CHAPTER XI
CHINESE LANGUAGE--"HELD UP"--BETRAYED!
We started in the gloaming, carrying small packs and some supplies, forwe did not know whether the natives would suspect us, or assist us,even if they were not distrustful. Hoko "cheered me up" by relatingslowly, for my benefit, the list of likely tortures which the Chinesepractised upon the enemy. The list need not be recapitulated in full,but cutting-up (alive), beheading, and hanging, first by the heels,were amongst those most usually inflicted upon the prisoner, andperhaps the most "merciful."
My spirits were not thereby elated, and scarcely had we reached theroad when a picket of Japanese soldiers accosted us. They were quicklysatisfied by my companion, and laughed at us as we parted with them.This interview was succeeded by others, and in each case we got awaysafely. At our last halt Hoko consulted his map, and gave it to me toponder in the lantern-light of the picket guards. Again we resumed ourjourney, and this party proved to be the last post of the Japs at thattime. Thenceforward all was dark and unknown.
When we had proceeded a few miles, hunger assailed us, and after ashort time we agreed, chiefly by signs, to rest in the glade into whichwe had wandered from the road. The Chinese tongue never seemed to meso wanting in expression as then. My command of language is notdespicable in English, and on board ship; but in that glade in thesociety of the Japanese scout I felt kinder dumb! There was no needfor silence. The Chinese language embraces about forty thousandstrokes or letters (or signs rather) in writing; while only about threehundred and fifty are spoken. Hence the same _spoken_ word representsa number of different--vastly different--things in writing; and the fewhundreds of words represent so many more thousands of characters orsigns! Even a Chinese may communicate with a friend in anotherprovince by _writing_; but he very likely will not understand his_dialect_.
The Chinese language, I may state, depends really upon the _tones_ ofvoice, not upon the actual pronunciation of the words, and these tonesare even increased in the Mongolian dialect. In Manchuria, perhaps,the bulk of the population is of Mongolian descent, a superior, abraver, race than the ordinary (I don't say "pure and simple")Chinaman--for "John" is not that. But practice and tone of voice willteach much; and this tone will entirely alter the sense of the speakerif he misapply it. In some languages one may speak by "ear." Ear isof no account in China. There are certain "radical signs" and a numberof "primitive" signs; characters are made by combining both, and arewritten downwards.
As may be anticipated, I had not made much progress in the Chineselanguage, but I could chatter "pidgin" English, which is so useful inthe Treaty ports, and so useless in China proper, which is arrived atby changing every "r" to "l" and adding the "e" doubled when it issingle, as in "alle samee," "makee laugh," "alle samee Elopean man,""no wantchee." "Number one" means "proper," and "chop-chop" "quickly,"in this language; while "play-pidgin" is merely "talk," and "top-sidepidgin" is religion, or religious converse.
One soon becomes conversant with the business talk, for "pidgin" means"business" in the mind of the trader and the coolie (or labourer). Butlet me resume my narrative.
The night was very chilly, and the early morning misty, as my companionroused me up and told me that we must be going. Let it be rememberedthat our conversations were only carried on piecemeal, and when Imention them you must understand that signs assisted us greatly. Butthe man was honest, I believed, and had no thought of any treacherytowards me. We conversed in southern dialect a little, and made signs.
We presently reached a river which I learned was called Pilu (orPihliu), and proceeded to a small village where we got some food, whichI did not relish, but had to eat in order to keep up my character. Welearned that the invaders were expected, and that it would be betterfor us to keep away to the north-west, else we might get into trouble.We therefore assented, and passed on for a while, intending to changeour route as soon as possible, but fate had ordained otherwise. Mycompanion had intended to proceed in the direction of Putsewo, and thenstrike westward again, marching by a compass and map which I hadsecured in my tunic, but when we took the advice of the well-meaningvillagers we left our former direction, and when again essaying torecover our route we came to grief. For a long time we wandered amidstthe hills and rough country seeking a track, but finding nothingpromising, until almost suddenly we descended a hillside and foundourselves near a rather substantial village, from which there was noescape without questioning from the natives.
Hoko quickly gave me to understand that I was his brother, that we wereSouth Chinamen seeking a ship at Port Arthur, and that we had beennorth and intended to return to Chefoo.[1] We had rehearsed thislittle play before, and my South-China lingo was supposed sufficient todeceive the Mongolians. If necessary, my guide informed me, a little"geomaney," or "wind and weather" fortune-telling, would keep suspicionat bay. So, primed with a few simple maxims, I braced myself for theencounter.
[1] Chefoo or Chifu.--H.F.
The natives were decidedly of the race of Didymus. They did not credithalf our assurance, and we--at least I--wished we had more of it.Certainly the interpreter remained as cool as possible, and his calmmethod of lying would have discredited Ananias of old, and deceived St.Peter himself. I give my impressions of the examination to which theinterpreter was subjected.
"Your name?" demanded the chief of the villagers.
"Ho-wuh-Chang."
"Where do you come from?"
"Panchwang, in the province of Fuhkien."
"Where have you been?"
"At Takushan."
"Whither bound?
"Chefoo and Shanghai."
"Who is this man?"
Here the interpreter made a pretence of great reverence and respect, ashe answered--
"My all-enlightened brother of _Tau_."
This reply drew attention to me, for Tau is the "priest" of Chinesetheosophy or magic art, and is accordingly respected, for everyChinaman fears Tau, the more so as he has no idea what it is, any morethan its votary. Tau is "The Right": what one cannot see, nor hear,nor seize. It is a kind of "_Feng Shui_" in its essence, and Tau isthe true Reason for all things in the universe, the Great PrimitiveCause in the world, not a religious dogma.
The Tauist, then, becomes by inheritance, or profession, a kind ofpriest, a miracle-man, supposed to be versed in ancient lore, able totell fortunes, and decide social questions with authority as regardsthe work and operations of nature, and "Feng Shui"--the effects of windand weather. Superstitious as the Chinese are, these attributes confergreat authority upon the adherents and practice of the Tauists. Hence,if I was not found out, my companion concluded we should escape.
Unfortunately one of the villagers perceived the accent of the Japaneseinterpreter, and declared him a Corean! This at once gave cause ofmischief, and my companion was searched, his small knapsack, or pack,was turned upside down, and all the while a rush of epithets assailedus both. I carried no pack, but had the compass and map and revolverin my possession. If the suspicious and antagonistic villagers hadfound those articles our fates would have been sealed, and a crueldeath must have ensued.
While the natives were thus examining the Japanese, I was not molested,though several glances were directed at me, and some remarksmade--which I did not notice. All the time I was endeavouring todiscover some means whereby I could satisfy, if I could not alarm, thevillagers, but for a while no idea appeared to my mind feasible. Thepack had been examined, the Jap had been interrogated freely andrudely, and now my turn was approaching. Fortunately the villagers hadbeen informed that I did not wish to be disturbed, but they had evidentintentions of finding things out for themselves!
Luckily, I possessed one of the attributes of the Tauists, perhapsquite as sincere as theirs--the knowledge and anticipation of theordinary phases of weather. The morning had been misty and almostfrosty, and a change of wind, I noticed, had been causing a fog toarise. Hitherto it had been almost imperceptible even in the hills,the vale was c
lear; but while looking about me I noticed the vapourgradually creeping down the slopes behind the men who barred our way.My plan was quickly matured: the mist would serve us well. Iremembered Fennimore Cooper, and the eclipse as adapted by Haggard in_Solomon's Mines_, and hoped for success.
I calmly approached my companion, and managed to give him a hint, inFrench, that he was to make me out a necromancer; thus I intended toplay upon the fears of the natives, and he must back me up. Meantime,if we were attacked, I would shoot as many of the assailants as Icould. My suggestions and gestures were understood, and when thenatives advanced to search me, demanding some explanation, theinterpreter motioned them to stand aside. He told them to be careful.I was a necromancer--one who had the weather "in the palm of his hand";was related to the _genii_, and if I (and he) were interrupted further,and our peaceful progress barred, the immediate consequences would beserious, and the future disastrous for the village. Their graves wouldsuffer, their families die; and I could change them themselves intostocks and stones, and cause them to disappear from the village. Infact, I could transform them! When once the Japanese Ananias had fullyembarked upon the marvellous, his imagination carried him away morecompletely than ever the villagers could be. If we were properlytreated, he added, money might be showered upon them!
While the interpreter was thus hoodwinking the villagers, one or two ofwhom seemed sceptical, I bethought me of a simple trick which I hadpractised in "parlour magic" at home. If the fog did not serve mypurpose I could convince the natives, so I beckoned to the chiefsceptic, and taking a piece of money from my wallet, which containedlittle of value, I placed the coin in his palm, pressing it firmly intothe hand and closing the fingers. He looked pleased, and retired,keeping his fingers closely shut as directed; my "assistant" hinted ifthe man were unfriendly his coin would disappear, at which the villagercalled up a smile or grimace as a protest, evidently hypocritical, andhis associates also watched him.
Seeing the gift, they came forward with much curiosity, and as Iexamined their features I found that some of the men were fairlyhonest, and a "tip" would not be thrown away upon them, though it mustbe merely a token, not a gift. So while bestowing these "tips" I keptmy eyes upon the weather, and by the time I had given all the men smallpresents, as they fancied, but only a few of the most influentialactually received money, the mist came rolling down thickly. To escapewas now my intention.
It was rather amusing to see the party of men standing in a rowhelplessly with their right hands guarding the magic gifts thusbestowed by the "Tauist." The interpreter had already grasped thesituation, and at my request desired the natives to turn at thenecromancer's order, step ten paces, and open their hands. The orderwas impressed upon them by myself. I waved my hands and made as ifimpelling some invisible force to urge these simple superstitious men.They moved in obedience to my order, slowly, and when I had countedsix, pausing between each number, the interpreter and I rushed awaythrough the glade, and into the mist, which perhaps the Chinese mayhave fancied I had induced. The last I saw of my dangerous adherentswas a line of stupid-looking men each gazing at his closed hand, andspeculating upon what it contained for him.
I am afraid most of them were disappointed when they had released theirgrasps of the magic gifts, and they found money in only four palms, andthose of the most influential of the party.
Meantime my faithful companion and I hurried away into the mist, whicheffectually shrouded us, and pursued a devious course, now and thenhalting to listen for the pursuers, for we did not doubt they wouldpursue us. But we heard nothing to alarm us, and made good progresswhen the mist lifted later.
We congratulated ourselves greatly upon this ruse, but it would notserve us again. I managed to explain the trick to the Japanese, who,when I had finished the laboured sentences, told me of some far moreintelligent tricks which he had seen performed, and tried to explainthem to me. But I was a very simple amateur in these matters, andcould do little beyond the easy _legerdemain_ of the drawing-room athome.
"It was a dangerous game," said Hoko, "and if any of the men meet usagain they will kill us."
"But they won't catch us," I replied, with all the fine assurance of asharp "hare" in the schoolboy paper chase. "We can turn, and return onour path. How do you propose to travel?"
"I am considering," he replied. "Please lend me the map and compass.It was well they did not search you, because you would have beenkilled. The map would have betrayed us."
"You can keep it," I said with great magnanimity. "By all means keepit. I can steer by the points of the heavens, and by my watch, and thesun and stars."
The Japanese nodded, and concealed the articles in his dress.
"The pistol?" he asked presently. "Is it ready?"
"Yes. I think I will keep it, thank you. Shall we continue ourjourney?"
He nodded again, and we proceeded cautiously for several miles, bendingand twisting the route until we were both certain that we must have putmiles between us and the enraged natives, whom I had some reason tofear notwithstanding my assumed influential character. The interpreterproposed a halt, and being hungry I gladly acceded; then, having eatena few cakes and refreshed ourselves, we rested. I slept soundly forsome time. When I awoke it was dusk, and I was alone! Alone!deserted! betrayed!