ideas could not admit this
+in all its bearings.  Russia induced France and Germany to force Japan
+to relinquish the Liao-tung Peninsula or face war.  Japan retired from
+Port Arthur, and, as will be seen,--indeed it is already evident,--that
+the kind "protectors of the Chinese Empire," the wolves from the north
+of Europe, are now about to enjoy the dismembered carcass of the most
+ancient kingdom, when they have bled it to death.
+
+Captain Goldheugh brought me back safely to Shanghai, and there I at
+intervals succeeded in putting my experiences on paper.  Even while I
+have been revising these pages news has come concerning various
+advances made by Russian diplomacy, which, having ousted the Japanese
+from Port Arthur, has apparently decided to occupy the place itself for
+the Czar, "to show there is no ill-feeling."  What may be the issue of
+this intention one need not opine.  What the Chinese think of any such
+advance, was expressed, when I was there, in fear, if not trembling.
+Japan, I think, will have a few words to say unless she be "squared."
+But these political ideas may be suppressed.  My narrative must close
+here.
+
+Perhaps this experience may interest some youthful readers in England,
+where the serious aspect of matters in the East is always discussed.
+Before this tale is in type the whole aspect of these events may have
+changed, but the facts remain as I have attempted to picture them in
+the foregoing pages.  The story is told--my tale is ended; but the
+final word is yet to be written concerning the struggle of 1895.  The
+end is not yet.
+
+
+
+
+_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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