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diff --git a/45061.txt b/45061.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5b8ac55..0000000 --- a/45061.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11306 +0,0 @@ - THE CALL OF THE EAST - - - - -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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: The Call of the East - A Romance of Far Formosa -Author: Thurlow Fraser -Release Date: March 05, 2014 [EBook #45061] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CALL OF THE EAST *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - - -[Illustration: They came over the last bluff (See page 186.)] - - - - - THE - CALL OF THE EAST - - _A ROMANCE OF FAR FORMOSA_ - - - BY - - THURLOW FRASER - - - - Illustrated - - - - TORONTO - WILLIAM BRIGGS - - - - - Copyright, 1914, by - FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY - - - - - To - Her who shared my life and - suffered in the Beautiful Isle - - - - - *FOREWORD* - - -In every port of the Orient the outposts of the restless, aggressive -West touch the lines of the impassive East. Consuls, military and naval -officers, merchants, missionaries force the ideas and ideals of the West -upon the reluctant East. Many of these representatives of western -civilization are true to the high standards of the nations and religions -from which they come. Many others fall to the level, and below the -level, of those they live among. - -This story is an attempt to picture this life where the East meets the -West, in one small port and for the one short period covered by the -Franco-Chinese War of 1884-85. Of the characters one, Dr. MacKay, is -unhesitatingly called by his own name. Sergeant Gorman and one or two -others of the subordinate figures are drawn from life. The rest, -including the principal actors, are purely imaginary. - - -T. F. -OWEN SOUND, ONT. - - - - - *CONTENTS* - - I. Storm Signals - II. A Lull - III. The Typhoon - IV. Parried - V. Introductions - VI. On the Defensive - VII. Sparring for Advantage - VIII. Sinclair's Opportunity - IX. A Quiet Life - X. Glorious War - XI. The Life-Healer Is Come - XII. Matutinal Confidences - XIII. More Confidences - XIV. The Appeal of the Heroic - XV. The Lure Of The East - XVI. Sergeant Whatisname - XVII. Wolves and Their Prey - XVIII. To the Rescue - XIX. Allister - XX. The Infallible Experts - XXI. The Language of Song - XXII. Halcyon Days - XXIII. Impending Storms - XXIV. The Ball Begins - XXV. The Ball Proceeds - XXVI. A Game of Ball - XXVII. The Charge of the Tamsui Blues - XXVIII. Unholy Confessors - XXIX. Flags of Truce - XXX. The Mystery of Love - XXXI. Ancestors and Pedigrees - XXXII. A Man and a Woman - XXXIII. My Children in the Lord - XXXIV. The Soldier of the Legion - XXXV. The Language of Paradise - XXXVI. An Apparition - XXXVII. "My Son! My Son!" -XXXVIII. Rejected - XXXIX. A Realized Dream - XL. The Coward - XLI. "Good Will Toward Men" - - - - - *ILLUSTRATIONS* - - -They came over the last bluff . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ - -Sinclair threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and went to work - -A yell from one of the Chinese attracted the attention of Sinclair and -Gorman - -"I'll be thinking of you, Donald, and you'll be thinking of me" - - - - - *I* - - *STORM SIGNALS* - - -"Pardon me, Miss MacAllister! Is there any way in which I can be of -service to you?" - -The young lady addressed turned quickly from the deck-rail on which she -had been leaning, and with a defiant toss of her head faced her -questioner. A hot flush of resentment chased from her face the -undeniable pallor of a moment before. - -"In what way do you think you can be of service to me, Mr. Sinclair?" -she demanded sharply. - -"I thought that you were ill, and----" - -"And is it so uncommon to be sea-sick, or is it such a dangerous -ailment, that at the first symptom the patient must be cared for as if -she had the plague?" - -"Perhaps not! But I am told that it is uncomfortable." - -There was a humorous twinkle in his eyes. At the sight of it hers -flashed, and the flame of her anger rose higher. - -"From that I am to understand, Mr. Sinclair, that you are one of those -superior beings who never suffer from sea-sickness." - -"I must confess to belonging to that class," he replied good-humouredly. -"I have never experienced its qualms." - -"Then I abominate such people. They call themselves 'good sailors.' -They offer sympathy to others, and all the while are laughing in their -sleeves. They are insufferable prigs. I want none of their sympathy." - -"But, Miss MacAllister, you misunderstand me. I am not offering you -empty sympathy. I am a medical doctor, and for the present am in charge -of the health of the passengers on this ship." - -"Then, Dr. Sinclair, I am not in need of your care. I never yet saw a -doctor who could do anything for sea-sickness. Their treatment is all -make-believe. They know no more about it than any one else. I do not -propose to be the subject of experiments. Good-evening." - -She was again leaning on the rail, in an attitude which belied her -defiant words. - -"Good-evening," replied the young doctor, as he turned away with a -scarcely perceptible shrug of his shoulders, and with an expression of -mingled amusement and annoyance on his face. A low chuckle of laughter -caught his ear. He was passing the cabin of the chief officer, and the -door stood open. - -"What is the matter with you, Mr. McLeod?" he asked, the shade of -annoyance passing from his face, and a good-humoured laugh taking its -place. - -"Come in and close the door." - -"You heard what she said?" - -"Yes. How do you feel after that, doctor?" - -"Withered; ready to blow away like a dry leaf in autumn!" - -"You look it," laughed the mate, as he glanced admiringly at the big, -handsome man who seemed to take up all the available space in the little -cabin, and who was laughing as heartily as if some one else had suffered -instead of himself. - -"Isn't she a haughty one?" continued the chief. - -"Who is she, anyway? The captain made us acquainted. But you know he -doesn't go into particulars. She was Miss MacAllister. I was Sinclair. -That was our first encounter. You witnessed the second." - -"Her father is senior member of the big London firm of 'MacAllister, -Munro Co., China Merchants.' They have hongs at every open port on the -China Coast. He is making an inspection of all their agencies and has -brought his wife and daughter along for company. Being a Scot, he likes -to keep on good terms with the Lord, who is the giver of all good gifts. -So he is mixing religion with business. In the intervals between -examining accounts and sizing up the stock in their godowns, he is -visiting missions, seeing that the missionaries are up to their pidgin, -and preaching to the natives through interpreters." - -"Easy seeing, McLeod, that you're a Scot yourself, or the son of a Scot, -from your faculty of acquiring things. Where did you get all this about -the MacAllisters? They joined us only this afternoon at Amoy." - -"Oh, yes! But they were with us from Hong-Kong to Swatow last trip. -You missed that, doctor, by going over to Canton. Miss MacAllister and -I got quite chummy. Bright moonlight; dead calm; too hot to turn in and -sleep! So we just sat out or strolled up and down nearly all night. If -you had been there, I should have had no show. See what you missed." - -"If what I got to-day be a fair sample of what I missed last trip, -you're welcome to it." - -The mate laid back his head and laughed with boyish glee at the rueful -look which came over his friend's countenance, at the mere memory of the -stinging rebuff he had suffered. - -"Do not imagine that your lady friend is always in the humour she showed -to-day, doctor. She is pretty sick, and for the first time, too. She -told me before what a good sailor she was. Never missed a meal at sea! -Never had an inclination to turn over!" - -"Did she say that, McLeod? That she was a 'good sailor'?" - -"Yes." - -"The vixen! And then you heard the way she has just soaked it to me for -being a 'good sailor.'" - -McLeod shook with laughter. - -"Don't be too hard on her, doctor. She has got it good and plenty this -time, and she's disgusted with herself, disgusted with the sea, the -boat, and everything and everybody connected with them." - -"She doesn't hesitate to express her disgust," replied the doctor. "I -blundered upon her at an unlucky moment and received the full contents -of the vials of her wrath." - -"Never mind; she will soon get over this. Then she will be quite -angelic." - -"I guess she got some Chinese chow at Amoy, which didn't agree with -her." - -"Perhaps! But it doesn't need any chow to turn over even good sailors -on a sea like this. The Channel can be dirty when it likes. This is -one of the times it has chosen to be dirtier than usual." - -The two young men had stepped out of the mate's cabin and were leaning -on the rail looking at the turbulent sea through which they were -steaming. The coast-line had already faded out of sight in the -gathering gloom, but away to the northwest a great, white light winked -at slow intervals of a minute. The tide was setting strongly in a -southerly direction, and the ship was breasting almost directly against -it. The southwest monsoon meeting the tidal current, and perhaps -several other wayward and variable ocean streams which whisk and swirl -through that vexed channel, was kicking up a perfect chaos of broken -waves. Through this choppy turmoil the _Hailoong_ ploughed her way, all -the while pitching and rolling in an exasperating fashion, no two -successive motions of the ship being alike. None but seasoned sailors -could escape the qualms of sickness in such a sea. - -"It certainly is nasty enough," said the doctor; "and the appearance of -the weather does not promise much improvement." - -"The storm signals were hoisted as we weighed anchor," replied McLeod. -"They indicated a typhoon near the Philippines, but travelling this way. -The captain thought that we could make the run across before it caught -us. But if we don't see some weather before we cross Tamsui bar, I'm no -prophet." - -"Seven bells! Guess I had better polish up a bit for dinner." - -"Don't throw away too much labour on yourself, Sinclair. She'll not -appear at table this evening." - -"_She_ must have made considerable impression on you, Mac, from the -frequency with which your mind recurs to her," retorted Sinclair, as the -two separated to make hasty preparations for dinner. - - - - - *II* - - *A LULL* - - -There were not many at dinner that evening. The _Hailoong_ never had a -very heavy passenger list. Her cabin accommodation was limited. On -this trip half of the small number of passengers were in no humour for -dinner. - -When Dr. Sinclair entered the saloon, the chief officer, McLeod, was -already at the table. His watch was nearly due, and he did not stand -upon ceremony. Presently Captain Whiteley came in, and with him a tall, -broad-shouldered man of past middle age. Sinclair had barely time to -note the high, broad forehead, and the square jaw, clean shaven except -for a fringe of side-whiskers, trimmed in old-fashioned style, and -meeting under the chin, before the captain introduced him. - -"Mr. MacAllister, this is Dr. Sinclair, a Canadian medical man, spying -out the Far East, and incidentally acting as our ship's doctor." - -"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Dr. Sinclair. I have been in -your country, and have a great respect for the energy and -progressiveness of your countrymen." - -"I am glad to know that you have visited Canada, Mr. MacAllister. It -seems to me that most British business men and British public men are -lamentably ignorant of Britain's dominions beyond the seas. It's -refreshing to meet one who has visited these new lands and knows -something of their possibilities." - -"It must be acknowledged that too many of us in the British Isles are -insular and conservative in our ideas. But I have always felt that even -in the matter of trade we cannot make a success, unless we know the -people and the wants of the people with whom we do business. Our firm's -largest foreign trade is with China, and this is my fourth visit to the -China Coast. But we have interests in Canada also, and in connection -with them I have spent some months in the Dominion." - -"I am quite sure that your interests there will grow. It is a great -country. There is practically no limit to its possibilities. Even the -Canadians themselves are only now discovering that." - -"With such a country, and with such possibilities in it for a young man, -I am surprised, Dr. Sinclair, that you have forsaken it to seek your -fortune on the China Coast." - -"Seeking one's fortune, in the ordinary meaning of that phrase, is not -the only thing worth living for, Mr. MacAllister. If that were the main -object in life, I should have remained in Canada." - -The keen grey eyes of the successful business man searched the young -doctor's face, as if they would read his very thoughts. But Dr. -Sinclair did not answer their questioning gaze, nor volunteer any -explanation of his statement. - -"Dr. Sinclair thinks with you," broke in Captain Whiteley, "that a man -is better of seeing life in different parts of the world, even though he -may end up by finding a snug harbour in some out-of-the-way corner." - -"Yes," replied the merchant, "that is wise, if he can make any use of -the experience gained." - -"And I think that the doctor is nearly as much interested in missions as -you are, Mr. MacAllister, judging from the way he visits them and -studies them at every port." - -"Is that so, Dr. Sinclair?" The keen eyes were again reading his face. - -"I am interested in anything which proposes to make this old world -better, and to help the men who are in it. That's why I chose medicine -as a profession. I like to see things for myself. That's why I visit -missions." - -"And what are your conclusions?" - -"I have hardly come to any conclusions yet. I have been only a few -months on the Coast. Tourists and newspaper correspondents know all -about the Far East after spending ten or twelve hours at each of the -ports touched by the big liners. I am not a genius. I cannot form -conclusions so rapidly. But here is a fellow-countryman of mine who -knows more of missions now than, in all probability, I ever shall know." - -As he was speaking a man had entered the dining saloon who would have -attracted attention anywhere. It was not his dress or his stature which -would have caused him to be noticed. Like the rest he wore a -close-fitting suit of white drill. He was of barely middle height, -though well-knit, wiry and erect. But the quick, nervous movements, the -piercing dark eyes, which seemed to take in with one swift glance -everything and everybody in the room, betokened the fiery energy of the -soul which burned within. The high forehead, a trifle narrow perhaps, -and the straight line of the mouth, with its firmly-closed lips, -indicated intensity of purpose and determination. A long black beard -flowed down on his chest, contrasting sharply with the spotless white of -his clothing. - -"Mr. MacAllister, have you met Dr. MacKay?" - -"I have not had that pleasure. Is this MacKay of Formosa?" - -"I am MacKay." - -"It is a great pleasure to me to meet you. I have heard so much of your -work." - -"I hope it may have been good." - -"What else could it be? I am told that it is marvellous what you have -accomplished in so short a time and almost alone." - -"All have not that opinion of my work." - -"All who spoke of it to me had that opinion. If what they told me is -true, as I believe it is, how could they think otherwise?" - -"Different men have different methods. So have different missions. -Some can see no good in any but their own. My methods differ from those -of others. They have not approved themselves to many of my seniors in -the mission fields of China." - -"I shall be glad to study your methods and see your results for myself." - -"You shall have the opportunity." - -The little group of officers and passengers were ere this seated at the -table. In addition to those already mentioned there was the chief -engineer, Watson, a Scot from the Clyde. There was also a passenger, a -tea-buyer from New York. - -The latter sat opposite Dr. MacKay at the mate's left. He had been -listening to the conversation with a look of amused contempt on his -flabby face. At the head of the table the captain, the engineer, -Sinclair, and MacAllister formed one group, who were soon deep in -conversation. The tea-buyer took advantage of their preoccupation to -address his neighbour across the table: - -"So you are one of those missionaries." - -"I am." - -"Been gettin' a pretty fine collection of souls saved." - -"I never saved a soul. Never expect to." - -The mate chuckled to himself. But the point was lost on the tea-buyer. -He thought that he had scored. - -"Glad to see that you have come round to my point of view," he said; -"and that there is one missionary honest enough to acknowledge it." - -"And what is your point of view?" - -"My point of view is that the red-skins and the black-skins and the -brown-skins and the yaller-skins ain't got any souls, any more than a -dog has." - -"I do not know of any reason why the colour of a man's skin should -affect his possession of a soul." MacKay spoke very quietly. The -tea-buyer began to bluster. - -"Reason or no reason, no man is going to make me believe that any of the -niggers or Chinees or any of the rest of them have souls. Christian or -no Christian, a nigger is a nigger, a Chinee is a Chinee, a Dago is a -Dago, and a Sheeny is a Sheeny from first to last. All the missionary -talk and missionary money-getting is nothing but damned graft, and the -missionaries know it. Boy! One piecee whiskey-soda! Chop-chop!" - -"All lite! Have got." And the "boy," a Chinese waiter perhaps sixty or -seventy years old, quickly and noiselessly brought the bottles. - -"I suppose you have had abundance of opportunity to see and judge for -yourself before you came to those conclusions, Mr. Clark," said MacKay. - -There was that in his tone which would have made most men careful in -their reply. But Clark was too self-confident to be wary, and repeated -whiskeys and sodas had made him still less cautious. - -"You may bet your bottom dollar I have," he replied. "I have known -niggers and Dagos since I was knee-high to a grasshopper; and I have -spent every season on the China Coast for the last five or six years. -Oh, yes! I know what I'm talking about. I know them from the ground -up." - -"Doubtless you have visited many of the churches and chapels at the -different ports where you have done business, and have for yourself seen -the natives at worship." - -"Me visit their churches! Not on your life! What do you take me for? -I take no stock in any of their joss pidgin. I'd sooner go to a native -temple than to a native church. But I've never been in either." - -"Then I am afraid that I must assist your memory, Mr. Clark. You were -in a native church." - -"Me? Never!" - -"If I am not mistaken, Mr. Clark, you were a passenger on the American -bark _Betsy_, when she was wrecked on South Point, just outside of Saw -Bay, a year ago last November." - -"I was. But I don't see what that has to do with the subject we were -discussing." - -"The _Betsy's_ boats were all smashed as soon as they touched water." -MacKay was speaking in the dead level tones of suppressed emotion. But -there was something so penetrating in his voice that the conversation at -the other end of the table ceased, and all were listening. "The -Pe-po-hoan or Malay natives there went out through the surf in their -fishing-boats and took every man off safely." - -"Yes," replied Clark uneasily, "that's all right enough. But I reckon -we could have made the shore ourselves." - -"They took you to their village, called Lam-hong-o: they opened their -church: the preacher gave up his own house to you: they made beds for -you there and fed you." - -"Damned poor accommodation, and damned poor grub! Boy! One piecee -whiskey! Be quick about it!" - -"All lite! No wanchee soda? My can catchee." - -"No! Damn the soda!" - -"All lite! All lite! Dammee soda!" - -"I shall not say anything, Mr. Clark, of the return those white men with -souls made to those brown men without souls who saved them. But I shall -tell you what would have happened if the missionaries had not gone to -Lam-hong-o; if there had not been a chapel there; if those brown-skins -had not been Christians. Your ship would have been pillaged. Your heads -would have been cut off. Your carcasses would have been fed to the -sharks. But they were Christians. So they saved you. They fed you. -They clothed you. They sent you home with all your belongings that they -were able to save from the sea." - -"Right you are, MacKay!" exclaimed Captain Whiteley, bringing his fist -down on the table with a thump which threatened to throw on the floor -the few dishes which the motion of the ship had not already dashed out -of the retaining frames. "Right you are! Nearly thirty years ago I was -on the _Teucer_, Captain Gibson, as senior apprentice with rank of -fourth mate. We were bound from Liverpool to Shanghai, but ran on the -rocks a little farther down the East Coast than the _Betsy_ did. There -were thirty-one of us all told. We got ashore without the loss of a man. -But when those devils of natives were done with us, there were only -three of us left alive--the carpenter, an A.B., and myself. And we -wished that we were dead. We would have been dead, too, before long. -But after being worked as slaves for nine months, a Chinaman, who had -been with the missionaries on the mainland, bought us from the Malays, -and rowed us out to the first foreign ship he saw, the old _Spindrift_. -She took us to Shanghai." - -As the captain finished speaking MacKay rose and left the table. As was -his wont, he had eaten sparingly and quickly. MacAllister was pressing -Captain Whiteley for more details of his captivity among the -head-hunters. McLeod was on the point of going out to his watch. - -"That was score one on you, Clark," he said to his neighbour. "It -doesn't pay to get too fresh even with a parson." - -"I don't see that it's any of your pidgin to stick up for those fakirs," -retorted the tea-buyer angrily. - -"And I don't make it my pidgin," replied McLeod, "but it wasn't up to -you to butt in on a man like MacKay the way you did. He gave you what -you deserved." - -"He needn't have flared up so and brought in all those mock-heroics -about what those niggers of his did. I was only jollying him. He made -things a great deal worse than they were." - -"He didn't make things half as bad as they were, Clark. What about the -way the native preacher's daughter was used by the men to whom the -preacher gave up his house and his church? Those brown-skins may have -no souls. But MacKay believes they have. To my thinking they have a -good deal more soul than the white-skins who did what was done there. -You fellows went the limit. I wonder that MacKay let you off so easy." - -"Oh!--Say!--Damn it, McLeod, that's going too far.--I'll not stand for -that.--Say!--Here!--McLeod!--Wait and we'll break a bottle of -champagne.--Here!--Boy! One piecee champagne!" - -"No, thank you, Clark! It's my watch." - -At the door the chief officer paused and called back: - -"Say, Doc, when you are done feeding that big body of yours, come up on -the bridge." - -"All right, Mac. I'll be with you." - - - - - *III* - - *THE TYPHOON* - - -When Dr. Sinclair joined his friend on the bridge, a very marked change -had come over the weather. It was intensely hot and sultry even where -the circulation of air was freest. The wind was no longer blowing -steadily from the south-west. It came in short puffs, dying away -entirely between them, and veering around quarter of a circle. The -short, broken waves of earlier in the evening were giving place to a -long swell, coming up from the south. The movement of the ship was much -easier. One or two passengers who had been unable to appear at dinner -had recovered sufficiently to come on deck and escape the unbearable -sultriness and stuffiness of the cabins. - -"It's coming all right, doctor. Going to catch us sure. I don't care -so much if it will only wait till daylight. I have no ambition to be -floundering around this channel in a typhoon in the dark." - -"How's the glass?" - -"Away down, and still going. Haven't seen it so low since the big -typhoon that cleaned up Hong-Kong Harbour a couple of years ago." - -"What prospect is there that the big blow will hold off till morning?" - -"Oh, pretty fair! The rain hasn't started yet, and on this coast we -generally get splashes of rain for quite a few hours before the real -thing begins. The sea is rising, but not very fast yet. I don't think -we'll see very bad weather till to-morrow." - -Just then a merry ripple of woman's laughter sounded from away aft. - -"Listen to that, Sinclair," said the mate. "That 'sweet Highland girl' -of yours has evidently recovered sufficiently to come on deck. She's -back there talking to the captain. I hope he may be as gallant as he -sometimes is with our rare lady passengers, and may bring her up here to -view the scenery. I should just like to see how you and she would act -at your first meeting after the little tiff you had to-day. I'm -interested in this case, doctor." - -"What the deuce is the matter with you anyway, McLeod? You are talking -a lot of rot to me about a young woman I have never seen before. Surely -our experiences so far have been unpropitious enough. If it were not -that I know about a little girl away back on your own Island, I should -say that those moonlight promenades between Hong-Kong and Swatow had -turned your head." - -"Never mind, Doc. You know that a bad beginning makes a good ending. -We people of Highland blood have a sort of second sight. We can see a -bit into the future. I give you fair warning----" - -There was another ripple of laughter, this time from forward, almost -under the bridge. Then a woman's voice said: - -"Oh, Captain Whiteley, I behaved myself most shockingly to-day." - -"Surely not, Miss MacAllister. I couldn't conceive of your doing -anything which wasn't charming." - -"You told me that you were a Yorkshireman, Captain Whiteley. After such -a speech as that I believe that you must have been born near Blarney -Castle. But I really did behave shamefully." - -"How?" - -"I said just awful things to your doctor." - -"And what ever did Dr. Sinclair do to deserve those 'awful things'?" - -"It was all your fault, Captain Whiteley. When you introduced him, you -did not tell me that he was a doctor. I was sea-sick, and--and in just -dreadful humour. He offered assistance. I did not know that he was a -medical doctor, sauced him, and sent him about his business. And now -what shall I do to make amends? It was all your fault----" - -Anything more was lost to the ears of the two young men on the bridge, -as she and the captain strolled slowly aft. But the rippling laughter -reached their ears from time to time. - -"Not very penitent, that!" laughed McLeod. - -"Did you catch on to the reason she gave for saucing me, because she -didn't know that I was a medical doctor? It was just when she found out -that I was a doctor that she gave me the worst. Doesn't that beat the -Dutch?" - - "'O woman! in our hours of ease, - Uncertain, coy, and hard to please,'" - -quoted McLeod. - -In the light of the binnacle lamp the two friends looked into each -other's eyes and laughed heartily. There was no cynicism, no cheap scoff -at a woman's variableness. Instead there was that manly -healthy-mindedness which can afford to laugh at her inexplicable ways, -and honour and admire her still. - -"By the way, McLeod, Dr. MacKay put it all over Clark this evening, -didn't he? I couldn't hear it all. Caught just the last few sentences. -But I thought, from what I heard, that he was giving that old Mormon -some knockout blows." - -"You're right he was. But not half as much as he deserved. There are -some white men who come out here who wouldn't be decent company for -pigs. Clark is one of them. I'm no paragon of virtue, and I don't set -up to preach to others. But there are a lot of us on the China Coast -who try to keep decent enough not to be ashamed to go home once in a -while and look our mothers and sisters in the face. There are a number -of others who are simply rotten. They give us all a bad name. Mormon! -Yes, worse than that! He could give points to old Abdul Hamid of -Turkey." - -A dash of warm rain driving before a sharp squall of wind struck them. -The _Hailoong_ was rising and falling with the mighty heave of the great -swells which were following each other in regular succession from the -south, each apparently bigger than the last. Captain Whiteley climbed -the ladder to the bridge. - -"Looks as if we were in for a bad night, Mr. McLeod." - -"Yes, sir; and a worse day to follow." - -"From the way the sea is rising, I'm afraid we cannot make Tamsui before -it breaks." - -"I am sure we cannot. I'll be satisfied if it only waits till daylight. -We may have our hands full even with the light." - -"I see that you have been making things snug. That's right. I'll have a -look at everything before eight bells." - -The captain went down to see that every preparation was made. McLeod -spoke to his companion. - -"You had better turn in, Sinclair," he said. "Get a bit of rest. You -may be needed to-morrow. Good-night." - -"Good-night, Mac." - - * * * * * - -How long he was in his berth, how much of that time he slept, how much -was spent in more or less conscious efforts to keep from being thrown -about his cabin, Sinclair did not know. Accustomed though he was to the -sea and to storms, there came a time when he could remain in his berth -no longer. The angle at which the ship lay over told him that she was -still holding in her course of the night before. His cabin was still on -the lee side. He opened his door and stepped out, grasping the -hand-rail with all his might to keep from being hurled off his feet. - -Such a sight met his eyes as is rarely seen even by the sailor who -spends his life at sea. The _Hailoong_ was heeled over so far that it -seemed hardly possible that she could right herself. It appeared to be -the force of the wind rather than of the waves which had thrown her on -her beam ends, for she did not recover herself as she ought to have done -between the assaults of the billows. Held in that position by sheer -wind pressure, she was deluged with water, rain, spray, torn crests of -waves--the air was full of them, while ever and anon some mountainous -roller, higher than its fellows, swept across her decks in a smother of -green water and snowy foam. - -So dark was it that at first Sinclair could scarcely tell whether it was -night or day. Presently he made out some figures clinging desperately -to anything which would afford a hold of safety. He made his way slowly -towards them. They were McLeod and a couple of the crew, looking to the -lashings of the boats. - -"Man, but it's a wild morning whatever!" roared the mate in his ear, -lapsing into the idiom of his native province when his feelings were -greatly stirred. - -"How is she standing it?" - -"Fine, so far! The starboard boats are smashed. No other damage done -that I know of. But it's hard to tell what may be happening to -starboard. Nothing to be seen but water!" - -"The engines are working all right," said the doctor, as he noted the -steady throb and quiver running like an undertone through the succession -of terrific shocks the ship was receiving from the waves. - -"Ay, and if they don't work all right, it'll not be Watson's fault. -Yon's a grand man whatever." - -The mate was off, traversing the tilted deck with marvellous agility and -sureness of foot. The doctor went below to see if he could be of any -service to the passengers. An hour or more passed, and he was again on -deck, working his way forward to get as good a view as possible. - -There in the shelter of the forward cabin stood Dr. MacKay. He was -bareheaded; his long, black beard was blowing in the wind; his white -suit was drenched as if he had been overboard; his keen eyes were -striving to pierce the murk of cloud and rain and spray which turned the -day almost into night. He seemed to be expecting to get a glimpse of -the land. - -He was not clinging to the hand-rail, but had his hands clasped behind -his back. In spite of the distressing angle at which the ship's deck -was tilted, in spite of her pitching and plunging, he seemed able to -accommodate himself to her every movement. A man of big stature and -splendid physical development himself, Sinclair could not help pausing -for some minutes to admire the poise and self-control of that -comparatively small, spare, but erect and athletic figure. Then he -stepped a little nearer and shouted: - -"Do you often have storms like this in Formosa?" - -"I have seen as bad; perhaps worse: but not often." - -"Do you think that we're near Tamsui?" - -"We must be." - -"Can we make the harbour?" - -"Not this time. We'll be late for the tide." - -"A bad wind for putting about and getting out to sea again!" - -"'Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand?'" - -At that instant a tremendous billow tumbled on board with such a weight -of water that for some moments it seemed as if the _Hailoong_ could not -rise from beneath it. It caught two Chinese deck-hands, tore them from -the bridge supports to which they were clinging, and swept them -helplessly from starboard to port. Like a flash MacKay's left hand shot -out, grasped a thin brown wrist, and swung one of the natives into the -shelter of the cabin. But the other was dashed with terrific force -against the deck-rail, where he lay motionless. - -Sinclair sprang forward to help him. A second wave hurled him against -the rail. He did not fall, but performed some weird gymnastics in the -effort to keep his feet. And through the shrieking of the wind and the -roar of the waves he heard a clear, joyous woman's laugh, the same as he -had heard the night before. There in the shelter of the cabin, on -almost the very spot where he had stood a moment before, was Miss -MacAllister, looking like the very spirit of the storm. - -That was too much. Even Sinclair's usually unruffled temper began to -give way. He caught up the helpless Chinese as if he had been a child, -and with one quick spring was back to shelter. - -"You seem to find it very amusing to see men hurt, Miss MacAllister," he -said almost fiercely. - -"I did not know that you were hurt, Dr. Sinclair, or I should not have -laughed. I am so sorry." - -"I'm not hurt," said the young man even more ferociously than before; -"but this man is injured, seriously injured, I'm afraid. He's still -unconscious." - -"Oh, but I was not laughing at him. I was laughing at you. You would -have laughed yourself if you could have seen the figure you cut going -across the deck. Really, Dr. Sinclair, you would. I simply could not -help it." - -She looked up in his face with such a childlike innocence of expression, -such confidence in the validity of the excuse, that even Dr. MacKay's -somewhat stern face relaxed, and he turned away to hide a smile. As for -Dr. Sinclair, he was helpless. He could not remain angry under the -circumstances. His good-humoured laugh broke out as he replied: - -"We must accept your confession, believe in your penitence, and grant -you absolution." - -He and MacKay went below with the injured Chinese, but in a few minutes -reappeared on deck. - -"I have not seen your father to-day, Miss MacAllister," said Dr. MacKay. - -"He is in his stateroom with mother. She is very ill and he will not -leave her." - -"I must congratulate you on being so good a sailor. You do not show a -symptom of sea-sickness. That is quite remarkable in such a storm as -this." - -She shot a quick glance at Sinclair. He did not seem to be paying -attention to what they were saying. But a quizzical smile playing about -his eyes and mouth betrayed his interest in the conversation and his -remembrance of what had taken place the evening before. - -"Indeed, Dr. MacKay, I am not a good sailor at all. I have been -sea-sick when there was only a little chop on the water. I was sea-sick -yesterday. I should have been sick to-day, only this storm is so -interesting that I have not had time to think about myself. When the -officers and crew are being tossed about the deck by the waves, like -dead leaves on a burn in autumn, it is really too interesting and -amusing to be missed." - -The rare smile lighted up the missionary's face as he glanced at -Sinclair. The latter accepted the challenge, and a quick answer was on -his tongue, when McLeod hurried past. He paused long enough to say to -Sinclair: - -"We're opposite the harbour, doctor, but we can't make it." Then he ran -up on the bridge to join Captain Whiteley, who had not left it since -midnight. - -The words were intended for Sinclair alone. But a momentary lull in the -storm made them louder than McLeod anticipated. Sinclair's two -companions heard them. Yet neither showed any trace of concern--neither -the mature man who had faced death scores of times on sea and on land, -nor the young woman who had never knowingly been in danger before. - -The same brief lull in the force of the wind brought an equally -momentary gleam of light through the darkness, which had up till then -made noonday as gloomy as a late twilight. That gleam lighted for a few -short seconds the landscape, and showed the storm-tossed company where -they were. There directly ahead was the harbour of Tamsui, with the -green and purple hills beyond. There on the nearest hill-top was the -Red Fort which for two and a half centuries had braved such storms as -this. Just beyond it were the low white bungalows of the mission, -nearly hidden in the trees, where anxious eyes were watching for one who -was on that battling ship. There, too, were the black balls hanging on -the yard-arm at the signal station, saying that the tide was falling and -the bar impassable. And the two white beacons for a single instant in -line, and then widening apart, told the seamen that not only the tempest -but the ebb tide, sweeping past the mouth of the harbour, was bearing -them full upon the long curving beach of sand and shells which lay just -to the north, where the surf was beating so furiously. - -It takes time to tell. But in reality the respite lasted only a few -seconds. Then the typhoon burst upon them again, with apparently -redoubled violence. The darkness and the tumult of wind and waves were -appalling. - -"I wonder that you are not afraid," said Sinclair to Miss MacAllister, -losing sight of their passages at arms in the seriousness of the -situation. - -"Should I be afraid?" was her reply. - -"Most people would be." - -"Are you afraid?" - -"No: I do not think I am." - -"Well, if you and the other officers who know whatever danger there may -be are not afraid, I do not see why I should. They know the situation. -I do not. When they tell me that there is serious danger, it will be -time enough for me to be frightened." - -Then for the first time Sinclair turned upon her a look of genuine -admiration. Up to that moment she had been to him a mischievous, -teasing, whimsical girl, with a quick wit and a ready tongue, who had -been amusing herself at his expense. Now he saw another side to her -character. There was a strong, brave nature under the light, changeful -surface humours he had seen before. - -If she were not afraid, there was at least one passenger who was. -During the brief lull in the storm Clark, the tea-buyer, had come on -deck. He had hardly reached it when the second fury of the typhoon -burst upon them. He was now clinging to the hand-rail, with a face so -flabby and ghastly that it was terrible to look upon. He was not -sea-sick. He was too experienced a sailor for that. But he was afraid, -horribly afraid. As the murk and gloom closed down again, and a -gigantic wall of water broke over the ship, making her shudder and -struggle like a living thing in death agony, Clark's voice was heard -rising in a scream above the roar of the elements: - -"MacKay, for God's sake, why don't you pray?" - -MacKay looked at the man clinging there in abject terror. For a moment -the keen, stern face softened as if in pity. Then it seemed as if the -memory of something--was it of that wreck on the East Coast, and the -evil deeds done in the chapel and the preacher's house there?--flashed -through his mind. His face hardened again, and in a voice like ice he -replied: - -"Men who honour God when the days are fine do not have to howl to Him -for help in the time of storm." - -What more the terror-stricken boaster of the evening before may have -said was lost on his companions, for something was happening which -engrossed all their attention. Down in the engine-room bells jangled -sharply. The screw began to thresh the water at a tremendous rate. The -_Hailoong_ heeled still farther to port, began to forge ahead, bumped -something, was caught by a mighty wave squarely on the stern, righted -herself, and plunged forward. Then Sinclair realized what was -happening. - -"Everybody below!" he shouted. "Quick! The next will catch us on this -side. Dr. MacKay, help Miss MacAllister." - -Seizing the helpless Clark, he flung him by main strength into safety. -They were scarcely under cover when a big roller tumbled on board on the -port side. The _Hailoong_ had turned almost completely around, and was -fighting her way out to sea. - -All afternoon and far into the night the brave little vessel battled -with the waves to get back to the coast of the mainland. At last her -anxious officers were rewarded by a distant, hazy gleam of light through -the dense, water-laden atmosphere. Fifteen seconds passed, almost -minutes in length. Again the white beam shot athwart the darkness. -Then regularly and growing ever nearer, at intervals of fifteen seconds, -the great white light flashed, showing the way to safety. It was -Turnabout lighthouse, behind which lay Haitan Straits, winding among the -islands, and between them and the mainland shore. - -Into one of their many natural harbours the _Hailoong_ cautiously felt -her way, and cast anchor in a quiet basin among the hills. There -nothing but the torrents of rain falling and the roar of the surf beyond -the island barrier remained to tell of the dangers they had passed -through. Then Captain Whiteley left the bridge for the first time in -more than twenty-four hours. Neither he nor his chief officer had found -a chance to sleep for forty-eight hours. - -For years afterwards only three persons knew exactly what happened on -the bridge that day. Then when Captain Whiteley was commanding a Castle -boat running to the Cape, and McLeod had a big trans-Pacific liner, the -quarter-master, who with a Chinese sea-cunny had been at the -_Hailoong's_ wheel, felt absolved from the promise he had made to McLeod -to keep the secret, and told what he knew. - -When the momentary lifting of the clouds showed the captain that the -wind combined with the ebb of the tide had carried them past the line of -entrance to the harbour, towards the shoaling beach on which the surf -was beating, he shouted to his mate: - -"My God, McLeod, we're lost!" - -"Not so bad as that yet, sir!" was the reply. - -"There isn't room to turn and clear that shoal water. To starboard it's -stern on: to port it's broadside on." - -"We haven't tried, sir!" - -"Then, for God's sake, McLeod, try!" - -The words had hardly left the captain's lips when the engineer received -the signal for full steam ahead, and the mate, springing into the -wheel-house, flung himself on the wheel, and with the combined strength -of three men forced it over. The _Hailoong_ responded gallantly. Her -head swung directly towards the dreaded shoal, passed it, and pointed -out to sea. So close was she that when the wind caught her stern it -dropped just for an instant between two rollers on the hard, smooth -sand. But the next one lifted her, gave her churning screw a chance, -and the ebb tide, which a moment before had been threatening to send her -broadside to destruction, now helped to bear her past the long receding -curve of the sand bank, out into the open sea. - -"That was the tightest corner I ever was in," Whiteley used to say -afterwards; "and it was McLeod who took us out." - -But McLeod, in a moment of confidence, said to Sinclair: - -"Man, but that engineer, Watson, is the jewel whatever! He let his -second handle the levers, while himself held pistols to the heads of the -Chinese stokers, and told them to shovel or die in their tracks. That's -what saved us. He's a jewel. I never saw his likes whatever." - - - - - *IV* - - *PARRIED* - - -It was a bright, calm summer day, perfect in its tropical splendour, -when the _Hailoong_ arrived off the port of Tamsui. On the blue, -smiling sea and rich green shore not a trace remained of the furious -storm of two days before. Where, save for one brief gleam, all had been -hidden from sight by the blackness of the tempest and the deluge of rain -and spray, there now lay before the ship's company as fair a landscape -as the eye could wish to look upon. - -Immediately in front of them was the broad, brimming river, its -sand-spits and oyster-beds hidden beneath the waters of the full tide. -On the right or southern shore a mountain rose from its margin in an -isolated peak to the height of seventeen hundred feet, clothed with -dense verdure to the very summit. To the left, on a hill and plateau two -hundred feet high, were the red brick buildings of the old Dutch fort, -the residence of the British consul, and the mission schools, and the -white bungalows of the missionaries and customs officers. At the foot -of this hill and along the river bank, the mean buildings of the Chinese -town of Tamsui straggled off until lost to sight around the curve. Its -limits were marked by the little forest of masts of the junks which lay -along in front of the town. In the centre of the river, directly -opposite the mission houses, a trim gunboat rested at anchor. Over all -rose the Taitoon Mountains in successive ranges of green and purple and -blue, the highest and farthest summits blending with the unclouded sky. - -Exclamations of delight burst from those of the passengers who had never -looked upon the scene before. - -"Father, isn't this just glorious?" - -"It certainly is. I have often heard of the beauty of Formosa, but this -first view quite exceeds my expectations." - -"It was worth while experiencing that typhoon and being delayed for two -days. It heightens the enjoyment of a scene like this. We should not -have appreciated it so much if we had been favoured with a peaceful -voyage. Do you not think so, Dr. MacKay?" - -"Perhaps you are right, Miss MacAllister. But Formosa is always -beautiful to me. It never loses its charm. I have gone up and down it -for more than a dozen years. I never grow weary of it. It never palls -upon me. It is still to me as the first day I saw it 'Ilha Formosa,' -the Beautiful Isle. It always will be Beautiful Formosa." - -There was an accent in his reply which spoke of more than love for the -scenery. Miss MacAllister was not slow to detect it. She heard in it -the passionate devotion of a heroic soul to the cause to which he had -given his life. It struck a responsive chord somewhere in her own -being. It was with a softened voice, a voice expressive of sympathy and -admiration, that she said: - -"You love the island and its people, Dr. MacKay?" - -"I do." - -And Sinclair, who chanced to be standing near, as once before during the -storm, saw the veil of her surface waywardness lifted and caught a -glimpse of a character beneath which was capable of serious purpose. - -"Mr. McLeod, that sampan over there with the flag is hailing us." - -It was the captain's voice which broke in on the conversation of the -group on deck. - -"Yes, sir," replied the chief. "It came out from the pilot village, and -has been waiting for us." - -"I wonder what's up?" - -"I don't know, sir. Hold on, they are signalling from the Customs." - -In an instant the chief officer had a glass focussed on the flagpole at -the customs offices. The other officers and the passengers stood silent -while the little fluttering oblongs and triangles of red, white, yellow, -and blue talked. - -"What do they say, chief?" - -"Wait for a pilot. Danger." - -"A pilot! The devil! What do they take us for? Some tramp which has -never been here before? Perhaps the typhoon shifted the bar." - -While he spoke, McLeod had swung his glass upon the approaching Chinese -boat. Two fishermen, standing up and pushing forward on their long -oars, were driving it rapidly through the water. Their bodies, naked to -the waist, and their legs, bare save for the shortest of cotton -trousers, were covered with perspiration and shone in the sun like -burnished copper. In the stern sat a Chinese in a dress which was an -indescribable cross between Chinese official robes and a Western -uniform. - -"That's a Chinese military or naval officer of some kind, sir," said the -mate. "They must be in a mix-up with somebody. Perhaps the French have -taken it into their heads to annex Formosa." - -The sampan shot alongside, and with unexpected agility the Chinese -officer clambered up the sea-ladder. - -"The captain will please to excuse me," he said in slow, precise -English, "for offering to pilot his ship into the harbour. The -captain's skill as a pilot is well known to me. The government of China -regrets to find itself in a state of war with the government of France. -Therefore, His Excellency, the Provincial Governor of Formosa, has laid -down mines for the defence of the port of Tamsui. As I have knowledge -of the position of the mines, he has commanded me to pilot the captain's -ship past the mines into the harbour." - -He concluded his little speech with a profound bow. The captain's reply -was brief: - -"The ship is yours, sir." - -Another profound bow, and the Chinese officer was in charge. - -Captain Whiteley turned to Mr. MacAllister. - -"I am sorry, sir," he said, "that the French have taken the notion to -transfer their scrimmage with the Chinese to Formosa just at this -moment. It will interfere with your plans." - -"It probably will interfere somewhat with our movements. But, on the -other hand, it may be of advantage to us. We are out to learn, and are -not hampered by lack of time. I am deeply interested in your pilot. He -seems perfectly at home, and to know his business thoroughly." - -"Not the slightest doubt of that! This is not the first time he has -navigated a ship. Very likely he has spent years of apprenticeship on -board a British or American man-of-war." - -"Is China getting her young man trained like that?" - -"They are getting themselves trained. The government isn't awake yet. -But many of the young men are. The old China is passing. This is one -of the pioneers of the new China which is coming. It will take time. -But when it does come, mark my words, the Western nations will have to -sit up and take notice." - -Meanwhile the _Hailoong_, under the command of her Oriental pilot, -crossed the bar and zigzagged her way slowly up the river, following -invisible channels through the field of hidden mines until she reached -her berth at the customs jetty. - -Leaning on the rail, Sinclair watched with keenest interest the little -crowd of foreigners and natives gathered on the shore and jetty, waiting -for the passengers to disembark. He had met a number of them on a -former trip to this port, and occasionally waved his hand or gave a -greeting to some one he recognized. - -There was a sprinkling of officers of the Imperial Maritime Customs, -sunburned young Britons for the most part, who had taken service under -the brilliant Irishman whose genius had saved the Chinese Government -from bankruptcy. There were the representatives of the various foreign -business firms, all British, glad to leave their hongs for an hour, to -experience the little excitement caused by the coming of the weekly -steamer, and to welcome those whom they had almost given up for lost. -The foreign community doctor had found time from his not very pressing -duties to come down to the landing and call a "Wie geht es Ihnen?" to -his confrere on board the _Hailoong_. - -Contrasting with the close-fitting snow-white garments of the foreigners -were the long, blue, or mauve silk gowns with, in some cases, sleeveless -yellow jackets over them, of the Chinese Christian preachers and -students who were there to do honour to Dr. MacKay. Darting back and -forth, chattering, screaming, quarrelling in high-pitched nasal tones, -were bronzed, sweating, almost naked coolies, each trying to get ahead -of the other and earn the most cash. - -It was a scene of which Sinclair never tired. Fascinated by this strange -mingling of the East and the West he leaned over the rail, watching -every movement. A quick step approached him: - -"Dr. Sinclair, as soon as your duties here are done, you will come to my -house and be my guest. The college coolies will bring up your baggage. -If I am not there, Mrs. MacKay will receive you and look after your -wants." - -"Thank you, Dr. MacKay. I shall be very glad to accept your hospitality -for a time. I shall probably be with you to-morrow." - -MacKay was gone as quickly as he had come. A minute or two later his -native converts were receiving him with the oft-repeated salutation: -"Peng-an, Kai Bok-su! Kai Bok-su, peng-an!" (Peace, Pastor MacKay! -Pastor MacKay, peace!). - -One of the oldest preachers walked off with him up the narrow, climbing -path. The rest tailed out in single file behind. - -There was another quicker and lighter step, accompanied by the rustle of -a woman's garments. Sinclair turned to find himself face to face with -Miss MacAllister. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief, her hand was -extended in farewell: - -"Good-bye, Dr. Sinclair. I have enjoyed this voyage so much. I hope -that we shall meet again. But, if we should not, I shall never forget -your rescue of that Chinese, the heroism and the grace you displayed. -Really, I never shall." - -It was premeditated, and she intended to escape the moment the shaft was -shot. But Sinclair was not so nonplussed as he had been at their first -encounter. He held her hand firmly so that she could not get away, long -enough to reply: - -"Good-bye, Miss MacAllister. I am delighted to know that I have given -you pleasure. I should be happy to make a similar exhibition of myself -any day, if it would only contribute to your enjoyment." - -He released her hand and she escaped into the saloon. The colour which -overspread her face was not all the flush of triumph. This time she had -met the unexpected. - -"Well parried, Doc," said a voice beside him. "That fair tyrant was -beginning to think that you were an easy mark. But you gave her as much -as you got this time.... Here's a chit for you.... From the consulate." - -"Where's the boy?" said Sinclair, taking the letter McLeod held out to -him. "I had better sign his chit-book." - -"You don't need to. I signed for you. There's the boy going back," -replied the mate, pointing to a Chinese in the dark blue and red uniform -of the British consul's service, climbing the steep path up to where the -old Dutch fort and the consul's house crowned the lofty hill above them. -"Don't think that you are the only one to get a _billet-doux_ like that. -The captain and I are among the favoured. It's a bid to dinner at the -consulate to-morrow evening." - -Sinclair opened and glanced at the note. It was a brief and formal -invitation: - - -"Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp request the pleasure of the company of Dr. -Donald Sinclair at dinner at 7:30 on Tuesday the 5th instant. - -H. B. M. Consulate, -Tamsui, -August 4th, 1884." - - -"I guess I'll be able to go. Though I promised to put myself in -MacKay's hands to-morrow, and he may have something else on for me." - -"No danger! MacKay knows everything that's going on as well as the next -one. He will not ask you to do anything which will conflict with a -dinner at the consulate. If he's at home, he'll be there himself. You -just lay out to be present. Mrs. Beauchamp is famous for the chow she -provides. Where she gets it out here off the earth, I don't know. And -for entertaining guests, she and Beauchamp haven't their equals on the -Coast." - -"You're a great pleader, Mac. I'll give you my word. I'll go." - -"And the Highland girl will be there." - -"Look here, McLeod, you're gone batty on that subject. I know an -address in Prince Edward Island. If you continue to talk as foolishly as -you have been doing the last few days, I'll write and peach on you." - -"Oh, no, you won't! But just to change the subject, look at old De Vaux -meeting them. He's so excited that I shouldn't wonder to see him take -an apoplectic fit." - -Mr. MacAllister, his wife, and daughter had just left the boat. A -large, fleshy man, with a clean-shaven, florid face, bulging blue eyes, -and all his features except the double chin bunched unnecessarily close -together, was hurrying forward to meet them in a state of perspiring -excitement and nervousness. He was carrying his white sun-helmet in one -hand, mopping his brows with a huge handkerchief held in the other, and -all the while the mid-summer tropical sun was beaming down on his -shining face, and on his head with its quite inadequate covering of -hair. - -"Mr. MacAllister! ... You cannot know what pleasure it gives me to -welcome you to Formosa.... 'Pon my soul, you cannot! ... I have been -twenty years in Formosa, and this is the greatest pleasure I have -experienced.... 'Pon my honour, it is!" - -"Glad to see you again, Mr. De Vaux. If I remember right, the last time -we saw each other was in our office at Amoy, five years ago last May." - -"That is so, Mr. MacAllister.... Lord, what a memory you have! ... I -don't know another man on the China Coast who would have remembered a -date like that.... 'Pon my soul, I do not!" - -"Mr. De Vaux, I wish you to meet my wife and daughter. My dear, allow -me to present Mr. De Vaux. My wife, Mr. De Vaux. My daughter, Mr. De -Vaux." - -The stout man bent double in profound bows, dropping his hat to the very -ground, gurgling something almost inarticulate with excitement: - -"Mrs. MacAllister! ... I am so pleased! ... Bless my soul! Miss -MacAllister.... This is the happiest moment of my life.... 'Pon my -honour, it is!" - -Above them on the deck Sinclair was saying to McLeod: - -"Who is this De Vaux, anyway? Of course, I know that he is chief agent -in Formosa of MacAllister, Munro Co. But who is he and what are his -antecedents?" - -"That is just the question," replied McLeod. "We know, and we don't -know. We know that the Honourable Lionel Percival Dudley de Vaux is the -oldest known son of the late Lord Eversleigh, the oldest brother or -half-brother of the present lord. But why he is out here sweltering and -swearing in this steambath of a climate while his younger brother enjoys -the cool shade of his ancestral parks and halls, and holds down a seat -in the Lords, no one seems to know. Some say that he is the son of the -late lord by a Scotch marriage in his wild-oat stage; some that he is a -son born to the late lord by the countess dowager before wedlock. At -any rate, he was shipped to the Far East as a boy, and here he has been -these more than twenty years, pensioned, they say, to keep out of -England." - -"He seems to be very excitable," said Sinclair, as he looked down at the -stout, perspiring individual, who was still holding his hat in his hand, -still bowing, still gurgling in a high-toned voice, while his face and -head grew redder and shinier every moment. - -"Yes, he is now. When he came out first, they say that he was a regular -Lord Chesterfield in his manners. But he was here alone for years. No -comforts but drink and a yellow woman. He took to both. These with the -isolation and the climate have made him what he is. When he meets a -white woman he loses his head completely. Any little irritation in -business sends him right up in the air. Then he swears. We call him -old De Vaux. In fact he has hardly reached middle age. The life here -is killing him. If he doesn't die of apoplexy one of those days, he'll -commit suicide. And he's not a bad old soul. Just the victim of his -parent's wrong-doing. Poor old De Vaux!" - -Just then they heard Miss MacAllister saying in a tone of utmost -concern: - -"Mr. De Vaux, will you not put on your hat? I am so afraid that your -head will get sunburned." - -"A sunstroke you mean, my dear," said her father, "a sunstroke." - -"No, father, I mean sunburned. Really, Mr. De Vaux's head is becoming -quite crimson." - -"Lord! ... Miss MacAllister! ... How good of you to notice that! ... -Bless my soul! ... I never thought of it.... 'Pon my honour, I didn't! -... A man should put on his hat in a sun like this.... 'Pon my soul, he -should!..." - -He was still executing a sort of war-dance around the ladies and still -holding his hat in his hand. Mr. MacAllister took him gently by the arm. - -"My dear De Vaux," he said, "it has been exceedingly kind of you to come -down to meet us as you have done, and to provide those sedan chairs, for -I can see that it is you who have engaged them. With your permission, -we'll go to our quarters now. The captain promised to see that our -baggage was sent over at once. After tiffin, I am sure that you will be -so good as to accompany me to call on the consul." - -As the four chairs were borne off along the narrow road by the shore, -McLeod said to Sinclair: - -"MacAllister's a trump. He saved the situation. Old De Vaux was just -ready to go up like a balloon, and--swear." - -And Sinclair thought to himself as he turned away: - -"Miss MacAllister has found another victim." - - - - - *V* - - *INTRODUCTIONS* - - -A few minutes before the time appointed for dinner, Sinclair strolled -over to the consulate. A couple of the I.M.C. officers joined him on -the way. Out on the broad verandah the consul and his wife were -receiving their guests, taking every advantage possible of the slight -coolness of the evening air. None had yet gone inside. Some lounged on -the verandah. Most were strolling about the grounds, on the gravelled -walks or the green of the tennis lawn between the house and the old -Dutch fort. - -Many coloured paper lanterns hung from the cocoanut and areca palms, -were nestled in the clumps of oleanders, or were strung on wires around -the verandah. On the side of the house shaded from the sunset glow, -native servants were already lighting them. - -It was a scene of rare beauty. The broad river gleaming between its -lofty banks: the green mountain towering up on the opposite shore: the -glassy ocean stretching away to where the sun had sunk to rest in its -waters: the old fort lifting its dark, massive walls and battlements, -undecayed by centuries of tropical storm and tropical sun, against the -pale yellow and rose and purple of the sunset sky: the strange, rich -vegetation of a tropic clime, amidst which moved men and women in -conventional evening dress, as they would have done in the drawing-rooms -of England. - -Save for the shrilling of the cicadas and the quiet voices of the hosts -and their guests, the air was as still as if it had never known -disturbance. Yet all that day, from eight A.M. till nearly sundown, it -had quivered with the roar of heavy ordnance and the rattle of machine -guns. Less than twenty miles away, across those hills to the east, the -French fleet had poured a tempest of shot and shell from its long naval -guns and mitrailleuses into the Chinese forts at Keelung, and the -Chinese had replied from their Krupps and Armstrongs till their defences -tumbled about their ears. Now the game of war was over for the day, and -all seemed as peaceful as if it had never been played. But the -conversation of the guests continually reverted to the tempest which had -so suddenly broken upon the island. - -Just at the hour set for dinner the little gunboat, the _Locust_, which -had been away since early dawn, was seen steaming up the harbour. As -she passed the consulate, a boat dropped from her and pulled swiftly in -towards the jetty. At the sight of it the host and hostess led the way -into the brightly-lighted drawing-room. - -"Commander Gardenier has made jolly good time," said the consul. "We -can well afford to wait a few minutes for him. He'll be here directly. -In the meantime we can get acquainted." - -While the host was busy with introductions, Sinclair had time to -consider the company. He had met almost all before. But he had not by -any means satisfied his keen interest in their personal characteristics. -One by one he studied the men and women before him, taking in with the -celerity of one who has long practised it as an art the physical type of -each, and estimating the mental peculiarities which lay behind the -outward forms. - -The first was the consul. Of barely middle height, but perfectly -proportioned, every movement betrayed muscles trained and developed by -consistent physical exercise. The keen, bright blue eyes, looking out -of a sunburned face, the small, closely-clipped moustache, the nervous, -vigorous movements, hardly needed the confirmation of his short, quick -sentences and decisive accents to tell the story of his character. The -interests of his country would not suffer at his hands for lack of -courage or decision. - -Mrs. Beauchamp was a small woman, somewhat delicate in appearance. Her -slight figure was well set off by the rich simplicity of her evening -gown. The quiet ease of her manners spoke of a lifetime spent in the -atmosphere of polite society. - -In sharp contrast was Mrs. MacAllister--large, stout, middle-aged, with -raven black hair, and the bright colour characteristic of her Highland -people still warm in her cheeks. Considering the occasion and the -tropic heat, she was over-dressed. More noticeable still was the fact -that she was not at home in her present surroundings. With her husband -she had risen from a humble station in life to wealth, and the entree -into social circles which wealth gives. The wife of the great London -merchant and financier must not be overlooked. Oh, no! Indeed, she had -no desire to be overlooked. She had brought from an almost menial -position an exaggerated reverence for the gentry, and the ambition to -associate with them. Yet she was never at ease in their company. Her -husband showed the poise of one who could adapt himself to any position -in life, and manifested no embarrassment or awkwardness in any company. -But Mrs. MacAllister was never free from constraint at social functions, -and her attempts to appear at home sometimes resulted in disaster. - -There was another married woman present--Mrs. Thomson, the wife of Dr. -MacKay's colleague. Youthful in face and figure, she was dressed -plainly, almost to the verge of severity. But her quick wit and -vivacious manner gathered a little group of the guests about her, and -more than atoned for the commonplace dulness of her husband. - -Standing among some tropic plants just outside a French window, -Sinclair, unobserved himself, was able to study each one in succession. -But ever and anon his eyes turned to where nearly half the men present -had gathered around the only other woman who was there to grace the -occasion. Miss MacAllister was facing him, and he could note every play -of expression on her countenance. There was a rapid exchange of -conversation, and she had an answer for every one. The rippling laughter -he had heard on the deck of the _Hailoong_ now sounded over the murmur -of voices in the drawing-room. - -"What a queenly stature and bearing!" Sinclair thought to himself. - -It was true. Miss MacAllister was taller than all but one of the little -circle of men gathered about her. She held her small head, with its -wavy crown of rich brown hair, as if she were proud of her commanding -height. Her eyes, so dark a blue that in the light of the candles they -seemed black, looked right over the heads of the men of average stature. - -Yet, if her height was masculine, there was nothing masculine about her -figure. Though well proportioned and vigorous, it gave the general -impression of slightness. Neither was there a trace of masculinity -about the face. It was thoroughly feminine, with its somewhat low -forehead, its small, straight nose, the rich, Highland colour in the -softly-rounded cheeks, the small chin, and the lips parted in merry -laughter--a thoroughly girlish face. - -Keeping himself in the shadow, and looking at her in the bright light of -the drawing-room, Sinclair thought that rarely, if ever, had he seen a -more strikingly beautiful woman. He wondered that he had not noticed it -before. Then he laughed to himself as he remembered that, during their -short acquaintance, he had so often suffered from her raillery that he -had been in little humour for appreciation or admiration. - -"A pretty picture, that!" said McLeod's voice at his shoulder. "I am -glad to see you enjoying it, doctor." - -"Until I get better acquainted I prefer looking on to taking part in the -conversation. It's an interesting study." - -"Isn't she a beauty? That evening rig sets her off to perfection." -McLeod generally used nautical terms to describe dress, on which he was -not an expert. - -"I see that you are still on the same tack," replied Sinclair, with a -laugh. "But really I agree with you that the 'rig' does suit her, and -that she is a beauty. Who is that tall, dark fellow who is trying to -monopolize the conversation with her?" - -"English remittance man. A younger son, no better than he ought to be. -Sent out here to be rid of him. In a moment of weakness the I.G.[#] -gave him a place on the customs.... But here comes Beauchamp." - - -[#] Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of Chinese customs, was -familiarly known as the I.G. - - -"Is this where you are, Sinclair? I have been looking around for you. -Have you met every one yet?" - -"I believe so, Mr. Beauchamp, except the tall gentleman talking to Miss -MacAllister." - -"Come along then and I'll introduce you before I have to receive -Gardenier.... Miss MacAllister, I am sure you will pardon me for -interrupting your conversation. I should like to make these gentlemen -acquainted.... Dr. Sinclair, the Honourable Reginald Carteret of the -Imperial Maritime Customs staff.... Will you excuse me now? I see -Commander Gardenier at the door." - -Sinclair saluted Carteret with the frank, easy courtesy which suited so -well his big, powerful frame and pleasant countenance. The -acknowledgment was a slight, stiff bow and a brief: - -"Glad to make your acquaintance, I'm sure." - -The tone and the words stung Sinclair. His face lost something of its -good-humour. His lips closed tightly. A gleam of anger showed for an -instant in his blue eyes. The signs of irritation passed quickly. But -it was in a colder and more formal tone that he uttered some -commonplaces, to which Carteret made a commonplace reply. - -Slight as were the changes of tone and manner, they were not lost on -Miss MacAllister. She had noted the unconscious ease with which -Sinclair had met Carteret, and had been surprised at the -superciliousness, almost insolence, of the latter's response. She had -caught that momentary flash of the eye, betraying the rising anger, -immediately brought under control. - -Then as the two young men exchanged a sentence or two of polite -formalities, she mentally compared them. Both were tall men--with the -possible exception of her father, much the tallest men in the company. -Neither was less than six feet in height. The Englishman was the -slighter of the two, though fairly athletic in appearance. He was -black-haired and dark-eyed. A black moustache and well-trimmed pointed -beard gave him a foreign appearance and made him look older than his -five-and-twenty years. - -The Canadian was equally tall, but broad-shouldered and deep-chested. -The massive head with its abundance of loosely-curled hair, so light in -colour as to be almost golden, the clear-cut features, fair complexion, -and singularly bright blue eyes reminded her of pictures of idealized -Vikings she had seen at home. Perhaps it was more than a fanciful -resemblance. Sinclair's forefathers had come from Caithness to Canada, -and the blood of Norsemen probably flowed in his veins. Though older by -a couple of years than the Englishman, Sinclair's fair, clean-shaven -face looked years younger than Carteret's. In spite of the maturity of -the broad, white forehead, it was almost a boyish face, with its -cheerful, eager outlook on life. - -"Allow me to apologize, Miss MacAllister, for having interrupted your -conversation with Mr. Carteret. The consul simply projected me into the -midst of it." - -"A heavy projectile, Dr. Sinclair, for so light an explosive! With the -thunder of the bombardment still in our ears, I suppose that we cannot -help talking in terms of cannonading. But I assure you that no -apologies are necessary. I am ever so glad to meet again a companion of -our eventful voyage." - -She looked so charmingly sincere that Sinclair wondered to himself if -she really meant it. - -"Attention! The consul is marshalling the company for dining-room -parade," said Mr. Boville, the commissioner of customs. - -"Exactly seven minutes and forty seconds late," said Carteret, looking -at his watch. "Beauchamp will not recover from this for a year. He'll -have to report it to the Foreign Office and ask that his leave be -postponed six months as a punishment." - -"Why? Is Mr. Beauchamp so particular about being punctual?" asked Miss -MacAllister. - -"Latest for an engagement he was ever known to be, three minutes and -fifteen seconds. That was because of a typhoon." - -"Pity that there were not more like him!" said the commissioner tartly. - -"Commander Gardenier, you will conduct my wife to the dining-room. Mr. -MacAllister, will you take in Mrs. Thomson? And Mr. Boville, Miss -MacAllister. The less fortunate gentlemen will follow." - -Offering his arm to Mrs. MacAllister, the consul led the way. - - - - - *VI* - - *ON THE DEFENSIVE* - - -The commissioner of customs had the honour of conducting Miss -MacAllister to the table, because his official position and his long -years of residence in the island gave him precedence over the newcomers, -or those who were engaged in mercantile pursuits. In appearance he was -ill-suited to be the escort of such a young and queenly person. He was -middle-aged, very bald, rotund in figure, and so short that his head was -hardly level with her shoulder. - -When she took Boville's proffered arm, she realized how absurd their -disproportionate statures must appear. Involuntarily she glanced around -to find Sinclair. He was just offering his arm to McLeod, for lack of a -lady companion. A moment later she heard their voices at her back, and -knew that they had taken their places in the little procession -immediately behind her and the commissioner. Then the voices ceased, -and instinctively she felt that they were laughing silently. Her figure -stiffened, and she held her head a trifle higher than before. Her -escort made the most of his five feet one or two, but do his best he -couldn't get the shiny top of his head above her shoulder. - -As they entered the dining-room she caught a glimpse of McLeod's face. -He was laughing undisguisedly. When she took her place at the table she -found herself facing Sinclair. He was not looking at her. He was -watching the last of the guests filing in, and was trying to look -unconcerned. But there was a suspicious quivering of his mouth and a -sparkle in his eyes. Her quick Celtic blood took fire at once. - -"He's laughing at me," she thought to herself. "How dare he? There's no -limit to the presumption of those Canadians. But I'll teach him." - -Strange to say, she quite forgot how she had laughed at him on board the -_Hailoong_. Stranger still, she seemed to take no offence at the -laughter of McLeod, who also was a Canadian. - -As soon as they were seated, the natives out on the verandah began to -pull the cords; the punkah began to wave to and fro and creak. It -wouldn't have been a punkah if it hadn't creaked. The consul, who had -nerves, had striven to put an end to the creaking, but had failed. The -creak was an essential part of the punkah. But there was no creaking -about the movements of the waiters. Noiseless as spectres, the "boys" -in their long blue gowns moved quickly in and out, back and forth, their -felt-soled shoes sliding silently over the smooth tiled floor. - -"Commander Gardenier, we have all been models of patience. No one has -asked you how the day went at Keelung. But you cannot expect us to wait -much longer. Such virtue would be superhuman. Do tell the company what -all the noise was about to-day and who got the better of it." - -A murmur of applause greeted the consul's request, and all eyes turned -towards the bronzed sailor who sat beside Mrs. Beauchamp. He seemed a -little uncomfortable under the expectant gaze of so many eyes and -answered modestly: - -"I do not know that I can tell you much about it. The French had three -ships at it. On their part the Chinese in the big new fort on the east -side of the harbour and in the old fortifications on the west side were -engaged. Between them they put up a pretty scrap for a while." - -"Really! Did the Chinese actually pretend to offer any resistance to -the French?" inquired Carteret. - -"There was no pretending. They offered resistance, and a very effectual -one for a time," replied Gardenier. "You know, Beauchamp, the lie of -the harbour?" - -The consul nodded. - -"The old corvette _Villars_ was anchored in the inner harbour, opposite -the south side of Palm Island. She pelted away with her guns and -mitrailleuses at the new fort at a thousand-yard range. The little -gunboat _Lutin_ lay close in shore on the west side and hammered the old -fortifications there. Admiral Lespes, in _La Galissonniere_, lay in the -outer harbour and raked both sides with his long guns." - -"I should think that he would be in little danger there," said one of -the merchants. "The Chinese gunners couldn't hit a range of mountains, -let alone a ship, at that range." - -"That is just where you are mistaken. They put three holes into _La -Galissonniere_ just above water-line, almost as soon as the game -commenced. If they didn't beat off the French to-day, it was not the -fault of their gunners. It was because their works could not stand the -French fire. The Chinese worked their guns till their forts were -knocked to pieces." - -"Did the French land any men?" inquired Boville. - -"Yes," replied Gardenier. "When we left Keelung, a landing-party of -marines had just hoisted the French flag on the ruined Chinese fort." - -"Then Keelung is in the hands of the French?" - -"Yes. That is if by Keelung you mean a strip of a few hundred feet wide -around the harbour. But the hills all around that again are occupied by -the Chinese." - -"Little difference that will make," said Carteret. "The Celestials have -had all they want. At the first sign of a French advance they'll run, -and never stop running till they reach Taipeh." - -"I'm not so sure about that," replied Gardenier, a trifle coldly. "In -the first place, the French have no land forces with which to make an -advance. In the second place, the Chinese are better fighters than you -give them credit for, Mr. Carteret. All they need is a good leader, and -I believe that they have such a man in Liu Ming-chuan." - -"And in the third place," said Beauchamp, "the Keelung climate is enough -to defeat the French if there were no Chinese. By the time their -transports arrive the northeast monsoon will be about due. Then the Lord -help them! One of the wettest spots on earth. Boville, what is the -annual rainfall over there?" - -"One hundred and fifty-eight inches on the average. One year it lacked -only an inch and a half of the two hundred." - -"One hundred and fifty-eight inches," repeated MacAllister. "That does -not convey much meaning to my mind. How does it compare with some -climates we do know? That of London, for example?" - -"Ashamed to say that I don't know London's rainfall," said the consul. -"All I remember is that it seemed to do little else but rain there when -I was a boy. Boville? ... Carteret? ... You are Londoners.... What? -Do none of you know? ... Shocking ignorance!" - -"I do not want to put forward my opinion on the climate of London in a -company of Englishmen," said Sinclair; "but I believe the rainfall there -is about twenty-five inches." - -"Easy seeing that you have not lived in England," said Carteret, with -the same contemptuous tone he had already used when introduced to -Sinclair. "A hundred inches would be more like it." - -"Dr. Sinclair is right," said Commander Gardenier, who had been -consulting a tiny memorandum book. "No considerable part of the British -Isles exceeds eighty inches, and London has twenty-five." - -Miss MacAllister flashed a quick glance at Sinclair. There was -admiration in it; admiration that he should know this simple scientific -fact which those who had better opportunities did not know. She had -noted this peculiarity in him before, his remarkable fund of accurate -information on all manner of subjects. - -Then her mind took a curious twist. What right had he to know the -rainfall of London? What business had this colonial to know a fact -about London which a company of Londoners did not know? It was another -proof of his presumption. She'd take some of his self-confidence out of -him. She'd teach him. - -The conversation drifted on about the climate, the war, the probability -of a bombardment at Tamsui, the prospects of an easy victory which most -conceded to the French. - -"I believe that you are rating the Chinese too low," said the consul, in -reply to a number of expressions of such views. "From what I have seen -of the new Imperial Commissioner, Liu Ming-chuan, he will give the -French more than they bargained for. As Commander Gardenier says, -leaders are what the Chinese need. When they get a few more men trained -in Western ideas, they are going to surprise the world. What do you -think, Mr. De Vaux? You have known them longer than any of us." - -"'Pon my soul, Beauchamp, I believe you are right! ... The Chinese are a -smarter people than they get credit for.... 'Pon my honour, they are! -... And they're honest, too.... The last time I was in America, a man I -had business with in New York said that he did not know how I could -stand living among those pig-tails, as he called them.... He wouldn't -live among them for a hundred thousand a year.... It vexed me.... I -told him that I'd rather do business with a good Chinese firm any time -than with some Yankees.... 'Pon my soul, I would! ... Do you know, that -duffer cheated me the very next day!" - -There was a burst of laughter at De Vaux's injured tone. - -"It's a fact," he continued, his face and head growing redder and his -voice higher at every sentence. "And to think of that scoundrel casting -reflections on the Chinese! ... Bless my soul! ... It vexes me so! ... -By----! ... I mean it's a thundering shame the way the Chinese have been -treated by some white people." - -"What Mr. De Vaux says is true enough," said the consul. "I am sorry -Dr. MacKay is not here. He could give us more information about the -preparations the Chinese have made than any one else. But I understand -that he has gone over to the vicinity of Keelung to look after some of -his converts who are in the danger zone. Is that not so, Dr. Sinclair?" - -"Yes," replied Sinclair. "He could hardly wait for tiffin yesterday, he -was in such a hurry to catch the first launch up river." - -"I saw him landing from the launch at Twatutia," added one of the -merchants. "He barely bade me the time of day, and set off on foot for -Keelung at such a rate that the Chinese with him had to run to keep up. -I never saw the like of him. I wonder that the heat does not kill him." - -"It is perfectly marvellous the amount of work he goes through, no -matter how exhausting the heat may be," said Mrs. Beauchamp. "No person -need ever tell me again that missionaries take easy times." - -"Dr. Sinclair, I'm so sorry! I do believe that I have all the wines -here beside me, and your glasses are empty. Will you not allow me to -pass some to you? Which shall it be, claret or sherry or port?" - -It was Miss MacAllister, speaking in so clear a voice that it caught -everybody's ear and attracted the notice of all to the fact that, while -the wines had frequently circulated around the table, Sinclair's glasses -had never been filled. A slight flush, scarcely noticeable under the -tan, climbed into visibility above the line which separated the sunburn -from the white of the broad forehead. The attention suddenly -concentrated on him was evidently unwelcome. But it was with perfect -courtesy and good-humour that he replied: - -"No apologies are necessary, Miss MacAllister. To do without wine is no -privation to me. My glasses are not empty because the wines have not -been offered to me." - -"Oh! Perhaps you are a teetotaller." - -"If you wish to so describe me." - -"Really! How interesting! I do not think that I ever met one before." - -"Your own glasses have been filled, but, if I am not mistaken, they are -yet untasted, Miss MacAllister." - -"Oh, yes! That's all very well for a woman. But I mean a man. I am -sure that I never before met a man who couldn't enjoy a glass of wine, -except some ministers and very immature youths in Bands of Hope." - -A laugh went round the table. Sinclair joined in it. But the flush -deepened on his forehead. - -"My dear," interrupted Mr. MacAllister, "I am afraid that you are -forgetting your father. I am practically a total abstainer." - -"Oh, I know, father! But then you are an elderly man, and something of -a preacher, too. Such virtue is to be expected in you. But Dr. -Sinclair is a young man and--a medical doctor. To find such -extraordinary rectitude in him is, as the Scotch would say, 'no canny.'" - -Again the laugh went round at the doctor's expense. The fair tyrant was -getting even with him. Mrs. Thomson, realizing the disadvantage he was -at in this verbal passage at arms with a woman, spoke up in her -fellow-countryman's behalf: - -"You must remember, Miss MacAllister, that different countries have -different customs. In your home surroundings it may have been a manly -thing to use intoxicants. Where Dr. Sinclair comes from one of the -highest standards of manliness is to be a total abstainer." - -"And pray tell us where such lofty standards prevail?" asked Carteret. -"Where was Dr. Sinclair reared?" - -"On a Canadian farm." Sinclair's voice had a defiant ring. - -"I shouldn't think that it would be the most up-to-date school of social -usages in the world." Carteret's tone was a trifle more insolent than -before. - -"Perhaps not, Mr. Carteret. But there was one thing we did learn there. -We learned----" A biting retort was on his tongue. His eyes met those -of the hostess. He paused and softened it. "We learned to give to -others the same liberty of opinion as we claimed for ourselves. You -claim the liberty to use wine. I do not interfere with your liberty. I -claim the liberty to abstain. I expect, Mr. Carteret, the same courtesy -in return." - -Carteret's face flushed a dark red. He, the son of an English peer, to -be taught a lesson in courtesy by the son of a Canadian farmer. Before -he had time to frame an answer Mrs. Beauchamp interposed: - -"Dr. Sinclair is perfectly right to claim liberty on this question. Our -social usages are apt to become tyrannical. I like, every once in a -while, to see some one independent enough to revolt against them." - -"I am glad to hear you say so, Mrs. Beauchamp," said Commander -Gardenier. "I was just beginning to wonder where I came in. I am an -abstainer. It is not because I was trained to it from a boy, for I -wasn't. Nor is it because of any pledge. It is because of my -experience in the navy. I have seen so many of the most promising -careers in the service come to nothing, and so many of my seniors go -down and out through drink, that I felt it my duty to give it up. At -our mess those who wish to drink even the Queen's health in water are -free to do so." - -"This discussion must stop right now," broke in the consul, "or, by -Jove! every man at the table will be confessing himself a teetotaller, -except De Vaux and myself. We shall not forsake the good old ways, -shall we, De Vaux?" - -"Bless my soul, no, Beauchamp! A little wine for thy stomach's sake," -replied De Vaux amidst a burst of laughter, for this was one of the most -evident weaknesses of this scion of a noble house. Already his -high-pitched voice was noticeably thick. - -Then the ladies retired to the drawing-room, leaving the men to their -cigars, wine, and black coffee. Miss MacAllister knew that she had made -Sinclair uncomfortable for a time. But she had also the consciousness -that her little coup had not been so successful as she had intended. -Sinclair had come out of the predicament she had contrived for him with -rather the better of her. And, curious as it may seem, her feelings -were a bit injured. - - - - - *VII* - - *SPARRING FOR ADVANTAGE* - - -"I think we ought to have some music," said Mrs. Beauchamp, as the men -rejoined the ladies in the drawing-room. "There is nothing which takes -me back home like the old home songs. I believe that there is -considerable talent in our company this evening. May we not have some -songs?" - -"Nothing in the world I like better! 'Pon my soul, there isn't," -exclaimed De Vaux, who was talking very freely and was disposed to be -gallant towards the ladies. He raised his voice, trembling perhaps with -emotion, to a high pitch, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to -have the honour on your behalf of requesting our hostess to favour us -with a song. Bless my soul! I'd rather hear her sing to the -accompaniment of her guitar than Patti or Albani, or any other of their -prima donnas. 'Pon my honour, I would! ... Mrs. Beauchamp, will you not -accede to our united request and give us the happiness of hearing you?" - -He finished with a bow intended to be as profound as those of his Lord -Chesterfield days. He seemed unconscious of the limitations imposed on -him by the aldermanic proportions which had come to him since his slim -and graceful youth. - -Mrs. Beauchamp rose with a smile which had more of sadness than of -mirth, glanced at her husband, and permitted De Vaux to conduct her to a -seat near the piano and to bring her guitar. The consul sat down at the -piano, ran his fingers over the keys, touching soft chords, to which the -guitar was brought into tune. Then to the accompaniment of the two -instruments Mrs. Beauchamp sang in a voice, not strong, but sweet and -sympathetic, a tender old English love song. - -"By----! ... Bless my soul, I mean, it makes me homesick to hear those -old songs!" exclaimed De Vaux, amidst the applause. His voice was high -and trembling. There was a suspicious redness and moisture in his eyes. -"I've been more than twenty years in this forgotten island. But when I -hear Mrs. Beauchamp sing such a song as that I protest I want to take -the first boat home. 'Pon my honour, I do!" - -"Oh, no! You'll not go back to England just yet, De Vaux," said the -consul. "We shouldn't know Formosa without you. But I'll tell you what -you will do. You'll sing something for us yourself, will you not?" - -"Yes, yes, De Vaux!" exclaimed several voices. "Do sing something. Sing -'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.'" - -"That's De Vaux's Royal George," whispered McLeod to Sinclair. "He -always sings that. But he won't sing it yet a while. He'll need a few -more drinks first." - -"'Pon my soul, it's awfully good of you to ask me! I do not profess to -be a singer. Really! I do not.... But, since you have been so good as -to ask me, I shall do my best, on one condition, that Mrs. Beauchamp -will honour me by playing my accompaniment.... Mrs. Beauchamp, will you -be so kind?" Another bow meant to be profound. - -"Certainly, Mr. De Vaux, with pleasure." - -In a voice which had once been a sweet tenor, but was now fat and -breathless, he sang, "Silver Threads Among the Gold." He had to take a -breath in the middle of every long note. As for the high ones, he just -touched them. Then his breath failed him, leaving the audience to -imagine the rest. But when he was rewarded with a round of applause he -responded with an encore, "In the Gloaming." His head was becoming -crimson with the effort. Perspiration streamed down his face and neck, -in spite of the constant use of his handkerchief. His collar had melted -and fallen limply against his coat. The starch of his shirt front had -disappeared, leaving it but a crumpled rag. - -Some of the guests were insisting on a third number, when the consul -came to the rescue: - -"This sort of thing mustn't go any further. If my wife and De Vaux -continue singing such sentimental songs, they'll have us all homesick. -We cannot afford to ship all the English residents of North Formosa by -the _Hailoong_ to-morrow. Just to change the current of your thoughts, -I'll make a break and give you something different." - -He took his place at the piano, and to his own accompaniment sang with -great spirit, in a strong baritone voice, the old English song, "A -Hunting We Will Go." - -The applause was as enthusiastic as the spirit in which he had sung, and -he was pressed for an encore. The consul replied with mock stage bows, -but refused to sing again. He had done his part in chasing away the -blue devils of homesickness. Now it was some other body's turn to -perform. He knew Miss MacAllister could sing. Would she not continue -the good work and give them something rousing? - -Miss MacAllister did not wait to be urged, but responded at once. Her -voice was a rich, strong soprano. With a verve and fire worthy of her -choice, she sang Lady Nairn's stirring war-song, "The Hundred Pipers." -To the insistent demand for another song she replied with "The March of -the Cameron Men." With her stately figure at its full height, head -thrown back, and eyes which seemed to look away beyond her tropic -surroundings to the hills of old Scotland, she sang as if possessed by -the spirit of generations of Highland ancestors. - -Sinclair, from his place over by the mantel-piece, was looking at her -with undisguised admiration. - -"Isn't she magnificent? Yon's a prize for some man! ... Sinclair, man, -why don't you go in and win? If you don't try, I'll be ashamed of you, -whatever." - -It was McLeod. He was speaking in a low tone, only for his friend's -ear. But he who had been the personification of coolness during the -typhoon was now fairly quivering with excitement. The songs of his -people had fired his blood. - -"You needn't be ashamed of me, Mac. I'm going to try." - -"Good for you! I'll back you to win." - -"Don't stake too much on me, Mac. I'm new to this game. You might lose -heavily. Carteret is ahead of me." - -"That dirty snob!" exclaimed McLeod in a tone of disgust. "He wants her -in just the same way as he wants every pretty woman he sees. And then -her money would help to repair the Carteret fortunes. It's an insult to -a good woman to mention him in relation to her." - -"All the same she and her family are not supposed to know the things -that you know against him, whatever they may be. He belongs to a titled -family. That counts for a lot with most people who have risen from the -ranks. Her mother is greatly taken with him." - -"Yes, but the daughter is not." - -"I'm not so sure about that." - -"I'd stake my life on it. But look, Carteret is going to sing." - -It was evident that Carteret had expected to sing, for he had just -returned from the cloak-room with a roll of music in his hand. He -placed it on the piano, and then turning to Miss MacAllister he -conducted her to the instrument with almost an excess of courtesy. Yet -his manners were easy and graceful. If at times he seemed to exceed the -requirements of etiquette, his ultra politeness accorded well with his -Gallic cast of countenance and the cut of beard which he affected. - -His voice was a tenor, not very strong, but pure in tone and evidently -well-trained. The first selection was "Drink to Me Only with Thine -Eyes." It was sung with feeling. The strength of his voice accorded -well with the size of the drawing-room, and passion was thrown into the -tender lines. As an encore he sang another love song, still more -amorous in sentiment and manner. - -"His musical talent is Carteret's hope of promotion if he remains in the -customs," said Boville, who was one of a little group of guests near to -where Sinclair stood. "He thinks that, if he could get the opportunity -to sing before the I.G., he would be promoted to Pekin at once." - -"Or better still, if he should succeed in marrying a handsome wife who -is musical," said a merchant. "I am told that the I.G. is even more -considerate of a subordinate with an accomplished wife than one who -possesses the accomplishments himself." - -"He has the voice already, and now he seems to be making a bold stroke -for the gifted wife," interjected another. - -"I shouldn't wish Miss MacAllister any ill," replied Boville. "But I do -hope something will happen to take him off my hands. If the I.G. wants -him, he will be most welcome to the fellow, so long as I am well quit of -him." - -Sinclair took no part in the conversation. But he heard every word. -The careless references to Miss MacAllister hurt him in a way which -surprised himself. The callousness of the suggestion that Carteret -should get promotion by marrying her cut him to the quick. How could -any one entertain such an idea? - -Then he wondered at himself. What was Miss MacAllister to him? A -passing stranger, who had taken it into her whimsical head to amuse -herself at his expense. Already she had succeeded in making him feel -most uncomfortable; indeed, for a time something of a laughing-stock. -What need he care? She was nothing to him, and he was nothing to her but -the subject of an evening's laughter. What a fool he had been to accept -McLeod's challenge! He would have to straighten that out in the -morning. Then they both would have shaken off the glamour of that face -and figure, and those martial Highland songs which had so stirred their -blood. They would be in their cool senses then. They had not been when -the one had made and the other had accepted the challenge. - -Meanwhile Miss MacAllister and Carteret were still at the piano. She -was slowly turning over some music. He was bending low as if to see it, -and perhaps to choose another song. All the while he was speaking to -her in a soft voice, and she was making monosyllabic replies. She -realized that his head was sinking lower and his face closer to hers. -She felt his hot breath on her face and neck and shoulder. It was hot -and heavy with wine. - -She turned her head slightly but quickly towards him. She saw his eyes -fixed greedily on the rich beauties of form only half concealed by her -low evening dress. Her face flamed crimson, and she rose hastily from -the piano, disregarding his appeal that she should play just one more -selection. - -As she passed from the instrument to a chair she heard the consul say: - -"Sinclair, you're the most confoundedly comfortable-looking duffer I -ever saw in a dress suit." - -"That's because the tailor who made my suit put side pockets in the -trousers," was the reply. "You would be just as comfortable if you had -pockets to put your hands in. I have noticed you trying to get them -into the seams half a dozen times this evening." - -"You're right there. But it's not my fault. I laid it on that tailor -in Hong-Kong as a parting injunction to put pockets in my trousers. And -he promised. When the suit arrived they had none, and I was five -hundred miles too far away to get my hands on him and wring the beast's -neck." - -"Fortunate for the beast!" - -"Yes. But he'll get his punishment yet, that tailor will. He has a lot -to answer for. I have sworn outwardly often, and inwardly more times -than could be numbered, whenever I have had these clothes on. I envy -you. You do look comfortable in that suit. It fits you as if you had -been born in it, and with your hands in the trousers' pockets." - -Miss MacAllister, looking at Sinclair from the seat she had taken near -the French window, agreed with the consul's judgment. The big Canadian -was in conventional evening dress, except for one slight concession made -to the heat of the climate. Instead of the low-cut vest he wore a broad -kamarband of black silk about his waist. The only trace of jewellery -was the gold locket on the end of a black leather watch guard, which -hung over the kamarband. There was a total absence of dressiness. But -as the girl who had been for years familiar with London drawing-rooms -looked at the strong, clean-cut features, the massive head with its fair -hair contrasting with the black clothing, the lazy grace of the powerful -frame leaning against the mantel-piece, she thought to herself that she -had never seen a man who had on him more of the marks of being to the -manner born. Yet he was the self-confessed son of a Canadian farmer, -and reared on a Canadian farm. She found it hard to remain offended -with this big, good-looking, good-tempered man. - -Involuntarily she compared him again with Carteret, the son of a noble -English family. The latter was now talking to Mrs. Beauchamp. She -could see that his ordinarily somewhat pallid face was flushed and there -was an expression in his eyes which was not pleasant to see. She -thought again of that greedy look and of the hot breath, heavy with -wine. She turned her eyes once more towards Sinclair. He was talking -to the consul and smiling. The distinction between the two young men -took shape in her mind. Sinclair was clean and his smile was frank and -pure as that of a child. - -She heard the consul saying to him: - -"McLeod tells me that you sing." - -"McLeod tells a lot of things he knows very little about. I shall have -to lay an injunction upon him to hold his peace." - -"That's all right for some other time. But for the present you do not -deny the charge that you do sing." - -"I'll plead guilty to disturbing my neighbours sometimes by singing -college songs and such things. But I have none of them here and no music -for the accompanist." - -"Just what we want; something lively. If there's a chorus, we'll all -join in. Give me an idea how it goes and I can chord for you." - -Beauchamp ran his fingers over the keys while Sinclair hummed or lilted -the tune. Soon the proper chord was struck. Sinclair repeated the -words of the chorus till all got them. Then he sang a rollicking -college song. When he reached the chorus all joined in, and for the -first time the walls of the old Dutch fort and the listening palms and -oleanders and magnolias heard the jolly abandon of "The Old Ontario -Strand." - -When the chorus was reached the second time, Sinclair relinquished the -leadership of the air to Miss MacAllister. She took it as if by -prearrangement, while he dropped into his rightful place and supplied -the undertone of a bass powerful enough to balance the voices of all the -rest of the company. - -When it was finished there was an outbreak of applause and even cheers, -which showed that all reserve had disappeared and the company were -prepared to give themselves up with childish delight to singing. -Another college song was sung with the same spirit as the first, and -Sinclair was pressed to lead still another. - -"I will," he said at last, "if you will allow me to choose one as -characteristic of our French Canadian people as those we were favoured -with by Miss MacAllister are of the Highland Scotch." - -In response to the general consent he sang some verses of-- - - "En roulant ma boule roulant, - En roulant ma boule," - -and a number of the company joined in the simple refrain. The song -which had so often echoed on lake and stream, by the evening campfire, -where the paddle dipped, or in the frosty stillness of the snow-laden -forests of the north rang out through the scented darkness of the warm -tropic night. - -A number of other songs were rendered by different members of the party. -Then Sinclair was called for again. - -"I am afraid that my repertoire has come very near the point of being -exhausted," he said. "I have only those songs the words of which I can -remember, and the selection is not very choice." - -This time it was a plaintive negro melody of the Sunny South. Again -Miss MacAllister found herself singing heartily with the rest in the -refrain, and after the first verse leading the chorus while Sinclair -sang bass. When the song was done she suddenly said to herself: - -"What a silly I am making of myself! I came in here determined to get -even with that doctor. And here I am singing with him and for him like -a sissy in a Sunday-school concert. He can do his own singing from now -on. I'll pay him back yet." - -The rest were urging Sinclair to sing again, when Miss MacAllister said: - -"Dr. Sinclair has shown wonderful versatility in his choice of songs -this evening. English, French, negro, he sings them all with equal -facility. I wonder if he would not favour us with a Canadian Indian -song. I have never heard any of their music. I should so love to have -the opportunity. Will you not sing us one, Dr. Sinclair?" - -Her face wore an expression of childlike innocence and interest. But -McLeod thought he saw a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Mr. MacAllister -looked at his daughter with a puzzled face and shook his head a little. -The consul eyed her doubtfully, as though trying to fathom the purpose -behind this request. He saw nothing but the appearance of almost -infantile guilelessness. Then he heard Sinclair saying: - -"Certainly, Miss MacAllister. I am happy to do anything in my power to -serve you. Only it is a little hard on Mr. Beauchamp to ask him even to -chord to a type of music he may never have heard before." - -"Thank you so much, Dr. Sinclair. I am all anxiety to hear you." - -Then she added: - -"I am sure Mr. Beauchamp will be able to accompany you. He is a man of -infinite resource in music." For she was afraid that Sinclair's concern -about placing the consul in a difficult position was only an attempt to -provide a loop-hole for his own escape. - -A buzz of conversation broke out in the room while Sinclair bent over -the instrument, softly humming a slow, stately measure, and the consul's -fingers felt for the harmonious chords. Soon the voice and the chords -were moving together in harmony. - -"That may be an Indian tune," said Beauchamp, "but it sounds remarkably -like certain bars from an old sixteenth-century mass I had to practise -when a boy until my fingers were nearly worn out." - -"Perhaps the Indians learned it from the early Roman Catholic -missionaries," was the quick reply. "In any case, I fancy it is the -sound of the language Miss MacAllister wishes to hear rather than the -music." - -"If you like, I shall play the tune for you. I remember it perfectly." - -"Thank you, I prefer the chords." - -Sinclair straightened himself, and the buzz of conversation instantly -ceased. Then his voice rolled forth to the slow, solemn air, words as -melodious as the notes of the music. At their first sound the consul's -head ducked below the level of the piano, which hid him from most in the -room. Sinclair gave him a vicious dig in the ribs, but sang on without -the quiver of an eyelid. The full vowel sounds of the unknown language -brought out to perfection the tones of his rich bass voice. - -His eyes glanced around the room. All were listening intently, and all, -save Commander Gardenier, had their eyes on him. He thought that he -could detect a grim smile on the naval officer's averted face. Miss -MacAllister had a keen look--was it a suspicious look?--in her eyes. - -Under cover of the applause which followed the consul turned on him: - -"You have the nerve to pass a chorus from a Greek tragedy on a company -like this for a Red Indian war-song." - -"I plead guilty," replied Sinclair. "But I had to do something or be -again held up to ridicule as I was at dinner. I thought that you were -the only one likely to recognize it and I knew that you would not betray -me." - -"I acknowledge that you had to do something. For some reason Miss -MacAllister seems bound to make game of you. She deserves what you have -given her, and I'll not give you away. But it was nervy just the same." -And the consul laughed indulgently as he turned away. - -Miss MacAllister did not join in the general applause. But when it was -done she said gravely: - -"Thank you, Dr. Sinclair, for gratifying my whim to hear a song in the -Indian language. I had no idea that it would be so beautiful. Thank -you very much." - -Sinclair's face flushed as he replied: - -"I am only too glad to have been able to do anything which has pleased -you." At the same moment he felt a pang of remorse for the deception. - -He had not long to think of it when he heard Mrs. MacAllister saying to -Commander Gardenier: - -"What a barbarous jargon to be called a language!" - -"Yes," replied the officer drily, "but I have heard a good many others -more barbarous." - -Then Thomson, the missionary, remarked in his slow way: - -"It--some--way--seems--to--me--that--I--have ---heard--some--thing--like--that--before." - -Sinclair had to act quickly: - -"You were a missionary once among the Indians of Bruce Peninsula, were -you not?" - -"Yes--I--was." - -"You probably heard it there." - -"Well--perhaps--I--did." - -Some of the guests rose to depart, and their hostess rose with them. -Before they had time to begin to say farewell, Carteret said loudly -enough to be heard by all in the room: - -"Mrs. Beauchamp, before we go, may we not hear Mr. De Vaux sing again? -I know that we should all be delighted to hear him." - -"I am afraid that we are imposing on Mr. De Vaux," replied the hostess, -who realized the condition De Vaux ordinarily reached by that hour after -a dinner. "I think that he is tired. He has done his part so well this -evening that it seems unfair to ask him for any more." - -"I am sure, Mrs. Beauchamp, that Mr. De Vaux will not feel it a hardship -to sing again. He is our foremost vocalist in Formosa. We want him to -uphold the honour of the local talent. Mr. De Vaux, will you not sing -for us 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep'?" - -"Lord! ... Mr. Carteret--ladies and gentlemen--how good of you to ask -me! ... By----! ... Bless my soul, I mean! ... It is good of you.... I'm -afraid.... I'm not in very good voice. But since you insist--I'll -try.... By----! ... I mean 'pon my honour, I shall!" - -"Shall I play your accompaniment, De Vaux?" said the consul, in response -to an appealing look from his wife. - -"How good of you, Beauchamp! ... By----! ... 'Pon my soul, I mean--it -is!" - -Purple-faced, perspiring, steadying himself by the piano, The Honourable -Lionel Percival Dudley De Vaux sang, in a series of high-toned asthmatic -gasps, "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep." - -Then the guests said their farewells and, preceded by natives carrying -lanterns, they began to move off into the warm aromatic darkness of the -southern night. - - - - - *VIII* - - *SINCLAIR'S OPPORTUNITY* - - -Sinclair and McLeod were awaiting their opportunity to say good-night -when one of the consul's Chinese servants hastily entered and handed his -master a letter: - -"One boy b'long Kai Bok-su come Keelung side, one piecee chit new -sick-boy-man can catchee." - -"All right, boy," replied the consul. "Dr. Sinclair, here's a letter -for you from Dr. MacKay." - -The doctor cut the letter open and read: - - -"CHINESE CAMP, LOAN-LOAN, NEAR KEELUNG, - "Aug. 5th, 1884. - -"DEAR DR. SINCLAIR: - -"As you are aware, a battle is raging. A number of the Chinese have -been killed. Many more are wounded. The end is not yet. They have no -doctors but native fakirs. They have no medicines, no instruments, no -knowledge of surgery. There is dreadful suffering. Will you help? -Never a better opportunity to serve humanity and win the Chinese. - -"The consul will give you passports. The bearer of this will guide you. -A Hoa will come with you as far as Taipeh and secure a permit from the -governor. Mrs. MacKay and Dr. Bergmann will give you a free hand with -the Mission's stock of medicines, and will help you to pack them. Will -you come? - -"Yours, - "G. L. MACKAY." - - -Without a word Sinclair handed the open letter to the consul, who had -now bidden farewell to the rest of the guests. He read it quickly and -looked up: - -"You are going?" - -"Yes." - -"When?" - -"First launch in the morning." - -"Good! I'll have your papers ready." - -"Thank you, Mr. Beauchamp. Good-night." - -"I'll send the constable over to MacKay's with the papers. Take care of -yourself. Good-night, doctor. Good-night, McLeod." - - * * * * * - -The first faint rose of dawn was showing in the sky behind the great -bulk of the Taitoon Mountains when Sinclair stepped out on the broad -verandah of the missionary's bungalow, ready for his journey. The -Chinese student who was to guide him was already there. A coolie -bearing two round baskets containing the medicines, instruments, and -other necessaries, balanced on the end of his long bamboo carrying pole, -came round the corner of the house. - -The iron gate at the foot of the garden clicked sharply. A vigorous -step sounded on the gravelled walk. An erect, soldierly figure stepped -out of the darkness into the light streaming from the doorway, rapped -his heels together, saluted, and handed Dr. Sinclair a packet of -letters. - -"Good-morning, Sergeant Gorman. You're sharp on time." - -"No credit to me, sir! It's the consul, sir! The divil himself wud -have to get up in the morning before he went to bed at night to catch -the consul late." - -There was no mistaking Sergeant Gorman's native land. Sinclair laughed -as he said: - -"I suppose these are my passports." - -"Right you are, sir! But wud you moind lookin' at the last one furst, -for, widout army conceit in meself, it's the most important of thim -all." - -Sinclair opened it and read: - - -"H. B. M. CONSULATE, TAMSUI, Aug. 6th, 1884. - -"DEAR DR. SINCLAIR: - -"I am presuming on your good nature to make a request of you. Will you -accept of Sergeant Gorman's assistance in your volunteer Red Cross -Service? Ever since the cannon fire began yesterday morning, he has -been aching to get into the field of action. Your going is an -opportunity. He will not be an encumbrance. He has been at various -times surgeon's assistant and hospital sergeant. He speaks pidgin, and -knows quite a bit of vernacular. Commander Gardenier will spare me a -man to take his place. Feeling sure that you will grant my request as -soon as you read it, I have enclosed his passports with yours. - -"Wishing you a safe and speedy return, I am, - "Your obedient servant, - "H. R. L. BEAUCHAMP." - - -Sinclair read between the lines. It was not merely the desire to -gratify Sergeant Gorman's passion to be in any fighting which might be -handy which had actuated the consul. It was solicitude for himself. He -was a stranger in the island. He did not know the language. He had -never been nearer war than the annual camp of a brigade of Canadian -militia. This resourceful Irishman, with more than twenty years of -varied service, mostly in the Orient and among Oriental peoples, would -simply be invaluable to him. The consul had been up all night arranging -for his convenience and safety. More to himself than to any one else he -exclaimed: - -"Beauchamp's a trump!" - -"An' the right bower at that!" interjected Gorman. - -Sinclair dashed into MacKay's study, scribbled off a hasty note of -thanks, and was out again before the sergeant had finished -congratulating himself on his good fortune. - -"We must be off. There goes the launch's whistle," said Sinclair, as he -swung off with his long, powerful strides, which put Gorman to his best -gait and made the natives drop into their peculiar little jogging trot. - -Although the day had scarcely broken when they left the house, and it -was but a few hundred yards down the steep hill to the beach, the -impatient sun of the South had already sprung into the heavens when they -reached the little jetty at which the launch lay. A Hoa, the chief -Chinese assistant of Dr. MacKay, and McLeod were already there. - -"Hallo, Mac!" exclaimed the doctor. "I thought you would be sleeping -yet. It's more than decent of you to turn out so early to see me off." - -"I am going with you as far as Twatutia," replied McLeod. "The Chinese -are so excited over this war that they have not forwarded part of our -cargo. I am going up to see what persuasives I can apply to the -compradore. We have to sail by this afternoon's tide and want to take a -full cargo. We may not get another chance for a while." - -"I certainly am in luck this morning," said Sinclair. "You to keep me -company as far as Twatutia; A Hoa to get my passports vised, and -Sergeant Gorman to act as my bodyguard and be generally responsible for -my safety and good conduct." - -By this time the two friends and the Chinese preacher had found for -themselves as comfortable positions as possible under the awning which -covered the decks of the little launch and sheltered them from the rays -of the sun. - -The launch was threading its way through a fleet of junks which were -hasting to get out to sea with the ebbing tide. Some had already -hoisted their huge, brown, bat-wing sails and turned their watchful eyes -towards the open sea. Some were just lifting their anchors, while -priests from the neighbouring temple rowed around them in boats with -beating drums and droning pipes, to frighten away the demons, propitiate -the goddess of the sea, secure for the sailors a prosperous voyage, -undisturbed by the French, and incidentally to get for themselves and -their temple a substantial contribution. Some had not yet finished -taking cargo, and their crews were working with feverish haste to get -loaded in time not to miss the last of the ebb. From them all came the -ceaseless shrill, nasal shouting of the Chinese seamen as they pulled at -the ropes, or heaved up the anchor or hauled away at the tackle hoisting -their cargo on board. - -It was all intensely interesting to Sinclair, who never wearied of -studying human life, especially when it presented types and phases which -were new and strange to him. But he was not so much interested in the -Chinese as to fail to notice the large house, with its cool-looking -upper and lower verandahs, looking out on the river, in which the -MacAllisters were quartered. He wondered if the maiden who had teased -him so were awake and plotting some new mischief to make him or some one -else uncomfortable. Or was she sleeping as peacefully as if she had -never done a naughty deed in all her bright young life? It was with a -start, as if a guilty secret had been discovered, that he heard McLeod's -voice saying: - -"I suppose your Highland girl is having her beauty sleep. I never saw -any one who to my mind needed it less." - -Sinclair was annoyed that McLeod so often seemed to read his thoughts. -It was a little tartly that he replied: - -"Are you still harping at that? If I were a suitor for that young -lady's hand, I should have to look upon you as a rival, you seem so -smitten with her." - -"Not the slightest danger, Doc. The fact that a fellow admires a girl's -looks or style doesn't necessarily mean that he has fallen in love with -her. Oh, no! I have my own dreams of a trip I hope to make next year -to Prince Edward Island, and if I come back to the China Coast I'll not -come back alone. That's good enough for me. I admire Miss MacAllister. -I think she's splendid. But falling in love with her! Not the -slightest notion! Any interest I have in her is on your account." - -"I'm sorry, Mac. I shouldn't have said what I did. I knew that you -were as true as steel." - -"It's all right, doctor. I've been jollying you too much. And the way -she acts sometimes makes it a little hard to bear. But you'll win out -in the end." - -"I do not know about that," said Sinclair, somewhat gloomily. "The way -she treated me last night did not look much like it." - -"Never mind that. She would not treat you like that if she were not -taking more interest in you than in any one else at present. She -doesn't know just what is the matter with herself. That is the way she -is taking to work it off. She'll change after a bit." - -"I'll yield to your superior knowledge of the ways of women," said the -doctor, with a laugh which had but little mirth in it. "It may be all -right. Just the same, it doesn't look good to me.... Here comes -Sergeant Gorman. I had better see my passports, and get him to instruct -A Hoa what is to be done when we get to Taipeh." - -Opening the packet, he found copies of passports in English, French, and -Chinese. One addressed to the French Commander read: - - -"HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, - "TAMSUI, August 6th, 1884. - -"_To the Officer in Chief Command of the French Forces at Keelung_: - -"The bearer of this paper, Doctor Donald Sinclair, a British subject, -has volunteered his services as a medical doctor to the sick and wounded -of the Chinese army, at present engaged before Keelung. He will observe -strict neutrality, and will be equally ready to perform humane offices -and render skilled medical and surgical assistance to any of the French -troops, should circumstances bring that within his power. Wherefore I, -the undersigned consul for Great Britain at Tamsui, do beg the Officer -in Command of the French Forces at Keelung, to accord to the said Doctor -Donald Sinclair protection and liberty to perform his offices of mercy, -in accordance with the terms of the Geneva Convention. He will be -accompanied by one European assistant, likewise a British subject, -Sergeant John Gorman, and by one or more Chinese assistants, all wearing -the badge of the Red Cross. - - "H. R. L. BEAUCHAMP, -"Her Britannic Majesty's Consul." - - -Passports of a similar tenor were addressed to the Chinese authorities. - -"Sergeant Gorman, you know Chinese. Tell A Hoa what we want him to do -when we get to Taipeh. He is to get these vised and, if possible, to get -a special permit from the governor. It will carry more weight than the -passports." - -"Very good, sir! I'll make him understand." - -Sergeant Gorman's mastery of the language was not perfect. But the -Chinese preacher required little instruction. He knew better than -either Sinclair or the sergeant what should be done. Before becoming a -Christian he had been private secretary to a mandarin in an official -position at Pekin. He had travelled much on the mainland as well as in -Formosa, and was well acquainted with official procedure both in peace -and in war. Scarcely had Sergeant Gorman begun his explanations when -his "Ho! ... Ho! ... An-ni ho! ... Put-tsi ho!" (Good! good! That's -good! Very good!) showed that he fully understood what was expected of -him. - - - - - *IX* - - *A QUIET LIFE* - - -Meanwhile McLeod and Sinclair were studying the sergeant. He was a man -of perhaps forty-five years, but could pass for much younger. Five feet -eight or nine inches in height, he was broad-shouldered and sturdily -built. No matter where he might be or how dressed, there could be no -mistaking that he had been a soldier. Long military training spoke in -every movement. His thick hair was a red-brown, with the emphasis on the -red. So was his heavy, fierce-looking moustache. So were his bristling -eyebrows. So were his eyes. His face, save where it was ordinarily -covered by the band of his sun-helmet, was pretty nearly the same shade. - -He talked rapidly; very rapidly; so rapidly that his words often -stumbled over one another in their eagerness to get out, until he -actually stuttered. When he tried, he spoke English with just enough -Irish accent to make it sweet on his tongue. But when he didn't try, -and that was most of the time, the brogue was rich and thick. Nearly -always he had the peculiarly Irish trick of repeating the last words of -a closing sentence. - -"How long has Gorman been here?" asked Sinclair in a low tone. - -"Only a couple of months," replied McLeod. "Came over with us from -Amoy." - -"How does it come that a sergeant with his record of service should end -up by being consulate constable in an out-of-the-way corner like -Tamsui?" - -"Search me! I can't tell you." - -"Probably the old story of a man who has served his Queen and country -well and then been dropped, to live or die wherever he may chance to -fall." - -"Yes, and none of the blockheads who have commanded him have sense -enough to know how much good service they could get out of a man like -that, if they would only give him a chance to rise. Instead they turn -him adrift like a worn-out horse." - -"Perhaps he has a history behind him. It seems to me that most men out -here, except you and I, Mac, have histories. Here he comes. Perhaps he -will talk." - -The sergeant crossed the little deck, stood at attention, and saluted: - -"I have the honour to report, sir, that I have given the Chinese, A Hoa, -the instructions you commanded and that he seems to understand them very -well, sir." - -"Very good, sergeant. There is nothing further to be done until we -reach Twatutia. Be seated." - -"Thank you, sir." - -"By the way, sergeant, I notice by the passport that your name is John -Gorman." - -"It is, sir." - -"I used to know a Sergeant John Gorman on the police force in Kingston, -Canada. They say that, when the college boys were out on a frolic and -raising cain, he could do more to keep them within bounds with a smile -and a bit of blarney than all the rest of the force could do with their -batons." - -"Och, but he'll be from Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky, in County Cork. -All the people there are Gormans, an' most of thim are John Gormans. An' -as for the shmile, all the Gormans have it. They get it whin they're -childer, sayin' the name of their native place. An' whin they grow up, -no matther where they go, the shmile wan't come off--the divil a bit -will it come off." - -"You're right there, sergeant," said McLeod. "You have the smile, sure -enough. But it never shows to best advantage until you say the name of -the place where you were born. What's this it is, again?" - -"Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky." - -"Exactly! That's a name to make any one smile." - -"Och, Misther McLeod, but you shud have seen it on me whin I furst left -the ould place. Me face was all shmile. But on the Afghan border wan -day, an ould black-face of a Pathan--may the divil fly away wid -him!--tuk a pot shot at me from betune two rocks. He got me through the -two cheeks of me, an' siv'ral of me teeth. After the wounds healed up I -never had me natural shmile ag'in,--wud you bel'ave me I niver was able -to shmile natural ag'in." - -"Did you get back at him at all?" inquired McLeod. - -"That's jist what was hurtin' me. For while I was spittin' out me -teeth, an' in no condishun to take aim, the onderhanded, tricherous -Afghan was dodgin' away through the rocks. But me next in file in the -Munsters, he was a Scotchman from Aberdeen got a squint of him as he -bint double, goin' round the corner of a pricipice, an' be the blissin' -of Hiven, took a chip off the stern works of him--a mortial good shot, -for the target he hit was the only part in sight." - -"But how did you know that he was hit?" asked McLeod. "Did you take him -prisoner?" - -"Divil a bit! A wounded Pathan can crawl loike a wounded snake. But -eighteen months afterwards I was up in the hills, wan of an escort of -the p'ace envoys. The very first day wan of the native policemen -pointed out an ould black-face among the chiefs an' tould me that was -the man that put the bullet through me two cheeks. An' be the powers, -that ould haythen cud no more sit down than I cud shmile. The shot of -me next in file had spoiled the joint in the middle of him. It was the -furst rale comfort that had come to me since the day I was shot. I -began to laugh whin I saw him shtandin' up shtiff as a ramrod whin the -others sat; or lyin' on his back, shtraight as a yardstick whin the rest -were reclinin'-loike on the divans. The more I thought of it, the more I -laughed, an' the shmile of the Gormans began to come back to me little -by little. But I'll niver have the shmile ag'in that I had in -Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky--sure as I'm livin', I'll niver shmile -ag'in as I used to whin I left Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky." - -"How did you come to leave Sleeahtballymack-what-a-ghalicky?" inquired -Sinclair. - -"Shure, docther, an' it wasn't me own doin'. To the best of me -ricolliction it was the doin' of Providence, wid a bit of help from the -priests, an' me father, an' the government, an' the recruitin' sergeant -thrown in." - -"How did they all come to the help of Providence?" asked the doctor. - -"Faix, but you're of an inquirin' turn of moind, docther; beggin' your -pardon for makin' so bould as to tell you that same." - -"It's all right, sergeant. Go on." - -"Well, docther, to make a long story short, it began this way. Me -father was an indepindint farmer, wid a bit of land right forninst the -dure of the church at Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky, an' a hundred -pounds in a bank in Cork. He was gittin' on in years. Me mother was -dead, an' I was the only choild. What does me father do but tips an' -wills his land to the Church for masses, me to be a priest, an' the -money to the college that was to educate me. You'll onderstand that the -land an' the money were not to be paid over till me father was dead an' -done wid thim, d'ye see? But I was to go to school at wanst to be -trained for a priest, d'ye onderstand?" - -"Yes, I see the plan." - -"Well, widout even so much as sayin' 'by your l'ave,' they packed me off -to the Classical School in Skibbereen, to learn Latin an' the other -dead-an'-gone languages. To make a long story short, it didn't agree -wid me, an' I didn't agree wid it. It wasn't the languages. I cud get -thim all right. It was this business of bein' a priest. Moind ye, I'm -not sayin' annything ag'in the Church. I was born a Catholic, an' I'll -die a Catholic. But bein' a priest wint ag'in me grain. To repeat ould -dead prayers for dead people, in dead languages, which nobody prisint -but the blissed Lord Himself cud onderstand, an He tired of hearin' thim -centuries before you were born; to hear ould wives confessin' their sins -which they shudn't tell to anny man, barrin' another ould wife loike -thimselves; to live on the fat of the land while the Paddies an' Dinnies -an' Mickies were livin' on pitaties an' salt, wid now an' ag'in a taste -of butthermilk--it didn't seem to me givin' value for the money -received. - -"An' thin I was gettin' to be a bit of a gossoon, an' sometoimes I was -afther thinkin' of me farm at Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky, which -wasn't moine ayther, for it was willed to the Church. They often tould -me that whin I was a priest I wud have no use for the farm. They said -that a half-acre of purgatory was worth more to a priest than the best -two-hundred-acre farm in County Cork. But they all had their -well-cultivated garden plots in purgatory, an' bedad but they wanted me -farm as well--d'ye moind. They were afther me farm in County Cork as -well. - -"Not to be wearyin' you wid the details of me autybiography, the longer -I was at it the less I loiked it, an' the more I had differences of -opinion wid the priests of the college, 'speshully wid the wan they -called the Prefect of Discipline, which is the polite name for the -Wallopin' Masther. Jist as I was gettin' tired of the b'atin's, an' was -thinkin' of runnin' away an' joinin' the navy for the sake of a quiet -loife, the English Government came to the assistance of Providence, an' -betune the two they got me out of bein' a priest--thanks to the -government an' the Hivenly Lord, I got out of bein' a priest." - -"How in the world did the government come to interfere with your course -in the college?" inquired Sinclair. - -"The government did not interfere directly, as you moight say. It -didn't make what you moight call a frontal attack. It jist made a kind -of divarshun in the rear. It appointed me father a Jay Pay." - -"A Jay Pay!" exclaimed McLeod. "What kind of a pay is that?" - -"Why, Misther McLeod, it's a Jay Pay, jist. A Justice of the P'ace for -the District of West Cork." - -"Oh, I understand!" - -"Yes, sir! It appointed me father a Jay Pay for West Cork. An', -docther, did you ever hear of annything foolisher in your loife? To -appoint a man a Jay Pay who was sixty-foive years ould, foive fut two -inches high, weighed only seven stone, and had never learned how to use -the two hands of him or the proper twisht to give a blackthorn? Wud you -tell me now, fwhat was the use of makin' a Justice of the P'ace in West -Cork out of a little ould man who cud nayther use his hands nor twirl a -shillelagh?" - -"It does appear unreasonable." - -"Onreasonable? Begorra, it was wurrse than that. There was no sinse to -it. An' anny man that knows West Cork will tell you the same. But the -ways of the governmint are loike the ways of Providence, past foinding -out. Anny way, it meant that me course for the priesthood was brought -to a speedy conclusion. - -"How?" - -"Well, it was this way. Me father was appointed a Jay Pay, wid -headquarters at Bantry. The very furst case he troied was wan of -assault committed by Micky Murphy on Paddy O'Leary whin he was seein' -Biddy O'Hea home afther mass. They were pretty well matched, and wan -got as much damage as the other. So me father jist bound both of thim -over to kape the p'ace. Wud you belave me, just to show th'ir contimpt -for the law an' for a little ould man loike that bein' made a Jay Pay, -by common consult they fought it out forninst the very dure of his -court, while the local consthables held their coats an' Biddy O'Hea was -referee. - -"Thin was me chanst. Before that me father wud hear nothin' for me but -bein' a priest. Now he appointed me a speshull consthable. He wanted -me to go to Dublin an' take some lessons wid me hands an' wid a shtick -from a profissor of the science. I tould him that it was quite -unnecessary. Anny likely gossoon of eighteen or nineteen who had spint -three years contindin' wid the Wallopin' Masther of that school in -Skibbereen had all the science he was likely to need as a speshull -consthable. An' be the powers, me father had no reason to repint of his -choice. There was no more contimpt shown for the law whin he held -court--shure as the saints are in hiven, niver a wan showed anny more -contimpt of court in West Court, but he was sorry for the day he was -born. - -"Not to be wearyin' you wid particulars, this wint along for about three -years. Thin me father got too feeble to do the wurrk, an' the -governmint appointed an associate Jay Pay. That was the ind of me -service as a speshull consthable. The new Jay Pay stood six fut three, -an' weighed two hundred an' fifty pounds. I was out of a job. - -"But there was no lack of divarshun. From Mullaghareirk to -Ballingurreen, from Clonakilty to Ballydehob, from Musheramore to -Teampeall-na-bo'ct, every Rory of the Hills that had iver been in me -father's court, or iver had a relation there, was lyin' for me wid his -shillelagh, an' sometimes an ould rusty fowlin'-piece. It wasn't -healthy for me in West Cork anny more. The priests cud have made it -safe enough. But I had wanst studied to be a priest, an' had continded -wid the Prefect of Discipline, d'ye see? An' thin there was the hundred -pounds in the bank in Cork, an' the farm forninst the dure of the church -in Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky, d'ye moind? They wud be surer if I -was out of the way. So, for the sake of a quiet loife, I tuk the -Queen's shillin' an' went away to the wars--God pardon me if I'm not -speakin' the truth, it was for a quiet loife I left West Cork, an' was -shipped out wid the Munsters to the wars in Indy." - -"Did you ever see your father again?" - -"Niver! He doied a twelvemonth after I left for Indy." - -"Have you ever been back to see the old place where you were born?" - -"Wanst. Tin years afther I enlisted, I got l'ave an' wint back from -Indy." - -"And the farm----?" - -"It was still there. They hadn't moved it." - -"Who had it?" - -"The priests." - -"Was the money still in the bank in Cork?" - -"Divil a bit!" - -"Did you inquire?" - -"I did." - -"What did they tell you?" - -"They tould me that they had expinded the hundred pounds, an' the value -of the farm, an' a little more in masses an' prayers to get me father -out of purgatory. They said that I was a bit in their debt, an' that -they would need a trifle yet for they hadn't got him quite free. I -asked thim if that was God's truth they were speakin'. They tould me -that it was. 'Thin,' says I, 'if you know so much of what's goin' on in -purgatory, wud you jist give me father a message from me? Jist tell him -to ask the Blissed Lord to open the dure and let him out, an' I'll stake -me sowl's salvation on it that the Lord will do it at wanst, and niver -ask him for a farm or a hundred pounds in the bank. For me father was a -man that niver willingly hurted a chicken.' An' wid that I left them -wid me farm an' the hundred pounds. But it's many a cintury me father -will be restin' on the beds of flowers in glory before the fires of -purgatory will have burned that farm an' the hundred pounds out of the -sowls of the black dragoons who defrauded me of me inheritance. An' -that's God's truth I'm tellin' you. An' moind ye, it's a Catholic I was -born and a Catholic I intind to die." - -For a time the three white men sat in silence, each busy with his own -thoughts. The broad river streamed past them, gleaming in the sun, -bearing its fleet of fishing boats and market boats and here and there a -cargo boat, with big mat sails, dropping down with the current and tide, -laden with tea or sugar or camphor or coal. The low green shores were -quick with the life of a dense population. Beyond these the blue and -purple hills rose and stretched away in wavy lines of colour till the -far-off lofty peaks blended with the sky. - -Dr. Sinclair turned from the natural scenery to look again at the Irish -soldier who was to be his companion in the new and unaccustomed scenes -which lay before him. Sergeant Gorman was looking out over river and -plain and mountain. But his eyes were those of one who did not see. -There was a far-away look in them. Dreams slept in their red-brown -depths. He interested Sinclair strangely. He was a rare specimen in -the doctor's field of research, human kind. He wanted to know more of -him. - -"You have put in most of your service in the Far East, Sergeant Gorman?" -he said. - -"I have, sir. All except two years spint at the Cape." - -"Mostly in India?" - -"Mostly, wid spells at Aden and in Burmah. Thin I was sint to -Hong-Kong, where I picked up the pidgin. I put in my last years of -service in the Straits, where I learned a bit of the lingo spoken here. -At the Straits all the wurrk is done by Chinese from Amoy, the same -people as these in Formosa. Thin, as there was nothing for a -time-expired soldier to do, an' the climate was too hot for the wife an' -childer, I came north to Amoy an' tuk service ag'in wid some more -has-beens, to guard the consulate an' do a bit of police wurrk in the -Settlement durin' the trouble wid the French. But, begorra, it was out -of the fryin'-pan into the fire." - -"How was that?" - -"Me mother-in-law came to live wid us." - -"That was hard lines," said McLeod sympathetically. - -"Faith, an' if you'd known her you'd say that from the heart." - -"How long did you stand it? - -"Six weeks." - -"And then----?" - -"Thin I heard that the French were beloike to kick up a shindy in -Formosa. So for the sake of a quiet loife I exchanged to Tamsui. An' -here I am off to the wars ag'in an' enjoyin' p'ace an' happiness--by the -blissin' of Hiven, enjoyin' p'ace an happiness." - - - - - *X* - - *GLORIOUS WAR* - - -The launch had reached the landing-place at Twatutia. The little party -stepped ashore. A parting grasp of the hand from McLeod, and Dr. -Sinclair, Sergeant Gorman, A Hoa and the student guide stepped into -chairs, to be borne to the governor's yamen in the adjoining walled city -of Taipeh. - -The governor was not at home. He had already left for Keelung to take -personal charge of the defences. But the deputy he had left in Taipeh -seemed to have imbibed some of the active and progressive spirit of Liu -Ming-chuan. He read a Chinese copy of the passports, listened carefully -to A Hoa's courteous and polished explanations, affixed the official -seals, and wrote a brief order to all officials, civil and military, to -extend all courtesy and afford every assistance to the distinguished -foreigners who were volunteering their services to the Chinese forces. -There were none of the old-time red-tape evasions and delays of Chinese -officialdom. He was another of the pioneers of a new China. - -A Hoa returned to Tamsui, having fulfilled his commission. The rest -pushed on towards the camp at Loan-Loan. - -Before they left the city they met in the streets many natives who were -plainly refugees from Keelung and the vicinity. Once outside the walls, -they saw the narrow road as it wound and zigzagged through the -rice-fields, dotted with town and country people, hurrying as best they -could towards the capital for safety. The farther they advanced the -denser grew the stream of fugitives. - -The rice-fields were left behind with the plain near Taipeh. The road -began to pass through a more and more mountainous region. It grew -narrower and narrower, until it was a mere foot-path, sometimes -threading the bottom of a ravine and sometimes clinging precariously to -the face of a hill which was almost a precipice; now dropping down to -the very margin of the river or fording a tributary stream, and now far -up on a mountain side. And all the way, like a huge, writhing, -variegated snake, appearing on the hillsides and open spaces, -disappearing in the ravines, in the long grass or groves of bamboos, -that endless line of refugees wound its slow length along. - -It is about twenty miles from Taipeh to Keelung. After the first ten -miles the throng of fugitives became so dense that it was very difficult -for the chairs to proceed. Honest fathers of families laden with all -they could carry of their poor household possessions; rascally banditti -and sneak thieves taking advantage of the general disorder and distress -to loot their neighbours' deserted houses, and even to snatch from the -hands or shoulders of the defenceless the few valuables they were trying -to save; women hobbling along on their little feet with infants strapped -to their backs, and older children, whom they were ill-able to help, -clinging to their hands; maidens terror-stricken by the tales of the -imaginary atrocities of the foreign devils, and scarcely less afraid of -the real atrocities of their own rascally fellow-countrymen, especially -of many of the braves from the mainland. - -At long intervals a sedan-chair pressed its way through the throng, -bearing a sick or wounded officer back to the capital. Wounded regulars -in white or red or maroon tunics and straw hats limped along, adding a -touch of colour to the writhing serpent. Irregular levies in the -ordinary dark-blue cotton clothing of the Chinese coolies were hastening -home, glad of the success of the French attack, so that they might get -an opportunity to desert with their arms and all the loot they could lay -their hands upon. - -The flight had its comedies and its tragedies. But the comedies only -played lightly over the surface of the general tragedy. A coolie jogged -along with two huge baskets swinging from the ends of the bamboo -carrying-pole. In one were a small pig and a number of live ducks and -hens. Balancing these in the other basket were his two children. - -Some farmers, making an effort to save their livestock, drove a number -of pigs and a herd of water-buffaloes into the midst of the long line of -refugees. But frightened by the yells and execrations, pounded with -staffs and bamboo yokes, and jabbed by the knives, spears, and bayonets -of the soldiers, they stampeded along the narrow way through the midst -of the procession. The pigs, running between the feet of the weary -plodders, upset many. But the buffaloes, with their huge bulk and -enormous horns, flung them right and left and trampled some to death, -till their mad rush turned off at an angle from the road being followed. -Over all rose a continual clamour of shrill, high-pitched -voices--talking, scolding, cursing, crying, screaming hysterically. - -One old woman with white hair, hobbling painfully along with the aid of -a staff, stopped again and again, saying that she could go no farther. -Each time her son, who was laden with the most precious of his household -goods, reasoned with her, pled with and adjured her to try again. He -was backed by all the members of the family. After much shrill -altercation, she would make another attempt and struggle along a short -distance. At last she stopped, sat down by the wayside, and, in spite -of all they could do, refused to budge an inch. Her poor little bound -feet could carry her no farther. Seeing that persuasion was in vain, -the son put down his load of valuables. He looked hesitatingly from his -mother to his poor possessions, and from them back to his mother again. -Filial piety prevailed, and crouching down he lifted his mother on his -back and trudged on, leaving his chattels by the way. He had not gone a -hundred feet when there was not an article left. But there were other -old and feeble, other women and children, who had none to carry them. -They were left beside the road to live or die. - -A man dressed in a long gown of mauve silk, evidently a prosperous -merchant, was trudging along, followed closely by his wife, a couple of -young maidens, evidently daughters, and some younger children. One of -the bandits who had been enrolled as soldiers and had deserted was -hurrying past. Like a flash he snatched at a cord he saw around the -merchant's neck, jerked a bag of money from within his clothes and with -a tug which well-nigh strangled him wrenched it away. Recovering -himself a little the merchant, with a scream of anger, struck the robber -over the head with his staff. Instantly the ruffian levelled his gun -and blew out his victim's brains, in the midst of the shrieking women of -his household. Then, darting into the long grass and bamboos, he made -his escape. There was none to avenge. There were none save the weeping -women to care. Fear and the instinct of self-preservation made them all -brutes. The throng pressed blindly on, trampling the still quivering -body of the murdered man under their feet. - -There were many more women and children in the flight than men. It was -not merely because some of the men had willingly taken service against -the enemy, and others had been impressed. In many cases it was because -the husbands and fathers had fled first and left their wives and -children to fare as best they could. Love plays so small a part in -Chinese home life that there was little bond to bind husbands to wives. -A wife is purchased in much the same way as any other domestic animal. -When it came to a choice between his individual safety by unencumbered -flight and incurring some risk by waiting to save his wife, many a -Chinese husband unhesitatingly chose the former. The women of such -families had to seek safety as best they could. Great numbers of them -were among the fugitives. - -These defenceless women were the special prey of the irregular levies, -deserters, and banditti, who were everywhere searching for loot and -committing deeds of violence. Taking advantage of the crowding and -confusion caused by the passing of Sinclair's chair at a narrow part of -the road, one scoundrel snatched some jewellery from several unprotected -women, twisted bracelets from their arms, and even twitched earrings -from their bleeding ears. It was right in front of Sergeant Gorman's -chair. Then the robber sprang past the chair on the side next the -mountain in his attempt to escape. He was not quick enough. - -"Och, you dirty thavin' blackguard, take that!" - -A fist shot out of the little opening in the side of the covered chair, -and a blow like that of trip-hammer caught the Chinese on the jaw and -dashed him against the steep hillside. Then, with a spring which -knocked his forward chair-bearer off his feet, Gorman was out in the -open ready for action. - -He was none too soon. Supple as a cat, the Chinese had rolled over and, -lying on the ground, was already taking aim. But Gorman was too quick. -The rifle was dashed aside and discharged harmlessly along the mountain -slope. In another instant it was wrenched out of the hands of the -Chinese and flung across the path, down the bank into the river. Then, -gripping his adversary by the neck-band of his short blue jacket, the -Irishman, with one tremendous heave of hand and foot together, lifted -the Chinese clear of the ground and pitched him headlong after his -rifle. The last wild scream of rage and fear ended in the splash of the -falling body. The swift dark water swept it out of sight. - -"Begorra, an' ye'll not abuse definseless women anny more!" - -At the first sound of Gorman's voice mingling with the shrill clamour of -the Chinese, Sinclair had sprung from his chair with a big .44 revolver -in his hand, ready for action. He did not know what had brought on the -scrimmage. But a glance showed him that, while Gorman was quite able to -cope with the present situation, there was a possibility of serious -danger. A few long strides brought him to where the sergeant had just -flung his opponent down the bank into the river. - -The screams of terror of the women redoubled at the sight of the two -foreigners. The size of Sinclair, the fierce vigour of Gorman, the fair -complexions, the foreign dress and foreign weapons of both, brought to -mind the stories they had heard from infancy of the great, green-eyed, -red-faced, hairy barbarians who came from over the sea, who knew not the -rules of good conduct, and who, whenever they got the chance, maltreated -the sons and daughters of Han. - -Cries of "Ang-mng! Ang-mng!" (Red-heads), "Hoan-a-kui!" (Foreign -devils) rose above the inarticulate shrieks of fear. - -Sergeant Gorman was equal to the occasion. Utterly unmindful of the -wild disorder about him, he busied himself gathering up the articles of -jewellery which the thief had dropped in the struggle. Then with his -best Chinese and profound bows he returned these to the women from whom -they had been torn. - -For a moment the terrified women could not realize his meaning. When -they did, their shrill cries of "Ang-mng!" and "Hoan-a-kui!" gave place -to that of "Ho-sim! Ho-sim!" (Good heart). - -At the same time the student guide, getting an opportunity to make his -voice heard, was explaining that these were not Frenchmen, but -Englishmen, that they were friends of the missionary, Kai Bok-su, and -that they were doctors going to heal the Chinese who had been wounded in -the battle with the French. Again the cry "Ho-sim!" (Good heart) rose -from the fugitives. Only some of the rascally looters looked at them -with evil eyes and sullen faces. - -Sending their chairs back, Dr. Sinclair, Sergeant Gorman, and their -Chinese companions proceeded on foot. Before long they turned off into -a path leading in an easterly direction and soon touched the Chinese -lines. The order from the governor's deputy gained them courteous -treatment, and they were conducted to the general's headquarters at the -village of Loan-Loan. - - - - - *XI* - - *THE LIFE-HEALER IS COME* - - -Dr. MacKay had prepared the Chinese commander for their coming. Liu -Ming-chuan lost no time in meaningless formalities. He read their -passports, thanked them for coming, issued orders giving Dr. Sinclair a -free hand in dealing with the sick and wounded, and in half an hour saw -him beginning his work. - -"I am glad you have come," said MacKay. "I was sure you would." The -keen black eyes looked straight into Sinclair's blue ones. "I was sure -you would," he repeated. "You want to do good to humanity. I never saw -a time when it was more needed. God sent you here for this very time." - -"I hope that may be true," replied Sinclair. "For the present we must -get busy. Have many wounded been brought in?" - -"More than a hundred. But I believe that there are many more in the -various forts or on the open hillsides, lying where they fell. There -has been no system about collecting the wounded." - -"That will be for you to organize, sergeant--an ambulance corps." - -"Bedad, sir, an' if they'll give me the men I ask for I'll train them -till they can pick up a wounded man before he falls." - -"That's what we want, sergeant. Meanwhile, Dr. MacKay, what -accommodation can they give us? Just as we went into the governor's you -spoke of a hospital. Have you succeeded in improvising one?" - -"That's where we are going now. You can see for yourself. Here we -are." - -He turned into a narrow lane. As he did so the pungent odour of -disinfectants reached their nostrils. Another sharp turn and he stopped -at the door of a long, low, but well-built house of durable burned -brick. They had approached it from the back. On the other side two -long buildings extended from each end of the main structure, at right -angles to it, with it forming three sides of a square and enclosing a -large paved courtyard. The fourth side had been shut in by a high fence -of interwoven bamboos. But this had been cleared away. Now the -courtyard opened directly on a beautiful, swift-flowing stream, a branch -of the Tamsui River. Mountains clothed with verdure from base to summit -rose from the farther shore. A soft breeze blew up the river and, -eddying in the courtyard, modified the intense heat. A clump of -feathery bamboos nodded gracefully over the buildings. - -On the earthen floor of the houses, on the cobblestones which paved the -courtyard, on the ground outside, quicklime had been plentifully -scattered. A strong odour of carbolic told that other precautions had -been taken. - -Sinclair passed through the building with long, swift strides, his eyes -seeing everything. He paused when he reached the river bank and noted -the means provided for the disposal of sewage. Then he turned to -MacKay: - -"Had any provision been made for this before you arrived?" - -"None." - -"Had the Chinese done nothing to care for their wounded?" - -"Nothing." - -"Did their doctors help you to get this hospital in shape?" - -"No. They opposed me all they could." - -"MacKay, you're a marvel." - -"Do not praise me. You have not looked at the wounded yet. They are -suffering. You must remember that I am not a qualified medical doctor. -I am a preacher of the gospel. I know little of medicine, and almost -nothing of surgery." - -"The more wonder that you have accomplished so much!" - -"It is my work. My Master not only healed the souls of men, but -relieved the suffering of their bodies. To the best of my ability I try -to do the same." - -"You're right. That's what we're here for--to make life better for as -many as we can. There are a lot here who need our help. Let us get -busy." - -They stepped again into the main building and stood in the narrow -passage between the rows of bare trestle boards which served as beds. -Wounded men were lying there as close together as was possible and yet -leave room for a doctor to step in beside them. There was a hum of -conversation, but very little moaning, and rarely a cry of pain. The -Chinese, so noisy in their times of sorrow or of joy, so clamorous in -their excitement, are strangely silent in pain and bear suffering -stoically. - -Dr. MacKay lifted his voice so that all could hear, speaking in Chinese. - -"Friends," he said, "the physician of whom I told you has come. Listen -to him. Submit to his treatment. Do what he tells you. He will heal -you. He will give you your lives again." - -At the sound of his voice all other voices were hushed. Thin brown -forms turned painfully on the bare boards; rows of black heads were -raised from the hard bolsters; black eyes looked out of bronze or -ghastly yellow faces at the fair giant who towered above the -black-bearded missionary; from lip to lip the word passed down the -lines: - -"I-seng lai![#] I-seng lai!" (The doctor is come. Literally, the -life-healer is come.) - -[#] Pronounced, Ee-see-ung li. - -Without a word Sinclair threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and -went to work. Sergeant Gorman and one of MacKay's students went first, -preparing each case for treatment. Sinclair followed, with MacKay to -assist and interpret and another student to carry basins of water. - -[Illustration: Sinclair threw off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and -went to work] - -The wounds were nearly all caused by shells or shrapnel. There were no -clean wounds by rifle bullets. The range had been too great and the -Chinese too well protected behind their fortifications. The -mitrailleuses had accomplished little. They were noisy, terrifying, -spectacular, but ineffective. Only once had a machine gun done much -execution. A part of the fortifications on the east side of the harbour -had been rendered untenable by the heavy shell-fire. A body of Chinese -regulars were retreating to the new fort in too close formation. The -marines working a mitrailleuse in the _Villars'_ tops, found their range -perfectly and poured a stream of bullets into their midst, killing many -and threatening the whole detachment with extermination. But just at -the critical moment the quick-firer jammed, and all the oaths and -efforts of the squad could not get it into working order again until the -Chinese were under cover. - -The sights were all the more ghastly, the suffering the more intense, -the prospects of recovery the fewer because the death-dealing had been -done by shell and shrapnel. There was nothing clean-cut about their -work. A fragment of shell had shorn away a man's left shoulder, taking -with it the joint, but missing the axillary artery and part of the great -breast muscle, by which the arm still hung. - -Sinclair glanced at MacKay. The latter understood: - -"Better not have an amputation first thing. They are ignorant and -suspicious." - -"I thought so. Anyway, I do not want to take time to amputate now. -We'll dress it and amputate later." - -A shrapnel shell had exploded close to another's side. The hip, part of -the pelvis, and much of the flesh had been shredded away, exposing the -working of the organs of the abdomen. It was not good to see. From -that ghastly rent blood-poisoning had already set in. There was nothing -to be done. They made him as easy as possible on the hard boards of his -cot, administered an opiate, and left him to sleep till the last sleep -should fall upon him. - -One had been struck just above the ear, and a chip of his skull three -inches in diameter shot away, leaving his brain uncovered. - -"He will die. We'll make him comfortable in the meantime." - -A fragment had caught another on the cheek, and his lower jaw was gone. - -"Better if he would die, too. It would be a mercy to let him out easy. -But, no; if God gives him a chance, so must I. We'll patch him up." - -More to himself than to any one else, he was speaking in a low tone. -All the while the doctor's hands were busy dressing, soothing, trimming, -mending, healing those poor, shattered bodies of ignorant Asiatic -peasants, the weak atoms of humanity which a great European nation had -sent her mighty engines of death to destroy--the pitiful trophies of -glorious war. And not one of those brown or yellow men had the faintest -glimmer of an idea what the war was about, or why his poor body had been -maltreated so. The foreign devils had come to take his land and he had -been set to defend it. That was all he knew. - -Stranger still was what these other foreign devils were doing. They -were trying to heal him. One set of foreign devils by their magic had -knocked his fortifications to pieces, mangled his body, and brought him -to the verge of death. And now another set of foreign devils, by some -other magic, were patching his broken body together again and bringing -it back to life. He could not understand. - -But some way or another those last foreigners grew into his confidence. -There was something in the words of that barbarian with the long black -beard, who spoke their language more perfectly than they did themselves, -which quieted him and gave him hope. There was something about the -great, red-haired giant,[#] who did not seem to understand their -language at all and yet seemed to understand at once what his sufferings -were and how to heal them, which inspired him with confidence. It might -be magic he was using, but it must be good magic. Before him men were -writhing restlessly on their wooden beds, sometimes moaning, -occasionally uttering an agonized "ai-yah," ever and anon asking -plaintively for water or tea. Behind him they lay back peacefully and, -with few exceptions, went to sleep. - - -[#] The Chinese do not distinguish between the different shades of fair -hair. All that is not jet black, is called red. - - -So all down the rows of improvised cots heads were raised, yellow or -brown faces were turned, and black eyes, some anxious, some curious, -still more wistful, watched every movement of the foreign doctor. His -size, the massive head with its crown of wavy, fair hair, his huge -shoulders, his bare arms, powerful and white beside their skinny brown -ones, all were noted. Why did he wash his hands so often? It was a part -of his magic. What was he going to do with that knife? Was he going to -cut the man's heart out? No, he used it on one farther down, and now the -man was sitting up drinking tea. So they watched, and so confidence -grew. And at every movement the doctor made from cot to cot, the word -"I-seng lai" (the life-healer is coming) was passed from one to another -of the patients. - -The sun had sunk behind the hills and night was coming on. Smoky -Chinese lamps and one good lantern belonging to MacKay were lighted. -Still Sinclair worked on. - -"You had better stop long enough to get something to eat," said MacKay. - -"Thank you, MacKay; but I haven't time just now. Minutes mean lives to -some of these men." - -"Well, you must take a cup of tea. The boy will bring some to you -here." - -"Very well." - -Standing at the foot of a cot studying a case, he hastily gulped down -several tiny native cups of tea, without either sugar or milk. Then he -was at work again. - -The night was wearing on--the dark, close, hot night, with a temperature -only a couple of degrees cooler than in the middle of the day. Still he -worked swiftly, certainly, almost silently. What a transformation from -the evening before, at the consul's dinner party! The lazy grace of the -big, powerful frame, which had caught the consul's eye, was gone. Every -line of the body, every play of muscles spoke of intense, forceful -energy, and yet energy which was under perfect control. The physical -strength which enabled him to lift a man like a child in his hands, or -draw with apparent ease a dislocated hip-joint back into its place--the -same self-controlled strength made his touch in another case as light as -that of a delicate woman. The look of good-humoured interest with which -he had studied the characteristics of his fellow-guests, or bandied -repartee with Miss MacAllister, or amused the company with his songs, -was gone. It was still a kindly face, a face which inspired confidence -in even those ignorant Chinese soldiers over whom he bent. But no one -who looked into that face would lightly trifle with the man in his -present mood. - -Every one present felt it. MacKay, something of an autocrat in his own -sphere, read the face of the man beside him and never, except at his -command to interpret for him or to give desired assistance, offered a -suggestion. A group of Chinese officers came in, manifesting their -usual supercilious air towards foreigners. Talking loudly and pushing -inquisitively forward, they got in Sinclair's way. - -"Tell these fellows to shut their mouths and keep out of my road." - -MacKay interpreted it, more courteously perhaps, but forcibly. It was -in silence and at a respectful distance that the Chinese officers -continued to look on. Presently some more came in, louder spoken and -more inquisitive than the first. - -"Tell that last bunch to get out. The rest can stay if they want. Tell -their senior officer to set a guard. I'll have no more in here except -on business." - -It was done. - -The night wore on. Some of the hopeless cases found relief in death. -From time to time others were brought in to take their places. Some of -these had now been nearly forty-eight hours since being wounded, lying -out in the long grass and brushwood of the hillsides or crawling slowly, -painfully towards safety. Worse still, some had been through the hands -of native quack doctors. - -The brief, grey dawn, followed by the swift sunrise, took the place of -the night. Still Sinclair worked on, for still the pleading, wistful -eyes of suffering men were watching his movements and still he heard -them say in words whose meaning he had come to understand: - -"I-seng lai" (The life-healer comes). - -As he straightened himself after bending over a patient, Sergeant Gorman -saluted him: - -"Excuse me, sir; but a bad case has just come in. If I am not mistaken, -it is more in need of immediate treatment than any of the others I have -seen." - -The jocular manner, the excessive brogue, the constant tendency to bulls -and repetitions had dropped from Sergeant Gorman like a cloak. His -manner was serious; his accent hardly noticeable; his bearing that of a -thoroughly capable and efficient officer on important duty. - -"What is the injury, sergeant?" - -"A hand shot off at the wrist. The poor devil tied a cord around it to -stop the blood. Been that way for two days without dressing. It's -badly swollen, gangrened, and fly-blown." - -"Very well, sergeant. I guess we'll have to amputate at once. Where is -the patient?" - -"In the operating tent." - -Swiftly, surely the work was done, and the man carried back to a cot of -boards in the improvised hospital. - -Sinclair was turning back to the wards to attend to other cases when an -exclamation from MacKay arrested him: - -"Lee Ban! Is it possible?" - -A sampan had come down with the current and run its bow ashore at the -hospital. A man was lifted out and deposited on the bank, up which he -crawled painfully on hands and knees. His face was drawn and ghastly -with suffering. His clothing, which had once been rich, was torn to -ribbons. - -It was Lee Ban, one of the wealthiest merchants of Keelung. He had sent -his family away to safety earlier, but had to stay himself till the day -of the bombardment. When escaping from the town a shell had exploded -near his chair. A fragment had passed through the bottom of it, at the -same time shearing away the entire calf from one of his legs. He had -paid the chair-bearers generously. But they fled for their lives and -left him where he lay. He had the name of being the most charitable -citizen of Keelung, and he saw many a one that day whom he had helped -with his means. But they rushed past him, utterly unheeding. War had -kindled in them the primal instinct of self-preservation, and had -subordinated every human feeling to brute fear. - -He bound his leg as best he could and started to crawl towards safety. -All day he crept on hands and knees, and through the night until he lay -exhausted and unconscious. In the morning he bribed some soldiers who -were searching for wounded to carry him to the camp. They took him to a -native doctor, who plastered the great open wound with a mixture of mud -and cow-dung. Then he heard that Kai Bok-su was here, and the foreign -doctor. He had himself brought to them. - -While he told his story in Chinese to MacKay, Sergeant Gorman and his -helpers had carried him to a cot and were unbandaging the leg for the -doctor's inspection. - -"For the love of heaven!" - -The great, gaping wound, extending from the knee to the ankle, was alive -with maggots. - -This also is one of the glories of war. - - - - - *XII* - - *MATUTINAL CONFIDENCES* - - -Eight o'clock on the morning Dr. Sinclair left Tamsui for the front -found the consul in the breakfast room. Clean-shaven, dressed in -spotless white, he looked as cool and fresh, and was as prompt to the -minute, as if he had enjoyed a perfect night's rest. A moment or two -later Mrs. Beauchamp entered. - -"Good-morning, Harry. I am afraid that I have disgraced myself by being -late," she said with a little mock anxiety. - -"Not at all, my dear. My wife is never late. I think my watch is a few -seconds fast." - -"Thank you, Harry. You always find an excuse for me." - -"Oh, no! it is not that," replied her husband, as if ashamed that he -should allow any partiality to cause him to swerve from his rigid rule -of punctuality. "Really, I am a little ahead of time. I'm deuced hungry -this morning. I could hardly wait for Ah Soon to get breakfast ready." - -"What time did you come to bed last night? I believe that I did not -hear you at all." - -"You certainly did not. You were sleeping so soundly that the French -might have bombarded Tamsui and come ashore and carried you off without -you waking." - -"Oh, Harry! I think that's real mean of you. You know perfectly that I -know your step and movements so well, that I sleep just as soundly when -you are moving about as when there is absolute silence. But any other -person's step would waken me at once." - -"You're right there. I do not believe that you heard me this morning, -either." - -"No, I did not. What time did you rise? I think it is not a bit fair -of you to steal out of bed like that without awaking me. And then to -wait down here with your watch in your hand to catch me ten seconds -late! I do not like that. I have a mind to get offended." - -"Hold! This is getting tragic. - - 'You've ungently, Brutus, - Stole from my bed . . . . . . . . - You stared upon me with ungentle looks. - . . . . . . then you scratch'd your head, - And too impatiently stamped with your foot.' - -Let's change the subject. May I have another cup of coffee?" - -"What an anti-climax! From high tragedy to hot coffee! How shocking!" - -"Where is Constance?" - -"I fancy that she is sleeping yet." - -"Was she not put to bed at her usual time?" - -"Yes. But the amah says that, once the singing began, she wakened up -and insisted on getting out where she could hear it better. She was out -on the upper verandah all the time. So she didn't waken as early as -usual. But she'll be down soon." - -"She should have been made stay in bed." - -"Oh, well! we cannot tie her down too hard and fast. She dearly loves -singing, and she has taken a most extraordinary fancy to Dr. Sinclair." - -"I do not mind how much fancy she may take to Sinclair. But there are -some of the others who were here last night whom I do not want her to -meet any more than she must. By the way, Sinclair is off to the war." - -"Off to the war! What to do?" - -"To give his services as a doctor to the Chinese and to try to organize -a Red Cross corps for them." - -"How interesting! But is it not very dangerous for a foreigner to -venture among the Chinese just now? Especially one who is a stranger -and does not know the language?" - -"It is a little. But Dr. MacKay is over there at present. I also let -Sergeant Gorman go with Sinclair. Each is an expert in his own line. -They are all pretty shrewd. I do not think that they are likely to get -into trouble. Gardenier is lending me a man to take Gorman's place." - -"When did they leave?" - -"By the first launch this morning." - -A light was dawning on Mrs. Beauchamp's mind: - -"There was no mention of this at dinner last evening. When did Dr. -Sinclair decide to go?" - -"Just after he bade you good-night. He got a letter from MacKay, asking -him to go, and decided at once." - -"And all the arrangements had to be made, passports and everything else -drawn up between then and the first launch this morning." - -The consul's eyes were dancing and his face was a study: - -"It had to be done." - -"You base deceiver! After all your talk about my sleeping so soundly, -you were never in bed at all." - -The consul laid back his head and laughed till even the grave, -slant-eyed Celestial waiter hurried into the room to see if there was -need of assistance. - -"You missed me a whole lot, didn't you, Gwen?" - -"I do not want to talk to you." - -"Oh, yes, you do! We'll change the subject again." - -"You needn't. I shall not talk." - -"Yes, you will. How ever did Miss MacAllister get such a spite at -Sinclair as she showed last evening?" - -"Spite!" (with immense contempt). "Spite!" (still more contemptuously). - -"Well, I do not know what else you would call it. She made game of him -and bally-ragged him at every turn. If he hadn't been so well able to -take care of himself, I should have had to interfere and protect him, -since he was our guest." - -"And you think that it was because she had a spite at him? It's a lot a -man, even a married man, knows about the ways of a woman." - -"I'll acknowledge it, Gwen. 'There be three things which are too -wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not,' and the most wonderful of -the four are the ways of a maid with a man." He took the chance that -she would not notice the inversion; and she did not. "Solomon was much -more married than I am, and he did not understand the ways of a woman, -Gwen. It's not fair to expect it of me." - -She did not know whether to laugh or not. It was hard to resist the -serio-comic, mock-penitent expression on his face. She felt like -punishing him by breaking off the conversation. But the subject was too -interesting to drop. That was what he had counted on, and he judged -wisely. - -"I should have thought that a man who had been married nearly a dozen -years, and who had such a wide ante-nuptial experience, ought to be able -to recognize the symptoms when a woman is falling in love." - -"Do you mean to say that the way Miss MacAllister treated Sinclair last -evening is a symptom that she is falling in love with him?" - -"I do." - -"It looks more to me like cruelty to animals." - -"She'll make up for the cruelty afterwards." - -"Or falling in love with the other fellow." - -"Well, it isn't." - -"But you didn't act like that with me." - -"You silly." - -"Serious! I mean it." - -"You caught me before I was old enough to know any better. I was -hopelessly gone before I knew what was the matter with me." - -"Are you sorry?" - -"No, Harry; you know that I'm not." - -Their hands touched for a moment across the corner of the little -breakfast table. Their eyes looked at each other as they had looked in -the days when he, the young student interpreter, who had just got his -first step in the service and was home on his first furlough, with all -the romance about him of having lived in the Far East amidst far, -strange peoples, won the love of the young girl, fresh out of a -boarding-school. A flush suffused her delicate face, making it look -very youthful and beautiful. - -It was in a gentle tone that the husband continued: - -"You really think that this is what is the matter with Miss MacAllister, -that she is in danger of losing her heart to the big Canadian doctor?" - -"Yes, I do. She told me that they had a bit of a tiff coming over on -the _Hailoong_, and that she sauced him shamefully. But he got back at -her before they left the boat, and now she wants to get even. She knows -that there is something wrong with her, and has a suspicion what it is. -That is what makes her so hard on him. She doesn't want to give in." - -"A case of playing with fire?" - -"Yes, I fancy it is." - -"Well, it may be only a passing flirtation, quite harmless to all -concerned. But if it is anything more, and she has a notion of turning -this Asiatic trip of hers into a matrimonial venture, by Jove! I -believe that big doctor, with all his notions about being a missionary, -is the best investment she could make in these parts." - -"Her mother doesn't think so." - -"What has she in view?" - -"A title." - -"What! Carteret?" - -"Yes." - -"The thundering old fool!" - -"Oh, Harry!" - -"I mean it. If you weren't here, Gwen, I'd swear. It's always the way -with those tradespeople who have started as peasants or domestics and -made money. They would sell themselves or their daughters to the devil -for a title. If Beelzebub, the prince of the devils, came along they -would marry a daughter to him, so as to be able to speak of her as Her -Royal Highness the Princess of the Devils." - -"Oh, Harry, stop! You mustn't say that. Surely Mr. Carteret is not so -bad as that." - -"He's not far short of it." - -"You never told me that." - -"There are a lot of things I don't tell you. They wouldn't be pleasant -for you to hear, nor for me to tell. And, anyway, in this little -hole-in-the-corner of the world you have to associate with all those -fellows more or less. It's easier for you if you do not know too much -about them." - -"But the men here are not all bad, are they?" - -"Oh, no! No! I wouldn't have you think that. Some of them, I think -most of them, are as good as you could get at home. But there are -others. And Carteret is one of the others." - -"Mrs. MacAllister does not know that." - -"Perhaps not. But she has seen enough of the world to know the -difference between a man like Sinclair and one like Carteret." - -"I am afraid that it is the title. She told me that his father, the -present lord, is an old man and cannot live long; and that his older -brother, the present heir, is dying of consumption--as she expressed it, -'has only one lung.' So she thinks that Carteret is sure to succeed to -the title soon." - -"Yes; and in the meantime the two brothers love each other so that the -heir will not hear of this prospective supplanter being nearer to him -than China is to England. Esau and Jacob! And Mrs. MacAllister would -give her daughter to that scavenger, and the MacAllister money to fix up -the Carteret estates, just to have a title in the family! Gwen, I want -to swear." - -"Oh, Harry, you are shocking!" - -"Can't help it, Gwen. I must swear." - -"Well, Harry, if it will save you from injury----" - -"It's damnable! ... Thanks, awfully, Gwen. I feel some better now." - -"I hope that you'll not have another attack for some time." - -"Then we'll have to talk about something else." - -"What a marvellously versatile entertainer Dr. Sinclair is! I think -that he is quite a wonder." - -"What is better, he has both brains and gumption. He was as keen on -getting to the front as a hound on a scent. But, unlike most hounds, he -didn't give tongue. He said nothing. Just went, and that at once." - -"I was afraid that it would come to a passage at arms between him and -Carteret? Did you ever hear so much insult put into the tone of voice -as Carteret did last evening?" - -"It will be a bad day for Carteret when he pushes Sinclair too far. -Most men from Sinclair's country don't take much stock in titles. They -would pull a peer's nose just as soon as a peasant's. That's the kind -of Sinclair.... Hallo, Puss, what time is this to be getting down to -breakfast?" - -"Good-morning, daddy. This is a lovely time to be getting down, much -nicer than eight o'clock. Good-morning, mother. Have you been up long?" - -"Long enough to have my breakfast eaten. I hear you were a bad girl -last evening, Constance--that you didn't stay in bed or go to sleep till -all hours." - -But Constance--a tall, straight child of nine, with step as light and -graceful as that of a fawn, and a wealth of dark-brown curls framing her -clear-cut features and frank eyes--did not seem to be very penitent: - -"Oh, mother, it was just lovely to hear the singing. I could have -listened to you, and daddy, and Miss MacAllister, and Dr. Sinclair all -night." - -"Wise child!" remarked her father, somewhat grimly. "She knows the -proper selection to make and whom to put first." - -"There were others singing, Constance, besides the ones you mentioned," -said her mother. - -"Oh, yes; I know. I did not recognize some of the voices. But I knew -Mr. Carteret's and Mr. De Vaux's." - -"Mr. Carteret is a fine singer." - -"Yes, I suppose. But I didn't like the way he sang. He put such a funny -tone in his voice. He kind of---- Oh, I don't know how to describe it. -It sounded like the way Carlo used to howl after daddy sent Fan over to -Amoy." - -"Good heavens!" - -"And Mr. De Vaux's voice was just like my singing doll after I burst the -bellows in her. She could give only one squeak, and then had to wait -till I put some more wind into her before she could give another." - -"That'll do, Constance; we've had enough of your opinions on singing. -Get busy with your breakfast or you'll get none." - -"All right, daddy." - -"Boy! You tell coolie boys to roll the lawn. Tennis this afternoon. -Can savey?" - -"All lite! All lite! My can savey. Loll lawn. A-paw phah-kiu" -(Afternoon strike-ball). - -"Oh, goody! Dr. Sinclair will be here." - -"No, Constance; Dr. Sinclair will not be here." - -"Why, mother?" - -"He has gone away over to Keelung to care for the sick and wounded after -the battle." - -"Oh, mother!" The finely-curved lips trembled A big tear stole out of -each eye. - -"Mother, do you think that he might get killed?" - -"No, Connie. I do not think that he is in any danger." - -The big tears rolled down the cheeks and dropped. - -"Mother, will he come back?" - -"Yes, I think that he may come back in a little while." - -"I'm so glad!" - -"By Jove! I'll have to watch that Sinclair. He makes conquests of both -old and young." - - - - - *XIII* - - *MORE CONFIDENCES* - - -In the building at the foot of the hill, near the shore, occupied by -MacAllister, Munro Co. partly as a warehouse and partly as a residence -for the company's European employees, another matrimonial _tete-a-tete_ -was taking place. De Vaux and his two or three assistants, the -representatives of the big London firm in North Formosa, had found -temporary quarters in the buildings of the customs' compound or with the -staffs of other firms. Mr. and Mrs. MacAllister and their daughter, -with the native servants, had the living-rooms of the big hong to -themselves. - -It was little more than seven o'clock, an extraordinary hour for rising -the morning after a late dinner. But, with characteristic regularity of -habits, Mr. MacAllister was already up and shaving. As was fitting at -such an hour, he was clothed only in pyjamas and slippers. But even -those shapeless garments were worn with an attention to neatness quite -lacking in most men whom a score and a half of years of married life -have made entirely indifferent to personal appearance in the intimacy of -the bed-chamber. He had even taken the trouble to brush his hair, at -least what was left of it--another extraordinary proceeding on the part -of a man who was likely to be seen by no person but his wife. - -The shaving process was nearly done. He was carefully feeling the hard -spots on each side of his chin to see if any offending hairs had escaped -the relentless sweep of the razor and still projected within its range. - -"Hector, you are a most extraordinary man." - -The voice came from within the canopy of the mosquito curtains draped -around the high-posted iron bed which occupied the centre of the room. - -"Good-morning, my dear! Is it only now that you have found that out?" - -"You are a most extraordinary man." - -"What new marvel have you found in me, my dear?" - -"To think that there is only about one hour of the twenty-four in this -disgusting climate in which one can sleep comfortably and you would not -allow me to have that, but must get up and disturb me by shaving." - -"I am exceedingly sorry if I have disturbed you, my dear. But every -time I wakened during the night you were sleeping very peacefully, -and----" - -"Not a bit of it! I have not slept at all." - -"And when I got up you were not only sleeping, but snoring gently, -and----" - -"That's all nonsense! I've been wide-awake all night." - -"And, although I have been about for nearly an hour, you continued to -snore very gently until a moment before you spoke, and----" - -"Hector, I'm astonished at you! You know perfectly well that I never -sleep in hot weather. I do not understand why you ever chose to come to -such a country as this in the summer." - -"And now you are looking thoroughly refreshed and fit for anything, -and----" - -"I'm more tired than when I went to bed." - -"And when you have your bath, and comb your hair, and are dressed, you -will be as fresh and beautiful as you were when I brought you to London -from the Highlands thirty years ago." - -"Hector, it iss flattering me you would be." - -She was sitting up now under the canopy of mosquito curtains. If an -outsider could have looked in, he would probably have agreed that her -husband was flattering shamefully. Unlike him, neatness in private was -not one of her virtues. Her hair, black and luxuriant as in her -girlhood, was tossed and tousled. The flesh, which had grown upon her -with years, ungirt and unrestrained, flowed shapelessly with every -movement. - -But her face was still fresh in colour and comely in form. A little -care about her appearance in the privacies of life would have made her -perennially attractive to him, as attractive as when he had taken her as -a bride. Perhaps at the moment she felt this. At any rate, the words -of compliment and admiration were as sweet to the ears of the -middle-aged woman as they had been to the young girl of thirty years -before. Her little irritation about the disturbed slumbers and his -chaffing manner passed like a summer cloud. Unconsciously she fell back -into the accent of her girlhood when she said: - -"Hector, it iss flattering me you would be." - -He dressed with as much care of his personal appearance as if he were in -London. Then he went out for a walk along the shore, pausing under the -shade of some great banian trees to enjoy the magnificent scenery. -Presently he returned to the room where his wife was now almost ready -for breakfast. - -"Our friends on board the _Hailoong_ and the _Locust_ are all up and -active. But there is no stir anywhere else except among the Chinese. -Neither De Vaux nor any of his staff have put in an appearance." - -"They have fallen into the ways of this climate," replied his wife, "and -sleep when it is possible to enjoy sleep." - -"I am afraid De Vaux will not be in condition to do much to-day. He -drank heavily last evening. He has been in our employ a long time, and -as a rule has done very well. But I wish that he drank less." - -"You must remember, Hector, the class to which Mr. De Vaux belongs. He -is of noble family." - -"All the more reason why he should keep control of himself. I was -ashamed of him last night." - -"But, Hector, people of rank all drink. You must not forget that Mr. De -Vaux is a man of birth." - -"Probably he was born some time, my dear. But from all accounts there -does not seem to be much reason to be proud of the manner of it." - -"Now, Hector, you ought to make allowance for the nobility. They have -privileges which common people have not." - -"They certainly seem to take them." - -"That's not fair to people of rank, Hector. They have always been -accustomed to do these things. Now with Dr. Sinclair, for example, it -is quite different. He belongs to the common people and never had the -chance to be anything else but respectable. But Mr. De Vaux and Mr. -Carteret are men of quality. You couldn't expect them to be -teetotallers and--and----" - -"Decent," supplied her husband. - -"Oh, I didn't mean just that." - -"But that's about the fact," persisted Mr. MacAllister. - -"No; I never heard anything against them. Mr. De Vaux has lived out -here a long time. He may have fallen into the ways of the East. But I -think that Mr. Carteret is a perfect gentleman." - -Her husband looked at her keenly. - -"He seemed to be willing to pay a good deal of attention to Jessie last -evening." - -"Yes," she replied, without returning his gaze. "He appears to be very -much attracted by her." - -"Was she attracted to him in return?" - -"Why shouldn't she be? He is a handsome and most accomplished young -man, and has the best prospects of succeeding to the title and estates." - -"He is a younger son." - -"Yes; but the heir has only one lung." - -Her husband gave a short laugh. - -"I have known one-lungers to live a long time," he said. "You mentioned -Dr. Sinclair a moment ago. Whatever offence did Jessie take at him -which led her to treat him so disagreeably?" - -Mrs. MacAllister had just finished dressing and arranging her hair, and -was taking a last look at herself in the mirror. She closed her lips -tightly, threw back her head, and gave a little sniff: - -"So you think she was offended at him," she said. - -"What else could make her act the way she did last evening?" - -"I wish that I could believe that you are right. But I am afraid that -you are not." - -"What do you mean?" - -"I do not believe that she was a bit offended." - -"Well, if she wasn't, I cannot see what possessed her to act so badly. -She did everything she could to make him uncomfortable. I feel as if I -ought to make some explanation of her conduct or offer some apology." - -There was another sniff as she answered tartly: - -"It would be wiser not to." - -"But her behaviour was inexcusable and must have seemed so to Dr. -Sinclair." - -"All the better if it should remain so." - -"Why?" - -She made no answer. - -"It seems to me," he continued, "that both you and she are inexplicable -sometimes." - -"That is because you have the usual stupidity of a man about everything -in which women are concerned." - - - - - *XIV* - - *THE APPEAL OF THE HEROIC* - - -"Is Jessie ready for breakfast?" - -"Yes, she was ready before we were. She is on the verandah." - -"I think we had better sit down. There is no use waiting any longer for -De Vaux. I am afraid that he is not in a condition to appear. You had -better call Jessie." - -At that moment the tall, graceful figure of their daughter appeared in -the bright light of the verandah, was framed for an instant in the -doorway, and then came in, seeming to bring a wealth of light and -brightness into the somewhat gloomy apartment where they were to -breakfast. What a picture she made! The rich rose of her cheeks, the -masses of her brown hair, the deep violet eyes were brought into sharp -contrast with the white of her tropic attire. - -Her father's eyes rested on her proudly, but fondly. Her mother too was -proud of her rare young beauty, as it seemed to irradiate the room and -drive away the shadows. But her pride in her daughter was different -from the father's. Mr. MacAllister thought of her only as their -daughter--beautiful, winsome, teasing sometimes, but so true in her love -and dutifulness that she had never really caused an anxious thought. He -loved her for her own sake, and hers alone. He felt a twinge of pain -every time the thought entered his mind that the day would come when she -would be separated from them. Mrs. MacAllister thought of her as -possessed not only of grace and beauty, but of that culture and social -training which she herself so sadly lacked. She thought of her as -qualified to be a queen in the world of society; dreamed of the day when -she should bear a great, old family name, perhaps that of a noble house, -and should shed a reflected glory on the MacAllisters, who had acquired -wealth and luxury, but could not contrive a history. Hers was a love of -ambition. - -Was the attitude of the daughter towards her father and mother an -instinctive though perhaps unconscious response to the differing -attitudes of her parents to her? - -"Good-morning, father! Good-morning, mother!" - -The conventional phrases were identical in form. But there was a world -of difference in the accent. She kissed her mother somewhat -perfunctorily. But she threw her arms around her father's neck, kissed -him tenderly, and laid her proud head with its wealth of hair for a -moment on his shoulder. Then she lifted it and asked very demurely: - -"Is not Mr. De Vaux to breakfast with us this morning?" - -"He promised to do so. But it is already nearly half an hour past the -time we appointed." - -"Perhaps he is still being 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.'" - -"Whist, Jessie, lass! You mustn't make fun of people's weakness." - -"Father, why do men, when they find themselves getting drunk, take -another glass of whiskey and soda, 'just to straighten up'? It seems to -me that every glass of it they take makes them sillier and more stupid -than they were before." - -"Why do you ask me, Jessie? You know that I am almost a teetotaller. -You should answer that question yourself. You were championing the -cause of drinking last evening against Dr. Sinclair." - -"Now, father, that's not fair." A slight flush appeared on her neck and -flowed upwards, deepening the rich colour of her face. "You know that I -didn't mean that, especially when there were men around me drinking -themselves into imbecility." - -"Then, why did you say it?" - -Her father's eyes, kindly but keen, were searching her face. She felt a -fresh wave of hot blood mounting upwards: - -"Oh, I don't know! You ought to have learned by this time that a woman -cannot always give reasons even to herself why she does things." - -"Well, whatever you did it for, you succeeded in making Dr. Sinclair -very uncomfortable for a while." - -"He deserves to be made uncomfortable," she flashed back. "He makes -other people feel very uncomfortable sometimes." - -She glanced at her mother. Mrs. MacAllister's lips were tightly closed. -Her nose was elevated a bit. She was about to sniff at something. She -had not time. A high-pitched voice was heard outside: - -"Get out of my way, boy. Bless my soul! Chop-chop! You are most -exasperating." - -A heavy footstep sounded on the stairway leading to the second story, -where the living-rooms were. There were short gasps of laboured -breathing, and De Vaux burst into the room, peering blindly in the -semi-darkness after the brilliant sunshine without. - -"Good-morning, Mr. De Vaux. You are just in time to join us at -breakfast. We thought something had occurred to detain you. But we -have just this moment sat down. Pardon us for not waiting on you. We -are delighted that you are able to be with us." - -Mrs. MacAllister was kind, almost effusive, in her welcome. But De Vaux -could find no words to excuse his delinquency: - -"Mrs. MacAllister! ... I have disgraced myself.... 'Pon my soul! ... -Mr. MacAllister! ... This never happened to me before.... 'Pon my -honour, as a gentleman! ... I'm ashamed of myself.... Miss MacAllister! -... To think that I was to have the honour of having breakfast with -you--and--I was late! ... Bless my soul! ... I do not know what to think -of myself." - -The head of the firm was gravely considerate and courteous towards the -firm's agent, whose weakness he had noted the evening before. - -"Accidents will happen sometimes, Mr. De Vaux. Allow me to assure you -that you have caused us no inconvenience this morning. Will you not be -seated and have breakfast with us?" - -With some difficulty the stream of De Vaux's apologies and the -succession of his bows were interrupted, and he was induced to be -seated. But his face was purple and his eyes were bulging and -bloodshot. Miss MacAllister could not resist the temptation. - -"Mr. De Vaux," she said, "I am afraid that you have hurried too much in -the heat. The blood has rushed to your head. I am really concerned -lest you should have an attack of apoplexy. I have always been so -afraid of apoplexy since our old butler died of an attack after -celebrating patriotically but unwisely the bombardment of Alexandria. -Will you not allow me to order a cold soda for you? Boy, one piecee -soda, ice cold!" - -"All lite! All lite! One piecee ise col' soda!" - -What more she might have said remains unknown, for a warning look and a -shake of the head from her farther prevented her pursuing her victim any -farther. As it was, De Vaux was in a state of gurgling, stuttering -impotence: - -"Bless my soul! ... Miss MacAllister! ... Who else would have thought of -it? ... Lord! ... Miss MacAllister! ... You have the kindness of an -angel.... 'Pon my soul, you have! ... I assure you that I am quite -well.... Nothing the matter with me.... Except that I sat up a little -late with Carteret.... Talked over the delightful evening we had.... -Nothing else, I assure you.... 'Pon my honour!" - -"And how is Mr. Carteret this morning?" inquired Mrs. MacAllister -solicitously. "I hope that he is very well." - -"My dear Mrs. MacAllister, make your mind easy about that. He is -sleeping quite naturally and soundly.... 'Pon my word of honour, he is! -... The commissioner tried to waken him to go to the office.... But he -couldn't.... Not even with a bucket of water.... 'Pon my soul, that's -the truth! I never saw a man sleep so soundly.... But he will be all -right by this afternoon. He will waken up for tennis.... He's our -best tennis player.... Bless my soul! There's no danger of his missing -the tennis." - -Miss MacAllister had tried to control herself through this expose. But -by the time De Vaux had finished the merry peal of laughter rang out -without restraint. Her mother looked annoyed and mortified. Her father, -scarcely able to conceal a smile, was diplomatically trying to lead De -Vaux to some other subject. - -"Did you chance to hear any more news of how the day went at Keelung, -Mr. De Vaux?" he asked. "Have any reports come in from the Chinese -side?" - -"Bless my soul! ... How did I forget to tell you? ... I met Captain -Whiteley as I came down.... Mrs. MacAllister, that is one of the -reasons why I was late.... 'Pon my word! I was so upset and ashamed of -myself that I could not present my apologies.... I beg your pardon, Mr. -MacAllister.... Captain Whiteley told me that Dr. Sinclair was off to -the front this morning before daybreak.... By----! ... 'Pon my soul, I -mean, I was never so surprised in my life." - -"Dr. Sinclair! Off to the front!" Mr. and Mrs. MacAllister spoke -together. - -"Yes," replied De Vaux. "He has gone to serve as a doctor with the -Chinese army.... Never heard of a man taking such risk.... It's sheer -suicide.... By----! ... 'Pon my soul, it is!" - -Mrs. MacAllister glanced at her daughter, and her husband's eyes -followed. Miss MacAllister was sitting up very erect and looking -straight at De Vaux. Her lips were parted. Her face had paled a little. -But her eyes were dark and glowing. - -"Did any one go with him?" she asked abruptly. - -"I believe that Sergeant Gorman, the constable at the consulate----" - -"I mean did any of the gentlemen go? Any of the gentlemen we met at the -consulate last evening?" - -"Why! Bless my soul! No! ... Not that I know of!" stuttered De Vaux. - -"I wish that I were a man," she flashed back. "I would not see one man -go out to a dangerous duty alone." - -"But--but, my dear Miss MacAllister," blurted out De Vaux. "We did not -know that he was going.... 'Pon my honour as a gentleman, we did not! -... He left before we were awake." - -"That's one advantage of being a teetotaller," was the quick reply. - -Mrs. MacAllister elevated her nose and gave her characteristic sniff: - -"I think that Dr. Sinclair is simply foolhardy. It is perfectly absurd -for a man to risk his life for the sake of those dirty Chinese. I do -not know how any one can bear to live among them, let alone having to -touch them." (De Vaux got very red.) "And as for going into a whole -army of them to heal their wounds, it's simply Quixotic" (she pronounced -it Kwy-so-tic), "that's all it is; Quixotic." - -De Vaux winced at the pronunciation--perhaps also at the sentiment. He -began to gurgle unintelligibly. As usual, Mr. MacAllister came to the -rescue. - -"It was with the hope of getting an opportunity to do medical work among -these people that Dr. Sinclair came to this country. I should think -that the present situation offers him an admirable opening. A physician -or surgeon who is really in love with his work does not stop to consider -whether his patients are attractive or not. His one thought is to heal -them." - -"It is all very good to talk about sacrificing oneself to do good," -replied his wife tartly. "And when I am at home I just love to hear -missionary sermons, and sometimes to attend women's missionary meetings. -But to come out here and live among those natives and think you can make -them any better and get them to know anything about the religion which -educated, intelligent white people believe in, is sheer foolishness. I -am very much disappointed in Dr. Sinclair. It is nothing but -foolishness." - -"I think that it is just splendid to do something like that," said her -daughter. "Just think of it, to be over there where hundreds of men are -being brought in wounded and to be the only one who can do anything for -them! And to have those poor creatures wonder at the cures! Why wasn't -I a man?" - -"Yes, and have one of the dear, grateful creatures stick a knife into -you when your back is turned," said her mother sarcastically. - -But her daughter paid no attention to the interruption: - -"Mr. De Vaux, do you know the country over there, around Keelung, where -the fighting is going on? Of course you do. Won't you tell us all -about it?" - -So through the remainder of the breakfast she plied De Vaux with -questions, and brought out the fact that he had really a remarkable -store of knowledge about the island and its inhabitants. And all the -while the father looked on, and occasionally thought of her conduct the -evening before, and wondered. But her mother looked unutterable things, -ever and anon interjected an acid remark, which served as pickles to the -bill of fare, and frequently sniffed. - - - - - *XV* - - *THE LURE OF THE EAST* - - -Mountain and river, land and sea slept that afternoon in the wealth of -sunshine which flooded the earth. A scarcely perceptible sea-breeze -ever and anon caused the lighter foliage to tremble. The great fronds -of the palm trees hung absolutely motionless, the air quivered in the -heat. Millions of cicadas shrilled in the trees and shrubbery. In some -way or another their ceaseless quavering, shrilling notes seemed to fit -in with the quivering wavelets of atmosphere, until one came to look -upon them as cause and effect and inseparably associated. That tremulous -atmosphere would not be complete without those quavering notes. The -notes would not be complete without the atmosphere. - -The native birds were all silent. Only the English sparrows seemed -utterly indifferent to the heat. They fluttered and chirped and fought -just as cheerfully as they would have done in the soft climate of their -native England or amid the Arctic frosts of a Western Canadian January. - -Human life was almost as quiescent as that of the birds. Down by the -water-front of the town a number of junks were hastily loading in order -to put to sea with the late afternoon tide. Around the _Hailoong_ a -little fleet of cargo boats clustered, busily discharging their lading -into her hold. McLeod had evidently been successful in his trip -up-river. On the downs back of the consulate and the mission buildings -Chinese soldiers were mounting cannon of many ages and designs on their -earthworks. - -These were the only signs of activity. The soldiers and cannon were the -only indications of war. A great quiet rested over the beautiful -landscape, a peace as cloudless as that summer sky. - -Clang-clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang! Clang-clang! Eight bells! -Four o'clock! The brazen notes rang out from the _Hailoong_. Like an -echo they were answered, only in silver tones as soft and sweet as those -of a cathedral chime. Involuntarily one looked around for the -church-spire and waited to hear the hymn tune come floating on the air. -But there was no church, and there was no holy hymn. It was the bell of -the trim little gunboat, _Locust_, resting out there on the bosom of the -river striking the hour of four. - -A group of white-clad figures appeared on the bright green of the -consulate lawn. Other figures clad in white, men and women, were moving -in ones and twos along the narrow road on the top of the hill or through -the shrubbery of the consul's garden to join them. It might be a tropic -land and a day of tropic sunshine. The natives of that land, all save -those who were compelled to work, might be seeking shelter from the sun -and waiting for the cool of the evening before again exposing themselves -to its rays. But, like the sparrows from his home land, the Englishman -could not rest. The sun had no terrors for him. If he had no work to -do, he would have sport. The whole English-speaking population who -could get away from their duties, whether residents or transients, were -assembling for the afternoon game of tennis. - -Yet they were not foolhardy in their exposure to the sun. They took -precautions. Indeed, the striking thing about their sport was the -trouble they had taken to make it comfortable and enjoyable. - -The lawn, if it could not boast the carpet of green velvet which -characterizes an English lawn, was well covered with close-set grass. -In spite of the efforts of the great slugs to burrow it into holes and -throw up pyramids of earth, daily rolling had kept it firm and smooth. -A green wall of hedge, reenforced by wire netting, surrounded it. The -big bulk of the old Dutch fort sheltered half of it from the rays of the -declining sun. An oblong of sail-cloth, stretched between two tall -masts, shaded the other half. The players had rarely ever occasion to -be exposed to the sun. Chinese coolies, in the dark blue and red -uniforms of the consul's service, two behind the players and two at the -net, picked up the balls and handed them to the players. Long, -comfortable settees and chairs, and a table laden with cool drinks, -nestled against the hedge in the shadiest corner. - -"Really, Mr. Beauchamp, this is the luxury of tennis. A canopy to -shelter us! Coolies in livery to pick up the balls! I'm surprised that -you do not have proxies to run for us, as they do in cricket when the -veterans play. You really ought to have native boys to do the running." - -"We're working on it, Miss MacAllister; we're working on it. Soon we'll -be able to give it to the world. Brand new game! Tropical tennis! -Latest thing in sport! Four players to a side! Two in the inner courts -and two in the outer! Only two rackets to a side! Native boys in -liveries of smiles and sunshine to carry rackets from back to forward -players and vice versa, as occasion to meet the ball requires. Great -discovery! Carteret and I are working on it." - -"Magnificent, Mr. Beauchamp! Magnificent!" exclaimed Miss MacAllister -amidst a burst of laughter. "You and Mr. Carteret will be catalogued -with Columbus and Sir Isaac Newton among the great benefactors of the -race. When will you be able to bestow it upon mankind? I do hope that -it may be while I am here." - -"It would have been before this, were it not that Carteret and I differ -on a small point, a mere detail." - -"And what is that?" - -"I think it sufficient to provide the players with easy-chairs in which -to rest between strokes. But Carteret wants them to be permanently -suspended in hammocks, and that the balls must be so served as to enable -the players to return them without arising from a reclining position." - -There was a peal of laughter at the consul's little absurdity. Carteret -joined in with the rest. But his pallid face flushed at the palpable -thrust at his well-known indolence. - -Commander Gardenier was unable to come. But his second in command, -Lieutenant Lanyon, a young Irishman, was delighted to escape the routine -of duty on board ship for a day ashore and the company of some -attractive ladies. With the headlong courage of his race, whether in -love or in war, he immediately asked Miss MacAllister to be his partner -in the first set, without waiting to see if that were agreeable to his -host, who was arranging the players. His frank, boyish, open-eyed -admiration of his choice was so good to see that the consul, usually a -bit of an autocrat in all such matters, laughingly accepted the -situation. - -"Carteret, will you take my wife as partner and defend the honour of the -island? These two reckless young visitors have evidently taken it upon -themselves to challenge the residents." - -"Certainly, Mr. Beauchamp. I shall be delighted to have so skilful a -partner as Mrs. Beauchamp. We shall endeavour to give a good account of -ourselves. From their manner I should judge that our opponents are -perfectly confident of winning." - -He looked to where the young naval officer and Miss MacAllister were -standing. They were already deep in conversation and apparently -entirely oblivious to the rest of the company. He heard Lanyon say: - -"By Jove! luck has come my way to-day. Little did I think when we were -ordered to Tamsui that there would be such fortune before me as to meet -any one like you. It does my heart good just to look at you." - -Miss MacAllister laughed merrily. - -"Do you always express yourself so frankly on so short acquaintance, Mr. -Lanyon?" she asked. "I'm afraid that I cannot believe much of that. I -think that you are Irish. You probably said the same thing to the last -partner you had." - -"By my soul, I did not. How could I? She was forty if she was a day, -and ugly as sin." - -His partner's laugh pealed out again. There was no resisting such an -implication. - -"Very nicely put, Mr. Lanyon. Now I know that you are Irish." - -Just then Mrs. Beauchamp called to them: - -"Come, come, Mr. Lanyon. I cannot allow this. You are monopolizing Miss -MacAllister and delaying the play." - -"By my faith," was the quick reply, "it's myself that would be mortial -glad to monopolize her." - -"Oh, Mr. Lanyon, this is shocking. On less than half an hour's -acquaintance, too! If you say anything more like that I'll not be your -partner." - -"Then, if there's any danger of your leaving me, I'll take it all back -with my mouth; but I'll think it in my heart just the same." - -Carteret's pale face, a little paler to-day than usual, had the same -expression of studied contempt as when he met Sinclair the evening -before. His lips parted to utter some sarcastic remark when Mrs. -Beauchamp interposed: - -"It's your service, Miss MacAllister. Will you not begin?" - -In a moment the lawn was animate with the quick-moving white figures of -the players, and the blue and red of the attendant coolies. The -contestants were all experts at the sport, and the set might have been -prolonged indefinitely had it not been that Lanyon would not serve a -fast ball to Mrs. Beauchamp. Again and again she assured him that she -was quite capable of receiving a fast service and that he must not throw -the game away. But the young lieutenant's Irish gallantry would not -allow him to volley such balls at her as he drove at Carteret. On the -other hand, the latter had no such scruples, but played to win. -Consequently he and his partner did win rather handily. - -When the set was over and others had taken their places, Carteret found -an opportunity to engage Miss MacAllister in conversation as they were -seated in the shade of the old fort. - -"I was disappointed not to have the pleasure of being your partner," he -said. "I had been looking forward to it all day." - -Instantly there flashed into her mind the picture of him De Vaux had -painted that morning at breakfast, and she could scarcely repress a -laugh. She wondered to herself how much of the day he had been in a -condition to think of her. But she answered readily: - -"I should be very pleased to be your partner for a set, Mr. Carteret. -There will probably be an opportunity later. You are an expert at -tennis." - -"We all ought to be experts in this place," he replied. "We get plenty -of practice. Outside of office hours there are only two pastimes open -to us--cards on wet days and tennis when the weather is fine." - -"Why," she exclaimed, "I should not have thought that! From what I have -seen of Tamsui, I think that it is quite lively. With dinners and -tennis, with warships coming and going, with always the possibility of -seeing a row among the Chinese or between them and somebody else, I -think it must be really exciting living here. I should think that it -would be great sport." - -"You may think so, Miss MacAllister, from what you have seen of it. But -the condition you have seen is quite abnormal. We do not have London -merchants nor ladies from London drawing-rooms visiting us every week. -Neither do we have the company of naval officers on ordinary occasions. -Perhaps, if we had more ladies, we might have the attention and -protection of our gallant seamen more frequently." - -His voice had the sneering tone of the evening before. Miss -MacAllister's eyes flashed ominously. He saw the danger signal and -quickly changed the tone and the topic: - -"Really, Miss MacAllister, as a general rule this place is beastly dull. -There are so few to associate with. No matter how enjoyable their -company may be at first, it simply becomes unbearable when you have no -one else, don't you know?" - -"Do you think that is a universal rule, Mr. Carteret?" - -He saw that he had made a tactical blunder, beat a hasty retreat, and -executed a flank attack: - -"I assure you, Miss MacAllister, that I had reference only to those with -whom one is forced to associate in the casual relations of life. We are -not associated by choice, but by the caprice of fortune or by -compulsion. And the realization of the compulsion makes the association -the more unbearable. We get to hate the very sight of one another." - -"I can quite understand that," she replied. "I learned that when I had -to spend a year in a very select boarding-school, with a principal and -teachers whom I hated, and not one girl of whom I could make a real -friend. I was more alone than if I had been like Robinson Crusoe on his -island." - -He was quick to pursue the advantage: - -"That is it exactly. I should be far less lonely if I were entirely -alone or if I had only one companion, so long as that companion were -congenial." - -She looked sympathetically at him, but did not speak. - -"That is the tragedy of life in the Far East," he continued. "That is -why so many men take to drink." - -She thought of the evening before and of what De Vaux had let out at -breakfast. She said nothing; so he went on: - -"That is why so many men become inveterate gamblers; why so many who -came out with high hopes of accomplishing something end by committing -suicide." - -As he talked on in this strain, quietly, yet evidently with deep -feeling, Miss MacAllister began to ask herself if she had not, in her -own mind, judged this young aristocrat too harshly. Perhaps he was not -so bad as she had thought him the evening before, when she had refused -any longer to play his accompaniments. Perhaps there was some excuse for -his being in the condition which De Vaux had blundered out to them that -morning. - -At any rate, he seemed to be revealing to her another side of his -character. She had met him first as the graceful, polished man of the -world, a little cynical perhaps, and yet so courteous in his manners -towards her as to hide the unpleasant characteristics. She had noted -his contemptuous attitude towards Sinclair, his look and tone of studied -insult. She had caught a glimpse of the greedy, lustful expression in -his eyes as he bent over her at the piano, and, before the evening was -done, the leer of intoxication. - -But here was another aspect which she had not looked for. Without -appearing to seek sympathy, he was appealing to her feelings, and in -spite of herself she responded: - -"I had not thought of the life out here in that way," she said. "It had -appeared quite fascinating to me." - -"So it appears to nearly everybody at first. But after a while it palls -upon them. At last it becomes unbearable." - -"Then why do they not go home, or to Australia or America or somewhere -else where they would be among their own people?" - -"We are forgotten at home. We should be strangers there. And as for -Australia or America, life out here unfits a man to succeed in lands -where everybody must be his own servant and where there is no road to -success but by hard work." - -A little ray of comprehension shot into Miss MacAllister's mind. It was -with a touch of impatience that she answered: - -"But, Mr. Carteret, you do not mean to say that you have been long -enough here to unfit you for work anywhere else. If you do not like the -life, why do you stay here?" - -"_Pro bono familiae_," he replied with a bitter laugh. "Because of the -affection of my beloved elder brother." - -"The consul tells me that he enjoys himself here," she said, avoiding -any discussion of his family affairs. "He says that there is very good -shooting and some of the best sea-bathing he has ever experienced." - -"He is welcome to the shooting, tramping over the hills and through the -rice fields in a climate like this. As for the bathing, any pleasure in -it is spoiled by the walk home in the heat afterwards." - -At that instant the consul, who was playing, returned a ball with such a -screw on it that after falling in his opponent's court it bounded back -over the net. His opponent, in a mad effort to return it, plunged -headlong into the net and fell. In celebration of which achievement the -consul threw his racket high in the air, turned a handspring, and ended -up by reversing himself and walking across the court on his hands, with -his feet in the air. - -"Splendid, Mr. Beauchamp!" cried Miss MacAllister. "Brilliantly done! -Especially the gymnastic performance!" - -"Right-oh, Miss MacAllister!" exclaimed a deep voice behind her. "The -consul is acrobat enough to make a shining success as a sailor man." - -It was Captain Whiteley, come up to drink a cup of tea and say good-bye -before casting off for Hong-Kong. - -"Oh, Captain Whiteley, I'm so glad to see you before you go! But what -is this I hear? You have let your doctor go off to Keelung to carve -Chinese, and perhaps be carved himself. I am surprised at you." - -"Not my fault, I assure you, Miss MacAllister. He was bound to go. He -is of age. I could not restrain him." - -"I think it is just splendid of him to go. That is the sort of thing I -admire in a man. If I were a man, that is what I should like to do." - -"I am awfully glad, Miss MacAllister, that Sinclair has at last done -something which pleases you. I was beginning to be afraid that you were -offended with him past the possibility of reconciliation." - -She looked at him sharply. His face was lamblike in its innocence, but -his eyes were twinkling. - -"That will do, Captain Whiteley. You have said quite enough." - -The telltale colour deepened in her face, and her mother, who was -talking to Carteret nearby, heard and saw, closed her lips tightly, and -sniffed. - -The little party of white-clad players were still on the lawn when the -_Hailoong_ moved down the river, zigzagged her way through the field of -mines, and once well beyond the bar steamed straight out over the -motionless sea in the path of red-gold light from the setting sun. It -seemed the breaking of the one link between them and the outside world. -In the soft stillness of that evening in the Orient, London with its mud -and smoke, its roar of traffic, its drab colours and familiar, -unromantic life, seemed so far away that it might have belonged to -another world. - -Strange to say, it was not of London that Miss MacAllister was thinking. -Again and again she surprised herself thinking of the big, fair-haired -Canadian doctor. She tried to picture to herself his surroundings amid -the sick and suffering, the men torn with shot and shell. She could not -help contrasting them with the peaceful environment of the consul's -tennis party, where men had been enjoying themselves in the company of -the ladies, and incidentally emptying long glasses of whiskey and soda -or sipping tea. - -She recalled the looks of the man himself, his clean-cut features, -straightforward gaze, his good-humour even when she was badgering him, -and the hearty, boyish laugh when he and McLeod were plotting some -mischief together. Involuntarily she contrasted him with the cynical -discontent, the weary air and self-pity of the man with whom she had -talked that afternoon. If Sinclair could have known her conclusions, he -would have been well content. - - - - - *XVI* - - *SERGEANT WHATISNAME* - - -But Sinclair did not know. Perhaps at that moment he was not thinking -much about her. He was just entering on his long night's work among the -wounded. Every power of mind was concentrated on the problem of those -pain-racked human beings and how to relieve their sufferings. - -And yet ever and anon, when he had finished an operation and his mind -relaxed as his hands almost mechanically followed the familiar process -of bandaging, a picture floated before his eyes. It was only a -transparency, through which he could see every line of the brown limb or -body he was binding up with care But it was as clear to him as though it -had been done on canvas by the brush of a painter. It was the picture -of a proudly-carried head, with a crown of brown hair, a beautiful oval -face with rich colour, dark violet eyes dancing with fun, and full red -lips parted in a teasing laugh, which made the hot blood tingle in his -face at the very memory of it. - -As the days passed by he had more time to think of that face. The first -strenuous days over, the pressure on his time and strength relaxed -somewhat. A number of the greatest sufferers died. But in the majority -of cases the singular toughness and marvellous recuperative power of the -Chinese seconded his skilful surgery. Many a man who, if he had -belonged to any Western nation, would have been invalided home, never to -be able to rejoin the colours, in ten days or two weeks' time left the -hospital and returned to his regiment. There were but few wounded being -brought in. The French were unable to advance beyond the shore line. -The Chinese were unable to dislodge the French from the foothold they -had obtained. Consequently, for nearly a month after the bombardment -there was little fighting. - -The weather, though exceedingly hot, was not unhealthy. In any case, -those who might be sick preferred to go to their own doctors for medical -treatment. While they acknowledged the superiority of the foreigner in -surgery, they unhesitatingly maintained that their own physicians were -unequalled in their knowledge of medicine. - -The most common disease was the ever-present malarial fever. It was -caused by two devils--the negative devil who industriously fanned the -victim to give him chills and the positive devil who worked a furnace -overtime to give him his spells of fever. As the foreign surgeon was a -stranger to the country and supposed to have little acquaintance with -those diligent devils, the preference was given to the incantations of -native priests or the indescribable decoctions of native doctors. - -As a result, Sinclair's duties had grown lighter every day. The -service, which at first had taxed to the utmost even his splendid -strength and vigour, had become less and less arduous, until, except for -the necessity of living on native food, he had come to look upon it as a -sort of picnic. Most of the dressings and all the preliminary -examinations of new cases he was able to leave to his assistants. Dr. -MacKay had gone to visit his converts at various places where bands of -freebooters, taking advantage of the disturbed state of the country, had -thrown themselves upon the defenceless Christians, robbing, maltreating, -torturing, and sometimes putting to death. But he left behind his -student companions, whose knowledge of dressing wounds and giving simple -treatments and acting the part of nurses, relieved the surgeon of much -of his burden. - -But it was principally on Sergeant Gorman that he had learned to rely. -Every day revealed some new capability in that versatile Irishman. It -was, however, in drilling and instructing an ambulance brigade that his -capability was most evident. He was a master of the art of teaching men -any form of military drill. But he was more than that. He was a born -leader of men. Sinclair marvelled at the rapidity with which these -uncouth, chattering Chinese peasants, who never by any accident had kept -step for a dozen paces, and who never ceased their jabbering at any -command given by their own officers, were reduced to silence and -mastered squad and stretcher drill. They were raw material to begin -with. Some of them were worse. The Chinese officers had drafted into -this service some of the roughest characters in their regiments, to be -rid of them. Yet these, who were accustomed to threaten to shoot their -own officers when an unwelcome command was given, gave absolute and -prompt obedience to this red-headed foreign devil, whom they had never -seen till a few days before, who spoke their language imperfectly, and -carried no weapon save a bit of a withe he had cut for a swagger-stick. - -As Sinclair looked on he could not help but wonder at the -shortsightedness and snobbery in the British army, which made officers -of callow youths who knew nothing of war or leadership, and many of whom -never would, and refused a commission to a man like this, whose mastery -of men amounted to genius. - -The middle of the month had passed. It was drawing towards sunset of a -hot August day. The two men who had already grown into a fast -friendship were out where the courtyard of their improvised hospital -opened on the bank of the river. One of the wings and a clump of -bamboos sheltered them from the still ardent rays of the sun. The -evening breeze was just beginning to breathe along the river. - -Dr. Sinclair was stretched on a long, bamboo reclining chair, which had -been sent him from the headquarters of General Liu Ming-chuan. His -hands were clasped behind his head. He was looking up at the sky, where -an occasional fleck of cloud was changing from white to gold and crimson -in the light of the sunset. In his white trousers, white canvas shoes, -white negligee shirt, open at the neck, and with the shadow of a smile -playing about his eyes and mouth, he looked the very personification of -whole-hearted content. Sergeant Gorman was sitting opposite to him on a -camp-chair of his own construction, smoking a short dudeen. - -That afternoon General Liu Ming-chuan, accompanied by his staff, had -paid a visit of inspection to their hospital. With a frankness and -candour which could not be misunderstood, he had commended the work they -had done, and on his own behalf and that of China had thanked them for -their services. While his visit and appreciation were pleasant to them -personally, it meant more than that. Henceforth there was to be no more -of the open opposition they had experienced from the native doctors and -priests, and even from some of the officers. It was no wonder that -Sinclair was feeling well content. - -"Do you know, Gorman, this job suits me fine. If I could get a -permanent sit at something like this, with enough salary to live -decently, I think I could be happy." - -"An' if you do," replied Gorman, dropping back into the brogue as he -always did when he was in good-humour, whether fighting or chatting with -a friend--"an' if you do, wud you jist kape me in moind as your furst -assistant?" - -"That I would," replied Sinclair. "I do not know how I should get along -without you." - -"Begorra, an' it's glad I am to hear you say so; for it's more p'ace of -moind I have here than iver I've had since the furst toime me -mother-in-law came to bliss me home wid her prisince--since she furst -beamed upon us like the sun thr'u' a gatherin' storm." - -"The only thing which catches me here is the grub. I do not like this -Chinese chow." - -"Faith thin, it seems to like you." - -"How's that?" - -"You're gettin' fat on it." - -"Do you really think so?" - -"Bedad and I don't think so. I'm sure of it." - -Sinclair solicited tested the tightness of his belt; lazily raised -himself and examined it to find out at what hole it was buckled. - -"Afraid you're wrong this time, Gorman. Not getting it round the waist -anyway. Buckled in the same hole and not a bit tighter than before. - -"Thin you're gettin' it round the jaws of you. Checks and double chin -loike a howly father starvin' in Lent." - -"Surely it's not so bad as that! I'll have to get more exercise. -Nothing like training to keep down flesh. Run four or five miles of a -morning. That's what will do it." - -"Bedad thin, if that's thrue, that American gineral the Chinese have -must have run all the way from Ameriky. Did iver you clap your two eyes -on such a split-the-wind?" - -"He sure is thin," replied Sinclair in the idiom of his native land. -"As we used to say in Canada, he'd be handy to send on an errand down a -pump." - -"Faith," replied the Irishman, determined not to be beaten in -exaggeration, "the pump would need to have a good valve or he'd leak -out." - -"You have it," laughed Sinclair. "I'll quit." - -"Now, what do you make of him, anyway?" - -"New England Yankee by his twang. Vermont by his build. Been in the -South by his pronunciation of some words. But when he swears Montana is -written all over him." - -Now, if that isn't divilish cliver of you to spot him loike that! Now, -isn't it? But did ever you hear such a name? Silas Z. Leatherbottom! -Be the powers, if I had a name loike that, I'd change it or die in the -attempt. Silas Z. Leatherbottom!" - -"It would have been a mighty handy name to have had when you were under -the Wallopin' Master," retorted Sinclair. - -"Whisht now, docther dear. It's unfeelin' of you to call up painful -memories. May the saints forgive me, but I cannot sit comfortable an' -think of him." - -Sinclair's boyish, care-free laugh rang out as Gorman left his -camp-stool and began to pace restlessly up and down, making grimaces and -gestures, half vengeful, half humorous. - -"Be the powers of Knocktopher, but it wud be a pleasure jist to be -twishtin' this bit of a shtick about the big body of him. The yells of -him wud be the sw'atest music in me ears, barrin' always the lament at -me mother-in-law's wake." - -"Egskews me, gentlemen" (with a marked emphasis on the "me"). "Egskews -me for intrewding on yewr private deliberations. But I had a leetle -proposition to make to one of yew gentlemen, an' I reckoned thet yew -wouldn't object to me droppin' in on yew t' talk it over." - -"Certainly not, General Leatherbottom," replied Sinclair, rising to -receive him. "We are delighted to have you call. Have a seat." - -Sergeant Gorman had clapped his swagger-stick under his left arm, -clicked his heels together, stood at attention, and saluted as if by -instinct. - -"Naow, by the Jumpin' Jemina, thet's what I call neatly done. Thet's -whar yew Britishers get away on us. When it comes to fightin' we kin -fight. Don't take no second place to ennybody I ever met, an' I've met -some few in my time. But when it comes to takin' Indians or niggers or -Chinks in hand lickin' them into shape, an' teachin' them haow to fight -civilized thet's whar you've got us beat to a stand-still." - -He was a tall man, a very tall man, two or three inches over six feet. -But he was narrow-shouldered slab-sided, and marvellously thin. His -small head seemed lost in a great cavern of a sun-helmet. A long, -faded, yellow moustache drooped over the hollow cheeks and angular jaws. -He sat down on the proffered camp-chair, hitching a holster containing a -huge .44 Colt round a little more to one side, to allow him to sit back -with comfort. His legs were so long that his knees stuck up at an acute -angle. When he threw one over the other, they were so thin that they -seemed to twine around each other in serpentine fashion. - -He accepted a pipe, lighted it, leaned forward with one sharp elbow on a -sharp knee, the hand helping to hold the pipe in his mouth as he talked. -The other arm was across his knee and the long, bony hand hanging down. - -"Ef yew gentlemen will egskews me, I'll make my proposition, an' we'll -perceed to bizness. But fust I'd like t' give yew a leetle of my -auttybiography, so's yew'll understand the sityewation." - -With many quaint oaths and ingenious expletives, he told how he had -served as a private in a Vermont infantry regiment in the Civil War, had -been wounded and taken prisoner. After the war he had drifted into the -cavalry and been engaged in Indian wars in the Dakotas and Montana. He -was with Benteen's companies when Custer and his three hundred were -massacred by the Sioux under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Then he had -turned miner, and after much experience in the Black Hills, as well as -in Montana and Idaho, had drifted to Formosa and had been engaged in -developing gold workings but a little distance from where they sat when -the war broke out. - -"An' naow, gentlemen, I'm a general of brigade in the service of His -Imperial Majesty of China, gettin' 's much dust in a month 's I could in -a year of minin'. An' thet's why I am fur the time bein' a dewtiful -subject of His Imperial Bigness. - -"Mebbe yew'll b'lieve me, I hev seen sum fightin'. An' I ain't partiklar -ef I see sum more. An' I hev idears whar t' plant an army, an' haow t' -plan a defence or lay a trap. But this bizness of drillin' Chinks so's -they'll walk t'gether, an' shoot t'gether, and dew what they're told -without all talkin' at once like the sisters at a meetin'-house -sewin'-bee, an' all gettin' tied up into a gol-durned tarnation tangle, -thet's what knocks the spots off yewrs trewly. - -"Naow, gentlemen, my proposition is thet the sergeant here jest step -over with me to General Liew, an' take service with him till the end of -the war. The general was mighty pleased with thet ar ambulance corpse -of yourn. He'd make you a kurnel, second in command of a brigade. An' -the spondoolix! Lots of it! Got it to burn! More'n a candidate for -congress at election time! Money don't count with him no haow. Ef yew -lick these ar Chinks into fightin' shape, I'll plan the campaign an' -we'll whale those _parley-voos_ into the sea in no time. Then we'll get -a concession an' the gold mine. Naow, what dew yew think of thet?" - -"That sounds pretty good, sergeant," said Sinclair. "It looks like a -chance for you. - -"Thet's what I call a putty payin' proposition. Will yew take it?" - -"Thank you, sir; I think not." - -Leatherbottom opened his small, light-blue eyes as wide as the cavernous -depths of their sockets would allow, removed the pipe from his mouth, -and spat far out into the river: - -"Naow will yew tell me haow it is thet yew will not take on a payin' -proposition like thet? Dew yew forget the spondoolix?" - -"I do not, sir." - -"Then, will yew tell me why?" - -"I have fought for twenty-four years under one flag. There is only one -other that I would fight under." - -"I presyewme thet is the stars and stripes, the flag of the Yew.S.A.?" - -"It is not, sir." - -"Then, will yew tell me what flag it is?" asked the general in evident -surprise. - -"The green flag with the golden harp, the flag of a self-governing -Ireland!" - -"But there ain't no army 'lowed to carry sech a flag." - -"Then, till there is, I'll still fight under the old flag and the old -queen I have served more than half my life." - -"An' yew air an' Irishman?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"An' a Roman Catholic?" - -"I am, sir." - -"Wall--I'll--be--gol--durned!" - -Sergeant Gorman's moustache and eyebrows fairly bristled. The little, -shrewd blue eyes of the Indian fighter were quick to notice it: - -"Egskews me, sergeant; I ain't meant no offence. 'Twas only thet I had -been informed thet the Irish will hev a Fourth-of-July celebration the -day the Yewnion Jack gits out of thet ar island fur good." - -"Then you were misinformed, sir." - -"Wall, I reckon it's a case of live an' l'arn. When I was t' hum I -thought the Yew.S.A. were putty near the hull thing. When I came out -here I putty soon found out they warn't. When I was in our country, -a-listenin' to the politicians, I thought every Irishman was jest -thirstin' fur the blood of the English. I came out here an' naow yew -tell me they ain't. Will you egskews me? I hev sum things t' l'arn -yet." - -"Certainly, sir. We all make mistakes." - -"Thank yew. But why yew'd refewse t' change yewr flag when yew knew -thet the spondoolix was sure, thet beats me. Oh, wall, I reckon every -man has his own way of lookin' at things. Say, doctor, whar's the -elder?" - -"Do you mean Dr. MacKay?'; - -"Sartin." - -"Oh, he left several days ago to visit some of his converts. I guess -the heathen have been roughing things a bit and making it hot for the -Christians. He went to see if he could help them out." - -"Do he carry weepons?" - -"I believe not." - -"Wall, thet beats all. I've seen some putty nervy things. I've seen -whar Custer an' his three hundred rode slap-bang into Sittin' Bull an' -his red devils on the Little Big Horn, an' got skulped, every man of -them. But they hed guns an' hed a chance. But t' go out among these ar -yellow heathen, when they're rampagin' fur the blood of furriners, -without so much 's even a .32 t' put the fear of God into them thet's -what I call temptin' Providence. It's givin' Providence a chance t' let -them dew their durndest and save itself the trubble of interferin'." - -The sun had gone down and the moon had taken its place riding in silver -radiance across the cloudless sky. General Leatherbottom rose to go. -Sinclair and Gorman accompanied him through the hospital to the street -door. A squad of the sergeant's ambulance corps, who were on guard, -presented arms with the precision and unity of European veterans. - -With democratic freedom the general thrust his long, bony hand first -into Sinclair's, then into Gorman's: - -"Never seen the beat of thet ambulance corpse of yourn, fur the time -yew've had 'em. But, by the Jumpin' Jemina, I'd like to hev seen yew -lickin' the regiments of my brigade into shape." - - - - - *XVII* - - *WOLVES AND THEIR PREY* - - -The end of August found the French and Chinese in the same state of -impasse. As a consequence there was little bloodshed, and few wounded -were being brought into the hospital. If it had not been for the -shocking carelessness of the Chinese in handling firearms and -explosives, there would have been almost none. Time began to hang -somewhat heavy on the hands of Dr. Sinclair and his assistant. - -"Getting mighty slow here," he remarked to Gorman one day. - -"Slower than promotion for merit in the service," was the reply. - -"You haven't it so bad. You can always amuse yourself drilling 'that -ambulance corpse of yourn,' as General Leatherbottom calls it." - -"Divil a bit: There's nothin' more for me to t'ache thim. Tuk till it -loike ducks to wather. Can imitate me till if they were wanst in -service outfit I'd swear it was the multiplication table of meself -a'marchin' down the road." - -Sinclair laughed. - -"That's just what I've been noticing," he said. "When you took hold of -them every man jack toed in. Now they all turn their toes out at a -little more than an angle of forty-five degrees, just as you do. And -right down to that little spindly chap, twenty-five inches around the -hips, they all strut as if they were as broad in the beam as yourself." - -"Bedad thin, I'm not the only wan! It's the same wid your bhoys inside. -They're jist reduced copies of yourself. They bate Banagher for -imitation." - -"Suppose we leave those fellows to look after things for a couple of -days and run over to Tamsui while business is slack. If things were to -brighten up a bit here, we might not get another chance." - -"Faith, an' I'm wid you. But, begorra, we had better see to it that -each of us has a bit of a shtick an' a gun handy. I hear that there are -disturbances iverywhere, an' it's little manners the haythen are showin' -to Europeans since the Frinch shtarted to mix it up wid thim." - -"The last time he passed, Dr. MacKay told me that there was a good deal -of rioting and some murdering. But he seemed to go about his work as if -it were perfectly safe. And, so far as I could find out, he never -carries any weapons." - -"May the saints preserve him, that is a man! I was born a Roman -Catholic, an' I intind to die a Roman Catholic. But, if it was advice -about me sowl's salvation I was wantin'--and betune you an' me I'm -needin' it badly enough--it's to him I'd go rather than to a church full -of the priests that are feedin' fat on me paternal estate." - -Their arrangements were soon made, and they were off. Even on the -much-travelled way between the camp before Keelung and the capital there -were evidences of disorder and lawlessness. Bands of marauders were -out. Many of them were well armed, as they included numbers of -irregular levies who had deserted with the arms and ammunition with -which they had been supplied when they enlisted. Wayfarers had been -robbed, and some who resisted had been murdered. Lonely farmhouses were -looted and burned. In some cases the men were killed and the women -foully abused. Some considerable towns had been attacked and terrorized -into paying tribute. - -But it was on the native Christians that the heaviest blow fell. Nearly -everywhere they were hounded down, their little churches were destroyed, -their houses were ransacked, their goods pillaged, and themselves -cruelly beaten and tortured. Even when they succeeded in reaching -hiding-places, they were often betrayed by their own relatives and given -over to the inhuman cruelties of the heathen. - -So serious was the danger that the consul issued a warning to his -nationals and those of other nations for whom he acted not to venture -beyond the limits of the port, where they could be under the protection -of the gunboat, as well as of the Chinese garrison. At that moment Dr. -MacKay, Sinclair, and Gorman were the only white men who were outside of -the protection of large forces of disciplined soldiers. - -Several times on their way Sinclair and his companion were faced by -armed men. But they moved resolutely forward. As the marauders opened -up to let them pass Sinclair caught the word "I-seng" (the life-healer), -while Gorman laughed to hear himself described as "Ang-mng-kui (the -red-haired devil). Their reputations had preceded them and stood them in -good stead. - -Elsewhere tragedies were being enacted. Five or six miles south of the -road which they were travelling, nestling in among the foothills of the -great mountain-chain which occupied all the centre of the island, was -the prosperous town of Sin-tiam. There the missionary had gathered -together a congregation of worshippers and built a church of unplastered -stone. - -With the eye for beauty in nature which characterized him, he had chosen -a site at one end of the town, where a little dell smiled between some -verdured hills and the river. In front of the church door lay a beach -of shingle, round which curved the swift, clear green waters of the -Sin-tiam River. Its farther bank rose steeply from the water's edge, a -hillside luxuriant with trees and vines, ferns and grasses, their vivid -green all starred with roses and morning-glories, or the massed beauties -of myrtle-trees and honeysuckle. Behind the first abrupt hill rose -higher hills, and beyond these mountains, in whose impenetrable jungles -and savage retreats the wild headhunters had their home. Behind these -again giant peaks towered into the heavens. - -Into this paradise of beauty, bloodthirsty, heathen men burst and their -rage turned it into a perdition. Early one fair summer morning the black -flags of a party of marauders were seen approaching the town. The -respectable citizens, whether heathen or Christian, hurriedly closed and -barricaded their shops and houses. The worst element of the population -rushed out to join the freebooters. - -Like a pack of hungry wolves they entered the town on the run, yelling, -screaming, beating drums, blowing horns, firing their guns. It was -evident that they had a concerted plan, for they did not halt, but with -yelp and yell and animal snarl they swept through to the far end, where -the Christian church was situated. They poured into the native -preacher's house, which adjoined the church. It was deserted. At the -first alarm some of the Christians had rushed to the church, and hurried -their pastor and his family by a circuitous route to a safe -hiding-place. They knew that he would be the first victim. They hoped -that their own obscurity would be their protection. - -After a vain search for the preacher, the black-flags returned to loot -his house and destroy everything they could not carry away. Then they -began to search for other victims. Unfortunately in their haste the -pastor and his friends had forgotten the roll of church members, which -was in the drawer of the desk on the church platform. It was the death -warrant of some of the flock. - -With yells of savage delight the persecutors tore it open and began to -read out the names: - -He was a tolerably well-to-do merchant. At the mention of his name the -mob scented plunder, and the most active fairly fought with one another -in the rush to be foremost for the spoil. Lee Soon had sent his wife -and daughter to a hiding-place in a forsaken mine in the neighbourhood. -With his young son he remained to take care of his property. On the -first assault of the mob he tried to parley with them and offered them -gifts if they would leave him unmolested. - -"Do you think that we would take part when we intend to get all?" was -the jeering reply. - -"We'll have no parley with friends of the foreign devils," yelled -others. - -All the while a rain of bricks and stones fell on the barricades he had -hastily put up. Others climbed on the roof and tore off the tiles. In -a short time a breach was made and they rushed in. Lee Soon was seized -by the hair and dragged out over the piles of bricks and rubbish. Every -one who could get a kick at him, a blow with a bamboo pole or the butt -of a gun, gave it with insensate fury. At last he lay bleeding and -unconscious in the midst of the street. But the mob still trampled upon -him. - -"Now will you go into the barbarian's religion?" cried one. - -"Where is your God now?" shrieked another. - -Meanwhile others were stripping the house and shop of its contents. -Others still were searching high and low for the women of the household. -Enraged at not finding them, they dragged out his son, Lee Ien, a mere -youth, kicking and beating him as they had done his father. - -"He has given his sisters to the foreign devils." - -"Might as well give them to the beasts, for the foreign devils are the -offspring of beasts." - -"We'll teach him to give the women of our country to foreign devils." - -Dragging the unfortunate youth to a tree, they threw the end of his long -braid of hair over a branch and pulled until he was lifted off the -ground. Then they spit on him, jeered him, and prodded him with their -poles, making his body swing to and fro. - -"Now will you forsake this Jesus faith and go back to the gods of your -ancestors?" - -Around his neck and from various parts of the torn scalp blood was -oozing and trickling down. The body writhed in agony. The youth, -really only a boy in years, was alone, ringed round by foes. From the -drawn, quivering lips came the prayer: - -"Lord Jesus Christ, help me! Jehovah God, give me strength!" - -A wild yell arose from another part of the town. More victims had been -found. There was more loot. Those who had been torturing Lee Ien were -anxious to get a share. They released their hold on his hair and rushed -off with the others. He fell in a limp heap on the ground. - -With the physical toughness of his race, he soon recovered and hurried -to where he had last seen his father. He found that a heathen -neighbour, more pitiful than the rest, had carried him into a place of -safety and had brought him back to consciousness. - -Tan Siong had escaped, but came back to help some of his -fellow-believers. He accomplished this and effected their escape. But -it was by sacrificing himself. He was caught, and being a man of some -prominence special tortures were devised. Sharp-edged splits of bamboo -were placed between the fingers of both hands. Cords were wound tightly -around the fingers, pressing the angles of the bamboo into the flesh. - -"Will you forsake the black-bearded foreign devil?" - -"Pastor MacKay has never done me anything but good. He healed me when I -was sick. He saved my son's life when he had the fever. Why should I -forsake him?" - -The cords were drawn more tightly. The blood oozed out around his nails -and along the edges of the bamboo. - -"Will you give up the barbarian's religion and go back to the gods our -ancestors worshipped from of old?" - -"The gods our ancestors worshipped are only idols. They cannot see or -hear or understand our prayers. I cannot go back to them. I believe in -Jehovah God, maker of heaven and earth----" - -A rifle butt fell with a sickening thud on his head and, with the blood -still oozing from his finger-tips, Tan Siong lay senseless on the earth. -His tormentors rushed off to find other victims to rob and maltreat. - -So the morning wore away. There were about forty families of -Christians. Probably the majority of the individuals in them escaped -with their lives, and by keeping in hiding did not suffer torture. But -all lost their possessions. Many were put to the test of indescribable -physical agony. Yet they did not deny their faith. - -There were two, a man and his wife, so humble that they thought they -might be overlooked. They could not flee. They were both between sixty -and seventy years of age. The wife's feet, crushed and broken by being -bound for a lifetime, would not bear her in flight. Her husband, with a -devotion rare in a Chinese and the more beautiful because of its rarity, -determined to stay with her and meet his fate whatever it might be. -They hoped that their insignificance might save them. - -But Lim Tsu had for many years been a maker of idols. Then he had lost -faith in those gilded bits of wood or plaster he had so long offered to -others to worship. He had heard strange words from some native -Christians. Then he had heard them from the lips of the foreign pastor. -After long hesitation he gave up the beliefs of his fathers, gave up the -practices of a lifetime, what was harder still, gave up the means of a -livelihood, and accepted the Christian faith. From that hour Lim Tsu -was a marked man. He was the worst of renegades. - -His name and that of his wife, Oo-a, were nearly the last upon the -communion roll, for they had been but recently received. When they were -read out a howl like that of a pack of wild beasts went up from the mob, -and with one consent they flocked pell-mell towards the humble cottage -of the former image-maker. He heard them coming, and with his aged wife -met them outside the door. Was it something in the calm demeanour of -the old couple, standing quietly there with the summer sun shining on -their whitening heads, which awed them? The ones in front paused, -irresolute. Those behind pressed them forward. - -"Friends, whom do you seek?" - -"Lim Tsu, the idol-maker." - -"Lim Tsu, the idol-maker, is not here. But Lim Tsu, the worshipper of -the living God, is here. Friends, I am Lim Tsu." - -The leaders of the mob quailed before the quiet dignity of the old man. -But the crowd behind pressed them on. They held a hurried consultation -while the old Christian and his wife stood quietly waiting. - -They were seized by the arms and led towards the river. The spot chosen -was the beach of clean shingle in front of the church. Unlike the other -prisoners who had been taken that day, they were not beaten. But the -feeble old woman hobbled painfully over the stones. Her husband -encouraged her: - -"If they drown us, it will not take long. Just a moment and it will all -be over. Then we'll not be old any more. Your feet will not pain you -any longer. I'll not have the fever. We'll not have to worry about -getting rice to eat. Just a moment and all these things will be -forgotten. In heaven there is no suffering." - -As their feet touched the edge of the water they were halted. One of -the leaders said to them: - -"Lim Tsu, you used to make images of the gods. You used to worship the -spirits of your ancestors. You used to perform the rites as our fathers -have done since ages eternal. But now in your old age you have been -bewitched by the foreign devils and joined the Jesus belief. If you -leave the barbarian's religion and go back to the faith of your fathers, -it will be well. You will be safe and men will honour you. If you do -not, we will drown you both." - -"Friends," came the quiet, firm reply, "I do not believe in idols. I -made them for many years. I know that they are only wood or stone or -earth or plaster. I know that I can knock them down and break them, or -throw them into the fire and burn them. How could they help me? Now I -worship the true God, who made the earth and the sea and the sky, who -made us all, for we are His children. And I worship Jesus Christ, His -Son, whom He sent into the world to save me. You may drown us if you -will. But we will not give up the Jesus belief." - -Yells of rage burst from their persecutors. They were pushed forward -into the water up to their knees. Again the offer was made, and again -refused. - -Execrations, foul language, inarticulate screams of rage rose from the -throng on the bank. The old couple were pushed farther into the stream. -The water had risen to the old man's arm-pits. It was up to the woman's -throat. Again they were halted. - -"Lim Tsu and Oo-a, his wife, will you give up the Jesus belief? If not, -we will drown you." - -The old woman's thin treble rose in answer: - -"I cannot give up the Jesus belief. Jesus is my Saviour." - -"You may drown us if you will," answered her husband. "That will not -hurt us much. It will soon be over. But we can never deny the Lord -Jesus." - -For a few moments the mob-leaders paused. They were plainly nonplussed -by such constancy. Even the rabble on the bank hushed their howling. - -Oo-a's grey head swam on the surface of the clear green stream. She -turned her face upward. Before her were the steep green hills, thick -with trees and ferns and grasses, and all starred with flowers, on which -she had looked since her childhood. A bird sang in the thicket. The -cicadas shrilled ceaselessly in the hot sunshine. All the world was at -peace. Why was man so cruel? She lifted her eyes to the blue sky which -bent over her. Her thin tremulous voice was heard in prayer: - -"Pe Siong-te."[#]--"Father God, help a weak old woman. Make her strong -to confess her Lord. For Jesus' sake." - - -[#] Pronounced, Pay Seeong-tay. - - -Then the old man lifted up his voice, and she joined him in that -immortal prayer which ever circles the world around and runs through all -time: - -"Goan e Pe ti thi nih."[#]--"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be -Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done----" - - -[#] Pronounced, Go-an a Pay tee thee neeh. - - -Their voices were silenced by the waters. Their captors had plunged -them under and held them there. The fair flowers still bloomed on the -high bank. The birds sang on. The cicadas shrilled their monotonous -melody. The sun poured down its wealth and bounty on the evil and on -the good. Only a few bubbles rising to the surface told where the souls -of the two martyrs had been set free to go home to God. - -Just plain, ignorant old Chinese peasants! Alone amidst their enemies, -all unknown and unknowing, unsupported by and unthinking of the world's -applause! Yet without a murmur they died for their faith. Even an -Apostle Paul could do no more. - - - - - *XVIII* - - *TO THE RESCUE* - - -Two days later Dr. Sinclair and Sergeant Gorman were nearing the capital -on their way from Keelung to Tamsui. Sometimes they talked and laughed. -Sometimes they walked in silence one following the other along the -narrow trail, each busy with his own thoughts. Sinclair was thinking of -a perplexing, teasing young woman of queenly stature and bearing, with -eyes and mouth which haunted him in spite of his determination to -persuade himself that he was unconcerned. He knew that she was still in -Tamsui. McLeod had sent him a note the last time the _Hailoong_ was in -port. Mr. MacAllister had made trips to various ports on the mainland, -and to South Formosa. But his wife and daughter remained at Tamsui in -the congenial company and care of Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp. - -Sinclair wondered to himself in what humour he would find this wayward -maiden who had so suddenly been projected into his life, and now -occupied so large a place in his thoughts. Why was she so capricious -with him? She was not like that with others. With Captain Whiteley or -McLeod or Mr. Beauchamp she was amiability itself. Apparently she -treated Carteret quite differently from him. Even with himself there -had been moments when she had been cordial and kind. In those brief -spells of friendliness she was irresistibly fascinating. - -But most of the time she seemed to bend all her energies to making him -feel uncomfortable. Why did she do it? Was it possible that McLeod was -right? Or was it that his approaches were disagreeable to her and she -was trying to make him keep his distance? That was much more likely. -But he would find out. He was not going to make a fool of himself by -pushing himself in where he was not wanted. He closed his teeth firmly. -His lower jaw was set and stern. He would find out this time. He would -either make or mend it. - -But he did not. - -He had hardly made the aforementioned resolution when it and even the -object of his thoughts were driven out of his mind altogether. From a -high bank beside the road, covered with a thicket of bamboo, a native -boy of fourteen or fifteen years dropped into the middle of the pathway -at Sinclair's feet. His face was drawn with fear. His eyes had a -strained, hunted look. Without any of the customary salutations, he -poured forth a stream of nervous, fluent Chinese, in which Sinclair -could catch nothing but his own title of "I-seng" and "Kai Bok-su" -(Pastor MacKay). - -"Here, Gorman, can you make anything out of what he says? There is -evidently trouble somewhere, and Dr. MacKay is in it." - -"Hould on, boy! Go aisy! Fwhat the divil wud you expect a Christian -man to make out of such a jabber as that?" - -Then in Chinese: - -"You talk too fast. Speak slowly. Don't be afraid. If there is any -trouble, we'll help you out." - -Getting a grip of himself, the excited boy told them that he was the son -of one of the Christians of Sintiam. He related the events of two days -before. He said that Dr. MacKay had heard of what had taken place and, -in spite of the pleadings of his converts, had insisted on going to the -help of those who were still in danger. He was already there, and if -the black-flags caught him they would assuredly kill him. He, the boy, -had been sent out to look for some Chinese troops, but had found them -instead. Would they come to Pastor MacKay's rescue? - -"Begorra, an' that we will!" exclaimed Gorman, as he gave his heavy -stick a couple of fancy twirls around his head, felt for his revolver to -assure himself that it was there, and plunged into the carrier coolie's -basket to get more cartridges. - -"Tell the coolie to go on to Taipeh and wait for us there. Tell this -boy to guide us to Sin-tiam by the shortest route. He needn't try to -hide us. We don't care if those devils do see us." - -Sinclair spoke in sharp, incisive tones. Instinctively the sergeant -came to attention and saluted. It was the accent of command. - -In another moment they had left the main road, which they had been -following, plunged through the bamboos, and headed directly south. Soon -their guide picked up a blind pathway which zigzagged through a -labyrinth of rice-fields, dropped into shady ravines, or climbed a -projecting spur of rock. The afternoon sun blazed down upon them. But -with relentless energy they pressed on. Peasants working in their -fields uttered loud cries of wonder, not unmixed with alarm, as the two -foreigners strode silently, determinedly past. The native boy never -ceased from his steady run. The long, powerful strides of the two -whites pressed continually on his heels. - -The day was wearing on as they drew near their destination. The by-path -they were following did not join the main road entering the town, but -led over some wooded hills nearly at right angles to the principal -highway. While still unable to see the town, they heard wild yells and -occasional shots. Their rapid walk quickened into a run. - -As they came over the last bluff, through an opening in the shrubbery -they could see the end of the town where the main road entered it. Just -emerging from between the houses was a man dressed in white and wearing -a sun-helmet. It was MacKay. He was walking steadily, resolutely out -along the road which led towards the capital. Behind him, in close but -irregular order, was a band of natives--men, women, and children. Among -them were a few sedan chairs, evidently carrying aged and wounded. -Pressing upon their rear, crowding upon them on either side, threatening -to block the road in front, was a screaming, jeering, cursing mob. -Black flags were waving over their heads; guns were discharged; mud and -filth were thrown; howls like those of beasts of prey burst from them in -chorus. - -The situation was obvious. MacKay had appealed to the Chinese -authorities at the capital to protect the Christians. They had replied -that they could not protect them in outlying districts like Sin-tiam, -but would protect them if they came to the capital, where there was a -garrison. He was endeavouring to bring the survivors to where their -lives would be safe. They had lost their homes, their property, their -church. They had only their lives left. He was trying to save these. - -But the mob were determined that they should not escape. They crowded -closer and closer on the native Christians, but still opened up before -the missionary. His cool, resolute demeanour, the instinctive -recognition of unruffled courage and conscious superiority made them -give way. As the little band passed out of the town they began to fear -that their prey was going to give them the slip. Bricks and stones were -flung. Jostling passed into interchange of blows. Shouts of "Kill the -barbarian. He is not very big. Tear the foreign devil in pieces" -mingled with inarticulate yells of rage. - -Suddenly with a surge from behind the mob flung themselves like wolves -on their prey. The Christian maidens, always the first victims, were -being dragged away, their terror-stricken shrieks mingling with the -fiendish yells of their captors. Sedan chairs were overturned. Men and -women were beaten down. The hopelessly outnumbered Christians were -fighting desperately for their lives. - -At the first sound of the onslaught, MacKay turned back. He would save -his people or share their fate. The muzzle of a rifle was jabbed against -his chest. Like a flash he thrust it up with his left hand and it was -discharged harmlessly past his ear. - -It was the last time that Chinese freebooter ever pulled a trigger. -Simultaneously with the explosion of the rifle Sinclair's stick came -down on his head and cracked his skull like an eggshell. - -The same instant, with a wild "Hurroosh!" Gorman was into the melee. -MacKay's Highland blood was up, too. Alongside of his bigger and -heavier companions he was proving that his slight, sinewy frame had not -for nothing gone through more than a dozen years of strenuous training -in that tropic clime. - -For a few minutes it was rough-and-tumble fighting, with foot and fist -and shillelagh. Friends and foes were so mixed together that Sinclair -and Gorman were afraid to use their revolvers. But the terror those -big, fiercely-fighting foreigners inspire in the hearts of a Chinese mob -fell on the rioters. They loosed their holds on their prey and fled in -wild disorder, hurried by the barking of the two revolvers and the fall -of some in whom the bullets had found their mark. - -"Thank you, Dr. Sinclair; Sergeant Gorman. You have done me, and you -have done my poor people, a great service." - -"It seems that we did happen to come at the right time," replied -Sinclair. - -"You didn't happen. God sent you." - -"Perhaps that is the right way to put it, Dr. MacKay. At any rate, we -are glad to have been here. Now we must look at those people. I am -afraid that some of them are pretty badly hurt." - -All three turned their attention to caring for the sufferers and to -making them as comfortable as possible. When they reached the capital -Sinclair found it necessary to remain there several days to care for -some who were most seriously injured. - -Before he felt free to leave them to make his intended trip to Tamsui -word came that there had been some sharp skirmishes around Keelung and a -considerable number had been wounded. So he and Gorman turned back to -duty. - -This was the reason why he did not at that time succeed in making or -mending his relations with Miss MacAllister. Perhaps it was better for -him that it was so. His exploit in coming to the rescue of MacKay was -likely to stand him in better stead than a premature demand for -explanations. - -But Sinclair did not know that. He was not versed in the ways of women. -Like most men in love, if he had been allowed his own way, he would have -made a mess of it. When Providence came to his rescue and sent him back -to Keelung without seeing Miss MacAllister, he was inclined to fall out -with Providence. - -But his sense of duty and his habitual good-humour prevailed. And when -he saw again the strained, eager looks of the wounded men, saw hope come -into their faces as the word passed from lip to lip, "I-seng lai" (the -life-healer has come), he was glad that he had done his duty. He was at -his chosen work. - - - - - *XIX* - - *ALLISTER* - - -On the morning of the 24th of September, Sinclair, looking down from a -mountain height on the town and harbour of Keelung, saw one of the -warships get up steam and put out to sea. Watching it with his glasses, -he saw it heading north, and then west, till even the trailing smoke -disappeared beyond the far blue coast line which curved away towards the -northernmost point of the island. - -"I'd give something to know where that Frenchman is heading for and what -mischief he has in mind." - -"Bedad, an' if he doesn't do more than he's been doin' here these last -six weeks, he'd better give up the job." - -"That's just the reason why I think that he may be intending to try his -hand somewhere else. He can't do any more damage here without a land -force. But there are other places where he could--Tamsui, for example." - -"Begorra, an' if I thought there was goin' to be a shindy there, it's -not one minute longer I'd spind kickin' me heels around this ould -dead-an'-alive camp. I'd be makin' for Tamsui as fast as the two legs of -me cud carry me." - -"So would I. But there doesn't seem to be any movement among the rest -of the fleet. We'll just keep a sharp lookout and perhaps we'll get -some word from Tamsui. If there's anything doing there, I'm blamed if I -am going to be stewed up here and miss the fun." - -Two days later Sinclair was again at his lookout. From the departure of -that first French warship which had steamed away to the west, either he -or Gorman had kept a constant watch on the movements of the French -fleet. Perhaps it was all because of his anxiety to be where he was -most needed. Perhaps there were other reasons which he did not mention -to Sergeant Gorman. - -He had found a shady seat for himself beneath the wide-spreading fronds -of a tree-fern, and through his glasses was carefully scanning the -squadron of men-of-war in the harbour below. A footstep sounded on a -rock near him. It was Gorman: - -"A letter for you from Dr. MacKay. A boy has jist arrived wid it. I -thought that you moight want to see it at wanst." - -"Thank you, Gorman," he replied, tearing it open. "Just as we thought. -He says that the _Chateau Renaud_ arrived off Tamsui on Wednesday.... -That's the day we saw her leave here.... Over-hauled the _Welle_ -yesterday, and the _Hailoong_, too.... Then Mac's at Tamsui. Boys, but -I'd like to see him! ... Says that the consul has got a hint somewhere -that the French are going to bombard Tamsui.... What did I tell you, -Gorman? ... Thinks we had better come back there at once and take his -boys with us.... So do I.... Says your ambulance corps can take care -of any wounded there are likely to be here.... Of course they can. -Whether they can or not, I'm going." - -"Another moving!" exclaimed Gorman, who had been using the glasses. - -"What! By Jove, you're right!" - -Sinclair was manifesting unwonted excitement. - -"We'd better start at once if we want to get through this evening. -Pretty nearly thirty miles of a walk if we should happen to miss the -launch. I'd like to get there before the _Hailoong_ sails. I want to -see McLeod." - -Gorman's left eye, which was invisible to Sinclair, winked and that side -of his face assumed a most comical expression. The other eye looked -straight out at the landscape, and the other side of his face was -judicial in its seriousness. He was a man of some perception. - -"An' you think that the hospital here will get along widout us?" he -asked. - -"Of course it will! I'm going to Tamsui." - -"Faith and you're a man afther me own heart. Let the hospital go to -Ballyhack. I'm wid you.... There she goes headin' for the west. The -_parley-voos_ are plottin' somethin' an' we want to be there whin it -happens." - - * * * * * - -Late that afternoon practically the whole foreign population of North -Formosa and the officers of the _Locust_ were gathered on the deck of -the _Hailoong_. Captain Whiteley and McLeod were giving what they called -their "Farewell At Home!" After their experience of the day before they -were doubtful whether they would be allowed to enter the port again so -long as the Frenchmen stayed. - -It was perhaps the largest party of foreigners which had ever gathered -in North Formosa. Consular, mission and custom staffs, merchants, the -doctor, naval officers, visitors, and hosts, they numbered thirty or -more. The measure of uncertainty, the spice of a possible peril, added -zest to their intercourse. Just out of sight over the projecting ridge -of the hill to the north of the harbour, the _Chateau Renaud_ was lying -at anchor. That very day the long, low, sinister-looking _Vipere_ had -slipped into the very mouth of the harbour. She could be plainly seen -from where they sat chatting and sipping their tea on the deck of the -_Hailoong_. Every one felt that these engines of war were big with -potentialities of danger and death. - -As usual, since her arrival in Formosa, Miss MacAllister was the centre -of attraction. Bald-headed seniors like De Vaux and Boville vied with -young men like Carteret and mere youths like Lanyon for her company and -her smiles. But for reasons best known to herself she chose to give -those privileges in much the largest measure to McLeod. As one of the -hosts he had not in any way tried to monopolize her. But she showed so -marked a partiality for his companionship that it did appear as if he -had the monopoly. - -"It seems as if no person but a seaman has any show with the ladies -to-day," said Carteret with that indefinable bitterness of tone which he -so often used. It called attention to the fact that each of the ladies -present was deep in conversation with an officer of one or other of the -ships. - -"By my faith, it can't be the sea which is the attraction," retorted -Lieutenant Lanyon, "for none of them will look at me. In Miss -MacAllister's case it is the clannishness of the Scotch," he continued, -loud enough for her to hear. "If McLeod weren't a Mac, he'd have no -more show than I have, and that's no show at all, at all." - -He thought that he would draw her by his very boldness, as he had done -on more than one occasion before. All the satisfaction he got was: - -"Now, Mr. Lanyon, please do not let everybody on board know that you -cannot get a lady to talk to you. There's mother. She has just -finished her conversation with Captain Whiteley. I know that she will -take pity on you." - -Lanyon joined as heartily as the rest in the laugh at his own expense, -and, accepting her suggestion, was soon amusing himself and Mrs. -MacAllister with his boyish tales of adventures and scrapes in the navy. - -Meanwhile Miss MacAllister was saying to McLeod: - -"Really, Mr. McLeod, I do not know what some of these men are made of. -To think that they could sit here doing the little routine work of their -offices, with battles going on within twenty miles of them, and never so -much as go to see what a battle is like! I wanted to go myself. But -father and the consul wouldn't let me." - -"You must remember, Miss MacAllister, that the majority of things which -are called men are not men. They are only dressed up to look like men. -When they get in danger or any other place which needs men, all the man -in them disappears and there is nothing left but the clothes." - -"But Dr. MacKay says that Dr. Sinclair and Sergeant Gorman have not been -in any real danger since they went over there. He says that the Chinese -respect them too much to molest them." - -"Yes; but that is where the difference comes in. Sinclair is a man. So -is Gorman. So is MacKay. The Chinese know it, and they are safe. But -some of the others--not all, only some--are not men. They wouldn't be -safe." - -"I wish that I were a man." - -"If you were, I venture to say that you would be a soldier." - -"I had a brother once. He was a soldier." - -"I did not know that you ever had a brother. You never told me that." - -By this time they had left the company on the forward deck and, walking -away aft, were leaning on the rail. She was in a more subdued and -meditative mood than McLeod had ever seen her before. - -"No," she said, "I never told you. I rarely tell anybody. I do not -know why I am telling you now." - -McLeod listened in sympathetic silence. He knew that behind this fact -of the brother of whom she seldom spoke there must be a tragedy. If she -wished to tell him, he would listen. But if she did not, he would -respect her reserve and not seek to pry into its privacy. - -"My brother was an officer in a crack English cavalry regiment. He -fought in Egypt and was mentioned in despatches after Tel-el-Kebir. But -he was the only Scottish officer in the regiment, and the only son of a -tradesman. The rest were Englishmen and sons of do-nothing aristocracy. -They never ceased twitting Allister about being a Highland kern, and -that his father was a shopkeeper, and had started life as an errand boy. -The fact that he was mentioned in dispatches made them worse. They were -jealous." - -She paused for a moment. McLeod did not speak. She glanced at him. His -face was set. One hand was clenched. The other gripped hard on the -rail. She understood and went on: - -"Two of them were especially insulting. At mess one evening they went -beyond endurance. Allister was not quick with his tongue. He was slow -of speech and could not answer them. But there was another way open, -and he took it. He was big and strong, as big and strong as Dr. -Sinclair. But not fair like Dr. Sinclair. He was dark like mother. He -called the two of them out from mess, and with his bare hands gave the -biggest of them a terrible thrashing. The other ran to his tent for his -sword and revolver. When Allister went after him, for his Highland blood -was up and nothing could stop him, the coward hid behind the excuse that -they must fight as gentlemen. But when it came to fighting with -revolvers, the Englishman who had been thrashed claimed that it was his -right to fight the duel, as it was he who had been beaten. And the -coward was glad to let him." - -She paused again. Her face was pale, but her eyes showed the fire which -burned within. McLeod was breathing hard, as if in a physical struggle. - -It was quickly arranged and quickly over. Out there on the sand in the -moonlight they faced each other and fired only once. Allister was not -hit. The Englishman was shot through the lung. The regimental doctor -said that he could live only an hour. He could not check the flow of -blood. - -"A few minutes afterwards Allister rode out of camp towards Alexandria. -His orderly, who was Highland like himself, brought us word that he -could not stand the thought of what it would mean to father and mother -and me, that he should be tried and convicted of murder. That was two -years ago to-day. Since that we have never heard a word." - -For the first time in her recital McLeod spoke: "Did the Englishman -die?" - -"No, he did not. He is now strong and well. What is better, he bitterly -repented the wrong he did my brother. He came to father and mother -seeking our forgiveness, and was forgiven. Now he is helping to search -the world for Allister. What became of the coward we never heard, -except that he was dismissed from the service for cowardice. We never -knew his name." - -"That is the real reason why your father is spending so much time in -those out-of-the-way places of the Far East. He hopes to get word of -your brother." - -"Yes. Mother is convinced that Allister is dead. But father and I -cannot believe it. We believe that he is living, and that we shall find -him. And father believes that it will not be very long. He told me -only this morning that he was convinced that it would be soon." - -"The Highland second sight." - -"Yes. God grant that it may be so." - -"Amen!" said McLeod solemnly. - -For some minutes they leaned on the rail in silence. Her eyes were fixed -on the water, which was flowing upstream with the rising tide. McLeod -was looking away up the river to where he could distinguish the little -passenger launch emerging from a fleet of cargo boats and bat-winged -junks. It was steaming straight down the river at full speed. -Presently he said: - -"I wonder what's up. The launch is heading for us instead of going to -her jetty." - -"There are some Europeans on her," Miss MacAllister replied. "I can see -two men wearing helmets under the awning. They evidently are coming on -board." - -Then she uttered a faint cry. One of the men had stepped from under the -awning and stood at his full height on the bow of the launch. The next -instant he took off his helmet and waved it at McLeod. The sunlight -gleamed on a mass of fair hair. - -"Oh!" she said. "It is Dr. Sinclair. As he stood up I thought it was -Allister. Their figures are exactly alike. But it was foolish of me." - -McLeod seemed hardly to heed what she was saying. He had climbed on the -rail, was frantically waving his white cap, and yelling like a -schoolboy. - -"What cronies you two are!" she said with mock severity, but laughing -all the while. "Talk about the Scotch being clannish! You Canadians -beat anything I ever met for clannishness." - -"Just some Canadians," answered McLeod. "Will you excuse me?" he called -back as he went below. - -"Those two must be desperately in love," she said to herself as she -smilingly responded to Sinclair's courteous salutation from the bow of -the launch. - -The next instant McLeod had hold of both Sinclair and Gorman and was -ushering them up the companion-way. The sergeant would have declined. -But McLeod would take no refusal. The company present were his and -Captain Whiteley's guests. And whoever they chose to invite would have -to be received as such. And not only Sinclair, but the consul and -others who had known him noticed that Gorman's brogue and exaggerated -Irishisms were dropped as easily as if they had all been assumed, and -the Irish noncom was as much at ease and as correct in his behaviour as -any of those who boasted gentle birth. - - - - - *XX* - - *THE INFALLIBLE EXPERTS* - - -The next evening (it was a Saturday) Dr. Sinclair dined with the -MacAllisters. To his surprise, and much to his delight, he was the only -guest. For the first time he saw something of their home life. He saw, -too, Miss MacAllister in a role different from anything he had seen -before. Up to this time he had always met her as a passenger or a -guest, with no responsibilities save those of amusing and being amused. -She had been the centre of an admiring circle, free to be as whimsical -or wayward as the fancy of the moment suggested. That evening she -shared with her mother the duties of hostess and devoted herself to -making the evening pleasant for their guest. And Sinclair thought that -never before had a single evening brought him so much enjoyment. - -He wondered at the change. Was it another side of her character? Or -was it that she had changed her attitude towards himself? The previous -afternoon he had noticed that she received him with a frank cordiality -which had surprised and delighted him. But she had been just as ready -with gay banter and raillery as ever, especially when talking to Lanyon -or any others of the guests who pressed their attentions upon her. This -evening there was none of that. Bright and entertaining she certainly -was. But there was not a trace of the whimsical, teasing spirit she had -formerly manifested, nor a word which could make him feel uncomfortable. -As the evening sped away he felt himself becoming more and more -fascinated. He had met many beautiful and attractive women, but never -one who cast such a spell over him. - -Mrs. MacAllister was not extremely cordial. She did not wax -enthusiastic over him as she had done over De Vaux and Carteret. But -she was a Highland hostess in her own home. And though it might be only -a temporary home in a foreign land, and though she had not been anxious -to have Dr. Sinclair for dinner, she had too much of the hospitality of -her native hills to do otherwise than endeavour to make him feel that he -was welcome there. - -Mr. MacAllister was cordiality itself. In Sinclair he found a kindred -spirit. His interest in men, to whatever race they might belong, his -keen insight and trained powers of observation, were refreshing to the -shrewd business man after the many men he met who went about the world -with eyes which did not see. From the moment they sat down to dinner -until they rose from it he plied Sinclair with questions and compared -the doctor's observations with his own. - -"You have had a great opportunity of studying the Chinese during the -last couple of months," he said. "I envy you. Since you went over to -Keelung I have visited Foochow, spent another short spell in Amoy, and -travelled over a considerable part of south Formosa. But I have felt -all the time that I really did not get into touch with the natives. I -couldn't speak their languages. I was staying always in the homes of -foreigners. I came into contact with the Chinese only, as it were, at -second hand. But for one who has just arrived among them, you have had -a remarkable experience and an exceptional opportunity. I envy you." - -"It has been an opportunity, though of course too short to form anything -like final conclusions. Nevertheless, I saw enough to convince me that -the greater part of the information about China which is being served up -to the Western world by so-called authorities is absolutely unreliable. -The ten-day tourists and meteoric newspaper correspondents get only -surface impressions, and even these are generally wrong." - -"We had one of them here while you were at Keelung and father was in the -South," said Miss MacAllister. - -"Is that so? I had not heard. Who was it?" - -"Mr. F. L. Y. Urquhart, the famous traveller and authority on China." - -"Indeed! How long did he stay?" - -"Arrived from Foochow on the gunboat _Falcon_ in the forenoon. Called -on the consul, the commissioner of customs, and ourselves. Lunched on -the _Locust_. Went up river in the afternoon. Stayed one hour, and -returned by the same launch. Had tennis and tea at the consulate. At -6.30 put off to join the _Falcon_ again and sailed immediately for -Amoy." - -"And I suppose had the fate of Formosa settled." - -"Oh, yes! Quite!" - -"What is it?" - -"The French will have the island in their possession in a month or six -weeks at the outside. Their transports with large land forces and -escorted by naval reinforcements have already passed the Suez. Before -them the Chinese army will run like sheep, and the inhabitants will -submit without a blow. Once the French flag is hoisted it will never be -taken down. Formosa is lost to Britain through the stupidity of old Lord -Littlengland, the Foreign Secretary. He refused to accept it when China -actually offered to cede it to Britain to keep it out of the hands of -the French, as he had absolute assurance from Li Hung-chang himself." - -"Excellently done!" exclaimed Sinclair, laughing at her mimicry of the -assurance of the expert. "Did he not call on Dr. MacKay?" - -"No. I suggested that he should. He replied that he put no reliance on -the opinions of missionaries. They were all narrow-minded fanatics, who -couldn't take a broad, large-minded view of the situation." - -"So he missed the one man who knows more of the probabilities of this -war than all the rest of us taken together?" - -"Yes, he missed him entirely. Said that he didn't care to meet him." - -"That is it exactly. It is just such self-conceited experts, who know -all about China when they have been ashore at half a dozen seaports -during the hours of call of a passenger liner and who refuse to learn -from those who do know, who have given our Western nations such an -exaggerated idea of their own superiority and of China's inferiority." - -"Then you think that the Chinese have been underestimated as soldiers," -said Mr. MacAllister. - -"I certainly do. For one thing, I have never seen nor heard of among -any other people anything like the ability of the Chinese to bear pain. -I was compelled to perform without anaesthetics operations so painful -that most Europeans or Americans would rather have died than have -endured them. Yet the Chinese bore them with little more than an -occasional groan or a suppressed 'ai-yah.'" - -"Why, then, is it that they have made such a poor showing when opposed -to European troops? I have always been informed that it was the lack of -physical courage." - -"It is not because of the lack of courage. It is the lack of training -and the lack of leadership. Going into battle vain, self-confident, and -contemptuous towards the foreigners, they have suddenly found themselves -exposed by incompetent commanders, mowed down by the foreign weapons, -disconcerted by well-ordered movements of trained men, and helpless to -meet foreign strategy. The inevitable panic followed, and they ran." - -"But we have been told again and again by the experts that it is -impossible to drill the Chinese; that they will never be anything else -than a mob." - -"Then I wish those experts could have seen Sergeant Gorman and his -ambulance corps. He was given some of the toughest material in Liu -Ming-chuan's army. In a month's time they moved like clock-work. As -the American general they have over there said, I'd just like to see -Gorman 'lickin' a regiment into fightin' shape.' General Gordon proved -what could be done with a Chinese army during the Tai-ping rebellion. -If China only had a few native General Gordons, the world would soon -receive notice that China was to be left alone." - -"Is that not just where the difficulty lies, the lack of able, patriotic -leadership? The authorities tell us that there is no patriotism in -China. They say that every man is for himself, or at most for his own -city or province, but he cares nothing for the country as a whole." - -"That may have been true in the past, and doubtless still is true of the -mass of the people. But it is no longer true of many of the younger and -better educated men. There are young officers in the army who are just -as patriotically Chinese, whether they come from the North or Centre or -South, as we are British, whether we be from Britain or Canada or -Australia. They are learning more from defeats than they would from -victories. Some day before very long China will produce a man whom his -countrymen will follow. Then it will say 'Hands off!' to the world." - -"What do you think is the country's greatest need at the present moment? -The missionaries say, Christianity. Hart, the Inspector General of -Customs, who has lived half a lifetime in China, and the American -Minister at Pekin endorse the missionaries' opinions. The special -correspondents and the experts say political reform. What do you -think?" - -"Christianity, most emphatically. The political reforms will follow. -When the new China appears in the world its leaders will be Christians." - -Mrs. MacAllister, who had been listening with ill-concealed impatience, -threw back her head and sniffed. - -"Dr. Sinclair," she said, "do you really think that it makes any -difference with these Chinese whether they call themselves Christians or -heathens?" - -"I am quite sure of it, Mrs. MacAllister." - -"Well, I don't believe that a Christian Chinese is one bit different -from a heathen Chinese. They are both just dirty Chinese." - -"If you could see the difference between Dr. MacKay's students, who were -with me as nurses and hospital assistants, and their heathen -neighbours," replied Sinclair, "you would not say that. I have never -seen nurses or medical students in a hospital at home more cleanly, -faithful or efficient, or more apt to learn. Their people were just -common, ignorant Chinese peasants. I know of no explanation of the -difference between these boys and others of their class, except that -these were Christians and the others were not." - -"I see that you quite agree with my husband in this. But I do not. -When we were at home it seemed romantic to hear about foreign missions. -But when I came out here, and saw those ignorant natives, and heard some -of them called Christians, it quite disgusted me. And Dr. MacKay -actually asked us to go to the native church and sit at the Lord's Table -with them. I was so surprised at him that I did not know what answer to -make. I do not believe that they are real Christians at all. What was -it Mr. Carteret called them? Oh, yes! Rice Christians! He said that -they were 'rice Christians.' That means that they were in it for what -they could get out of it. Mr. Carteret said that he had never known a -real Christian among them." - -Sinclair had intended to allow the subject to drop when he saw that for -some reason his hostess held very pronounced views on it, different from -his own. But her quoting Carteret as an authority on the sincerity or -reality of religious beliefs touched him to the quick. He answered very -quietly but firmly: - -"All over the south of Scotland, from the Atlantic to the North Sea, in -churchyard or hillside or lonely moor, are to be found flat slabs or -tall monuments, marking the spots where the Covenanters of two hundred -years ago were slain or where their bodies were laid to rest. Some of -them were gentlemen of birth. Some were cultured ministers. But the -great majority were plain people, sometimes ignorant people; just -ordinary hard-working, unlearned Scottish peasants. Yet the places -where they died are sacred to-day. Monuments are erected to them. -Books are written about them. They are held up before us as the martyrs -and heroes of our Church. Why? Because they died rather than deny their -faith. - -"Less than a month ago and less than twenty miles from here, some plain -people--merchants, farmers, artisans--were asked to deny their faith. -They refused. They were beaten. They were tortured. They were hanged -by the hair of the head. Two of them were drowned. Their religion was -the same as that of the Scottish Covenanters. They died for it just as -willingly as the Covenanters did. They were Chinese. If we say that -the Scottish sufferers were martyrs and heroes, I do not know how we can -refuse to say the same of the Chinese." - -He had spoken quietly, in a low tone of voice. But the very quietness -of his manner had deepened the impression of tense feeling, of emotion -kept under firm control. His words had grown eloquent in spite of -himself. - -When he ceased there was perfect silence for some minutes. Miss -MacAllister was looking wonderingly at him. He had always seemed so -good-humoured, so easy-going that she had sometimes asked herself if he -was really capable of deep, passionate feeling. At an unexpected moment -she had got her answer. There was no mistaking the passion of admiration -for a heroic deed which possessed him, the indignant protest against an -injustice. It was all the more impressive because it was so restrained. -For reasons which perhaps she could not explain to herself she felt a -thrill of pleasure at recognizing this note of passion in his voice. - -Mrs. MacAllister also sat silent for a time. Then she said in a very -different tone from that which she had used before: - -"Perhaps you are right, Dr. Sinclair. I had not looked at it in that -light." - -"It is not easy for any one of us to be entirely just to peoples so -unlike us as are the Chinese," said her husband. "Yet, when we get down -to the mainsprings of their conduct, we find that they are pretty much -the same as our own." - - - - - *XXI* - - *THE LANGUAGE OF SONG* - - -When dinner was over, Sinclair asked Miss MacAllister if she would play -and sing for them. "I have not heard a song," he said, "nor the sound -of a civilized instrument since the evening at the consulate, just after -we landed." - -For a moment her eyes danced mischievously. A question about that -Indian song of his trembled upon her lips. But she thought better of -it, deciding not to say anything which might mar the evening by any -misunderstanding. So she replied: - -"I am afraid that you will hardly call this piano a civilized instrument -after you have heard it. It has almost ceased to be an instrument at -all. Its age, the climate, and the lack of a tuner have combined to -make it a mere caricature of a piano. But, if you'll try to imagine -that the weird sounds it produces are music, I shall do my best." - -"Your voice will more than compensate for any deficiencies in the -instrument," he said as he conducted her to the piano. - -"Dr. Sinclair, I am surprised at you. I didn't think that you would -flatter." - -"I am not flattering. I mean it." - -She bent over the music; but he could see the warm colour flow up the -side of her neck and face. He wondered if he had been too bold. Had he -displeased her? She kept her head bent down and slowly turned the -leaves of a song folio which rested on the keys. He could see little of -her face. Had he by his rashness annoyed her and brought discord into -that delightful evening? - -Presently she seemed to have made a choice. She gave him one quick, shy -glance, and he saw her face. The blush still lingered there, but there -was no trace of displeasure. - -"Would you like me to sing this?" - -She laid the folio open on the piano. Sinclair's heart gave a leap. -She had chosen a love song. It was not indeed a maiden's tale of love, -but the love of a man for a maid. Nevertheless, it was a woman's song, -and a woman's tenderness breathed through both words and melody of -immortal "Annie Laurie." - -"You could not have chosen anything I should have liked better. 'Annie -Laurie' will never grow old." - -She sang the first verse alone. Then she said: - -"I thought that you were going to sing with me. Will you not put in a -bass?" And a little mischievously: "It will at least help to drown the -discords of this old instrument." - -"I was enjoying your voice so much," he replied, "that I did not wish to -spoil the pleasure by adding mine. But, if you wish it, I'll join you." - -Other songs, mostly old Scotch favourites, followed. Sinclair noted that -she did not choose war-songs as when she sang at the consulate. Her -mood was different, and she chose those into which the singers of her -race had poured all their pathos and their tenderness. - -As they talked in the intervals, and sometimes prolonged the selection -of a song, the hesitation and mutual reserve wore off and soon they -found themselves conversing with the quiet confidence of those who had -long been friends. There seemed to be no room for misunderstandings. - -Again and again Sinclair caught himself wondering if this were the same -girl who had badgered him so unmercifully a few weeks before. Or was -this present situation only a bright dream, from which he would awaken -to find himself still the object of her badinage and laughter? "Well," -he thought to himself, "dream or no dream, I'll enjoy it while it lasts -and hope that I may be long in waking up." - -But there were a few things which reminded him that it was not a dream. -Mrs. MacAllister did not enter quite so heartily into sympathy with her -daughter's mood as did Dr. Sinclair. Perhaps it was not to be expected. -More than once she endeavoured to interject her disapproval of their -choice of songs. - -"What are you going to sing next, Jessie?" she asked when three love -songs had followed one another without a break. - -"'Robin Adair.'" - -Mrs. MacAllister sniffed audibly. - -"I do not think much of your choice," she said tartly. - -"You like it, father, do you not?" - -"Oh, yes, Jessie! It suits me very well. Sing it." - -When it was sung Mrs. MacAllister returned to the attack: - -"Why do you not sing something lively instead of those lonesome pieces? -It gives me a creepy feeling. Dr. Sinclair is just back from the war. -Can you not sing him some fighting song, such as 'Bonnie Dundee' or -'Scots Wha Ha'e wi' Wallace Bled'?" - -"Mother, I do not feel like singing fighting songs this evening. We are -likely to have fighting enough soon. But if Dr. Sinclair has become so -bloodthirsty as a result of his service at the front, I'll try to -satisfy him. Must you give vent to your feelings in a war-song, Dr. -Sinclair?" A gleam of fun shot through the mock anxiety of her face. - -"Not at all, Miss MacAllister. I saw enough of glorious war to do me -for a little while. The glory of it is mostly in the songs. There is -little glory in the actuality. Anyway, I am enjoying myself too much as -it is to take the chance of spoiling it by a change." - -Miss MacAllister answered by a warning shake of the head, the severity -of which was disarmed by the accompanying smile. But her mother set her -lips close together, elevated her nose, and sniffed very audibly. - -All unheeding, the young people chose another Scottish song, "Bonnie -Charlie's Noo Awa." As the plaintive words and the wailing notes rang -out, - - "Mony a heart will break in twa - Should you ne'er come back again," - -Mr. MacAllister slipped out of the room into the verandah which looked -over the river to the tall dark peak beyond. - -Then the lament of the chorus rose into a cry and died away in a sob: - - "Will ye no come back again? - Will ye no come back again? - Better lo'ed ye canna be. - Will ye no come back again? - -Mrs. MacAllister rose and hurriedly followed her husband. - -A late moon was rising over the great bulk of the Taitoon range, -shedding its pale light on the brimming river, save where the houses of -the town and the clustered junks cast long, dark shadows. Out in -mid-stream the _Locust_ swam on the mirror-like surface. The call of a -night bird rang plaintively across the water. Within, the voices of the -singers rose again in the last stanza: - - "Sweet's the lav'rock's note and lang; - Liltin' wildly up the glen; - But aye to me he sings ae sang, - Will ye no come back again?" - - -In the dark shadow of the deep verandah a man and woman, both -middle-aged, pressed close to each other. His arm was around her waist. -Her head was on his shoulder. As he caressed and soothed her his tears -fell on her face and mingled with her own. It was not of a long-dead -prince they were thinking. It was of a lost son of whom they did not -know whether he was living or dead. - -The silver tones of the gunboat's bell rang out on the sweet night air, -striking six times. Sinclair pulled out his watch with a look of -incredulity: - -"Eleven o'clock! Miss MacAllister, I am ashamed of myself. I had no -idea it was so late. I have been enjoying myself so much that this -evening has passed like a dream." - -"I am glad that you have enjoyed it. The time has passed very quickly -to me, too." - -"You do not know what pleasure it gives me to hear you say so. It has -been to me the pleasantest evening of my life." - -She blushed at the implication, gave him the reward of a smile, and rose -hurriedly from the piano: - -"Where are father and mother? I must find them to bid you good-bye." - - - - - *XXII* - - *HALCYON DAYS* - - -The next three days were to Dr. Sinclair a continuation of that -evening's dream. They were full of incident. But what made them still -more pleasant and memorable was the fact that he often met Miss -MacAllister, and that she was uniformly kind and seemed to enjoy his -company. It is true that after Saturday evening they did not again meet -alone. But no matter how gay the company might be, nor how much -chaffing and repartee was passing among them, she never reverted to the -attitude she had adopted during the first week of their acquaintance. -She did not try to make him feel uncomfortable, nor did she cause a -laugh at his expense. - -On Sunday morning at nine o'clock there was a service in the little -native church, a few rods from the hong of MacAllister, Munro Co. In -addition to the local Christians there were many refugees present who -had fled from their homes in the inland villages, having lost everything -but their lives. - -The Communion of the Lord's Supper was observed, Dr. MacKay presiding, -assisted by his missionary colleague and some of the oldest native -preachers. Mr. MacAllister and his daughter, Dr. Sinclair, an engineer -and a petty officer from the _Locust_, and one member of the customs -staff sat with the wives of the missionaries and the native converts. -The service was conducted in Chinese. Consequently the words were -unintelligible to most of the foreigners present. Yet they were -conscious of the tense feeling, the close and reverent attention, the -spirit of prayer of the native worshippers. - -Once only did the officiating missionary use the English language. He -was administering the wine, and spoke the words of a formula in Chinese. -The audience had been silent and reverent before. Now the silence could -be felt. He repeated it in English: - -"'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for many for -the remission of sins: Drink ye all of it. It may be that many of you -will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day when you -drink it new in the Kingdom of God.'" - -When the service was over Sinclair walked slowly along the narrow street -with Miss MacAllister and her father. For a time they were silent, as -if each were letting the impression of it sink into the mind. Miss -MacAllister was the first to speak. - -"I have never thought myself religious," she said. "I am afraid that I -have been like so many others, a member of a church because it is -customary and respectable. But if the spirit and atmosphere which were -in that little Chinese church this morning prevailed in our big churches -at home, I think I could be religious." - -"I am afraid that you are underestimating your own interest in -religion," replied her father. "And perhaps you are mixing, just a -little, reverent feelings and actually living as a Christian. They are -very different things. But it is true that the spirit of worship I have -found in many of those native churches has made the services of a -considerable proportion of our home churches appear mere barren, -lifeless formalism in comparison. The West may have again to learn from -the East the devotion and self-forgetfulness of Christianity." - -They had reached a point in the narrow, crooked street which commanded a -view of the harbour and of the sea beyond. An exclamation from Sinclair -directed their attention seaward. - -A small merchant steamer was seen coming towards the harbour. As she -drew near a puff of smoke streamed out from the _Vipere_, and after an -interval the heavy boom of a cannon floated along the water. The little -merchantman promptly reversed. A boat from the Frenchman ran alongside. -After half an hour's delay the boat pulled away again, and the _Fokien_ -steamed slowly in, picking up a pilot as she came. Her captain had -satisfied the search party that she had no contraband of war on board. - -In the afternoon Sinclair and Miss MacAllister met at a service -conducted in English in the little mission college for the benefit of -the foreign community. The missionaries, the consul and his wife and -daughter, the officers and a detachment of men from the _Locust_, and -the MacAllisters attended. Very few of the other foreign residents took -advantage of it. Most of them had shed their church-going habits and -their interest in religion of any kind as soon as they came to the Far -East. - -Even Carteret's desire to stand well with the MacAllisters could not -overcome his rooted aversion to attending a Christian service of any -kind. Mrs. MacAllister was much surprised at his absence in view of the -readiness with which he had expressed his opinions on the sincerity of -the Chinese converts and his apparent interest in matters spiritual. -She thought that he must be weary from his duties during the week and -must feel the need of resting on the Sabbath. Otherwise she was sure -that he would have been present, as he was so much interested in -religion. - -It might have been a revelation to her to have known how the pious young -man was at that moment engaged. In company with Clark, the tea-buyer, -and two other kindred spirits, he was enjoying a game of baccarat, while -sundry bottles of various brands decorated the table. Before that -Sabbath day reached the midnight hour, Clark and his two companions were -to subside in more or less restful positions on the floor, there to lie -in stertorous, swinish slumber till well on in the morrow. But -Carteret, who was banker in the game, though his pale face was flushed -and his eyes were glassy, was able to reach his room with comparatively -steady step; was able to feel with satisfaction that in his pockets -rested securely the spare cash of his three comrades, together with -various I.O.U.'s. He was a pious young man, much interested in -religion, and greatly distressed by the insincerity of the native -converts. - -Meanwhile, most of those who had been at the service had accepted the -consul's invitation to ascend to the top of the old Dutch fort, and from -that lofty point of vantage survey the scenery and watch any movements -on board the French warships. - -"What is that away to the northwest, just north of where the sun will -set?" said Sinclair. "Is that an evening cloud or is it a trail of -smoke from a steamer?" - -Commander Gardenier's glass was on it in an instant: - -"It is the smoke of a steamer, and she is coming directly this way. -Looks as if she were from Foochow." - -They watched her while she came over the rim of the horizon and drew -rapidly nearer. Now the Frenchmen could see her, and there was a -movement on board. But she evidently did not see them against the -background of the coast. - -"Up goes her flag. She sees the Frenchman and is letting them know who -she is. She is British. What do you make of her, Boville?" handing him -the glass. "You know most of the boats along the Coast." - -"She's a long way off; but she looks like the _Waverly_, a tramp. If it -is, she is almost sure to have contraband on board. By Jove! she's -putting about!" - -A long jet of smoke spirted out from the _Vipere_. The report went -volleying off among the hills. - -"A blank!" exclaimed Gardenier. "I believe that fool captain is going -to run for it. He's stoking for all he's worth and heading straight -across the channel. He must be crazy. He hasn't a chance in the -world." - -"No, I fancy he has no chance on that smooth sea," replied Boville. -"But if there was a gale blowing or better still, a typhoon, Archie -Scott would drive that old tub of his through at full speed where -Monsieur of the _Vipere_ would have to heave to." - -But there was no prospect of a storm that calm evening and the warship -was tearing through the water. Another jet of flame and smoke streamed -out from her. A little plume of spray rose close to the bow of the -fleeing steamer. - -"It's all up with Archie this time," laughed Gardenier. "The Frenchman -is too fast for him. That shot brought him to his senses." - -The daring little merchantman was boarded, and just as the sun set she -was seen steaming back towards Foochow, while the _Vipere_ returned to -her place of guard. - -"This is quite exciting," said Miss MacAllister. "I had little idea when -we sailed from Amoy that I was going to get so near to actual war." - -"I only hope that you may not get any nearer," replied the consul, a -little grimly. - -"Why, Mr. Beauchamp? Do you think that there is much prospect of there -being fighting right here?" - -"I really can't say. I don't know what is in the minds of those -Frenchmen. But I do not like the way they are acting. It is pretty -much the way they manoeuvred before they bombarded Keelung." - -"Wouldn't that be great? To be in the midst of a bombardment!" - -"It's not so romantic as it is to read about it in the papers," said the -consul. "What do you think, Sinclair? Hallo! What's this? Look here, -doctor, I'll have you arrested for alienating the affections of my -daughter." - -The remark caused all eyes to be turned towards Sinclair. He was seated -on one of the battlements. On his knee was perched Constance Beauchamp. -One arm was thrown around his neck. With the other hand she was -caressing and arranging the heavy waves of his fair hair. A flush -appeared under the tan of his face. Before he had time to reply -Constance broke in: - -"Oh, daddy, I was just asking Dr. Sinclair why he did not let his hair -grow long and fall in big curls on his shoulders. Then he would be so -handsome. He would be just like the picture of Harold Fair-Hair, King of -Norway, in the last story-book Aunt Jo sent me from England. Dr. -Sinclair, won't you let your hair grow? Do! For me!" - -Sinclair's face had crimsoned at the sudden attention drawn to him and -the frank admiration of the little maid. But he was too gallant to -refuse: - -"I couldn't resist that appeal. I'll promise. I'll not get my hair cut -again until you give me leave." - -"Oh, goody! I knew you would do it for me. You're lovely." - -"I admire your courage, doctor, more than your good sense," laughed her -father. "But it is always the way. A big man can be twisted around the -fingers of the littlest maid." - -But the one whose presence at this little scene had made the blood -tingle in Sinclair's face more sharply than all the others thought to -herself: - -"It is a child's instinctive attraction to a true man." - -That scene on the ramparts of the old Dutch fort became one of the most -cherished treasures in the picture-gallery of her memory. - - - - - *XXIII* - - *IMPENDING STORMS* - - -"Well, Mr. De Vaux, I see that the French fleet has arrived. Has the -commander given any intimations of his intentions yet?" - -"Bless my soul, Mr. MacAllister! ... Is it possible that you have not -heard? ... These boys are most exasperating. They'll be the death of me -yet.... 'Pon my honour, they will! ... I was with the consul when -Admiral Lespes' messenger arrived, and the consul gave me the notice to -read.... Extraordinarily decent of the consul! ... I sent the boy to you -that very minute with a chit. Did he not deliver it?" - -"Not yet." - -"I'll have him flogged, Mr. MacAllister.... 'Pon my soul, I will.... -It is the only way to deal with them, Mr. MacAllister.... Now, where -can he be? ... Stopped somewhere along the road, playing fantan and -gambling away his month's wages! ... By----! ... 'Pon my word, I mean -it's most exasperating.... Flogging is the only thing to cure them when -they start gambling. Isn't that your experience, Carteret?" - -"I think that they all ought to be flogged," replied Carteret languidly. -"Never yet met a Chinese who was good for anything." - -"Opinions may differ on that point, Mr. Carteret," said Mr. MacAllister -sharply. "But, De Vaux, you have not yet told me what notice the French -admiral sent." - -"By----! ... Bless my soul, I mean how stupid of me! I beg a thousand -pardons, Mr. MacAllister.... How did I forget that? ... Those boys annoy -me so. I really cannot think of what I am doing. 'Pon my soul, I -cannot! ... But Admiral Lespes' notice! Would you believe it, he says -that he will bombard the town to-morrow morning at seven o'clock.... -Did ever you hear of such an atrocity?" - -"How do you do, Mr. De Vaux? Did I hear you say just now that Tamsui -was to be bombarded? Or was I mistaken?" - -"Miss MacAllister, you are perfectly correct.... I am sure that you are -never mistaken.... 'Pon my soul, I am! ... You are quite right. I am -sorry to say that Tamsui is to be bombarded in the morning." - -"Oh I'm so glad! That is, I'm not glad that it is to be bombarded. But -I am glad that since it is going to happen it should take place while we -are here. I should have been so disappointed to have missed it. How do -you do, Mr. Carteret?" - -"Since the ladies have arrived, we had better proceed to luncheon at -once," said Mr. MacAllister. "We do not know what developments there may -be this afternoon." - -As soon as they were seated at the table Mrs. MacAllister turned to -Carteret and said: - -"Do you really think, Mr. Carteret, that the lives of the foreign -residents will be endangered by the bombardment?" - -"There will be very little danger, I assure you, Mrs. MacAllister. The -French will direct their fire at the earthworks and the camps on the -downs. As soon as they plump a few shells among them the whole Chinese -army will run like sheep, and the bombardment will be over." - -"I am so glad to hear you say so, Mr. Carteret. It was what I felt -myself. But it is a relief to know that one who has lived here and -knows the natives is of the same opinion. You think that the French -will take possession of the town early in the day?" - -"Assuredly! Before to-morrow night there'll not be a Chinese soldier -nearer than Taipeh." - -"I do not believe that the French are going to have it so easy as that," -broke in De Vaux. "'Pon my soul, I do not! ... The Chinese will give -them more than they reckon upon. Mark my words.... Dr. MacKay thinks -the same, and he knows more about the Chinese than any of us." - -"But, Mr. De Vaux," replied Mrs. MacAllister, "you must remember that -Dr. MacKay is married to a Chinese woman. Really, I never got such a -shock as when I heard that. My opinion of missionaries went down to -zero. To take a Chinese woman as his wife! How could he?" - -De Vaux's face became very red. Carteret maintained his attitude of -cynical composure. - -"I suppose it was one of the sacrifices he felt himself called upon to -make in order to do the Lord's work," he replied sneeringly. "These -fanatics will justify any insanity by claiming that the Lord commanded -them to do it." - -Miss MacAllister's colour deepened. Her eyes flashed ominously. Her -father's face was grave, to the verge of sternness. Before either of -them could speak De Vaux interposed. - -"Dr. MacKay is not the only one who thinks that the Chinese will put up -a resistance," he said. "When I was coming along, Dr. Sinclair and Dr. -Black of the _Locust_ were busy at the Mission Hospital, getting it -ready to take care of a lot of wounded. 'Pon my honour as a gentleman, -they're right. There'll be fighting here to-morrow. By----! I mean, -'pon my soul, there will!" - -Mrs. MacAllister sniffed. - -"I do not depend much on Dr. Sinclair's judgment," she said, "since he -went over to Keelung to be a surgeon among the Chinese. I was very much -surprised at him. I cannot understand how he can endure being among -those dirty natives. It would make me sick. And to handle their bodies -and treat their wounds! ... It's loathsome, perfectly loathsome. I am -astonished at Dr. Sinclair." - -"Dr. Sinclair evidently has not your feelings about it, Mrs. -MacAllister," said Carteret in his most contemptuous tone. "He is a -Canadian, and on his paternal farm was probably not accustomed to any -more savoury surroundings than he finds among the Chinese. Doubtless, -he feels very much at home." - -The next moment he bitterly repented having spoken. Miss MacAllister -sat up very straight. Her eyes gleamed at him like two dagger-points. -Her face flushed crimson, and then paled with anger: - -"Mr. Carteret, that remark of yours was entirely uncalled for. Dr. -Sinclair is a gentleman. You are not a gentleman or you would not have -made such a statement." - -"Oh, Jessie!" cried her mother in horrified accents. "What are you -saying? You did not mean that." - -"I did mean it, and I do mean it." - -Mr. MacAllister, who usually with ready tact softened such acerbities, -maintained a grim silence. De Vaux threw himself into the breach and -made an excited, stuttering attempt at mediation, compelling Miss -MacAllister to laugh against her will. - -In spite of this, and in spite of Carteret's abject apology and -retraction, a tense feeling pervaded the atmosphere throughout the -remainder of the luncheon, and all were glad when it was over. - -To Miss MacAllister the remainder of the day was no less trying. She -realized that her sudden flame of indignation had surprised her into -betraying to prying and unfriendly eyes feelings toward Dr. Sinclair -which she had not before dared to confess to herself. She knew that her -mother had been bitterly chagrined by her open espousal of the big -Canadian's cause and by the merciless snub she had given that ambitious -woman's pet aristocrat. But she knew her mother too well to imagine for -one instant that this scene, painful though it was, would make her -desist from the purpose to which she had set her mind. She had not long -to wait for the proof of the truth of her conclusions. - -That afternoon the ladies were left pretty much to their own devices. -Some of the men were busy preparing for the morrow. Others who had -little to do were on the old fort or other vantage points, watching the -warships which lay just outside the harbour, and were speculating in an -inexpert fashion on the probabilities and prospects of the following -day. All of which speculations and prophecies the following day proved -to be false. But in the meantime the idle ones grew eloquent over their -own imaginings, and, like most armchair experts, persuaded themselves -that they did know something about war and the respective fighting -qualities of French marines and Chinese soldiers. - -Taking advantage of her husband's absence, Mrs. MacAllister called her -daughter into her room. After some preliminary fencing, she plunged -into the subject she had in mind: - -"There is no need of my concealing from you, Jessie, how deeply I was -grieved and disappointed by your conduct towards Mr. Carteret to-day." - -"I am very sorry to have hurt your feelings, mother. But I am not sorry -for telling Mr. Carteret the truth and giving him what he deserved." - -"I do not understand what you mean by saying that you gave Mr. Carteret -what he deserved." - -"Mother, Mr. Carteret took advantage of his privileges as our guest and -of the friendship we have showed him to make an unwarranted and -ungentlemanly attack on another friend of ours, who has also been our -guest." - -"Tut, tut, Jessie! Mr. Carteret did not say anything about Dr. Sinclair -which should make any sensible person angry." - -"He made statements about Dr. Sinclair which were not true; and he made -them in the most insulting way possible." - -"That is merely a matter of opinion, my dear. Dr. Sinclair himself -acknowledged that he was born and reared on a Canadian farm. And though -I will acknowledge that he has done remarkably well, considering that, -to a gentleman of Mr. Carteret's birth and training he is just a -peasant, nothing more than a common peasant." - -"Then, mother, to Mr. Carteret we are just peasants, nothing more than -common peasants. Your father was a shepherd, and father's was a peasant -farmer." - -Mrs. MacAllister coloured at the thrust, but tried to evade it. - -"Jessie," she said, "what is the use of always humiliating your father -and mother by continually reminding them that they were born poor? We -have risen above that now and associate with the best in the land. -People should be judged by what they are, and not by what they were born -to." - -"That is exactly what I think, mother. By that standard Dr. Sinclair, -who was born on a Canadian farm, is a gentleman. And Mr. Carteret, who -was born in an English castle, is not a gentleman." - -"For shame, Jessie, to talk like that! You have no right to say that of -Mr. Carteret. You humiliated him at our own table to-day, and he bore -it like a gentleman." - -"Like a coward, you mean!" - -"And by getting indignant on behalf of Dr. Sinclair," continued the -mother, without paying any heed to the daughter's interjection, "you -practically said to everybody that you were in love with him." - -"I said no such thing." - -"Both Mr. De Vaux and Mr. Carteret understood it that way." - -"I don't care a fig what they understood." - -"And when Dr. Sinclair hears of it he will understand it the same way." - -"He will do no such thing. He is too much of a man." - -Miss MacAllister spoke bravely. But the thrust had gone home. If there -was one thing she dreaded, it was the thought that she should make -herself cheap, that she should appear to offer her love instead of -having her love sought and won. The thought stung. But she would not -acknowledge it. - -"Jessie, has Dr. Sinclair spoken to you of marriage?" - -"Mother, I cannot understand what makes you imagine such things. Dr. -Sinclair has never spoken of the subject of marriage, even in the -remotest and most impersonal way." - -"Has he ever told you that he loves you?" - -"Mother, I refuse to discuss this subject any further. It is absurd." - -"You may say that it is absurd if you wish, Jessie. But, after the way -you acted to-day, I thought that there must surely be some ground for -your championship of him." - -Again the implication stung. Had she been making herself cheap? Was -her secret which she had refused to acknowledge to herself laid bare -before everybody? She winced at the thought. But she said nothing. - -Her mother pursued her advantage: - -"Now, Mr. Carteret has followed the only course open to a gentleman of -birth and breeding. He has honourably come to your father and mother -and has asked our permission to be considered a suitor for your hand." - -"Was that permission given?" - -"Jessie, what do you take us for? Do you think that we have no care -about your future? The heir presumptive to the title and estates of -Lewesthorpe would be considered one of the catches of a London season." - -"Mother, tell me, did father accept Mr. Carteret as a prospective lover -and husband for me?" - -"Yes, certainly.... That is---- You know your father's way.... He did -not put it in so many words, but he gave what was equivalent to his -consent." - -"That is to say that father told Mr. Carteret I could choose for myself. -Now, mother, is that not what father said?" - -"Well, perhaps it was something like that. But, at any rate, it was the -same thing as giving his consent. He made no objections to Mr. -Carteret's trying to win you." - -"That is just what I thought. Of course you gave your hearty consent -and approval." - -"Certainly, my daughter. What kind of a mother would I be if a handsome -and accomplished young gentleman, a gentleman of birth and prospects, -should offer you his heart and hand,--what kind of a mother would I be -not to encourage his suit?" - -"Then, mother, he can keep his heart and hand. I will have none of -them." - -"Jessie, do not make rash statements, which you may regret. I am not -asking you to promise to marry Mr. Carteret. I only asked you to give -him a chance to win your love." - -"Mother, it is no use. I'll never love Mr. Carteret." - -"But, Jessie, think of his prospects. His father is a feeble old man. -His death is expected any day. The present heir has only one lung." - -"I don't care if he had only quarter of one lung. It would make no -difference to me." - -"But, Jessie, stop and think of it. Mr. Carteret will then be Lord -Lewesthorpe, and you would be the Countess of Lewesthorpe." - -"Mother, there is no use in your talking like that. I do not care if he -were the Prince of Wales. I would not pledge myself to try to love a -man whom I do not respect." - -"Jessie, I am bitterly disappointed in you. You are all I have. If -Allister were living it would be different." Tears, real tears, of -grief and mortification sprang into the older woman's eyes and began to -roll down her cheeks. "If I had Allister, it would be different. He -would build up the family. But I have only you, and you will not do -anything I wish. I am grievously disappointed." - -"Mother, you are not fair to me. I have tried to do what you wanted. -But you are asking of me what I cannot do. I cannot give myself body -and soul to a man I despise, a man I can never love." - -"But think of the title, Jessie, and the estates, and the old mansion -built in the time of Queen Elizabeth. And think of the place you would -have in society. You would learn to love him if you would only let -yourself." - -"Mother is it possible that you think that I could love a man for these -things? I must love him for himself, or not at all." - -"Then I suppose that you will tell that low-born, penniless Canadian -doctor that you love him," said her mother bitterly. "Next thing you'll -be wanting to marry him and settle down here as a missionary among those -dirty Chinese." - -The taunt stung again as it had stung before. The quick blood flamed -into her face and passionately she flashed back: - -"I have not the slightest intention of marrying Dr. Sinclair." - -It was the defiant answer of maidenly pride, fired by the insinuation -that she had allowed her feelings to cause her to transgress the limits -of maidenly reserve. In her sudden anger she was fighting against the -dictates of her own heart. - -But her mother, in the determination to satisfy her pitiful ambition, -did not hesitate to seize the unfair advantage and wrest her daughter's -words, giving them a meaning which had not been intended: - -"I am very glad to hear you say, Jessie, that you will not marry Dr. -Sinclair. Your attitude towards him the last few days gave to me as -well as to others, and I am quite sure to Dr. Sinclair himself, the -impression that you were in love with him. I am glad to have it from -your own lips that it was nothing more than a passing fancy, a harmless -flirtation." - -Miss MacAllister waited to hear no more. She could not contradict her -mother's artful twisting of her words without confessing her love. She -could not do that, for Dr. Sinclair had not confessed his, nor had he -asked for hers. She was trapped. Her mother had trapped her and she -could find no escape. - -She fled from her mother's room, ran to her own, and in a passion of -tears of anger and shame threw herself on a couch. Was what her mother -had said true? Had she exposed her heart to the vulgar gaze? Did they -all think that she was offering her love to Sinclair without its being -sought? She would teach them. They would not say that again. - - - - - *XXIV* - - *THE BALL BEGINS* - - -Boom! Boom! - -Two jets of smoke spirted out from the new earth battery on the spur of -the hill running down to the pilot village by the beach. The light -sea-breeze met them, lifted them in balloon-shaped clouds, and carried -them slowly backwards over the battery and against the hills. The earth -trembled with the heavy explosions of the Krupps. One shell splashed a -little to the left of the _Triomphante_, and a trifle short. The other -plume of spray rose directly beyond the warship and so close that it -showed how near the Chinese gunner had come to his target. - -"By Jove! the Chinese have opened the ball. They did not wait for the -Frenchman to start. It's only twenty to seven." - -The consul clicked his watch shut as he spoke, and turned his binoculars -on the French fleet. Sinclair and Sergeant Gorman, who stood with him -on the top of the old fort, had their glasses turned in the same -direction. They had not long to wait. On board the _Triomphante_ men -could be seen running to their stations. In less than two minutes a -puff of smoke streaming out from her told that the duel was on. Before -the boom of the big naval gun had travelled across the intervening two -miles or more of space other jets of smoke poured out from the -_Triomphante_, the _Galissonniere_, and the _Duguay Trouin_ as they lay -strung across the mouth of the harbour. To the north and east of the -first of these a little cloud, rising and floating on the breeze, told -where the _Vipere_ lay close in shore, hidden from sight by the hills. - -The second of October had come, and with it the bombardment. In spite -of its imminence, most of the foreign residents were calmly enjoying -their morning nap when the tempest broke upon them. Of course there -were exceptions. The officers and men of the _Locust_ were at their -places, ready for any duty. Dr. MacKay's working day had begun hours -before. The commissioner of customs had been down to the offices to -take a last inventory before the storm of iron and fire in which they -were likely to be destroyed should begin. He had been joined by Mr. -MacAllister and his daughter, who were looking for a point of vantage -from which to see the opening of the battle. These and the group at the -consulate were the only ones astir. The rest were peacefully -slumbering, prolonging the morning doze to the last moment, though they -knew that the bombardment was announced to commence at seven o'clock -sharp. - -Their drowse was rudely broken in upon. Within fifteen minutes from -when the first gun was fired the four ships and the Chinese batteries -were putting up a tremendous concert. The earth rocked with the -bellowings of the great guns and the bursting of shells. The -_Triomphante_ and the _Galissonniere_ ever and anon alternated a -broadside with the independent firing of single guns. Even Carteret was -awakened when the windows of his room were shattered and a great slab of -plaster fell from the ceiling, bringing his mosquito curtain down on top -of him in a tangled ruin. - -"You will be going down to the hospital shortly, doctor?" said the -consul. - -"Yes, if the French keep it up like this, I guess we'll have something -to do there." - -"Will you drop into Thomson's and tell them that my wife and Constance -will call for them in a few minutes and accompany them to the -rendezvous?" - -"I'll tell them." - -"And Dr. MacKay and his family--do you think that there is any use of -our trying again to get him to go to some safer place?" - -"No, there is no use. He has his students there, and a lot of his -preachers and converts with their wives and families. To send them to -any of the interior towns would mean Sin-tiam over again. They are in -less danger here from the French shells than they would be from the -heathen mobs. He will not leave them. If they are going to be in -danger, he will be in danger with them." - -"I fancied that it would be that way with him. Well, I think all the -more of him for it. Now I must go and get my family down to the -rendezvous and see that the rest of the British residents are under the -best cover possible. Hallo! Who's that on the beach road below the -custom house?" - -"The commissioner, Mr. MacAllister, and Miss MacAllister," said -Sinclair, who had his glasses on them. - -"What the deuce are they doing there? - -"Looking for a good place from which to see the fun," laughed Sinclair, -though his face showed more anxiety than mirth. - -"Boville ought to have more sense," snapped the consul. "Last evening -he was in a great fluster about seeing that everybody was safe at the -rendezvous before the ball began. But I suppose that Miss MacAllister -has coaxed him, and he couldn't resist." - -"Quite likely," replied the doctor, while an odd little smile played -around his eyes and the corners of his mouth. "They are turning back -now. Mr. MacAllister has taken charge. He has the young lady by the arm -and they are heading for home." - -"By Jove! she needs some one whom she can't twist round her fingers." - -The two men laughed; Sinclair a little doubtfully, as if he was not too -sure that such a thing was possible; the consul with the air of -conscious superiority which needs not fear. They little knew what the -day had in store for them. - -"We must be off. It's getting pretty hot over there, and it may swing -around this way any minute. Sergeant, would you stay here a little while -and watch Monsieur _Lespes_? If he seems inclined to pay his -compliments to the town as well as to the batteries, run up the red -signal. But don't stay here after this is in the line of fire. I don't -want you to get your head knocked off." - -"Very good, sir! I shall thry not to come down to you wid me head in me -hand." - -Sinclair and the consul ran down the dark stairway within the old fort -and hurried away, the latter to his house close by, the former to -MacKay's to get his instruments and then to Thomson's to give them the -consul's message. Gorman stood alone on his watch-tower, looking out -upon the scene. - -The solid old memorial of Dutch and Chinese workmanship stood on the -most prominent angle of the hill which thrust itself forward towards the -sea. For two and a half centuries it had braved siege and storm and the -wasting forces of tropical typhoons, of rain and sun and clinging, -insidious tropical vegetation. In a line with it, along the brow of the -hill facing the harbour, were the consul's house, Dr. MacKay's bungalow -and that of his colleague, and the residences of the customs officers. -Just behind MacKay's house were the two mission schools. In a parallel -line below the hill and mostly close to the shore were the customs -house, then after a considerable interval MacAllister, Munro Co.'s, Reid -& Co.'s, Dr. Bergmann's house, and the Mission Hospital, right in the -native town. Away at the far end of the town, a mile beyond the other -foreign residences on a little eminence facing the river, were the house -and godowns of Scott & Co., known as Peeatow. Over each foreign -building flew the British flag, save where Dr. Bergmann had hoisted the -flag of his fatherland. Out in mid-stream, right in front of -MacAllister, Munro Co.'s, the trim, workmanlike _Locust_ floated on the -rising tide. - -The residence and godowns of Mr. MacAllister's firm had been chosen as -the rendezvous. They were in a sheltered position in what was almost a -little cove between the hill and the river. There Commander Gardenier -had sent a force of ten bluejackets under a petty officer. As Gorman -moved his glass from point to point to fix all in his memory a boat -pulled away from the _Locust_ carrying another guard of eight men to -Peeatow, where a number of foreigners had elected to remain, because of -its distance from the ships of war. - -The sergeant turned again to the artillery duel. All over the open downs -to the north shells were furrowing the hard, dry soil, ricochetting from -knoll to knoll, and exploding harmlessly on the grass. The points where -the fewest shells fell were the hollows in which the Chinese camps were -sheltered. In spite of the hurtling showers of projectiles which at -times filled the air, these seemed to be practically immune. - -"Howly Moses!" said Gorman to himself, "if that's the kind of shootin' -the Frinchies do, the only safe spot in tin square miles is the man -they're aimin' at." - -Then a great, clumsy blue-grey water buffalo, the draught beast of the -island, disturbed in its accustomed pasture grounds by thundering guns -and cracking shells, went lumbering across the common a short distance -away. Its ugly snout was thrown forward, its great curved horns laid -back against its shoulders. A shell plumped into the ground under its -belly and, exploding instantly, blew the buffalo into ten thousand -fragments. - -"Furst casuality!" exclaimed Gorman. "Private Wather Buffalo of the -Furst Battalion, Tamsui Blues, General Soon's heavy brigade. Turned -into mince meat. Chewed and partly digested. Dead and mostly missin'." - -The next instant it was: - -"May the divil fly away wid that gunner! Fwhat the blazes does he mane -by shootin' there? Does the omadhaun think that he has killed all the -haythen Chinese in the island, that now he's thryin' to kill the -Christian white people?" - -A shell from the _Galissonniere_ had passed in a great arc over his -head. Its sound was that of a long-drawn whine mingled with the rush of -a sudden gust of wind. It exploded between the Girls' School and Dr. -MacKay's house. - -"If it's the Chinese he's tryin' to hit, I wud call that a mortial bad -shot. I'll wait to see if that wan was only an accident, or if they're -goin' to presint us wid anny more." - -He did not wait long. Another rush and whine and a shell passed a -little to his left, almost on a level with the spot where he stood and, -exploding on the common just back of Thomson's bungalow, threw a cloud -of earth high in the air. - -That was enough. The red flag fluttered up to the top of the tall -signal staff, from which it did not come down for more than twelve -hours. - -A moment later the consul came out of his house, accompanied by his wife -and little daughter and a couple of native servants, to make their -perilous way to the rendezvous. He glanced up at the danger signal: - -"Are they at it already, sergeant? - -"They are, sir; the worse luck to thim. Make the best time you can, -sir, an' march in open order." - -"Thank you, sergeant. But don't you stay up there to be hit. You can't -be of any more service now. Get to cover somewhere. You might be -needed at the hospital." - -"Very good, sir." - -The consul's little group strung out along the narrow road following the -brow of the hill past the two mission houses. As they came to Dr. -MacKay's they saw the missionary pacing to and fro on his verandah. The -consul called to him: - -"Not very safe there, Dr. MacKay. I think you - -had better do as the rest are doing, bring your family down into the -shelter below the hill." - -The missionary stopped his rapid, nervous pacing backward and forward, -lifted his hat in salute, and replied: - -"Thank you, Mr. Beauchamp. I have all the protection I need: 'Thou -shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that -flieth by day.'" - -As they spoke a projectile drove deep into the ground of the garden -between them, but did not explode. Undisturbed, the missionary resumed -his walking up and down, while the consul hurried after his family. At -their gate Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, accompanied by Dr. Sinclair, joined -them. - -"Run for it! Run!" Beauchamp shouted as the now familiar rush and moan -of a shell was heard. The nimblest of them had hardly quickened their -pace when it hit the very edge of the almost perpendicular cliff a few -yards behind them, ricochetted at an angle to its original course, and -plunged into the harbour. Without more ceremony they did run, stringing -out until separated by wide intervals, turned sharply down the face of -the hill by a narrow path and stone steps which led under some spreading -banians, and in a few minutes were at the door of the rendezvous. The -shells screamed through the air overhead, skipped along on the hard -earth of the hills, or splashed into the river below. - -"Wasn't that fun, daddy? You should have been able just to see you and -mother run. It was better than a show." - -The consul's little daughter was dancing and clapping her hands with -delight. - -"Not much fun that I could see, Constance," replied her father grimly. -"I prefer some other kind of a show." - -"Oh, I like this best, father. And it would have been ever so much more -fun if Mr. De Vaux had been with us. Wouldn't it have been great to see -him run, hear him puff, and say, 'Bless my soul'?" - -"That will do, Constance. It wouldn't have been very great if one of us -had got blown up by a shell." - -"But, daddy, we had Dr. Sinclair with us. He would have fixed us up." - -"Sublime faith! By Jove! doctor, you have an admirer here who will not -go back on you." - -Sinclair laughed, slipped his arm around the little maid as she pressed -to his side, ran his fingers through the heavy, dark-brown curls, smiled -into those frank child eyes which looked so straight into his, and -passed on to the hospital to join Drs. Black and Bergmann. - -Meanwhile, Sergeant Gorman, coming from the consulate towards the town, -had stopped to ask Dr. MacKay if there was any service he could render. - -"From the way the Frenchmen are shootin', I do not expect that we'll -have manny cases in the hospital, barrin' it may be some of ourselves, -if there's anny of us left to patch the rest together. So I moight as -well be doin' an odd job for you, if there's annything that would be of -service to you." - -"Nothing that I know of just now, sergeant! Nothing! We have made all -the preparations we could think of. We are in the hands of God. But -your offer is itself a service. I thank you." - -A shell drove into the ground in a plantation of young banian trees just -to the west of the house. Its explosion threw up a miniature volcanic -eruption of gravel. - -"Bedad, Dr. MacKay, I have been safer in manny a battlefield than we are -at this very minute." - -"'The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my -strong rock, in Him will I trust.'" - -"Thin, sir, you have better fortifications around you than a great manny -of us have." - -A petty officer from the _Locust_ came up the garden walk, saluted, and -said: - -"Are you Dr. MacKay, sir?" - -"I am." - -"Commander Gardenier sent me to present his compliments, and to invite -you to bring your family and your valuables and come on board the -_Locust_. He says that you are in great danger here and that no place -on shore is safe. A boat is waiting at the jetty, sir." - -His words were interrupted by the weird moan of a shell, followed by an -ear-splitting crack. The air was full of smoke and dust and flying -fragments of metal and stone. It had struck a big boulder directly in -front of the house, on the edge of the narrow road at the foot of the -garden. - -As they recovered from the shock, MacKay was speaking as quietly as if -nothing had happened: - -"Give Commander Gardenier my thanks. Tell him that I am deeply indebted -to him for his thoughtfulness. Say to him that I have no valuables save -these." He swept his arm around the semi-circle of native converts, -preachers, students, and simple believers. "He could not accommodate all -these. It is not his duty. They are subjects of China. But these are -my valuables, my children in the Lord. Since I cannot take them with -me, I shall stay with them." - -"I shall tell him, sir." - -The sailor saluted and withdrew. - -When Sergeant Gorman told Sinclair of it at the hospital he said: - -"I was born a Catholic, an' I'll die a Catholic. But whin I see that -man up there on the hill an' thin think of that college in Skibbereen, -an' the priests that have me little farm, that isn't mine neither, at -Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky, I'll tell ye it isn't the memory of the -priests that kapes me a Catholic. It is because I am an Irishman an' I -hate the name of a turncoat." - - - - - *XXV* - - *THE BALL PROCEEDS* - - -"This is a sudden and unceremonious inroad of uninvited guests, Mr. -MacAllister," said the consul as he entered. "Awfully sorry to crowd -you so." - -"There's no necessity for apologies, Mr. Beauchamp. We are only too glad -to share with all any shelter or safety our situation may afford. Will -you not stay and be as comfortable as the circumstances will allow?" - -"Thanks, very much. I cannot stay just now. I see that you have every -one from the hill except MacKay and his family and those who are at the -hospital. But there are others who have taken refuge at Scott & Co.'s -bungalow. I want to look in at the hospital, and then go on to Peeatow. -I shall leave this party in your care and that of Boville. If it gets -too hot here, signal Gardenier, and he will take you all on board. I -shall be back in an hour." - -He was off, following the narrow, crooked, rough-paved Chinese street, -his quick, nervous step carrying him rapidly on his tour of inspection. - -Mr. MacAllister went up to the living-rooms where the ladies were with -De Vaux, Thomson the missionary, Clark the tea-buyer, Boville, Carteret, -and practically the whole customs staff. The house never ceased shaking -with the continual discharge of the cannon. Ever and anon the sharp -splitting crash of a bursting shell, some nearer, some farther away, -gave the nervous a start. Less frequently could be heard, even within -the house, the mingled whine and whirr of a passing projectile. - -Not one of the ladies showed a sign of fear. Mrs. Beauchamp was quiet -and self-controlled. Perhaps there was a trace of anxiety as her eye -followed the light, fawn-like movements of Constance, or when she -thought of her husband out trying to assure himself of the safety of -others. But there was no fear. Mrs. MacAllister was at her best. -Whatever her faults might be, timidity was not one of them. She -belonged to a war-like people. Her colour was high Her dark eyes shone -with a strange fire. She looked a score of years younger than she was. -Her husband was struck by the change in her. He found an opportunity to -say: - -"You look beautiful to-day, Flora." - -"I am thinking of you, Hector. If you have to go out into danger, I -want to go with you. Now I know why Allister would be a soldier. And I -know what Jessie would mean when she says she wishes she wass a man. I -nefer knew before." - -She was deeply moved. The instinct of a fighting race had suddenly come -to life with the sound of battle and the accent of her childhood's -speech was back upon her tongue. - -She looked around for her daughter. Miss MacAllister was standing near -a window talking to Boville. She was drawn up to her full height, -dwarfing the rotund commissioner of customs. Her cheeks were burning. -Her eyes had an almost unnatural light. Her bosom was heaving with the -short, quick breath of one in struggle. Perhaps for the first time in -her life Mrs. MacAllister understood her daughter's feelings. But she -did not understand how much their interview of the day before had added -to their intensity. - -"Mr. Boville, I really cannot stay in here and not be able to see what -is going on. I simply cannot. Let us go out on the verandah." - -"Very well, Miss MacAllister. I do not know that it is any more -dangerous there. I shall be glad to go with you." - -"So shall I!" exclaimed Mrs. Thomson, whose natural vivacity had -likewise been quickened by the excitement of the occasion. "I must go -out. If there's any danger, let's take it in the open, and not shut up -here like rats in a hole." - -Her husband made a slow and feeble protest. But, with a half-defiant -"You may hide in here if you want to," she ran out where she could get a -view. Meanwhile, Constance Beauchamp danced in and out, bringing reports -of what was to be seen to her mother, who remained sedately inside. - -A heavy projectile splashed in the river midway between the company's -jetty and the _Locust_. Another dropped on a cargo boat lying at the -jetty, smashing through its bottom. The boat immediately filled and -sank. A third drove into the soft mud of the shore close by and -exploded, bespattering the whole vicinity with slime. There was a moan -and rush nearer still, a shrill human shriek, a splitting crash, and a -small native house spouted up a cloud of dust and splinters and -fragments of sun-dried brick. Then it collapsed in a little heap of -debris. In that heap were the bodies of an old Chinese peasant and his -wife, and a little child. The great guns of the French Republic's -battleships had claimed some notable victims. - -At the first sound of the shell Miss MacAllister and Mrs. Thomson were -unceremoniously rushed into the house by Boville and De Vaux. The -latter showed a presence of mind and courage in time of danger of which -his excitability on ordinary occasions had given little promise. The -shower of fragments rattled harmlessly on the roof and walls. - -For a few minutes they appeared to be safe. But they did not have a -long respite. There was a terrific crash and rending. The house shook -as if in the grip of an earthquake. A great, gaping hole appeared in -the back corner of the room on a level with the floor. - -"Out on the verandah! Quick!" yelled Boville. - -"Don't stop there! Bless my soul! To the far end!" echoed De Vaux. - -With one exception all ran to the end of the verandah farthest from -where they expected the explosion to take place. For a moment or two -there was dead silence as hearts stood still in expectancy of the -death-dealing shock. Then a quick step was heard running up the stairs -and into the room they had left. The next instant Sinclair stepped out -on the verandah. - -"I hope no one was hurt," he said. "There is no immediate danger now. -It's a dead one." - -A heavy shell from the _Triomphante_ had ricochetted from the hill -behind, struck the back of the house just above the level of the floor -of the room in which the refugees were, passed through the wall and -floor, and landed amid the boxes of tea piled in the lower story. Dr. -Sinclair was just entering the storeroom on the ground floor at that -moment, and soon satisfied himself that it could do no more harm. - -His assurance was received with a chorus of grateful exclamations. In -the midst of them Mrs. MacAllister turned to Carteret and said: - -"I am very glad to see, Mr. Carteret, that you are perfectly safe." - -She had not failed to notice that he had been the first to reach a place -of safety, and had ensconced himself in the corner farthest from the -expected danger. She had got a glimpse of the man's character. She -could forgive drunkenness and gambling, and some other things which need -not be mentioned. These were the privileges of the nobility. But -cowardice! She despised that. Her voice was icily cold when she said: - -"I am very glad to see, Mr. Carteret, that you are perfectly safe." - -Carteret's pale face, paler than usual, flushed. But with ready -effrontery he carried himself through: - -"Thank you, Mrs. MacAllister; I am very glad to see that every one is -perfectly safe." - -At that moment Sinclair's voice was heard saying: - -"What's the matter in here? Was any one hurt?" - -He stepped into the room again, followed by all the rest. From a dark -corner came broken ejaculations, mingled with the names of the deity: - -"Oh, God! Oh, God! ... Lord! ... Lord! ... Oh, God, have mercy on my -soul!" - -Peering through the semi-darkness after the glare of the bright sunshine -outside, they discovered Clark on his hands and knees under a heavy teak -table. - -"Hallo, Clark!" exclaimed Sinclair. "What are you doing there? Are you -hurt?" - -"Oh, God! ... No! ... We'll all be killed.... Lord! ... Lord! ... The -shell! ... Oh, God! Have mercy on my soul!" - -"Lord bless my soul!" exclaimed De Vaux in his high-pitched voice. "Is -the man a coward?" - -"Lord have mercy on my soul!" prayed Clark, under the table. - -"My God! ... This is disgraceful," stuttered De Vaux. "I never heard of -the like.... Bless my soul!" - -"Oh, God! ... Have mercy on my soul!" echoed Clark. - -"Sounds like a Free Methodist prayer-meeting!" remarked Sinclair, with a -laugh, in which the rest joined. - -"Mother, doesn't Mr. Clark get under the table and whine just like Carlo -when father whipped him for keeping company with those nasty Chinese -dogs?" - -"Hush, Constance! Don't you say another word." - -Sinclair reached under the table and began to pull Clark out: - -"Come along, Clark! The Lord's going to give you another chance with -that soul of yours. Perhaps you will have it in better shape by the -time you get the next call." - -When a few minutes later a boat from the _Locust_ arrived to take all to -the gunboat for greater safety, Clark found his legs with amazing -expedition. Indeed, he would have been the first person in the boat if -it had not been that Lieutenant Lanyon, who was in command, caught him -by the collar and jerked him back on the jetty with the warning: - -"Ladies first, sir, or by my faith you don't go at all." - -Meanwhile on the exposed hill-top MacKay, his wife and children, and his -Chinese converts, who had no souls, remained calm and unmoved amidst the -ceaseless whirr and whine of the flying projectiles and the crash of -bursting shells. - - - - - *XXVI* - - *A GAME OF BALL* - - -During the afternoon the French fire slackened. By four o'clock it had -died away to scattering shots. The party of refugees had spent most of -the forenoon on board the _Locust_, had lunched at Peeatow, and now were -back at their morning rendezvous. Some of the men had remained at -Peeatow. Clark, the hero of the teak table incident, was not one of -them. Evidently believing that a special divinity had been assigned to -watch over the ladies, he kept very close to them, so that he might -share in that divinity's protection. - -Sinclair had spent the day at the hospital, though there was not much to -do there. The all-day bombardment had wounded less than a score of -Chinamen. But when he visited the rendezvous in the morning he noticed -that Miss MacAllister seemed to avoid him. He was not the man to push -himself in where he was not wanted, and so stayed away. But they met in -the late afternoon. It was she who contrived it. - -"Where is Miss MacAllister?" said Mrs. Beauchamp to that young lady's -mother. "I have not seen her for some time." - -"I really do not know. I had not missed her. But now that you mention -it, I have not seen her since we came back. She may be in her room." - -"Constance, would you go to Miss MacAllister's room and see if she is -there?" - -"Oh, no, mother, she is not in her room! I know. I heard her dare Mr. -Carteret to have a game of tennis. She said that she would get Dr. -Sinclair, too. She has gone away up to our place to play tennis." - -"To play tennis!" both ladies exclaimed in horror. - -"Yes," replied Constance. "Mr. Carteret did not want to go one bit. He -was scared. I know. He tried to make all sorts of excuses. It was -because he was so scared. I know. He looked just as frightened as he -could look. But Miss MacAllister made him go. Isn't she dandy?" - -"Constance, quick, run and ask your father to come here!" - -When the consul heard what his wife had to tell, he uttered one brief, -emphatic word, not loud but deep, grabbed his hat, and ran down the -stairs. Breathlessly climbing the steep hill behind, he had just turned -the corner of the customs compound when he heard the moan of a shell -coming from the direction of the _Vipere_, which had moved from her -former position and was lying well within the mouth of the river. It -exploded in the air between the two mission bungalows. A fragment cut -its way clean through the cottage roof of Thomson's bungalow, going in -at one side and coming out at the other, leaving a great gaping hole in -the tiles. - -"By Jove!" said the consul to himself, "if that had been a percussion, -or if the Frenchman had given it one second longer, Thomson would have -been minus a house." - -He caught a glimpse of swiftly-moving white figures on his lawn and -quickened his pace. He called a cheery greeting to MacKay as he passed -and ran down into the little hollow between the missionary's house and -his own. Just then he heard Sinclair's strong voice calling: - -"Fifteen--love! ... Thirty--love! ... Forty--love! ... Game!" - -"What an expert! Just look at the cool, confident way he serves those -balls. And we might as well try to stop a French shell with our rackets -as return his service. Mr. Carteret, it's your service. Now play up or -he'll win this set." - -At that moment the consul ran through the gate in the hedge into the -midst of the players: - -"What the deuce is the meaning of this? Miss MacAllister? Dr. -Sinclair?" - -"Oh, Mr. Beauchamp, I'm so glad you have come! We needed another player -to complete a doubles. Dr. Sinclair has been playing singles against Mr. -Carteret and me. Won't you join in? There's a gentleman's racket on -the settee right before you." - -"Miss MacAllister, this is no time for fooling. I want to know what is -the meaning of this. Carteret, you are a resident of the East and know -what it means to disobey the orders of a consul. Why are you here and -not at the rendezvous?" - -"Ask the young lady," replied Carteret, with a shrug of his shoulders -and a curl of his lip. - -"Thanks, Adam! Since the blame is to be thrown back on Eve, she'll -reply. I got tired of being stewed up in the house with men who crawled -under the table whenever there was a hint of danger. So I came up here. -Besides, I do not believe that it is nearly so dangerous here as there. -Not a shell has come near us since we came, and I have not seen where -one has fallen about here all day. And, if they did start to shoot at -us, Dr. Sinclair keeps us jumping about so lively after his balls that -the Frenchmen could never hit us." - -It took all Beauchamp's self-control to maintain the gravity of his -countenance. But he managed it somehow, and answered as sternly as he -could: - -"This foolishness must stop. I'm responsible for your lives and I'm not -going to have you stuck up here for targets." - -"But, Mr. Beauchamp," was the nonchalant reply, "we have won the first -set from Dr. Sinclair. He has very nearly won the second from us. It -would be cowardly of us to run away now without giving him a chance to -finish it. I'm sure Mr. Carteret would never consent to that. Mr. -Carteret, it's your service. We must get moving or we all may be -killed." - -"I think, Mr. Beauchamp," said Sinclair, "that what Miss MacAllister -says is about right. There really appears to be less danger here than -down in the town. Whether or not the French gunners have respected the -consulate, their shells have done little damage just here." - -But the consul was not to be put off so easily: - -"Miss MacAllister, Mr. Carteret, Dr. Sinclair, I command you to stop -this game and to go down to the rendezvous." - -"Mr. Beauchamp, may I ask you one question?" Her voice was almost -infantile in its innocence. - -"Certainly, Miss MacAllister. If it be a short one." - -"You remember the Canadian Indian song Dr. Sinclair sang at the -consulate the evening after we arrived? Was that really Indian?" - -"How do you think I know? I never lived among the Indians. It was all -Greek to me." - -"That's exactly what I thought. It was Greek to me. Mr. Carteret, it's -your service. Please play ball." - -The consul gave a long, low whistle, shrugged his shoulders, and said to -himself: - -"So that's where the wind lies. I fancy I might as well let them fight -it out." - -Sinclair's face crimsoned at her words; then paled a little. His jaw -set hard and he returned Carteret's service with such a volley that -neither of his opponents, though ordinarily better players than he, had -any chance. In a few minutes he announced abruptly: - -"Game! Set!" - -"Set--all! We must play the rubber. I suppose you are willing to have -a deciding set, Dr. Sinclair?" - -"Certainly, Miss MacAllister." - -There was something in his face and voice she had never seen or heard -there before. She looked at him curiously--a little anxiously. - -They exchanged courts, Sinclair taking the north or exposed end of the -lawn, while his opponents had the south end and were sheltered behind -the fort. - -The consul looked at them for a moment, then seized a racket and joined -Sinclair: - -"If you young people are bound to be fools, I suppose I might as well -jump into it and be a fool, too. It may finish the set so much the -quicker." - -It was not a long one. Miss MacAllister played well. But her partner, -Carteret, usually an expert at tennis, was nervous and playing -wretchedly. On the other hand, Sinclair, who ordinarily served well but -was weak on the return, completely excelled himself. He drove his balls -over the net with a savage strength which made his opponents' efforts to -return them entirely hopeless. And on the return, where he was as a -rule only moderately skilful, he let nothing pass him. Beauchamp played -his usual swift, tricky, cheerful game. - -The last game of the set had come. It was Sinclair's service. - -"Play ball! ... Fifteen--love!" - -He crossed to his left-hand court and lifted his racket. There was a -long whine, a rush of wind, and a terrific crash. A slanting black -groove was scored across the green almost at Sinclair's feet, and the -earth thrown high in the air. - -"Down! Down! Everybody down!" yelled the consul. - -"Play ball!" shouted Sinclair, and drove a vicious service at Carteret. -"Thirty--love!" he continued, and strode back to his right-hand court to -serve again. - -But there was no use continuing the game. Carteret, who had flung -himself on the ground, arose with a hanging jaw and ghastly face, and a -nerve too shaken to play any more that day. Miss MacAllister had thrown -herself on a settee at the end of the lawn, her face covered with her -hands to shut out the sight. The consul, though he had shouted to the -others to down, had remained standing himself. He was staring fixedly -at Sinclair: - -"Doctor, you beat the devil." - -"Nothing to get excited about, Beauchamp! Percussion fuse! If it did -not explode when it hit the corner of the fort, it wasn't likely to when -it went into the soft soil." - -"Yes, that's all right. But you hadn't time to work that out before you -served again. Besides, it passed within a yard of where you were -standing." - -"Well, what if it did? A miss is as good as a mile. There was no use -going up in the air about it." - -"Look here, Sinclair. What the devil ever induced you to play this fool -game, anyway?" - -"I had to." - -The consul looked at him in silence for a minute. - -"Well, perhaps you had," he said slowly. - -"I'll leave you to see those people back to the rendezvous, Beauchamp. -Carteret may need a stretcher. I see that Miss MacAllister is quite able -to walk. I'm going to MacKay's." - -He turned to go. As he did so he heard Miss MacAllister pronounce his -name. He thought that she was only saying a conventional farewell. He -lifted his hat and said: - -"Good-afternoon, Miss MacAllister." - -Without looking in her direction he was gone. - - - - - *XXVII* - - *THE CHARGE OF THE TAMSUI BLUES* - - -During the week which lay between the first and second bombardments, Dr. -Sinclair and Miss MacAllister saw very little of each other. The doctor -was busy. But that was not the main reason why he did not meet Miss -MacAllister. The previous week, no matter how busy he was, he could -always find time to meet her. - -The fact was that circumstances had changed. He did not want to see -her. Between the halcyon days of the previous week and the gloom of -this one some painful episodes had occurred. The stormy interview -between mother and daughter had taken place. In her indignation the -young lady had determined to make it plain to everybody in general, and -to Dr. Sinclair in particular, that she was not enamoured of him and was -not offering her love where it had not been sought. - -In some respects she succeeded beyond her expectations. Sinclair was -convinced. More than that! He was convinced that all along she had -been only playing him. That reference to the song he had sung at the -dinner made assurance doubly sure. All through those days when she had -been so fascinatingly kind she had only been leading him on so that her -revenge might be the sweeter. - -If Sinclair had been a melodramatic individual, he would probably have -torn out whole handfuls of his fair hair, thrown them two or three feet -above his head in the direction of the high heavens, and raved some -foolish and incoherent ravings, telling his wrongs to the winds and the -wild waves, if they cared to listen. If he had been a profane person, -he would have sworn picturesquely and would have asked Sergeant Gorman -or some one else equally vigorous to kick him down the steep hill, on -which the consulate was built, and up again for being a fool. - -As he was neither melodramatic nor profane, he did neither of those -things. He merely made up his mind in a cool, determined way that he -would avoid Miss MacAllister as much as the narrow limits of their -little community would allow, and when he was forced to meet her he -would not grow enthusiastic over her, to say the least. When he met -Gorman he did not ask to be kicked, but said: - -"Look here, sergeant, there are going to be some lively times round -here, or I'm no prophet. The French are not going to be satisfied with -bombarding. And if they land a force and it comes to rifle-fire and -perhaps the bayonet, there'll be some Chinese hurt." - -"Right you are, docther. The shells don't take manny lives, barrin' -thim that the noise scares to death. But the rifle bullets, they're the -little divils that do the wurrk." - -"Well, supposin' that you get leave again and we offer our services to -General Soon to organize an ambulance brigade." - -"I'm wid you, docther, from the drop of the hat." - -So it came about that all that week Sinclair and Gorman were out on the -wide commons in the vicinity of the Chinese camps, with squads of -Chinese detailed for that service, to use General Leatherbottom's -expression, "lickin' them into shape." Gorman gave them drill. -Sinclair taught them how to splint and bandage, to put on a tourniquet -and check the flow of blood, to make improvised stretchers and carry -patients without irritating their wounds past recovery. - -Soon the fair-haired "Life-healer" was nearly as well known and as -popular among General Soon's yellow-skinned, slant-eyed hordes as he had -become in Liu Ming-chuan's army before Keelung. But none of these -Chinese soldiers knew how much of the training they received they owed -to the fact that the "Red-haired Life-healer" had been badly used by the -"barbarian girl" at a game of "phah-kiu," or strike ball. - -One day Sinclair and Gorman were out as usual drilling their corps and -training them in the principles of first aid. An exclamation of -"Tai-eng-kok lang" (British people) from some of their men caused them -to look up. Passing them some distance away were Miss MacAllister and -Carteret. The latter was carrying an easel, for among his -accomplishments he included considerable skill in sketching and -painting. - -They were making their way towards a little eminence which commanded a -magnificent view in all directions. Carteret had asked her to take a -walk, that he might point out the beautiful scenery. She had accepted -the invitation in the hope of meeting Sinclair, whom she had not seen -since he had so abruptly left the tennis lawn. - -"Fwhat the divil is the spalpeen takin' the lady there for, wid -thousands of Chinese soldiers rampagin' around for some diviltry to do?" - -Sinclair took one look, then lowered his head, and went doggedly on with -his work, giving the Chinese ambulance corps a demonstration of how to -splint a broken thigh. Gorman looked at him wonderingly for an instant; -then without a word joined him, pulling the shortened leg out into -position and explaining each movement in the vernacular. - -Meanwhile, the prime danger to which Miss MacAllister and Carteret were -exposed was not from the Chinese soldiers. A herd of water-buffaloes -were feeding on the short grass of the downs. Docile as these huge -beasts are with the little native herd boys, they are often exceedingly -vicious towards strangers, especially those dressed in a style to which -they are unaccustomed. Now they were irritated by the bombardment and -frequent ill-usage by the soldiers. - -At the sight of the man and woman in foreign dress they began to show -signs of excitement. Crowding in a dense mass of blue-grey, hairless -bodies, they moved in arcs of a circle, of which the centre was the -object of their intended attack. Their ugly snouts were thrust forward -on a level with their shoulders. Their great, curved horns lay back on -their necks. They pressed closer and closer behind the two foreigners. -Suddenly one enormous brute with a snort threw itself forward in a -charge. - -A yell from one of the Chinese attracted the attention of Sinclair and -Gorman. Miss MacAllister had turned to face the beast, with the light -walking-stick she carried upraised in her hand. Carteret flung his -easel at it, but did not interpose himself between his companion and the -danger. - -[Illustration: A yell from one of the Chinese attracted the attention of -Sinclair and Gorman.] - -With a shout Gorman sprang to his feet and started to run, waving a -heavy stick in his hand. He had not taken a half-dozen paces when a -rifle cracked behind him. A bullet sang past and the great blue beast -plunged forward on its knees, then rolled over on its side almost at -Miss MacAllister's feet. Gorman glanced back. Sinclair was lying on the -ground, in the act of throwing another shell into the breach of the -rifle he held in his hands. - -"Better go on, Gorman, and drive off the rest of the herd. You may have -to escort these people home. It's not safe for them to be out." - -With some shouts and a few resounding thwacks of his stick on their -tough hides, Gorman drove off the buffaloes, and then turned savagely on -Carteret: - -"Tearin' ages! Fwhat in the name of all the saints possessed you to -bring the young lady here? ... Fwhat? ... For a walk! ... Faith, an' if -it hadn't been for the docther here, God bless him!--it's a walk her -young ladyship wud have been takin' to hivin and you to hell this very -minnit." - -"You make very fine distinctions, Sergeant Gorman," said Carteret -sarcastically. - -"Distinction, is it? Begorra, the only man that has come out of this -wid distinction is Dr. Sinclair here. An' you had better be afther -thankin' him that the angels and the divils are not this minnit holdin' -a celebration over your two souls respectively." - -In spite of the danger she had just passed through, this was too much -for Miss MacAllister's gravity. Her merry peal of laughter rang out at -the evident discomfiture of Carteret. It was with eyes dancing with fun -as well as full of gratitude that she met Sinclair as he came to inquire -courteously for her well-being. He received her warm thanks quietly and -made light of his skill as a shot, which she praised so highly. - -"I am only too glad to be of any service to you. As for the shot, that -was nothing. I have been accustomed to hunting in Canada since I was a -small boy. I had to learn to take sure aim and shoot quickly." - -Carteret thanked him in courteous terms, but without warmth. - -Sinclair did not wait for any further conversation. - -"It is really not safe for you to be out here without an armed escort," -he said; "when the country is so disturbed and there are so many -camp-followers about. Even we who are in a sense in the Chinese service -always carry arms. Sergeant Gorman will see you safely home. I am on -duty here." - -He did not mention the obvious fact that Sergeant Gorman was also on -duty. But Miss MacAllister did not fail to notice it, and understood. -She thanked him as bravely as she could, and turned away with her -escort. But it was some time before even Gorman's quaint humours and -repetitions could draw a laugh from her. - -That was the only time Sinclair and Miss MacAllister met that week. - - - - - *XXVIII* - - *UNHOLY CONFESSORS* - - -That evening De Vaux and Carteret sat in the latter's quarters in the -buildings of the customs compound. There were a number of other -occupants of the room. De Vaux and Carteret sat on chairs, at least -they did during the earlier part of the evening. The others sat on the -table. They were highly honoured and necessary guests. They consisted -of sundry bottles of Scotch whiskey, a nearly equal number of bottles of -soda, and a varied assortment of bottles of wine. - -Carteret felt that he needed some comfort and sympathy after the -exciting experiences of the day. He had called in the guests, who now -sat on the table to comfort him. De Vaux, as being somewhat permanently -installed in Carteret's quarters, was helping to entertain. Indeed, De -Vaux had a singular facility in entertaining and being entertained by -guests of this nature. - -"A man needs something after such experiences as I have had those last -few days," said Carteret, pouring out a glass of whiskey and starting to -fill up with soda. "Talk about war! By Jove! I have been in more -uncomfortable places in the last five days than I was in a whole -campaign in Egypt." - -"Not so much soda, Carteret! Not so much soda! ... it spoils the -flavour and weakens the effect. 'Pon my honour, it does! ... If my -nerves are shaky and I want the taste to stay in my mouth, a little less -than half soda is my rule." - -"To the devil with the taste! There's lots more taste where this came -from. But you're right. My nerves are all on the jump." - -"The consul tells me that you had a narrow escape. Those infernal -water-buffaloes! Bless my soul! I'm more afraid of a herd of them than -a whole regiment of Chinese.... 'Pon my word, I am." - -"So am I, the ugly brutes! And if the girl had got killed or injured -there would have been the very deuce to pay. The consul and her father -would have blamed me." - -"The consul blames you as it is." - -"Yes, that's the way with Beauchamp. He's an Englishman. But he's down -on his own countrymen and his own class, and all for those damn boors of -Canadians. He thinks more of MacKay and that upstart doctor than he -does of a whole colony of English." - -"Well, I shouldn't like to say that. Beauchamp has always been awfully -decent with me. 'Pon my soul, he has! ... But he is vexed at you. He -says that you ought to be deported." - -"Only wish he would deport me! Anyway, he can't till the next boat. -And on it he's going to have to deport his wife and Mrs. Thomson and -Miss MacAllister. That will hurt him worst of all. Don't you fret. -There'll be no deporting by that boat, unless I deport myself." - -"You are pressing your case with Miss MacAllister deuced hard.... How -is it looking? You should have some results by this time. 'Pon my -honour, you should!" - -Carteret drained his glass and filled it again. - -"The mother's with me. She knows that the heir has only one lung." - -"And the father?" - -"Says nothing one way or the other. Don't think that he is quite -satisfied with my religious principles." - -"Bless my soul! Could you blame him?" - -"Not if he knew all about them. But, thank the Lord, he doesn't!" - -Carteret laughed disagreeably, cynically as he spoke. - -De Vaux took his cigar out of his mouth, blew a cloud of smoke into the -air, and tipped his long glass so high that one might fancy that he -feared lest even the moisture adhering to its sides should escape him. -He set it down and wiped his lips with a sigh of satisfaction. Then he -said: - -"And what about the young lady herself?" - -"An uncertain quantity." - -"Has she given you no sign?" - -"Signs enough sometimes that she wished I was in Jericho, or at the -North Pole, or some other equally remote and cheerful place." - -"Why? What's the matter?" - -"Just at present she's taken with that Canadian peasant's muscles. Like -the rest of the women, she is more attracted by the body of a man than -by his birth or brains." - -He laughed again, and his laugh was unpleasant to hear. - -De Vaux gulped down another drink and answered with a little bit of -angry stutter: - -"You've said enough, Carteret.... By Jove! there are lots of decent -women.... If you and I haven't met many of them, it's our own fault.... -'Pon my honour, it is!" - -"There may be. But they are not in the Far East. When I was in -Shanghai, every woman in the settlement had her price, if you only knew -what it was." - -"I don't know what they are in Shanghai," replied De Vaux. "But I do -know what they are in some other places, and I'll stake my honour on it -they are not all like that. 'Pon my soul, they're not." - -"Name one." - -"Mrs. Beauchamp." - -"Bound by conventionalities and kept in a glass case by her husband," -sneered Carteret. "Get her out of that and she'd be just like the -rest." - -De Vaux struggled to his feet, his face purple, his voice choking with -rage. - -"Carteret," he stuttered in his high voice, "that's a lie---a damned -lie! ... If you don't take it back"--he shook his fist across the -table--"if you don't take it back, by God, I'll expose you!" - -Carteret paled, sat up in his chair, and took the pipe out of his mouth. - -"Look here, De Vaux," he said, "don't make a confounded fool of -yourself. One would think that you were the lady's husband. I didn't -mean anything. I was only joshing." - -"Well, that's a kind of joshing I don't like when it is about my -friends.... 'Pon my soul, I don't!" replied De Vaux, settling himself -back into his chair. - -"All right, De Vaux, there'll be no more of it. What'll you have? ... -Let's break a bottle of champagne." - -That was irresistible, and in a few minutes De Vaux's good-humour was -restored. Presently he said: - -"So you have hopes of winning the fair MacAllister yet?" - -"Sure of it when I get her away from here and can use the title as a -bait." - -"The title! Is it so near as that? Have you had any word?" - -"Had word from my agent and solicitor by the last boat. My dearly -beloved brother's cough is quite distressing. He has been ordered to -Mentone for the winter. The agent does not think that he will ever get -there. And, if he does, he's sure that he'll never get back. The old -man is taking on about it. He's not at all in love with the idea of the -succession of the heir presumptive. They do not think that he will live -through the autumn. If October does not finish him, November will." - -De Vaux had little reason to love his own parents and family, whoever -they were. But the cynical heartlessness of Carteret grated on him. He -turned the conversation a little: - -"So you intend to leave the island soon?" - -"By the next trip of the _Hailoong_, if the French do not bottle us up -for the winter." - -"And then you'll bring matters to a conclusion with Miss MacAllister?" - -"Yes. Her people intend to spend the winter in Hong-Kong. So do I. If -the old man and my beloved brother are only sufficiently obliging to -depart in peace with reasonable expeditiousness, I shall be Lord -Lewesthorpe. You know what that means in the colony. I haven't yet -seen the tradesman's daughter who could resist. They are all falling -over each other in their willingness to exchange their money for a -title. Quite envious of the preeminent success of their fair American -cousins, as the newspapers say, in getting so many titles knocked down -to them. The mother is ready to bid mine up. The decayed Lewesthorpe -fortunes need the money more than I need the girl." - -Drunk as he was getting to be, De Vaux was disgusted with the -callousness of his companion. He sat silent for a few minutes, looking -straight at Carteret out of his bulging, bloodshot eyes. Then he -blurted out: - -"Carteret, what are you going to do with the Chinese girl?" - -"Nothing in particular," was the reply, with a cynical laugh. "Any of -you fellows can have her, if you want her. If not, and the French take -this beastly island, one of them will take her. They are generally -ready for an _affaire d'amour_." - -"And you are going to desert that Chinese girl and her child--your -child--and let them go to the devil? And then you're going to ask Miss -MacAllister to marry you, she of course knowing nothing of the other?" - -"Of course. Why not? It won't hurt her so long as she doesn't know -anything about it. If she does find it out afterwards, she can make the -best of it. It would be the same if she married any other man." - -"Carteret, you are a scoundrel.... 'Pon my soul! ... That's what you -are--a double-dyed scoundrel." - -Carteret rose to his feet and faced De Vaux across the table. His face -was pale and ugly: - -"Come now, De Vaux. A little of that goes a long way. If I am a -scoundrel, you are five times as much a scoundrel. For, if my -arithmetic and memory are right, that is just the number of half-breed -youngsters I counted in your house up river." - -De Vaux stood for some moments gasping for breath and struggling to get -control of himself. He was dangerously near the apoplectic fit which -had been so often foretold for him. But he passed the danger point, -recovered himself, and said: - -"Yes, Carteret, your memory and your arithmetic were right. There -_were_ five. But they are all the children of one woman. And that -woman, though she is a Chinese, is just as much my wife as things out -here go as if the banns had been published and the service read.... -'Pon my honour, she is! ... I am educating my children. They are safe -in Hong-Kong at the present moment.... Bless my soul, I had a letter -from the oldest by the last mail.... More than that, Carteret, since I -have had that Chinese woman, I have never sought a white woman, and -never intend to.... Thank God, I have a little bit of a man in me yet!" - -"That's all old woman's sentiment, De Vaux. I didn't think you were -such a molly-coddle. Wouldn't it make a furore in society if I was to -take a Chinese tea-girl home to be the Countess of Lewesthorpe? I have -none of your fastidious notions. I intend to have a woman suited to my -position, and money to keep it up." - -"And leave the girl and the kid." - -"Then, by God, I'll have nothing more to do with you!" - -And De Vaux meant what he said. But another bottle was broken, and then -another. And when the dawn peeped in, De Vaux was stertorously -slumbering on a long bamboo and rattan chair, and Carteret was hidden -under his mosquito curtains. - - - - - *XXIX* - - *FLAGS OF TRUCE* - - -"Looks as if we might have something doing to-day, sergeant. I -shouldn't be surprised if we should have an interesting day. What do -you make of those boats away there to the north?" - -"Transports, docther. They're not men-o'-war, and what else could -merchant ships be doin' there except waitin' for a chanst to land -soldiers?" - -"I wonder where the other warships are. I can make out only the -_Galissonniere_ and the _Vipere_." - -"Maybe they're close in shore, behind that hill yonder. If they are -goin' to put a landin' party ashore, they'll be needin' to cover it." - -It was the eighth of October, six days after the previous bombardment. -Sinclair and Gorman were, as was their custom, on the top of the Dutch -fort, trying to foresee what might be the developments of the day. - -The morning wore on until nine o'clock. Suddenly spirts of flame shot -out from the two French warships which were in sight, and the thunder of -their guns mingled with the distant boom from others which were hidden -behind the northern hills. A transport appeared close to the shore, -near the last stretch of beach visible from the fort. Another was -probably hidden by the hills. The rattle of the machine guns covering -the landing of the troops filled up the intervals between the booming of -the big guns. - -At the first report the consul joined them on the lookout. Boville, -MacAllister, Commander Gardenier, and one or two others came later. -With the consul's permission, Gorman left to personally superintend the -work of his ambulance corps, of which he was very proud. - -"Don't let the Chinese mistake you for a Frenchman," called Sinclair -after him. "The Hakkas might fill you with slugs from their old -match-locks." - -"Faith, an' it's a poor opinion you have of their intilligence, to say -nothin' of the insult you're offering meself," was the reply of Gorman, -as he ran down the stair. - -"There's the first load!" exclaimed the consul, as a boat filled with -troops pulled from the transport to the beach. - -Boat after boat followed, discharging their cargoes of armed men, who -formed up on the beach and then marched away out of sight behind a spur -of hills. Soon the volleys of rifle-fire joined the crash of machine -guns in forming an interlude between the thunder of the cannon. - -An hour passed away. As a week before, most of the residents of the -hill-top had repaired to the rendezvous at MacAllister, Munro Co.'s. -But the consul and his companions were still on the top of the fort. - -"There comes the first of the Chinese wounded," said Sinclair. "It's -some of Gorman's corps who are carrying him. I can see the red cross." - -A moment later he said: - -"There come more. The French must be doing some execution. There are -already more wounded in sight than we had all day last Thursday. It's -the rifle-fire which counts." - -Singly or in groups, the squads of stretcher-bearers could be seen -filing across the common on their way to the Mission Hospital. - -"I must go now. We are going to have our hands full." - -"Down! Down!" roared Gardenier. - -Every one fell flat behind the battlements. There was a crash and the -old fort trembled to its foundations. They sprang to their feet and -looked over. A shell had struck it squarely a few feet above the -ground. But the solid brick walls, eight feet thick, built by -conscientious workmen two hundred and fifty years before, had hurled it -back and were hardly even dented by the terrific impact. - -Soon afterwards Sinclair left for the Mission Hospital down in the town. -There he joined Dr. Bergmann in time to receive the first of the -wounded. But they came so fast that before long the two doctors had to -signal for Black of the _Locust_. As the afternoon came on the number -increased. The hospital was small, and soon not only the operating-room -and the wards, but the courtyard as well, were crowded with between one -hundred and twenty and one hundred and thirty wounded men. - -The forenoon passed into the afternoon; the afternoon wore slowly away. -Up and down between the lines of rude plank cots the three doctors -moved, with bare arms and clothing stained with blood. Several of the -Christian students acted as nurses and assisted at the dressings. - -The noon hour had passed, but they took no time for lunch. A messenger -arrived from the rendezvous with an invitation from Mrs. Beauchamp and -Mrs. MacAllister to go there for tiffin. - -"I fancy that we had better accept this," said Black. "We have more -time now than we shall have later. But these are slaughter-house -clothes in which to go to tiffin with ladies." - -"Das ist true," replied Bergmann. "Ve vill slip in mine house and vill -get some clothes. I can fit Dr. Black. But Dr. Sinclair, I know not. -He ist so big." - -"That's all right, Bergmann. Somebody has to stay here and look after -those fellows. You two go ahead and have tiffin. Present my -compliments and regrets. If there is not too big a rush when you come -back, I'll have something then." - -His two confreres hastened away. Sinclair went on with his work -silently, swiftly, determinedly. Again the pain-drawn faces appealed to -him. Again the wistful eyes followed him. Again the word passed from -lip to lip, "I-seng lai" (The Life-healer comes). - -Some belonged to regiments which had been in the camp before Keelung and -had known him there. Some had come to know him during their ambulance -work of the past week. Some had heard of him. Some were mainland men -from the North, speaking a different tongue. But all caught the phrase, -and from every plank bed he heard the word passed to the next, "I-seng -lai" (The Life-healer comes). And he worked on. - -Presently Bergmann and Black returned, and with them a blue-jacket of -the rendezvous guard, with a pressing invitation for him to go for -tiffin. He looked at the invitation; then at the ever-increasing number -of suffering men: - -"Give my thanks to the ladies who sent you and say from me that there -are so many wounded here now that I cannot find it in my heart to leave -them. I can do very well without food till dinner-time." - -"Very good, sir. I shall tell them." - -The blue-jacket saluted and withdrew. Sinclair went on with his work. - -A half-hour passed. Again the blue-jacket appeared accompanied by a -native bearing on his carrying-pole a pair of the many-storied bamboo -baskets in which the Chinese convey warm provisions. - -"A chit for you, sir." - -He took the note the sailor handed him and glanced at the address. It -was in an unfamiliar feminine hand. Opening it quickly, he read: - - -"Will Dr. Sinclair be so good as to accept the accompanying refreshments -from me? - -"JESSIE MACALLISTER." - - -In spite of the mood of intense concentration which was always on him -when he was at work, in spite of his rigid self-control, a slow flush -showed in his face, doubtful under the tan, but certain when it climbed -above the border-line of the sunburn. It was not so much the act, -though that in itself would have been enough to quicken his pulses. It -was the form of the brief epistle. She had started to write a purely -formal note, but had ended by making it warmly personal.... "From me. -Jessie MacAllister." - -"I have no paper on which to write an answer, except a leaf out of a -pocketbook. You will have to make apologies for me." - -"I shall do my very best, sir," replied the sailor, with a grin, as he -took the hastily-scribbled note of thanks, for the big, kindly doctor -had, without an effort, got the good-will of this man, as he did of -nearly every man his life touched. - -Sinclair hastily swallowed several cups of tea, ate a piece of chicken, -and, telling his student assistants to distribute the rest among the -wounded, turned again to his work of mercy. But all the while four -words kept writing and re-writing themselves upon his brain: "From me. -Jessie MacAllister." - -It was the first time that he had seen her full name written. It had -always been "Miss MacAllister." Certain definite pictures had been -formed in his mind with which that appellation was connected. Sometimes -stately and magnificent, sometimes teasing and whimsical; sometimes -kind, sometimes cruel; those clear-cut portraits were connected -inseparably with the name "Miss MacAllister." But some way "Jessie -MacAllister" was different. It suggested something more intimate, more -confidential, more tender than the other had ever done. What could it -mean? - -Again and again he asked himself that question: "What could it mean?" -Was she only playing with him? The week before the last bombardment she -had been exceedingly kind. Then she had suddenly turned and treated him -cruelly. Was she trying the same trick again? His jaw set and his lips -closed tightly. She wouldn't catch him like that again. - -But another thought would pass through his mind. This was different. -There was something about this two-line note which he had never -experienced before.... "From me. Jessie MacAllister." - -Sinclair had made up his mind resolutely after that tennis game that he -would not put himself in the way of receiving such treatment again. -When he set his mind to anything, he was firm to the verge of -stubbornness. He knew that. And with all the stubbornness of his -nature he had resolved to have nothing more to do with Miss MacAllister -than the laws of politeness required. - -But somehow "Jessie MacAllister" did not seem just the same. Do his -best, he could not be indignant and angry with her in the same degree as -he had been with "Miss MacAllister." He knew that the fortifications of -his resolution were shattered. He knew that the four words, "From me. -Jessie MacAllister," had made a breach in them. They had been standing -not quite a week. - -Strange to say, the thought that they were broken, and the means by -which it was effected, gave him a secret pleasure, a sense of lightness -and exultation such as he had not felt for six whole days. To be -consistent with himself, to maintain his self-respect and reputation for -firmness, he made a pretence at repairing the breach and rebuilding the -fortifications. But all the while the two-line note with its signature -was stowed away in an inner pocket, which had an intimate relation to -the spot beneath which his strong heart beat a little faster than usual. -With a new hope and enthusiasm he toiled on among the wounded all the -rest of the day. But the toil was light and the afternoon sped away. - -Meanwhile, the bombardment had come to an end. The French attack had -failed. Entangled in a maze of swampy rice-fields, their landing-party -had been fiercely attacked by the Chinese. They were compelled to -retreat to their boats, carrying their wounded with them, but abandoning -their dead. - -The wild Hakka tribesmen with General Soon's army, following the -practice they had learned in border warfare against the Malay savages of -the hills, had cut off the heads of the fallen French soldiers and -exposed them on poles at the Chinese camp and in the market-place of -Tamsui. Consul Beauchamp and Commander Gardenier had indignantly -protested to General Soon. The Chinese commander had at once ordered -that the bodies and heads of their fallen foes should be buried and -promised that it should not occur again. - -But the danger of the situation to the European residents and visitors -had been revealed. While General Soon and many of his officers and men -were deeply grateful for the services rendered by the Mission Hospital, -the doctors, and Sergeant Gorman's ambulance corps, the foreigners stood -in serious peril. A great European nation, a first-class military power, -had been beaten back by the Chinese in an attempt to capture Tamsui. -The savage instincts of the irregular and undisciplined levies of the -Chinese army had been aroused by their success. There was no knowing -the hour when these would break out in a general massacre. The consul -resolved that all foreign women and children, and such of the men as -duty did not compel to stay, should leave the island at the first -opportunity. - - - - - *XXX* - - *THE MYSTERY OF LOVE* - - -A day or two after the second bombardment the _Hailoong_ again appeared -off the harbour. The French detained her long enough to satisfy -themselves that she carried no munitions of war, and then allowed her to -enter the port. Nearly the whole foreign community was at the dock to -receive her. It was only thirteen or fourteen days since she had been -there before. But to those who had been in the midst of war's alarms it -seemed as many weeks. - -Of course, Sinclair was there to give McLeod a hearty greeting. There -was little time to talk, as the chief officer had to oversee the -discharging of the cargo. Sinclair joined him in this, his knowledge of -the ship and of conditions ashore making his assistance most valuable. -He had his countryman's knack of turning his hand to anything. By the -afternoon they had so rushed the work that they were able to knock off -and have a comfortable chat in the dining saloon. - -After they had discussed the bombardment and the landing, the prospects -of more fighting and the possibility of a blockade, and had laughed till -their sides ached at the oddities and eccentricities brought out by the -unusual situation, McLeod said suddenly: - -"Say, Doc, you have not told me anything about the Highland girl. How -is she?" - -"Just as big a conundrum as ever, Mac." - -"What! Have you not been getting along well?" - -"No! I don't know where I'm at." - -"Why? I thought from the way she spoke of you, and the way she received -you when you came back from Keelung, that things were bound to go like a -house on fire." - -"Well, Mac, for a few days I was feeling pretty good myself. I thought -that I was making great progress. But the day of the first bombardment -my castle in the air was blown sky-high and there has hardly a fragment -of it come back to earth yet." - -He then told of the tennis game and of how disgusted with himself he had -been. To his surprise McLeod did not take it very seriously. He -expressed concern at Sinclair's narrow escape from the shell, but rather -laughed about the rest of the incident, especially at his friend's -having left the lawn in a tantrum, as he called it. - -"You would have been madder than I was," retorted Sinclair, "if you had -been in my place." - -"Of course I should--if I had been in your place, because like you I -should not have looked for the right reason for her actions--that is, if -I had been in your place." - -"I don't understand what you are driving at," said Sinclair, with a -trace of irritation. - -"It's all right, Doc. Never mind now. Go on and tell us some more." - -When Sinclair related the incident of the "charge of the Tamsui blues," -and Gorman's remarks to Carteret, McLeod laughed so heartily that the -doctor had to join him. - -"It's all very well for you to laugh like that," he said, a little -ruefully, when McLeod stopped for a moment. "You have nothing at stake. -But it's different with me." - -"You'll laugh about it yet, just as heartily as I have done. Probably -more so. Haven't you another yarn up your sleeve? I know that you -have. Go on. Give us another." - -He did. He told about Clark praying under the teak table, and De Vaux -dancing and stuttering around it. Sinclair was a good story-teller, and -before he was through with the Free Methodist prayer-meeting McLeod's -laughter could be heard the length of the ship. Sinclair had forgotten -his love troubles, and his laugh, mingled with his chum's, was as -rollicking and care-free as that of a schoolboy. - -In the midst of it Captain Whiteley's voice was heard outside: - -"What in the world's going on in here?" - -A lady's voice replied: - -"It's those two lovers. They should never be separated. Either one is -quite inconsolable without the other." - -The door was pulled open, and the two young men, vainly endeavouring to -choke down their laughter, rose to receive Miss MacAllister, her father, -and the captain. - -The two men did not remain long. Mr. MacAllister wanted to take Captain -Whiteley to see some of the damage wrought by the shells. A few minutes -after they left McLeod suddenly remembered that there were some duties -connected with discharging or taking cargo which he had to attend to at -once. Almost before they knew, Sinclair and Miss MacAllister were left -alone. - -For some moments neither spoke. Ordinarily both were good -conversationalists, able to acquit themselves with credit in any -company. But now, left to each other's company, each seemed suddenly -bereft of speech. Sinclair probably never thought so quickly on any -other occasion in his life. But with all his thinking he entirely -failed to think of anything to say. If he had thought of anything, it -is doubtful if he could have said it. His heart was pounding so hard -and fast that he experienced a slight suffocating sensation. But he -didn't open the door. He had that much presence of mind. He didn't -open the door to let the outside air or any one else in. Though -speechless, he was not bereft of reason. - -It was Miss MacAllister who first recovered. - -"Dr. Sinclair," she said, "I want you to forgive me." - -Then Sinclair began to wonder what she had done that he should forgive. -Could she ever have done anything for which she needed to ask his -forgiveness? - -"But, Miss MacAllister," he stammered, "what--what am I to forgive? You -never did anything----" - -"Oh, Dr. Sinclair, you know that I did. Last Thursday; you remember. I -acted shamefully, and"--there was a little break in her voice--"I nearly -caused you to be killed.... Can you ever forgive me?" - -"I could forgive you anything." - -"But you were very angry. You went away angry, and when I tried to call -you back you wouldn't stop to speak to me. I wanted to ask your -forgiveness then." - -"Miss MacAllister, I suppose that I was angry. It is I who ought to ask -your forgiveness.... I didn't mean to be angry. But I felt hurt.... -You had been so kind just before that day.... I was foolish enough to -hope that you would continue to be kind. But when that day came you were -different, and it hurt.... Miss MacAllister, I can't keep it back. I -love you.... That's why it hurt." - -She was sitting by one of the small windows of the saloon, with one arm -resting on its sill. Through the conversation she had kept her head -lowered. As his accents grew warmer, she turned towards the window, and -seemed to be gazing on the water, which the northeast monsoon, driving -against the current, was raising in choppy waves. He had risen and was -standing in front of her. He could not see her averted face, and she -made no answer. - -"I know that it must seem absurd and presumptuous of me. I'm a poor and -unknown missionary doctor. But I love you.... I tried not to. But I -couldn't help it.... I resolved never to mention it to you.... But we -were left alone here together and--I just couldn't help myself.... I -had to tell you." - -Without turning her face, she extended her right hand to him. He caught -it in his and, dropping on one knee, pressed his lips to it. - -"I'm glad you told me, Donald." - -For a moment he could hardly believe his ears. He looked up in a dazed, -wondering fashion. Her face was no longer averted. Shy, blushing, but -smiling, it was turned towards him, and their eyes met. Almost -incredulously, wonderingly he asked: - -"Do you mean that?" (He did not dare say her name.) - -"Yes, Donald." - -He bowed his head again over the hand he held, and felt her other hand -laid softly, timidly on his wavy masses of fair hair. For a few moments -it rested there like a benediction. When she lifted it he rose and, -turning her face up to his, gravely, reverently pressed upon her lips -the sacramental kiss of pledged love. - -For a time they sat silent. His arm was around her. Her head was on -his shoulder. Her forehead and the crown of rich brown hair were -touching his cheek. Neither wanted to speak. Each was trying to -comprehend the mystery of love, the mystery of two souls who had held -aloof from each other, and had fenced with each other, and had -strenuously asserted their independence of each other. But all the time -they had been restless and dissatisfied. Then suddenly and unexpectedly -they had been forced to confess that they could not be happy apart. And -immediately in that confession they had found joy unutterable. Over and -over again it passed through their minds. And when they were done they -understood it no more than when they began. But they knew the fact. - -At length he said: - -"Jessie, where did you learn my name?" - -She slipped her hand into her bosom and drew out a leaf torn from a -pocketbook. It was his note of thanks for the refreshments she had sent -to the hospital. It was signed, "Donald Sinclair." - -"And where did you get mine, Donald?" - -From an inner pocket close to his heart he brought out her note ending -with the words: "From me. Jessie MacAllister." - -"If it had not been for those four words, I do not think that I could -ever have had the courage to tell you that I loved you." - -"I'm so glad that I wrote them. I tried to end that note in formal -fashion, but, before I knew, I had written those words. I sealed it in -a hurry for fear I should think twice and change them." Her face was -hidden against his breast now.... "And--I know you will think me -silly--after the blue-jacket left, I ran out to call him back.... But I -was too late." - -"That's once I can thank God for a person's being late," he said, as he -lifted her face to his own and kissed her again, but with more of the -passion and abandon of love than before. And the wonder of it grew upon -him. Over and over again he kept asking himself, Was this the proud -young beauty of whom he had stood in awe? Was this blushing, tender -girl yielding herself to his embraces and responding to his kisses,--was -this the sprightly, mischievous belle of the dinner party who had teased -him, and made game of him, and held him up to be laughed at by the -assembled guests? It was almost incredible. But it was true. And the -mystery of love deepened. - -They were silent for a while. Thoughts were too busy and too happy for -speech. Then she said: - -"Donald, I know that this will sound awfully improper. But I do not -want mother to know of what has taken place for some time. She would be -so disappointed and angry that she would make rash statements. And -afterwards, even if she were convinced that she had been wrong, she is -so determined that she would not go back on them." - -"I was afraid that she did not like me, Jessie." - -"It is not that she dislikes you. It is because she is ambitious that I -should marry a man with a title." - -"Carteret, for example," said Sinclair, with a smile. - -"Yes, Carteret. And I hate him," she replied, with a flash of -indignation. "I shudder every time he comes near me. But mother has -accepted him as a suitor. She has not been so taken with him of late, -since the first bombardment, and especially since the charge of Sergeant -Gorman's Blues. She knew that he played the coward both times. But -that is all forgotten again. He has the title." - -"What! Has Carteret succeeded to the title?" - -"Yes. He got word by the _Hailoong's_ mail. The heir with the one lung -died of hemorrhage while crossing the Channel. His father died of shock -when he was told of it. Carteret is now Lord Lewesthorpe. With mother -the title has blotted out all his sins. She is more insistent than -ever." - -"Jessie, if Carteret bothers you, I'll wring his neck, and the -Lewesthorpe title can go looking for another heir." - -"Oh, no, Donald, you mustn't!" she said, in a little alarm, as she felt -the big muscles against which she leaned swell with sudden passion. -"You mustn't. Leave it to me. Mother is determined. But I can be -determined, too. And father will not let me be pushed too far." - -"I'll do whatever you want. - -"Thank you, Donald. If mother knew now that I had let you speak to me -of love, she would never forgive me. But she will change. There is -something coming which will change her. I do not know what it is. But -I know that it is coming. We are Highland, you know. It is the second -sight." - -The lovers sat for a while longer. Then she looked at her watch: - -"Oh, Donald! Do you know that we have been here nearly two hours?" - -"It seemed to me like five minutes," was the reply. - -She gave a merry laugh and said: - -"If time always passes so quickly, we'll be old before we know." - -"I wish that I could be sure that the days after you leave would only -pass as quickly," he said, a trifle sadly. - -"They'll pass, Donald. I'll be thinking of you, and you'll be thinking -of me, and the days will go. But what will Mr. McLeod be thinking of -us, that we have stayed here so long? And isn't it strange that none of -the Chinese boys ever came into the saloon in those two hours?" - -Sinclair laughed his happy, boyish laugh. - -"Trust McLeod!" he said. "Probably he could explain the prolonged -absence of the boys, as well as his own." - -She looked at him archly. - -"I am not sure now that I have done wisely in giving you my undivided -love, Donald. I am afraid that I am not getting the same in return. I -am really jealous of Mr. McLeod." - -The method of his reply need not be described. She was satisfied with -it. And when they stepped out and met McLeod on the deck he knew -without being told. - - - - - *XXXI* - - *ANCESTORS AND PEDIGREES* - - -The last night of the stay of the MacAllisters in Tamsui had come. They -were to sail for Hong-Kong on the _Hailoong_ the next day. With them -were going Mrs. Beauchamp and Constance, Mrs. MacKay and her children, -Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, Carteret, Clark, and a number of others of the -foreign community. The consul had ordered that all the foreign women -and children should leave North Formosa. A number of the men who had no -taste for the scenes and chances of war were going with them. Mr. -MacAllister feared the possibility of a blockade and so chose to go to -Hong-Kong, where he could freely prosecute his search. - -As there had been on the evening after their arrival, so there was the -evening before their departure a dinner at the consulate. This time the -guests left early. Many of them were preparing for a hasty departure. -They knew that their hostess had likewise much to occupy her time for -the few remaining hours. Sinclair had gone on board the _Hailoong_ to -have a farewell talk with McLeod. Sergeant Gorman, who had been dining -with the second officer and the second engineer, joined them by their -invitation. They were sitting on the after deck, sheltered from the raw -wind of the northeast monsoon. The conversation drifted from point to -point of recent events. McLeod and Sinclair led Gorman on to tell in -his inimitable way incident after incident, while they laughed like a -pair of schoolboys out on a frolic. - -"You never told me, sergeant, how you got along with Miss MacAllister -and Carteret the day you saw them safely home after the charge of the -Tamsui Blues." - -Gorman cocked an eye at Sinclair, with an expression which was -irresistibly comical. - -"I knew that it wud come," he said. "You did nobly, docther. You held -your whisht for a full week. But I knew it wud come." - -"That's all right, Gorman," replied Sinclair, laughing to hide a little -confusion. "That's all right. But that's not the subject under -discussion. You tell us how you enjoyed your walk." - -"How did I enjoy it? How could I do anything else but enjoy it, wid the -young lady talkin' to me, and askin' me questions about me experiences -in the wars, an' about the camp and the hospital at Keelung; and the two -bright eyes of her lookin' at me so friendly loike. Fwhat kind of a man -wud I be that wudn't enjoy it?" - -"So the young lady talked to you all the way home?" said McLeod. - -"Yes," said Gorman with a wink at McLeod, which distorted all one side -of his face, "she didn't know that I was a married man." - -McLeod laughed gaily at Sinclair. The latter took Gorman's banter -good-naturedly. He could afford to be indulgent. - -"How did Carteret take your monopolizing her?" he asked. - -"He tould me that it wud become me to have less to say in the prisince -of me betters. 'Begorra,' sez I, 'barrin' her young ladyship here, -there's none of them prisint that I can see,' sez I. 'An' whin it comes -to savin' young ladies from General Soon's Tamsui Blues, be the powers I -haven't been seein' me betters around here, exceptin' Docther Sinclair, -may the angels make his bed in glory,' sez I. Wid that the young lady -fires up and sez, 'The divil a bit of it,' sez she. 'We don't want the -doctor to go to glory yet,' sez she." - -"What! What! What's that, Gorman!" exclaimed McLeod, while Sinclair -was fairly shrieking with laughter. "You don't mean to tell us that -Miss MacAllister said that--'the divil a bit of it.' Did she say that?" - -"Och, Mr. McLeod, now you're spoilin' me story. If she didn't say that -in so manny wurrds, she thought it annyway. An' fwhat's the difference? -But I'll take me affydavit on it that she did say that she didn't want -the docther here to go to glory yet. An' I'm jist tellin' the docther -for his comfort, for be that sign, they were very encouragin' wurrds." - -"Did Carteret try to sit on you again?" inquired Sinclair when they -ceased laughing. - -"He did. 'Sergeant,' sez he, 'you're too free with your tongue. Your -company is offensive,' sez he. 'You may consider your services dispensed -with. And I shall consider it my duty to report you to the consul.' -'Bedad,' sez I, 'if you had been a little freer wid your courage, you -wudn't have needed me company. As for me services,' sez I, 'I'm not -under your orders. I was sint to see this young lady safely home,' sez -I. 'An' I cudn't think of lavin' her in your care, for fear you might -chanst to meet a fieldmouse by the way, an' you moight run, an' lave her -to be devoured by the feroshus wild beast,' sez I. - -"Wid that the young lady tuk to laughin' an' laughed so that I cudn't -finish wid the spalpeen for sayin' that he'd report me to the consul. I -was jist goin' to be afther tellin' him that afther a consultashun -together wid the consul, I had decided to deport him from the island. -But the young lady sez, sez she, 'Mr. Carteret, if I wish to talk to -Sergeant Gorman, I do not see why you should object. I hope that you -will not interfere with him again, and I'm sure that Sergeant Gorman -will not say anything more to offend you.'" - -"Then the rest of your walk was quite peaceful and agreeable," said -Sinclair. - -"It was," replied the sergeant. "You see the young lady and I talked -all the rest of the way. An' that spalpeen of a Carteret was as paceful -as you plase, walkin' on the other side of her, kind of sulky an' -hang-dog loike, for niver another wurrd did she say to him." - -"You must have enjoyed it, for I never before knew you to take so long a -time on so short an expedition." - -"Och, docther, I wudn't have thought it of you. But seein' that it's -troublin' you, I'll just make your moind aisy by tellin' you that I -wasn't wid the young lady all the toime. Part of it I was wid her -mother." - -"Did Carteret tell her mother what had really happened?" asked McLeod. - -"I hadn't the honor of hearin' what he did tell her. But she wasn't -jist taken wid it, for she asked me to wait, an' afther the spalpeen was -gone, she tould me to step in, for she wanted to have some conversashun -wid me. 'Wid pleasure, ma'm,' sez I. 'Sergeant,' sez she, 'are these -water-buffaloes dangerous to people?' 'That all depinds on the people,' -sez I. 'But are they not very ferocious beasts?' sez she. 'Ag'in that -depinds,' sez I. 'If there's a bit of a shillelagh wid a man behind it, -they're as p'aceful as lambs in spring-time. But if there's nothin' but -a paint-brush, wid a good-for-nothin' omadhaun at the back of it,' sez -I, 'thin they bate Bengal tigers.' - -"Wid that she got very red. 'Mr. Carteret's a gentleman,' sez she. -'Maybe,' sez I. 'He's well-born,' sez she. 'The divil,' sez I." - -"You would say that," interrupted McLeod. - -"Och, Mr. McLeod, there you'd be afther spoilin' me story agin. An' now -that you call it to me moind, I didn't say that nayther, seein' that it -was a lady I was talkin' to. Fwhat I did say was this, that I didn't -know that he was anny better born than the rest of us; an' though I did -not remember much about the occasion, I always onderstood that me own -mother, considerin' her opportunities, had brought me into the wurrld -jist about as nately as a duchess could have done. - -"Wid that she gave a bit of a laugh, an' sez, 'No doubt, Sergeant -Gorman! But I didn't mean it just that way,' sez she. 'I meant that -his ancestors have been men of rank and noble birth for generations.' -'As for that,' sez I, 'I don't take much stock in me pedigree,' sez I. -'A man don't go far wid his ancesthors till he foinds wan he'd loike to -trade off for some wan else. But seein' that they are both dead an' -done wid, he can't do it convaniently. To illustrate, I'll jist tell -your ladyship how it happened to mesilf,' sez I. - -"'Wanst whin I was in Indy, I tuk it into me moind to go home to Ireland -an' hunt up me ancesthors. I came to me birthplace, -Sleeahtballymackcurraghalicky in County Cork, an' tould the ouldest man -in the place who I was an' what was me business. "Yis," sez he, "yis; I -don't know you; but I've hard of you, an' I knowed your fader. Your -name is John Gorman. Your fader's was Shon Jay Pay. His fader was Shon -Mor. An' his fader was another Shon who was hanged by the English for -bein' a Rory of the Hills." 'An', ma'am,' sez I, 'wud you believe me, I -didn't pursue me ancesthors anny farder--shure as I'm a livin' man. I -didn't pursue me dead an' gone ancesthors anny farder.' - -'But,' sez she, wid a little laugh, 'Mr. Carteret's ancestors were not -like that. They were noblemen. His father is an earl. His oldest -brother is the heir. But his father is an old man, and cannot live long, -and the heir has only one lung, and when he dies, Mr. Carteret will -succeed to the title and the estates.' 'Well, ma'am,' sez I, 'if it's -my opinion you want, it's this. The heir shud trade off his wan lung -wid an auctioneer for his two, an' give him L100,000 to boot. For it's -little honor will be done to the title, an' little profit to the -estates, if that spalpeen of a Carteret gets thim,' sez I, 'beggin' your -ladyship's pardon for talkin' so freely in your prisince.' - -"Thin she got very red agin. Afther a bit she sez, 'Thank you, Sergeant -Gorman, for your opinions,' sez she. 'Here's a guinea for you.' 'Thank -you, ma'am,' sez I, 'but I'm nayther a lawyer to be sellin' me gab for -money, nor a beggar to be takin' charity,' sez I. 'I'm the son of an -Irish gentleman.' Wid that she looked at me kind of curious loike, an' -sez, 'Pardon me, Mr. Gorman, for offering it to you. But just the same I -want to thank you for your services to my daughter and to me,' an' she -reached out her hand an' shook hands wid me rale friendly loike." - -When Sinclair, McLeod, and Gorman separated that night, Sinclair saw -before him the possibility of a change of attitude on the part of Mrs. -MacAllister towards Carteret and himself. - - - - - *XXXII* - - *A MAN AND A WOMAN.* - - -The day of departure had come. The _Hailoong_ was floating on a full -tide, ready to cast off. Those who were remaining were down to bid -farewell to those who were going. Impedimenta had been stored away, and -all had gathered in two groups on the promenade deck. Dr. MacKay, his -wife and children, Mr. and Mrs. Thomson, and a number of native students -and preachers, formed one group. The Beauchamps, the MacAllisters, -Commander Gardenier, Boville, Carteret (for the residents still called -him by the name by which they had known him all along), and most of the -young men of the customs and mercantile staffs, formed the other. - -Dr. Sinclair, who had been busy helping in the hasty preparations for -departure, walked forward along the side of the deck next the dock. -Miss MacAllister disengaged herself from the little group and stepped to -the rail, as though to watch the last incidents of the embarkation. -They met on the very spot where they had stood that memorable evening on -which the _Hailoong_ put out from Amoy to face the capricious seas of -the Channel. - -What a change had come in their relations! They knew that many eyes -were watching them. Their words, if spoken above a whisper, would be -audible. There could be no demonstration, scarcely even a sign of -understanding or affection. Yet there was the attitude of perfect -confidence. And when their eyes met, they spoke a language which both -understood. - -"This scene must have grown very familiar to you in the last two and a -half months," he said. - -"Yes," she replied. "For that reason one is apt to pass over many of -the features of it without noting them. I want to impress on my memory -every detail." - -"Isn't it strange," he said in a very low tone, "that this little port -in a strange land, should so quickly have become a sacred spot to us?" - -"The most sacred spot in all the world," she replied softly. - -Some one called to them, and they both turned at once, and stood side by -side facing the company. - -"What a magnificent-looking pair they make!" exclaimed Mrs. Thomson, in -a sudden enthusiasm forgetting that the voice would carry to the ears of -all present. - -"Was that what you called us to hear?" Miss MacAllister flashed back. -"It certainly was worth while. Do you not think so, Dr. Sinclair?" She -laughed gaily, a little defiantly, for she had seen the expression on -her mother's face. - -"I certainly do. And I'm proud to shine with the reflected light of -beauty," he replied. - -"Oh, you! You are worse than they are." - -She turned hastily to the rail again, to hide her blushes. Her mother -set her lips very tightly together, lifted her head very high, and -sniffed. She was more intent than ever on forcing her daughter to marry -Carteret. Whatever doubts of his suitability to be a good husband she -may have entertained, had vanished with his actual succession to the -title. A peerage can cover a multitude of sins. - -"All aboard!" rang out in English and Chinese. Men sprang to the hawsers -to cast off. At that instant a sedan chair, with sweating bearers on -the run, reached the dock and was dropped at the end of the gang plank. -An unusually pretty Chinese girl of seventeen or eighteen years, richly -dressed, and bearing in her arms a child of a few months old, stepped -hastily out of it, and ran for the gangway as fast as her bound feet -would carry her. One look at the child was enough to learn its story. -Almost as dark as a Chinese in complexion, the features were distinctly -European. It was a Eurasian, the child of a European father and an -Asiatic mother. - -At the sight of the sedan chair Carteret had turned abruptly from the -group on deck, and had run down the ladder. The next instant his voice -was heard by those who leaned on the rail, speaking, not loudly, but in -tones of restrained fury. - -"Put that woman off. Don't let her on board this boat," uttered to the -accompaniment of savage oaths. - -"Stand back, Mr. Carteret. It is not for you to say who will be a -passenger on this boat. This woman has money to pay her passage, and -she has the same rights as you have. Make way there." - -It was McLeod's voice, clear and cold and hard as steel. - -Sinclair and Miss MacAllister did not look at each other for some -moments. The others on the deck heard only very imperfectly what was -said below. Some of the men talked continuously and loudly, so that the -women might not hear. When Miss MacAllister's eyes did meet Sinclair's, -they had in them such a look of confidence and content that the memory -of it never faded from his mind. - -There was no opportunity for them to speak such farewells as their -hearts craved. Once she had the chance to whisper, - -"I'll be thinking of you, Donald, and you'll be thinking of me." - -[Illustration: "I'll be thinking of you, Donald, and you'll be thinking -of me"] - -His answer was, - -"And I'll come to you, Jessie, though all the world try to keep us -apart." - -As the general farewells were said, Constance Beauchamp shook hands with -Sinclair gravely, sedately; stood for an instant irresolute, and then -with a movement as light as that of a fawn, sprang into his arms, -clasped hers around his neck and kissed him again and again, before them -all. She had another parting boon to bestow. - -"I am going away where I can't see you, Dr. Sinclair. You may get your -hair cut whenever you wish. But keep one of the curls for me." - -And Miss MacAllister looking on, felt no jealous pang. - -Amidst waving hats and handkerchiefs, the _Hailoong_ swung out into the -stream, and started on her voyage, with her strangely assorted freight -of humanity, going to their various destinies. Among those surely none -were more tragic than the destinies of a man, of a woman, and of their -child. He was bound for an English earldom, and a seat in the House of -Lords. She was to drift into a native brothel, frequented by the -degraded of all nationalities, in the great cosmopolitan port of -Hong-Kong. Their child was to grow up in the streets of that tropical -city, a nameless, mongrel waif, never to know his father's face, till he -should stand as his accuser before the judgment seat of God. - - - - - *XXXIII* - - *MY CHILDREN IN THE LORD* - - -"Dr. MacKay, you are not well." - -"I know that, Dr. Sinclair." - -"You have a temperature, I'm sure. Have you taken it?" - -"No." - -"How's that? I thought that you were careful to watch your health. You -told me that you could not afford to be sick." - -"So I am, as a rule. But I could not take it this time till my wife -left. She would not have gone if she had known." - -"You should have gone yourself. The strain has been too much for you. -Knowing the shape you are in, why didn't you take a trip to Hong-Kong, -or at least to Amoy, and rest a while?" - -"That would be to play the part of a hireling shepherd. 'He that is an -hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the -wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth -them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he is an -hireling and careth not for the sheep.'" - -Sinclair was silent while he counted the pulse, and awaited the report -of the thermometer. When he looked at it, his face was grave. - -"What is it?" asked MacKay. "You need not hesitate to tell me. Is it -high?" - -"Too high for a man to have and be walking about. One hundred and three -and four-fifths." - -"If it were malaria, I should not mind. I have worked for days on the -East Coast with an average of one hundred and three. But this is not -malaria. I cannot be deceived in it. I know malaria too well." - -"Where is the trouble?" - -"In my head." - -"So I thought. We must get you to bed. I'll send a chit to Bergmann. -He is your doctor." - -That was the beginning of the fight for life. MacKay was battling with -all the determination of his nature against cerebral meningitis. The -battle was not very long, but it was exceedingly sharp. By his bedside -all the time sat one or other of the three doctors. This stern, -reserved, intensely concentrated man had won their respect and -admiration, and no effort was spared to save his life. Native students, -trained in the elements of nursing, glided noiselessly in and out of the -room. Over at the college, where the native preachers, elders, and -students assembled, a continuous prayer-meeting was in progress, these -yellow and brown-skinned men who "ain't got no souls," praying with the -simple faith of little children that their beloved pastor might be -restored to health. - -On the white bed in the middle of the room, beneath its drapery of -mosquito curtains, MacKay's burning head turned ceaselessly from side to -side, day and night, day and night without sleep. And day and night, -day and night he talked, talked, talked, sometimes in English, sometimes -in Chinese, talked without pause or cessation about his converts, the -church which he had brought into being. - -"My people! ... My people! ... My children in the Lord! ... Who will -take care of them? My sheep! ... My poor sheep! ... Left without a -shepherd! ... Who will feed them! ... My little lambs! My little lambs! -... Who will protect them from the wolves? ... O God! I commend them to -Thee! ... My children! My children in the Lord!" - -One day the raving suddenly ceased. Sinclair, startled by the unwonted -silence, stepped to his bedside and threw back the curtains. MacKay was -sitting bolt upright in bed. The fire of the fever was still in his -face and eye. But his voice was perfectly natural, his manner calm and -collected. - -"Dr. Sinclair, what shall I do for my people? If I die, there is no one -to take care of them. Mr. Thomson is not able now--perhaps never will be -able. No person could come from Canada for a year, and when one would -come, he would need another year or two for the language. Some of the -native preachers are able, but none of them have authority to take the -lead of their fellows. What shall I do?" - -"Do not worry about that now," replied Sinclair soothingly. "There is -the Good Shepherd still to lead His sheep. Leave it to Him. It is for -you now to recover your strength." - -"I am resolved what to do," MacKay went on, as if without noticing -Sinclair's reply. "I shall ordain A Hoa and Tan He,[#] the two ablest -of the preachers. That will give them authority to lead their brethren. -That will make them pastors, shepherds of the sheep. It's irregular, I -know. A presbytery should ordain. I'm not a presbytery. It's unusual. -But unusual circumstances demand unusual methods. If I live, the church -lawyers at home will crucify me for it. If I die, they'll condone my -action, praise me in public, and scarify me in private. But neither -their praise nor their blame can touch me then." - -[#] Pronounced, Hay. - -"The church lawyers be hanged, hanged in their own red tape!" exclaimed -Sinclair savagely. "They have never seen anything but their own little -parishes, and they think their tuppenny parochial rules can be applied -to the whole world." - -"I know, Dr. Sinclair, I know. What saith the Scripture? 'Where there -is no vision the people perish.' But I am resolved that my people shall -not perish.... Leng-a," he said in Chinese to the student nurse, "call -A Hoa and Tan He to come here. Call all the other preachers, the -students and elders to come at once." - -In a few minutes the room was full of native Christians, while others -stood in the hall on one side, or out on the verandah on the other. -Briefly and impressively MacKay explained to them the need and his -resolve, charged the two preachers to accept the holy office, asked them -the prescribed questions, and then, when they had knelt beside his bed, -he laid a hand upon the head of each and reverently, solemnly said in -Chinese, - -"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only King and Head of the -Church, and by the authority He has given me when He committed to me the -care of these His people, I invite you to take part of this ministry -with me, and commit to your care these my children in the Lord." - -Tears glistened on the faces of the natives. Sobs broke from many of -them. But the sick man continued resolutely, now in English, - -"Dr. Sinclair, I have written to the Foreign Mission Committee of our -Church, asking them to appoint you a medical missionary in North -Formosa. That is your desire?" - -"It is." - -"If they grant my request--I do not say that they will--but if they do, -do you promise to stay with these people as long as you may find it -possible so to do, to heal their souls as well as their bodies, and to -give these native brethren your counsel, according as the Lord gives you -wisdom?" - -"I do." - -"I am content." - -With the benediction the Chinese softly withdrew. The sick man fell back -exhausted on the pillows, soon to be tossing and raving in delirium -again. But over in the little college building the native Christians, -led by their two new-made pastors, bowed themselves continuously in -prayer for the life which was more than any other life to them. - -Was it in answer to those prayers that ice was unexpectedly brought into -that port in that tropic clime? Who knows? So many things are veiled -from our eyes! But certain it is that when the ice was heaped about his -fevered head, MacKay fell into a sweet, childlike sleep, from which he -did not awake for thirty-six hours. And when he awoke he was saved. - -A few days later, under compulsion from the three doctors, he sailed on -board the _Fokien_ to join his family in Hong-Kong and rest. The day -afterwards the French admiral declared a blockade, and Formosa was -sealed against the world. - - - - - *XXXIV* - - *THE SOLDIER OF THE LEGION* - - -For the five months from October till March Dr. Sinclair and Sergeant -Gorman were with the Chinese forces before Keelung. For those five -months rain fell almost continuously. Clouds drifted in from the sea, -trailed through the valleys, and crept up the mountain sides, -discharging their burdens of water as they went. The earth was sodden -under foot. Walls and roofs sweated moisture. Tents and clothing -mildewed. Food moulded and rotted in the constant wet. Scarcely ever a -gleam of sunshine broke through the leaden canopy of cloud to cleanse -the reeking earth and atmosphere. For one period of forty-five days the -rain never ceased for an hour. - -All through the wretched winter French transports arrived bringing -reinforcements, and left again carrying sick and wounded men. All -through the winter a succession of petty conflicts took place, a series -of harassing, ineffectual actions was fought. A French column would -issue from Keelung, plunge through roads which were nought but channels -of liquid mud, struggle up dripping heights, through the tall grasses -and ferns and brush, exposed to the fire of concealed sharp-shooters, -and drive the enemy from the top at the point of the bayonet, only to -find that their labour and the price of blood paid was all in vain. In -some cases the small forces they were able to spare could not hold the -heights against the rallying Chinese. In others immediately behind they -discovered higher and more strongly fortified posts dominating those -that they had captured. - -All the while the French cemetery on the east side of the harbour, which -they had named La Galissoniere, was growing more and more populous at an -alarming rate. Typhoid fever, malarial fever, cholera were far more -dangerous than the bullets and knives of the Chinese. In spite of the -numbers of sick and wounded men sent home to France, by the time the -winter had passed into summer seven hundred of the small force employed -had been laid away in the rain-soaked, wave-beaten beach at Keelung. - -Meanwhile still heavier losses were suffered by the Chinese. The -superior discipline and arms of the French more than compensated for -their inferiority in numbers, and enabled them to work havoc in the -close-set ranks of the Chinese. The little hospital at Loan-Loan was -always filled with wounded. Sometimes they overflowed into the -neighbouring houses requisitioned by the military authorities for the -purpose. - -Among these wounded men Sinclair and Gorman worked almost day and night. -When a battle was in progress, one or other went out with the ambulance -corps, gave the wounded first aid on the field, and forwarded them to -the hospital for fuller treatment there. Under leaden skies and the -incessant downpour of rain, with insufficient medicines and equipment, -and subsisting on poor native food, they worked on week after week, -month after month. - -Perhaps what was hardest to bear was the fact that during all those -months not a word reached them from the outside world. The blockade had -effectually excluded all mails. Gorman heard nothing from his family in -Amoy. Sinclair had never a line from Hong-Kong. - -"Bedad," said Gorman one day, "this is a time when a man would be glad -to be afther seein' the shape of a letter, even if it were only from his -mother-in-law." - -"Let me have a look at your tongue, and a feel of your pulse, Gorman!" -exclaimed Sinclair, reaching for the sergeant's wrist. "I knew that you -were in a bad way. But I had no idea that you were so far gone as -that." - -"Och, docther, but wudn't I show you the iligances of an Irish jig, if -the ould lady wud only write to me that she was dead an' p'acefully -departed. Then I cud go home to me wife an' childer." - -It was a time when men were tested. Daily, hourly, Sinclair thought of -the girl he loved, spending the winter in Hong-Kong, subject to the -attentions and solicitations of the now titled Carteret, and the -pressure brought to bear by her mother. His hands would clench and his -jaws set hard. But he was sure that Jessie MacAllister would do her -part. Over and over again her farewell words kept running through his -mind, "I'll be thinking of you, Donald, and you'll be thinking of me." - -The longest and dreariest months will always come to an end. When -February had passed, the skies began to clear sometimes. The first week -of March had some beautiful days. - -With this came renewed activity on the part of the French. In a series -of actions lasting five days, March 3d to 7th, they succeeded in -capturing some of the strongest Chinese positions on the mountain-tops -near Loan-Loan. - -Sinclair had chosen for his field hospital and ambulance station a -situation at the back of the post most strongly fortified by the -Chinese. It was a mountain with a steep, almost perpendicular ascent, -covered with grass and ferns and bamboos, on the side of the French -attack. In this cover the Chinese irregulars were hidden. The crest of -the hill was crowned by an interwoven fence of sharpened bamboos, a -veritable chevaux-de-frise. Three other lines of entrenchments extended -along the face of the hill, and had to be crossed by the assailants -before the main position of the Chinese could be reached. - -Behind the bamboo stockade, on the slope which led down towards the -valley in which the river and the town lay, was a strong force of -regular troops. Their right was commanded by the American, Silas Z. -Leatherbottom; their left by a young Chinese officer, trained abroad. -Gorman was with the right; Sinclair with the left. - -It was the last day of the five. On an opposing hill which they had -captured two days before, the French camp was plainly to be seen. Early -in the morning the movement of troops began. A column moved off the -open plateau and disappeared in the fog which hung in the valley, as if -to attack the Chinese right. Before long heavy firing was heard in that -direction, and Chinese troops were moved across from the left to -strengthen the right under the American. - -Unexpectedly rifle firing broke out under the curtain of mist in the -valley directly in front. The French mountain guns on the opposite hill -began to search the Chinese left. In an interval of the firing the -order "_Baionnettcs au canon! En avant!_" floated up to where Sinclair -stood with some Chinese officers on the crest. The loud "Hourras!" of -the French soldiers mingled with the shrill yells of the Chinese, and -the crackling of rifles. The French were charging the first line of -entrenchments with the bayonet. - -It was taken, and they pressed their retreating foes on to the second. -It too was captured, and in the same way the third. All the while their -progress could be judged only by the sounds which came up through the -canopy of fog. - -Now the helmets of the Europeans began to appear through the veil of -mist. They were at the foot of the last steep ascent, with its bamboo -palisade at the top. The Chinese defenders poured on them a perfect -hail of bullets. The ascent was so steep, the storm of lead so -terrible, that even those seasoned troops shrank from it. The foremost, -a company of the Bataillon d'Afrique, swung off to the left in search of -an easier ascent and less deadly fire. Another company of the same -regiment dashed straight at the steep hill-side. But the deadly fire of -the Chinese mowed the foremost of them down. A company in a different -uniform, which had been held in reserve, two hundred strong, was ordered -to their support. On they came with a rush, cheering each other in a -perfect babel of tongues. The "En avant" of their officers was echoed in -almost every language of Europe. It was a company of the famous _Legion -Etrangere_, the Foreign Legion. - -Their polyglot cries mingled with the French of the Bataillon d'Afrique, -as in regimental rivalry they struggled up that terrible ascent. Bamboo -scaling ladders were placed, only to be thrown down. Men climbed them, -only to be crushed by the rocks which the Chinese hurled upon them in -savage hand-to-hand warfare. But the assailants did not draw back. -French, Austrians, Germans, Italians, Corsicans, Poles, men of -Alsace-Lorraine, exiles from every land of Europe, they struggled -desperately up. They fought their way to the palisade, hewed gaps in -it, and formed on top. - -The Chinese irregulars, driven in on their regular troops, threw the -latter into confusion. In spite of the gallant efforts is of their -young commander, most of them broke and fled. Not so their leader. -Rallying a hundred or so of his broken army, he led them in a bayonet -charge against their foes. A volley decimated their ranks. When the -smoke cleared away, the young officer was seen leading those who -remained to the attack. Another volley rang out, leaving him only a -handful of men. But once more the gallant Chinese gathered the little -group around him, and dashed at the invaders. When the smoke of a third -volley cleared away there were none left to charge. The brave young -pioneer of the new China which is to be, had died on the field he was -determined to hold. - -The American general, Leatherbottom, realized when it was too late that -the French had deceived him by a false attack on the right, while their -real objective was the weakened left, commanded by the young Chinese. -He explained to Sinclair afterwards, - -"'Thet's whar these 'ar Europeans get the start on me. When it comes t' -fightin', I kin fight. Don't yew make enny mistake about thet. But -when it's a question of military evolyewtions an' tictacs, thet's whar -they've got me beat by a mile." - -And certain it was that when the Chinese left position was captured, and -the right was forced to retreat, the French were kept from coming to -close quarters by the deadly shooting of one rifle in the Chinese -rearguard. And that rifle was in the hands of the general of the -retreating force, the long, slab-sided Vermonter, Silas Z. -Leatherbottom. - -Meanwhile Dr. Sinclair, realizing that the day was lost to the Chinese, -was forwarding the wounded with all possible speed, down into the valley -towards a place of safety. As the Chinese left was broken, he had come -down with a long line of stretchers, bearing wounded who had been picked -up under fire. - -As he descended to the level of the ravine which encircled the mountain, -he saw within a hundred yards of him a squad of the Foreign Legion, -hurrying along the ravine, either seeking an easier ascent to the field -of battle, or making an attempt to cut off the Chinese retreat. - -Suddenly out of a dense grove of bamboos on the hill-side spirted -streams of flame and smoke. The stout, fair-complexioned sub-lieutenant -who was leading them, threw up his arms, staggered, caught the trunk of -a tree-fern which saved him from falling. - -"_Mein Gott im Himmel!_" he screamed. "_Je suis tue! En avant, mes -camarades! Vorwaerts!_" - -They were his last words. But they were typical of the character of the -Legion. - -A sergeant of almost gigantic size sprang forward. - -"_Vers la gauche!_" he shouted. "_Charges a la baionnette! En avant!_" - -"Good for you, sergeant!" yelled an exile of Ireland fighting under a -foreign flag. "Give the yellow divils a taste of the steel. Hurroosh!" - -They dashed at the bamboos. But the withering fire cut them down. Not -a man reached the ambuscade but the big sergeant. A bullet hit him. He -fell; rose to his feet, and made a couple of paces forward. Another hit -him on the leg. He raised himself on a foot and a knee. A heavy stone -thrown at a few yards struck him on the head. He went down silent and -motionless. - -With wild screams the Chinese irregulars burst from their cover, -brandishing long knives and racing with each other to be first to reach -their victims. It was not merely their lust for blood which clamoured -to be satisfied. Still more was it their lust for gain. There was a -price set upon French heads. - -Anticipating the result, and knowing what would follow, Sinclair dashed -down the steep, grass-covered side of the ravine at the top of his -speed. - -"Wait a little!" he yelled in his imperfect Chinese. "Stop that!" - -But the irregulars were Hakka tribesmen from the savage border, speaking -a different language from that he was learning. They probably did not -understand him. If they did, they were not to be baulked of their -rewards by the orders of the foreign doctor. - -Already the bloody knives were at work. Several were quarrelling over -the body of the lieutenant, for there was a higher price for the head of -an officer. Two or three had thrown themselves upon the sergeant. This -was the nearest body to Sinclair. One of the knives was lifted. At a -dozen paces Sinclair's big revolver spoke. The Chinese flung backwards -down the slope, throwing his glittering knife high in the air. - -That was a language they all could understand. For a moment they seemed -disposed to resist. But the big foreign doctor was already among them, -his revolver barking with the rapidity of a machine gun, and at every -spirt of flame a man went down. Behind him came a number of well-armed -regulars, who had been detailed to convoy the ambulances. The -irregulars broke and fled. But they carried away with them the head of -every man of that little squad save the sergeant. - -The broken leg with its great gaping wound was hastily bandaged and -supported by splints. The torn shoulder and the cut head had the blood -staunched. Then the unconscious man was placed on a stretcher and borne -to camp to be cared for in the same hospital as the Chinese wounded. - -As the line of stretchers moved down the ravine, the tri-colour could be -seen floating over the crest of the mountain where the battle had been -fought, and the French bugles could be heard sounding "_au drapeau_." - - - - - *XXXV* - - *THE LANGUAGE OF PARADISE* - - -The war was practically over. The Chinese could not dislodge the French -from Keelung. The French could not advance any farther into the country. - -What had they gained for all their expenditure of blood and effort? -They had not been able to make themselves masters of a single foot of -ground at Tamsui. At Keelung they held the ruined town and the harbour, -and some outposts two miles from where their warships lay. Beyond the -range of their naval guns they could not go. For such barren results, -all of which in three months' time they were to relinquish again, they -had sacrificed fully one thousand lives of French soldiers and sailors, -had disabled hundreds more through wounds and disease, and had killed an -unknown number of Chinese, none of whom knew what the war was about. - -It dragged on for another month and a half before the blockade was -raised and hostilities ceased. Six weeks elapsed after that before -Keelung was evacuated, and the French squadron and transports sailed -away, leaving their silent city of the dead, their tale of killed and -wounded and missing. - -Through the month of March and half of April, Sinclair laboured on among -the wounded of the Chinese army. He was their Life-Healer. By one of -the strange ironies of life two of those Hakka tribesmen who had gone -down before his revolver on the seventh of March, were brought to him -for treatment, and he healed them. They looked with wonder, not unmixed -with fear, at the big fair-haired foreigner, who had been so ferocious a -day or two before. Now his touch was as gentle as it before had been -terrible, and in his very word was healing. They did not understand. It -was a part of the foreign devil's madness. It was a part of his magic. - -But there was one over whom Sinclair spent more time than over any -other. It was the big sergeant of the Foreign Legion. He was -desperately wounded, and for a long time lay silently unconscious. From -that stage he passed into one of delirium. Then he raved, sometimes in -French, sometimes in German, sometimes in English, sometimes in a jumble -of languages like the Babel of tongues in the famous corps to which he -belonged. But there was one language which he used more than all the -others, and when he used it, his voice was soft and his accents tender, -like those of a child talking to his mother, or of a lover to his -beloved. That language Sinclair did not understand. - -Day after day, night after night, he sat by the wounded man's bed in the -tent where he and Gorman had their quarters. Every moment he could get -off duty among the Chinese he was at his post. There was something -about this French sergeant which attracted him strangely. He was big -and dark, with jet black hair and large, dark eyes. When he was wounded -his face, save where it was covered by thick, black, stubbly whiskers, -was tanned to a dark brown. But as the days and weeks of illness passed -by, the sunburn faded from his face, and left his skin clear, almost to -transparency. Then Gorman shaved him, "to make the poor craythur a -little more comfortable loike." The fineness of the features at once -struck Sinclair. Was it only fancy, or was it a fact that he had -somewhere seen some one who resembled this man? He racked his brain to -recall who it was, or where he had seen that expression and form of -face. - -"I can't think. But I know that I have seen that face or its -counterpart somewhere." - -The big dark eyes of the patient opened, and began to wander over every -object in the tent. Then the wounded man began to talk. It was in the -language Sinclair did not understand. - -"I wonder would Gorman know anything of that," he said to himself. "He -has a little bit of each of a score of tongues." - -A native boy ran for the sergeant. He came quickly. The wounded soldier -was silent when he entered, and Sinclair was afraid that he would not -speak again. Presently his eyes began to rove around. Then he spoke in -a low, soft voice, words of the unknown tongue. For a few moments -Gorman stood silent with a puzzled look on his face, as if unable to get -the sense of what was being said. Then with a sudden start he lifted -his hands above his head. - -"Be all the saints in glory, docther, do you not know that? It's what -you'll have to speak whin you get to hiven. It's Gaelic. Not Irish, -but Scotch! The man's a Highlander.... He's jist a bit of a gossoon -ag'in, wid his mother croonin' over him and puttin' him to sleep, an' -him not wantin' to go. Och, the poor bhoy! The poor bhoy! An' the -divils had nearly cut off his head!" - -Sinclair sprang to his feet, his face as pale as death, his whole frame -trembling with excitement. - -"Gorman," he said, with the slow emphasis of absolute conviction, "it's -Miss MacAllister's brother." - -"Be the love of God, docther, I believe that you are right." - -"I know that I'm right, Gorman. It's Allister MacAllister. I was -trying to place his resemblance to some one I knew. Now I know what -that resemblance is. It is neither to Miss MacAllister nor her mother. -It is something between the two. He has his mother's colour of hair and -eyes, and form of face, with his sister's expression." - -"Right you are, docther. An', docther, he mustn't die." - -"He must live, if human power can save him, and God's mercy will spare -him," was the solemn reply. - -Half-an-hour later a speedy runner left for Tamsui, bearing a letter to -Drs. Bergmann and Black, with an account of the case of the wounded -Frenchman, a request for needed medicines, and the hope that one of them -might be able to come over to the camp before Keelung for a -consultation. - -They both came. They held a consultation, spoke many kind words of what -Sinclair had accomplished, and returned to Tamsui to tell of the most -wonderful work they had ever seen accomplished by one doctor against -such obstacles. - -The day after they left, Sinclair sat by his patient in the tent by the -river side. The spring sun was shining gloriously, drawing up the -moisture from the saturated earth. The rippling of the river, the scent -of the flowers, the song of the birds floated into the tent where the -sick man lay. Sinclair had been looking out on the flowing water. -Something drew his gaze towards the patient's cot. The large dark eyes -were fixed on him, no longer wandering and restless, but intelligent, -full of questioning and wonder. - -"Where am I?" he asked in French. - -"With friends," was the reply in the same language. - -"How did I get here?" - -"You were wounded, sergeant." - -The last word seemed to help his memory. - -"I remember. We had taken the fort on the Table, and were trying to -capture Fort Bamboo, on the South Mountain." - -"Yes, that's it." - -"Did we capture it?" - -"Yes." - -"But some of us ran into an ambuscade in the bamboos." - -"Yes, and you were wounded. I've been trying to fix you up again." - -"Are you a doctor?" - -"Yes." - -"You are not one of the doctors of the Legion. I do not remember you. -Do you belong to the Zephyrs or l'Infanterie de Marine?" - -"To neither. I am a volunteer doctor. But you have talked enough. I -do not want you to tire yourself. I want you to get better. You must go -to sleep." - -That afternoon General Liu Ming-chuan visited the hospital to personally -announce that an armistice was likely to be arranged, to thank Dr. -Sinclair for his invaluable services, and to tell him that both he and -Sergeant Gorman were recommended for various buttons and rings of jade, -daggers, and feathers of honour. - -"Now," he concluded, "is there any request with which the honourable -physician will deign to honour me, that I may have the pleasure of -granting it?" - -"There is, Your Excellency," replied Sinclair. - -"Will the honourable physician name it?" - -"That Your Excellency will graciously condescend to grant that the -wounded French prisoner be handed over to me, that I may restore him to -his aged father, of whom he is the only son." - -"The honourable physician's request is granted; and may the young man -comfort the heart of his father, and do honour to his ancestors." - -A week later Sinclair and Gorman left the Chinese camp for Tamsui, -carrying with them in a specially constructed litter the man whom they -were convinced was the long-lost son and brother. - -Of their suspicions concerning him, the wounded man knew nothing. He -indeed knew where he was and how he came to be there. He knew that he -had been a prisoner in the Chinese camp. He knew that he had been cared -for and his life saved by a Canadian missionary doctor and an Irish -sergeant. He knew that instead of leaving him in the hands of the -Chinese, they were taking him to the foreign settlement at Tamsui, until -he should be strong enough to rejoin his regiment. But for any hint -they gave or aught he suspected, he was nothing to them but Sergeant -Alfred Melnotte, of the 3d Company, 4th Battalion of the Foreign Legion, -reported by his company commander as "_disparu_," missing. - -When he reached Tamsui and was installed in a large, airy room in Dr. -MacKay's house, where the soft April winds blew in, where he lay and -luxuriated in a great white bed, with its canopy of mosquito curtains, -such luxury as he had not known for years, he wondered at the kindness -of these strangers. But to them as to all the other residents of -Tamsui, he was just "the French sergeant, Sergeant Melnotte." - - - - - *XXXVI* - - *AN APPARITION* - - -In Hong-Kong the winter had passed in such a round of gaieties as the -colony could afford. There were balls and dinner parties, state and -private, afloat and ashore. There were cricket matches and military -reviews in the city. There were races and golf, and more cricket -matches and picnics at Happy Valley. A company of players of more or -less excellence, going from Australia to England or America, from time -to time came by way of Hong-Kong, and perhaps for a week drew -astonishingly large houses, considering the smallness of the European -population. There were excursions to Macao, and trips to Canton. - -Mrs. MacAllister entered with the utmost zest into the social life of -the great southern city. Although never at ease in society, always -revealing to the practised eye that she had not been accustomed to it in -her youth, the continual attendance at all manner of functions, the -association with people supposed to be of social standing, had become -her ideal of happiness. In the sumptuous apartments her husband had -taken in the hotel, she entertained lavishly. Her wealth covered all -defects of education and training. Perhaps the majority of those she met -in the social life of the colony were not so much better bred than -herself. And those who were, accepted her bountiful hospitality, and -did not laugh at her till her back was turned. - -Then she had far more compensating circumstances than most who have to -depend on their wealth for admission into society. Her husband was -keenly intelligent, well-informed, and perfectly at home anywhere. Her -daughter was strikingly beautiful and accomplished. The accepted suitor -for that daughter's hand was an earl. How could any colony be expected -to resist such a combination as that? Hong-Kong simply surrendered at -discretion. - -It is true that Mr. MacAllister grew very weary of the inanities of the -social round. He was becoming more and more anxious about his -ill-success in getting any trace of his son. It is true also that many -noted the fact that Miss MacAllister seemed to be very indifferent -towards her titled suitor. But, as she once in confidence explained to -McLeod, his acceptance by her mother saved her from being bored by any -other of the aspiring young men she met. - -Carteret had been in Hong-Kong on several occasions before and had been -almost entirely ignored by colonial society. But society is not to be -blamed for that. A younger son, on a small remittance, is a very -different proposition, even if the heir has only one lung, from a real -live earl, with the full income of his estates at his disposal. Society -has a keen appreciation of the fitness of things. It regards not what a -man is, but what he has. - -Thus the winter passed away. But it was not without other incident. -One day in January two young men were talking in the rotunda of the -hotel. They were both officers of an English regiment then forming part -of the garrison. One had just returned from leave, having arrived by -the P. and O. liner the day before. The other had been in the city with -his regiment. - -"By Jove, Powell," said the former, "I got the biggest fright of my life -yesterday." - -"How's that?" said the other. "Didn't know that you ever got -frightened." - -"Well, I'll acknowledge that I'm not strong on getting scared, unless -there's a woman in the case. Then I run every time." - -"Perhaps! But that has not enlightened me as to what gave you the -fright yesterday." - -"It was this way. When we came to anchor we found ourselves right -alongside of the French transport _Canton_, with troops for Formosa. -She had a battalion of the Legion Etrangere. I had heard of them at -Singapore, and knew that there was an old schoolmate of mine on -board--Du Marais, captain commanding the first company. We chummed -together when I was studying French and drill at Saint Cyr. So before -coming ashore I went aboard the _Canton_ to look him up. Du Marais was -there all right, brown, black rather, but fit as a fiddle after -campaigns in Algiers. But it wasn't Du Marais who gave me the scare." - -"What was it?" - -"You remember MacAllister of the --th Dragoon Guards?" - -"Who shot Standish after Tel-el-Kebir?" - -"Yes." - -"Of course I do. His father and mother and sister are in Hong-Kong -now." - -"Well, I could swear that he was on board the _Canton_ in Hong-Kong -Harbour yesterday." - -"But he was reported killed by Arabs on his way to Alexandria." - -"I know. And that is what gave me the fright. As I was talking to Du -Marais a big sergeant passed and, by the Lord, if Allister MacAllister -is living that sergeant was he! If he's dead that was his ghost. Du -Marais noticed me start and asked what was the matter. I told him. He -said that the sergeant was not of his company and he did not know him, -but that he would inquire. He came back in a little and said: 'You must -be mistaken. That was Sergeant Melnotte of Lebigot's company. He is a -Frenchman from Besancon.' But I was convinced that it was MacAllister -or his ghost." - -The two young officers strolled away. They did not notice a man sitting -under a spreading tropical plant and hidden still more by the home -newspaper he was reading. If they had noticed, they would have seen -that the newspaper trembled like an aspen leaf in the palsied hands -which held it. When they were gone, Mr. MacAllister rose from behind -the plant. His face was pale as ashes, but his movements were quick and -decided. He hurried to the harbour-master's office to ask about the -_Canton_. She had sailed for Formosa the evening before. - -He returned to the hotel to write letters to Consul Beauchamp, to -Commander Gardenier, to Dr. Sinclair. Under the stringent rules of the -blockade, those letters did not reach their destinations till their -usefulness was past. He set himself to devise means to effect his own -return to Formosa. It was not until April that it could be -accomplished. Meanwhile he told neither his wife nor his daughter, lest -their hopes should be disappointed, and the disappointment should be -more than they could bear. - -On the fourth of April the protocol was signed by the representatives of -France and China. As soon as the news reached Hong-Kong the _Hailoong_ -sailed for Tamsui. She had on board two white passengers for that port, -Dr. MacKay and Mr. MacAllister. - -The forces of nature and of man seemed determined to prevent her -reaching there. When near her destination a terrific storm forced her -to run back to the coast of China for shelter, as she had been compelled -to do the previous August. When she again appeared off Tamsui a shot -across her bows brought her to. The French commander had not heard that -the blockade had been raised. Once more she had to put about and steam -for the Pescadores to get authority from Admiral Courbet himself. From -the Pescadores to Amoy, and again to Tamsui, she carried her impatient -passengers before they were allowed to land. - - - - - *XXXVII* - - *"MY SON! MY SON!"* - - -The day the _Hailoong_ first appeared off the harbour of Tamsui was one -of deep anxiety to Sinclair. While the other foreign residents were -almost delirious with joy at the prospect of the removal of the -blockade, he was disturbed and anxious. He did not know who might be on -board that boat. He had a presentiment so fixed that he could not shake -himself free from it, that Mr. MacAllister was coming back again. - -He dreaded the effect on his patient of the meeting between father and -son. The wounded man was still weak. The doctor had not even hinted to -him that he was known. Indeed, he had no absolute proof that this was -Allister MacAllister. Yet he was convinced that this was he. He felt -that he ought to tell him that he was known, and that his father was -coming. Deep as was his own disappointment at the still further delay -of word from Hong-Kong, it was nevertheless with a feeling akin to -relief that he saw the _Hailoong_ forced to steam away without entering -port. He resolved that his patient must be prepared for her return. - -The two young men had grown deeply attached to each other. It was not -strange. Sinclair had good reason to like the man he believed to be -Jessie MacAllister's brother. Sergeant Melnotte had good reason to be -grateful to the man who had saved his life. - -But there was a deeper reason. It was the instinctive attraction of -mutually complementary characters. Sinclair's invincible good-humour -and cheerfulness were as life-giving sunshine to the wounded soldier, -worn by hardship and suffering. Melnotte's patient, uncomplaining -endurance of intense pain, his quiet but profound gratitude, appealed to -Sinclair's admiration for all that was heroic and manly. The large, -dark eyes followed his every movement with a look of devotion and -thankfulness which was pathetic. It was the expression of dependence of -one who had been strong, but was now brought down to the weakness of a -child. In this gratitude Sinclair found his opportunity. - -"Sergeant Melnotte," he said, "you are not French." - -The invalid's face flushed a little, but he answered quietly: - -"What makes you think so, doctor? Do I not speak French correctly?" - -"Oh, yes! So far as I can see, you speak it perfectly; much better than -I do. But you are not French." - -"How do you come to that conclusion?" - -"When you were delirious you spoke Gaelic." - -"Did I?" he asked quietly, as if holding himself in hand. - -"Yes." - -"Did you understand what I said?" - -"No; but Sergeant Gorman did." - -The man on the bed did not reply. His face assumed a strained, hunted -look. Sinclair sat on the edge of the bed and laid his hand gently on -his patient's. - -"Sergeant Melnotte," he said in a low, kind tone, "you need be afraid of -nothing from me. Are you not Allister MacAllister?" - -The wounded man's hand gripped Sinclair's. A spasm of pain crossed his -face. He closed his eyes and lay for a few moments very still. Then, -without opening his eyes, he said in English: - -"What do you know about Allister MacAllister?" - -"I know his father, his mother, and his sister. I know that they are -searching the world for him. I know that he disappeared and left no -trace behind him, because he thought he had killed a man." The great, -dark eyes were open now and looking in unbelieving wonder into -Sinclair's frank, kindly blue ones. "But he didn't kill him." - -"Dr. Sinclair, do you mean to say that Captain Philip Standish did not -die?" - -"Yes, that is what I mean. He is alive and well, and has been helping -your father to search for you." - -"Thank God! Oh, thank God!" - -He covered his face with his hands. His lips moved as if in prayer. -Sinclair did not stir, nor utter a word to disturb his thoughts and -thankfulness. At length he uncovered his face and looked up. - -"Dr. Sinclair," he said in a voice scarcely above a whisper, "where did -you meet my people?" - -"Here in Tamsui.... No," he continued, in answer to the eager, startled -look, "they are not here now. But they are not far away. They are in -Hong-Kong." - - * * * * * - -Four days later the _Hailoong_ was again seen standing in towards the -harbour. After a very brief delay the French allowed her to proceed. - -The whole foreign population except Sergeant Gorman and the patient, -whom he remained to care for, were down at the dock. The native -Christians were there in a body in the hopes that Dr. MacKay might be on -board. - -As the first boat with the first news from abroad for exactly six months -zigzagged through the field of mines and obstructions with which the -mouth of the harbour was blocked, every glass was focussed upon her. - -"It's McLeod who is bringing her in," said Boville, who was using the -long customs telescope. "Whiteley is not on the bridge. He is on deck -with two passengers." - -"That's MacKay next to him," said the consul. "I can tell him by his -size and the long black whiskers against his white clothes." - -"Who's the big man on MacKay's left?" asked Sinclair, who wanted some -one to confirm his own impressions. - -"It looks like MacAllister," replied Boville. "Yes, it is MacAllister. -I can see him plainly now that she has swung to starboard. I wonder -what is bringing him back to Formosa." - -"Lord, what shall I do to entertain him? ... I haven't a thing to eat -fit to offer a white man.... 'Pon my soul, I haven't!" spluttered De -Vaux. - -Sinclair and the consul glanced at each other understandingly, and the -latter said: - -"Make your mind easy about that, De Vaux. With your permission I shall -be glad to entertain Mr. MacAllister. I have a little foreign chow -left. My wife will probably have sent some more by this boat." - -With tears of joy, shrill cries of welcome, and exclamations of -thankfulness the natives received their pastor. - -No less gladly, but hiding their feelings under jest and laughter, the -Britons welcomed their countrymen. In the midst of the handshaking -Beauchamp said: - -"Mr. MacAllister, you will be my guest this time. Come away up to the -consulate." - -With a brief word or two in an undertone to Sinclair, the consul led his -guest away. After a cheery laugh and an exchange of banter with McLeod, -the doctor climbed the steep hill with MacKay and his converts to the -former's house. - -Twenty minutes later he looked from the verandah and saw the consul and -Mr. MacAllister coming. The latter's face was pale as death. He was -stooping forward and trembling as if with palsy. But he was covering -the ground with such strides that the consul, in spite of his agility, -was almost running to keep pace with him. As he drew near the verandah -the father broke into a run, and his trembling hands caught Sinclair's: - -"May I see him, doctor? May I see him?" - -"Yes. He's expecting you." - -"God bless you, Dr. Sinclair! God bless you!" - -As the door of the room swung open the man on the bed raised himself on -his elbow and uttered one word in Gaelic: - -"Athair!" (Father). - -"My son! My son, Allister! My son! My son!" - -The father was on his knees beside the bed, holding the great worn frame -of his boy in his arms. The son's arms were around the father's neck. -They were kissing each other, were crooning to each other in the Gaelic. -All the passion and the tenderness of the Celtic nature was being poured -forth, unrestrained. The love of this man of business and his soldier -son was like the love of a man for a woman, and of a woman for a man. - -Half an hour later Sinclair and MacKay gently opened the door. They -were anxious about the strength of the wounded man. The father was -still on his knees by the bed. The son's arms were still around his -neck. The father's voice was being lifted up to God in prayer, still in -the language of his native hills. It was not a prayer of petition, but -of thankfulness. And the words they heard were these: - -"'For this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost and is -found.'" - - - - - *XXXVIII* - - *REJECTED* - - -MacKay and Sinclair were sitting in the former's study. It was the -first moment they had found in which to discuss their own plans and -prospects. - -"Dr. Sinclair," said MacKay, "you remember my prophecy about the way the -Church at home would treat me, because I ordained those two native -preachers." - -"Yes, I remember." - -"Read that." - -He handed Sinclair a letter. It was from an old official of the Church. -In dry, formal words he recounted the misdemeanours and errors of which -MacKay was guilty in that "you did arrogate unto yourself and usurp the -functions of a Presbytery, and did, by the laying on of your hands, -without the presence and without the authority of a Presbytery, ordain -or pretend to ordain to the office of the holy ministry two native -preachers: to wit, one A Hoa and one Tan He." - -After having recounted the pains and penalties which the heinous offence -might incur, the letter closed with the consolation that, in view of his -past services and his zeal which had outrun his discretion, the General -Assembly would be petitioned to condone his offence, and it might be -pleased to grant the prayer of the petition, on condition that he would -promise that it would never happen again. This promise, it was trusted, -would be forthcoming by return mail. - -When he finished reading Sinclair sat in silence for some moments, -looking straight at MacKay. Then he burst out: - -"The old fossil! Has he no imagination? Has he no knowledge of -conditions here? Has he no common sense to apply to an uncommon -situation?" - -"It looks like that," replied MacKay. "But perhaps it is not all his -fault. He has never seen any Christian work except that in a -congregation of decent Ontario farmers, or in a city church composed of -the hereditary good. He has never been any place where cut-and-dried -Presbyterian rules could not be applied as easily as a straight edge to -a plane surface." - -"A mere animated edition of Rules and Forms of Procedure." - -"Yes." - -"But did you not explain to him the exceptional situation, demanding -exceptional treatment?" - -"Yes. I explained it very fully." - -"And could the old dry-as-dust not understand? Could he not understand -that at the time you did this you were likely to die within twelve -hours? Could he not understand that, if you had died and you had left -no one to take the lead, all this work, this Church you have builded, -was likely to go to smash before they could get another man capable of -carrying it on? Could he not understand that?" - -"No, he could not understand. And if he could, the total destruction of -the native Church would be nothing as compared with the calamity of -having broken a rule framed for the Church in Canada, but not in China." - -"A case of man's being made for the rules, and not the rules for man." - -"Exactly." - -"I suppose he can't help it. He has been reared in a groove. He lives -in a groove. He will die in a groove. And if he gets to heaven it will -be through a groove fenced in by rules and precedents." - -"If you like to put it that way." - -"But will you submit to it? Will you promise to be good and not to do -this wicked thing any more?" - -"Yes." - -"I don't think I would." - -"If I didn't, I'd be suspended and have to give up my work. I would -submit to nearly anything rather than leave these people. They are my -children in the Lord." - -Sinclair made no reply. He was seeing more deeply than ever into the -secret springs of the life of this stern prophet of North Formosa. He -had not wondered at his bearing hardship, at his facing danger, at his -seeming almost to court death. That was what was to be expected of one -of his nature. But when he saw this fiery Celt meekly submit to the -rebukes of small and ignorant men, in order that he might be permitted -by their ill-grace to go on with his work, he began to fathom the depth -of his love for the dark-skinned people of his island home. - -Presently MacKay spoke: - -"I have another letter which touches you more closely. It is the reply -to my request that you should be appointed a medical missionary. Do you -care to read it? Here it is." - -Sinclair took it and read. It had evidently not been written until -after the Church at home had received word of MacKay's recovery from his -serious illness. It opened with some very conventional and perfunctory -expressions of thanksgiving to the Almighty for having "spared the life -of His devoted servant and restored him to such a large measure of -health." - -Then it proceeded to deal with the application for Sinclair's -appointment as a missionary. It was "contrary to the usage of the -Committee to appoint a man who had not put in his application in regular -form. The Committee also preferred that the candidate for appointment -should appear in person before it, that its members might be satisfied -as to his fitness. Doubtless Dr. Sinclair was all that Dr. MacKay -represented him to be. But the Committee felt that it would be unwise -to rely on Dr. MacKay's judgment in the matter, especially in view of -some recent regrettable occurrences.... - -"The Committee was very particular that its missionaries should be men -of deep spirituality, spending much time in prayer, characterized by -meekness and humility, filled with love for the natives, ready to make -sacrifices and endure hardships in order that the Kingdom of God might -be established on the earth. The Committee regretted that it could not -accept without reserve Dr. MacKay's judgment of the candidate's fitness, -especially in view of recent events.... If Dr. Sinclair really desired -appointment, he must return to Canada and appear in person before the -Committee...." - -As he proceeded Sinclair's face was a study. When he had read a page or -more of this epistle he stopped, glanced at MacKay, then turned to the -last page, and looked at the signature: - - -"Your brother in the Lord, - "THADDAEUS CORNELIUS McGUFFIN." - - -"Thaddaeeus Cornelius McGuffin," he repeated. "Who in the world is that? -I thought that I knew most of the Church officials at home. But I never -heard of him. Who is he?" - -"A young clerk who has been appointed to help the convener of the -Committee. A sort of office assistant." - -"And does he dare to write to you like that?" - -"You see for yourself." - -"The gall of him! What does he know of the qualities needed in a -missionary? Has he ever been in the foreign field?" - -"Never been nearer to it than the suburbs of Toronto." - -"He talks about sacrifice and enduring hardships. What has he -sacrificed? What hardships has he borne?" - -"To the best of my knowledge he has never sacrificed a meal of victuals -or a night's rest. But these are the men who talk most glibly of -self-sacrifice. As for hardships, I think the greatest he has ever -known has been to ride down to the office in a Toronto street car." - -"That's bad enough," laughed Sinclair, whose good-humour was returning -as the absurdity of this office-hand's high and mighty attitude towards -the veteran missionary grew upon him. "But tell me, Dr. MacKay," he -continued, "what would they do with me if I did go home and appear -before the Committee?" - -"They would ask you a number of harmless questions about your -disposition and temper, and your submissiveness to authority, your -religious experience, devotional practices, and habits of study--the -whole lasting perhaps fifteen minutes." - -"And do they imagine that they would learn more of me by that than you -could testify of me after having seen me among the natives for the last -nine months?" - -"Evidently! Especially as my judgment is not to be trusted since some -recent events." - -"And for that fifteen-minute interview they would expect me to travel -ten thousand miles?" - -"Yes." - -"Then I'm not going. I shall not submit myself to the inquisition of -Thaddaeus Cornelius McGuffin." - -"I am very glad." - -Sinclair looked at MacKay with surprise and question in his eyes. - -"I am very glad that you will not go. You would not be appointed if you -did." - -"How do you know?" - -"Read the rest of the letter." - -"You tell me the substance of it. Life's too short to spend so much -time reading McGuffin's effusions." - -"Your sins have found you out." MacKay's face showed a gleam of grim -humour as he spoke. "You are not spiritual. You were accustomed to -spend only fifteen or twenty minutes in your morning devotions instead -of a full hour as required by McGuffin's standards. You are not meek. -You once thrashed a rough who insulted a lady on the street instead of -sweetly reasoning with him. Then you took him to the hospital to -recover from the thrashing. You are not sound. It is whispered that -you said that you didn't think Moses wrote the account of his own -funeral in the Book of Deuteronomy." - -As Sinclair listened to this epitome of McGuffin's catalogue of his -shortcomings he went off into peals of laughter, in which MacKay joined. -The inner nature of the quiet, reserved man had come out in the -intimacies of a rare friendship. - -"Do they think that I would corrupt the morals of the heathen?" Sinclair -inquired as he recovered himself. - -"Apparently. Perhaps you would batter your heresies into them with your -fists." - -"What would McGuffin have thought if he had seen me at Sin-tiam or where -the Hakkas were trying to cut the head off poor young MacAllister?" - -"He wouldn't have seen you. He would have swooned away." - -"Well, I suppose it is all off with me so far as being a missionary -under my own Church is concerned." - -"I am afraid that it is. I had set my heart on it. We could have done -so much together. You have won the hearts of the natives in a wonderful -way. I could have left the medical work all to you. You would have -done great good. But it is an unrealized dream. I am disappointed. But -I am not discouraged. I am accustomed to disappointments. I meet them -often. But discouraged? Never!" - -Sinclair gripped MacKay's hand in his powerful grasp: - -"I am glad to have known you, MacKay. It has done me good." - -"And I, you. But we'll say no more of that. What are you going to do? -Have you anything in view?" - -"Nothing. But something will always turn up for a doctor. I'll find -work somewhere, where the sins of my past are not known." - -Just then there was a whoop outside. Then another and another. Then -the sound of a heavy footfall in a war-dance on the verandah. - -"That's Gorman!" exclaimed Sinclair. "What is the matter with him?" - -He sprang to the door, followed by McKay. There was Gorman, executing -the wildest kind of a dance, bringing his feet down with a vigour which -threatened to split the tiles of the verandah, and all the time waving a -letter over his head to the accompaniment of wild yells: - -"Whoop! Docther! Hurroosh! Be the blissin' of the saints! Whoop! Me -mother-in-law's gone to glory. Hurroosh!" - -"Dead!" exclaimed Sinclair. "When did it happen?" - -"Six weeks ago, be the blissin' of hiven! Whoop! Won't the angels be -havin' a divil of a time wid her now! Hurroosh! That's always the way -wid her. The first month she's p'aceful as a suckin' lamb wid its -twinklin' tail. Thin she cuts loose, an' be the middle of the second -she bates Banagher. She'll jist have hit her gait be now. Begorra but -they'll jist be wonderin' what they've got! Whoop! An' now me wife an' -childer for me, an' a quiet loife! Hurroosh!" - - - - - *XXXIX* - - *A REALIZED DREAM* - - -"Dr. Sinclair, I owe you an apology. I have a letter for you which I -neglected to deliver. I was so selfish in my gladness yesterday that I -forgot that I had this for you." - -Sinclair rose from where he sat beside his patient on the broad verandah -and received from Mr. MacAllister the letter. It was addressed in the -same hand as a little note he had carried in an inner pocket until it -was worn to fragments. In spite of his efforts at self-control, the hot -blood rushed to his face. The keen grey eyes had a humorous twinkle. - -"I shall keep Allister company for a while. When you are ready, I -should like to have a few minutes' talk with you." - -"Thank you, I'll be back shortly," was all Sinclair could say as he -hurried to his room. - -It had been a bitter disappointment to him the day before, when the -_Hailoong's_ mail was distributed, that there was not so much as a note -from Hong-Kong for him. All through that long, lonesome winter he had -centred his anticipations around that first mail. Now it had come. -There were other letters for him. But there were none from Hong-Kong. -It was not till then that he realized how much Jessie MacAllister had -been in his thoughts and how blank life would be without her. - -But, with the stoicism which lay hidden under the easy good-humour of -his surface temperament, he said nothing of his disappointment, even to -McLeod, and went about his duties outwardly as cheerful as usual. He -did not know how many letters in the same handwriting were lying at -Swatow and Amoy and Foochow, awaiting an opportunity of transmission to -the blockaded Formosan coast. He did not know of this letter, sent by -her father's hand, that it might be safely delivered. - -That letter was sufficient reward for all his waiting and -disappointment. It was so tender, so trusting, so full of longing for -his coming. Words which had refused to leave her tongue during those -few brief hours of intercourse after their mutual confessions flowed -easily from her pen. Again the wonder came to him that this girl who -wrote to him with such confidence and laid bare her heart to him should -be the same as she who had flouted him on the deck of the _Hailoong_ -only a few short months before. He had to read the letter again and -again and look yet once more at the signature--"Jessie MacAllister," to -be sure. - -There was another thought. Her father must know and be satisfied. That -gave him no little comfort. - -But with this he suddenly remembered that he had promised Mr. -MacAllister to be back shortly. He had no idea how long he had spent -reading that letter. He sprang to his feet and hurried out to the -verandah, where MacKay had joined the father and son. At his apology -for being longer than he had expected there came again the little -twinkle in the grey eyes and the quiet reply: - -"No apologies are necessary. I, too, have not found the time long." - -It did not entirely remove Sinclair's embarrassment. But the business -man went on in a serious tone: - -"Dr. Sinclair, I am informed by Dr. MacKay that your Church has refused -to appoint you a medical missionary." - -"Yes, Mr. MacAllister, they have rejected me. They do not consider that -I am sufficiently devout or sufficiently orthodox to be trusted to heal -the heathen." - -"Yes! Yes! I understand. I have seen a lot of this in the church. -There is a wrong standard. A devotion and spirituality which is too -deep and real to be wordy is rejected, and that shallow, spurious kind -which vents itself in talk is accepted. A man who says nothing but -sacrifices himself is given second place, and he who does nothing but -talk of self-sacrifice is put first. They are less concerned about -orthodoxy of life than they are about orthodoxy of creed. But a better -day is coming. These things will right themselves by and by. In the -meantime you want work, do you not?" - -"I certainly do." - -"There is a scheme I wish to lay before you. God has just given me the -greatest joy of my life. My son, my Allister, has been restored to me. -I want to establish some permanent memorial of my gratitude, something -which will be of use and do good to men. It was by a doctor that my son -was saved from a cruel death. It was by a doctor and in a hospital that -he was nursed back to health. It was by a doctor that he has been -restored to me, and will be restored to his mother and sister. It seems -to me that I could give no more fitting token of my thankfulness than to -erect and equip a hospital and ask that doctor to take charge of it. -Dr. Sinclair, will you accept the position?" - -"Mr. MacAllister, such a position has been the dream of my life. I will -accept it gladly." - -"I thought you would. Now as to the place. Since it was in North -Formosa my son's life was saved, it would be appropriate that in North -Formosa the hospital should be built. And there I intended to build it -and present it to the mission of the Canadian Church. But, since your -Church has refused your application on what are to me entirely -insufficient grounds, the hospital will be erected in Hong-Kong and -presented to one of the missions there. In all probability you will be -able to do as great, or even a greater, work there than here. Would you -be agreeable to that?" - -"Quite. I had hoped to be able to work under the Church in which I was -trained from childhood. But, since it has rejected me, it is a matter -of indifference to me under what board I labour, so long as I am doing -the duty set before me. But there is one request I wish to make." - -"What is it?" - -"I wish to take Sergeant Gorman with me as chief of the staff of male -nurses and attendants, whether native or foreign. As you know, he is a -Roman Catholic, and some narrow-minded people may make objections." - -"There will be no objections. It will be stipulated in the deed of -gift." - - - - - *XL* - - *THE COWARD* - - -April had passed. The first week of May had come, the hot May of the -tropics. Yet there was a sweetness, a certain morning freshness about -it. On her second trip after the blockade the _Hailoong_ had borne back -to Hong-Kong a little group of passengers. They were Mr. MacAllister, -his son, and Dr. Sinclair. - -Sergeant Gorman, who had returned to Amoy to his family by the previous -voyage of the boat, joined them at that port and accompanied them to -Hong-Kong. As he expressed it to McLeod, he wanted "jist to be in at the -finish; jist to see the docther fix bayonets an' take the fort wid one -gallant charge, an' see that spalpeen of a Carteret scattered an' -runnin' for cover in total rout and confushun." - -Towards midnight the _Hailoong_ slipped into port. There were few about -and no guests in the rotunda or corridors of the hotel to whom it was -necessary for Mr. MacAllister to introduce the young men by whom he was -accompanied. - -In the reunion which followed Mrs. MacAllister forgot for the time her -opposition to the friendship between her daughter and Sinclair. Her -gratitude for his rescue of her son was deep and sincere. With all the -warmth of her Highland nature she thanked him, till he blushed painfully -and showed an embarrassment under praise which he had never manifested -in the most trying moments of the ridicule he had suffered when they -were first acquainted. - -The next day passed like a dream to Sinclair. Father and mother were -constantly with their long-lost son. Sinclair and Miss MacAllister were -left much to themselves. In some way during those seven months of -separation they had grown acquainted with one another. That sacred and -never-to-be-forgotten hour in which they had confessed their love had -found them almost strangers. It had been as one kneels to a sovereign -that he had knelt before her and gave her hand the kiss of homage. It -was with the grave reverence of a sacred rite that he had sealed their -vows of love by pressing his lips to hers. - -But that was in the past now. Seven months had slowly worn away; seven -months in which thoughts had been busy. And ever in the background of -those thoughts was the fact that they loved each other, and had -confessed their love, and neither had shrunk from the other nor repelled -a caress. The passion, the abandon of love had grown during those -months of waiting. It knew that it would not be refused. - -"Oh, Donald, I have been so weary for you, so lonesome and weary! I -have dreamed of you out there under the rains, among the wounded, and -facing the bullets.... Donald, I'm ashamed. I know that it wasn't -brave. But I couldn't help it. Often and often I cried myself to -sleep." - -Her face was tear-wet now as he lifted it to his. But it was smiling -through its tears. - -"Jessie, it was the thought of you which kept me up. It was because of -you that I stayed at work. If it hadn't been for you, I might have given -up before the end came.... I might not have been there when Allister -fell." - -She shuddered at the thought and pressed closer to him. But Allister -was safe, and the suggestion of what might have been now only served as -a stimulus to her love for the man to whom she had given her heart -before he had done that which was to bind her to him by gratitude as -well as by love. - -But her mother was not yet ready to give up her project of marrying her -daughter to the Earl of Lewesthorpe. He was still the suitor she had -accepted, if her daughter had not. She realized very clearly that her -daughter had no more inclination towards him than when they came to -Hong-Kong. Indeed, it was the other way. On more than one occasion her -aversion to him had been so manifest as to cause comment. But Mrs. -MacAllister had resolved to have her own way and gain her ambition. Not -even gratitude to Dr. Sinclair for his inestimable service could bend -her will. - -If because she was grateful she had allowed him some liberty that day -without her watchful presence, she had intended that evening to make it -perfectly plain that Lord Lewesthorpe was the only one who would be -countenanced as an aspirant for her hand. With her love for social -events, and a touch of the melodramatic, she had invited a very few very -select friends for the evening. Most of them did not know that she had -a son. None save those who had accompanied him from Formosa knew that -her son was in Hong-Kong. - -Of course Captain Whiteley and Mr. McLeod were among the guests. Her -husband, son, and daughter had insisted that Sergeant Gorman should be -one of the number. Remembering that he had once told her that he was -the son of an Irish gentleman, she consented. Otherwise it was to be a -surprise. - -It was a surprise. The guests arrived one by one and were presented to -Allister. The last to come was the lion of the evening. Mrs. -MacAllister greeted him effusively and conducted him to where her son -sat in a great easy-chair, hidden by a group of guests. - -"Allister, my son, I want you to meet one of our most intimate friends, -a particular friend of your sister, the friend of whom I spoke to you -to-day, his lordship, the Earl of Lewesthorpe." - -Allister had risen to his feet. The two young men were facing each -other in silence. The young aristocrat's dark countenance turned a -ghastly yellow and his jaw dropped. Allister's pale cheeks had a flush -of burning red and his great dark eyes fairly blazed with anger. - -"Carteret! The coward!" burst from his lips. On the blanched faces of -the guests wonder and consternation were written. But astonishment held -them dumb. Before any of them could speak Carteret's ready -self-assurance returned. - -"Lieutenant MacAllister," he said, "why not let by-gones be by-gones? -We have both made mistakes. We have both suffered. These things belong -to the past. Why not let them die, and start afresh?" - -"If it were only the past, Carteret, I would let them die. But it is -the present. You were a coward in the past. You are a scoundrel now." - -Sinclair stepped quickly to Allister's side, for he saw that he was -becoming dangerously excited. Mrs. MacAllister awoke out of her -paralysis of surprise to cry: - -"Allister! Allister, my son! What is the meaning of this? Has the -fever come back on you? Why do you insult his lordship so? What is the -meaning of this?" - -"Mother," he said, "it is not fever. It is cool fact. That is the man -who ragged me all through my service in the Guards. That is one of the -men who insulted me after Tel-el-Kebir. He is the one who was too much -of a coward either to take a thrashing or to fight, and Standish was -shot. That is the man who has caused me to be an exile these nearly -three years, to suffer starvation and wounds under a foreign flag. Yet -I could forgive all that, as I have forgiven Standish. But knowing -that, and without your knowing it, he has dared to speak love to my -sister and ask her hand in marriage. I'll never forgive him that. -Never!" - -Drawing herself up to her full height, Mrs. MacAllister turned on her -lion. Her raven black hair, her flashing eyes, her high colour and -large, strong frame were the very embodiment of the fearless spirit of -her race: - -"Lord Lewesthorpe, iss thiss true?" - -"It is very apparent that I am not welcome here," he replied. "With -your permission, I'll retire." - -"Bedad, an ye'd betther, ye cowardly spalpeen!" - -Gorman had made one quick step forward, with the evident intention of -helping him to retire, when Sinclair's iron grasp closed on his -shoulder. - -"You're right, docther; I was forgettin' meself." - -That was the only departure Gorman made that evening from the strictest -rules of the conduct to be expected of the son of an Irish gentleman. -And perhaps it wasn't a departure, either, but the most characteristic -act of all. In any case, he saw "that spalpeen of a Carteret scattered -an' runnin' for cover in total rout an' confushun." - - - - - *XLI* - - *"GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN"* - - -It was Christmas Day. Not Christmas Day of the North, with its clear -frosty air, its robe of virgin snow, its furs, its prancing horses, and -tinkling sleigh-bells. It was Christmas Day in the tropics, with a -summer sky and summer sun, with roses blooming and rich tropical plants -spreading their huge leaves and casting a grateful shade in the -botanical gardens. A slight breeze from the northeast tempered the -warmth. - -It was a high day in Hong-Kong. In the early forenoon services had been -held and the age-old song had been sung. - - "Glory to God in the highest, - And on earth peace, good will toward men." - - -At high noon in the Union Church, where men of many creeds worshipped in -harmony, Dr. Donald Sinclair and Miss Jessie MacAllister were married -with simple, yet solemn, rites. The ceremony passed without unusual -incident, save that Constance Beauchamp just missed kissing the groom -before he had time to kiss the bride. And when they turned to pass out -of the church Sergeant Gorman, in a stage whisper, said to McLeod: - -"Be all the saints above, McLeod, if the angels in glory look anny -purtier than thim two, glory's no place for you an' me." - -In the afternoon the Allister Thanksgiving Hospital was formally opened -by the governor of the colony, and in the name of Him who came to heal -men's diseases it was dedicated to the work of healing the diseases of -men. - -When the notables had dispersed to talk of the merchant prince's -munificent gift, when the guard of honour had marched back to the -barracks, and the music of the bands had died away, a few who had -special interest in the work, or had come from far to be present on that -day, still strolled through the long, cool corridors, the well-furnished -wards, and the high, centre-lighted operating-room. Consul Beauchamp -and his family and Dr. MacKay had come from Formosa to be present. They -stood with the donor, his wife, and son. - -"This must be a great satisfaction to you, Mr. MacAllister," the consul -said. - -"Yes, Mr. Beauchamp. I never before knew as I know now that the -pleasure of wealth is not in making or keeping money, but in giving it -away. What do you think, Dr. MacKay?" - -"I was not thinking of that. I was thinking of my little hospital with -its poor equipment and its need of a doctor to take charge. I am not -covetous. But I cannot help thinking that this hospital and the doctor -who is at the head of it might have been in North Formosa, where it is -needed even more than in Hong-Kong. But there was no vision, and my -people must suffer." - -And when that hospital became not only a centre of healing but developed -a medical college in connection with it, when the doctor at the head of -it grew to be such an authority on tropical diseases that he was called -to England to be dean of a great school of tropical medicine, when he -received honours from medical colleges and societies the world over and -a knighthood at the hands of his sovereign, those who knew him often -thought of the day when he was refused appointment as a medical -missionary in the little North Formosa Mission. And they wondered. - -But Dr. Sinclair was not thinking of that then. He had been showing his -bride the great building her father had erected, for she had arrived -from England only the evening before and had not found an opportunity to -see it. Together they walked on the deep, cool upper verandah and -looked out over the glorious prospect of city and harbour, mountain and -sea. Side by side they stood under one of its arches, her hand resting -lightly in his. - -"It is all so fairy-like," he said, "that even yet I can scarcely -persuade myself that it is not a dream." - -"It is a dream, Donald, the loveliest dream one could wish. But what is -best about it is that it is a dream of delight which does not vanish -with one's waking." - -"To me the strangest thought of all is the way it was brought about. I -left home not knowing where I was going, with only a vague idea that I -might find a place to do good somewhere. I have been given an -appointment beyond my fondest imaginings. What is more than all beside, -I have been given you." - -Behind the lattice-work which sheltered one end of the verandah from the -rays of the sun and from the gaze of the inquisitive, her head rested on -his shoulder, her lips were lifted to his. - -"Donald," she said softly, "my story is even stranger than yours. I -came to the East with little thought of anything but pleasure; with -little purpose in life, and no ambition to do good. I have been given a -brother and a husband, love and a life to live. I did not deserve it. -What does it mean?" - -"It means that there is a hand shaping our destinies, giving us a work -to do, showing us a path to tread. Are we willing to follow the leading -of that hand, Jessie?" - -"Yes, Donald." - -The measured step of drilled men sounded on the steep gravelled road -below. Sergeant Gorman and a squad of the ambulance corps he had -already trained were bearing an injured man to the door. Arm in arm Dr. -Sinclair and his bride walked down to see the first patient borne in. -In a few moments more his wedding coat was thrown off, his operator's -apron and sleeves slipped on, and Sinclair was at work. - -Thus without fuss or delay, refusing to be excused even by the -festivities of the marriage-day, the Life-Healer and the fair woman who -had been willing to blend her destiny with his together entered on their -life-long labour of Good Will Toward Men. - - - - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CALL OF THE EAST *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/45061 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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