CHAPTER XXVIII
FIGHTING SIXTY FEET ABOVE GROUND
Although the heavily walled compound of the British Legation, whichduring the siege sheltered four hundred foreigners and as many moreChinese Christians, or nearly one thousand persons in all, was thestronghold of the defence, the lines occupied and held embraced a wideoutside area, both to the eastward and on the south. Beyond the imperialcanal, just east of the legation, stood an extensive collection ofbuildings enclosed by a wall, forming the yamen, or palace, of PrinceSu. On the first day of the siege this was seized and occupied asquarters for the hundreds of school-girls and native Christians whom themissionaries had refused to abandon. It was defended by the Japanese,assisted by the Italian and Austrian marines, and though it was subjectto many fierce attacks and an almost continuous bombardment that set itsbuildings on fire a dozen times, it never was given up.
Besides this outpost, the American, Russian, German, Japanese, andFrench legations also were held, as was the Hotel de Pekin of M. Charnotand his brave American wife. It was strongly fortified with sand-bags,and sent out to its guests, who had taken refuge in the BritishLegation, three meals a day with unbroken regularity during the siege.A large portion of Legation Street also was included within the foreignlines. On it stood a grain-shop, in which were found eight thousandbushels of wheat and several tons of rice, together with eleven one-mulemills, ready for grinding. As there were in all some three thousandpersons to be fed, this food supply proved invaluable.
At first an Austrian captain, named Thomann, by virtue of seniority,assumed command of the defending force; but on the second day of thesiege, he having proved himself incapable, the supreme command was, byunanimous consent, given to Sir Claude Macdonald, the British minister.Captain Thomann was killed a few weeks later during an attack on the SuYamen, and now one of the streets of Pekin bears his name.
Under Sir Claude's intelligent supervision all the details of housingand feeding three thousand people, of preparing and placing fiftythousand sand-bags, of hospital and sanitary arrangements, and athousand other things, were quickly systematized and placed in the handsof carefully selected committees. The work of fortifying the legationswas given over to a young American missionary engineer, while the actualduty of defence was distributed according to nationality.
The British Legation compound, including the northwest angle of thewhole line, was left to the resident inmates--ministers, attaches,missionaries, etc. The Su Yamen and northeast angle were intrusted tothe Japanese, aided by Italians and Austrians. At the southeast anglewere French and Germans, the latter occupying a section of the greatcity wall, from which, however, they ultimately were driven. On thesouthwest were the Americans and Russians, in their own legations, withthe former holding their own section of city wall. This position, inspite of continuous shelling and repeated assaults, was held by Americanmarines to the end; and, commanding, as it did, the entire legationarea, it proved the key to the situation.
On the 1st of July, or after ten days of siege, during which time theChinese fire of rifle-bullets, solid shot, and shell had been maintainedalmost without intermission from one quarter or another, thirty-five ofthe defenders had been killed and nearly twice that number were in thehospital. The Germans had been driven from their section of the wall,the French Legation had been destroyed, and several sorties, made forthe purpose of capturing or at least silencing certain particularlyannoying Chinese guns, had proved unsuccessful. In all this time no newshad been received, nor had it proved possible to send any out; and itwas not probable that the desperate plight of the Pekin legations waseven known to the outside world.
The bright spots in this gloom were that there still was plenty toeat and to drink within the lines, the defences were constantly beingstrengthened by additional sand-bags, which the ladies and Chinesewomen were turning out by the thousand, the plucky Japanese still heldthe Su Yamen, and American marines still maintained their position onthe wall. Also, very early in the siege the latter, dragging theirColt's automatic gun up to their elevated post, had made a raid alongthe top of the wall for a quarter of a mile, driving the Kwang-su troopsin wild confusion before them, and mowing them down by hundreds.
Now, however, the Chinese, profiting by this sad experience, hadadvanced a series of brick and sandbag approaches, against which theColt proved ineffective. At the end of the last one the Chinese haderected a small tower, only a few feet from the American barricade, andcommanding it. From this, while protected against a return fire, theyhurled down huge bricks upon the defenders, who were unable to reply.At the same time the American position, isolated since the Germans onthe east had been driven from their wall, was exposed to a galling firefrom both directions. The situation thus had become critical in theextreme; for, if the Chinese could succeed in forcing this position, thelegations would lie at their mercy.
The top of the wall at this point was reached from the inside by tworamps, or sloping walks, that led upward like the two legs of a letterA. One of these was controlled by the Americans, whose barricades wereat its upper end, while the other was in possession of the Chinese.
From the outset Rob Hinckley had cast his lot with the Americanmarines, largely on account of his liking for Turner, the sharp-shooter,whose acquaintance he had made on that first memorable day of the siege.On the morning of July 3d these two had come down from the danger postfor a much-needed rest after a forty-eight-hour tour of duty on thewall. At sunset they were to return to the almost untenable barricades.In the mean time, they slept like logs until late in the afternoon, whenthey were awakened to partake of a meal of cold boiled mule "beef,"rice, hard bread, and tea.
"Look here, young man," said Turner, pausing for a moment in his heartyeating, "I don't see why you should go up on that old rockery againto-night. You ain't 'listed, and don't have to."
"I have to just as much now as I did at first," replied Rob, quietly,"and you didn't say anything against it then."
"Things have changed. We seemed to have some show then, with the Germansto look out for one side; but we haven't any now, and I don't see how wecan hold the place through another night. You've noticed that the Chinksalways get busier at night than in the daytime, and now they are righton top of us."
"The only wonder to me is that they haven't cleaned us out long since,"said Rob. "They certainly have fired shots enough to destroy an army,let alone a couple of dozen men, which is as many as we ever have had upthere at one time."
"It is a funny business," admitted Turner, "and I have puzzled overit a good deal myself. Do you know what I think? I believe that heavyfiring from the Ha-ta tower is all a bluff and is mostly done with blankcartridges. If it isn't, we ought, by rights, to have been swept offthe wall like puff-balls in a gale, long ago. There's another thing. Itlooks to me as if about nine out of every ten of the Chinks' rifle-shotsmust be fired straight up in the air, same as we kids used to do onFourth of July. At night, when they fire most, I believe they all shootinto the air, 'cause you never hear of anybody getting hit at night, andthey sure shoot to beat the band. Looks like they were only trying toscare us or kill us by keeping us from sleeping--I don't know which."
"Speaking of the Fourth of July," said Rob, "do you remember thatto-morrow is the Fourth?"
"Sure, and I'm wondering if I'll live to see it. Somehow I don't feel asif I would."
"Oh, pshaw! Don't talk that way!" exclaimed the young volunteer. "You'lllive to see it, and plenty more like it, only a heap happier. I feltblue myself this morning, but now, after a day's sleep and a goodstuffing of mule, I feel all right."
At this point the conversation was interrupted by the entrance ofLieutenant Hibbard, who said:
"Well, boys, we are in for it! Word has gone out that we've got tocapture those barricades to-night and sweep the wall clean as far as theChien Men gate. There's a squad of Tommies going up to help us, and ifwe don't do the trick this time I am afraid it will be all up with thewhole shooting-match. Of course, Hinckley, you don't have
to go unlessyou choose."
"Of course I do have to go, Mr. Hibbard!" cried Rob, hotly. "I should betoo ashamed ever to call myself an American again if I didn't; and if wedon't carry those barricades I hope I'll never come down again alive.What time do we start?"
"Orders are to assemble on the wall as soon as it gets dark enough to goup the ramp unnoticed."
"All right, sir, we'll be there," said Turner, "and I _know_ I'll nevercome down again alive if we don't get the Chinks on a run. We have gotit to do, that's all."
An hour later, in the dusk of evening, a little group of twentyAmericans and as many British marines, all of them picked men, crouchedon the lofty wall listening to the earnest but low-voiced words ofCaptain John Meyers, U.S.M.C., the gallant officer who was to lead thecharge that would mean life or death to every foreigner then in the cityof Pekin. He did not speak more than a minute, but what he said filledevery man who heard him with the spirit of a hero. When he had finishedhe leaped the barricade and started down the wall, with every man of hislittle party striving to gain his side.
The Chinese tower, from which they had been so harassed, went down likea card-house before their on-rush. A scattering volley of rifle-shotscame from the barricade, but the Chinese were too completely takenby surprise to make a stand; even the Kwang-su savages, who neverbefore had known defeat, fled in dismay before that charge of yellingAmericans, whose rifles seemed to pour forth a continuous andinexhaustible stream of deadly fire. The Chinese fired a few shots,hurled a few spears, and then ran for their lives, darting from onebarricade to another, but never allowed to pause, until such of themas were left alive gained the safe shelter of the Chien Men tower, aquarter of a mile away.
"THE SAVAGES FLED IN DISMAY BEFORE THAT CHARGE OF YELLINGAMERICANS"]
As the jubilant Americans streamed back towards their own barricades,where ten of their number had been left on guard, Rob Hinckley, proudlybearing a Chinese banner that he had captured, gave utterance to hisjoyful excitement in the old academy yell with which Hatton boysannounced their victorious return from hard-fought ball-games. "Hi-ho!Hi-ho! Hat-ton Hi-ho!" he shouted, and to his amazement the same callcame back like an echo from far beneath him in the underlying southerncity. "I wonder if it can be Jo!" he thought, and shouted again; butthis time there was no reply.
There were no dead Chinese, nor any wounded, for a detachment of Russianmarines, who had charged up the Chinese ramp after the Americans andBritish had swept by its upper end, had followed them, pitching everydead or wounded Chinese whom they discovered over the parapet and downinto the southern city. When these Russians met the returning victorsthey reported that they had found two dead Americans and carried themback to the barricades.
This news suddenly quieted Rob Hinckley's jubilant shoutings, forinstantly he recalled Turner's foreboding, and realized that he hadnot seen nor heard him since that first mad scramble over their ownbarricade. Now he shouted: "Turner! O Turner!" but there was no answer,and when they reached the American post his worst fears were confirmed.Turner and another marine, named Thomas, had been shot and instantlykilled in the brief space between the two barricades. Here, too, hadCaptain Meyers received a spear wound that he disregarded until theaffair was ended. Then it sent him to the hospital, where he remainedfor weeks. One of the British marines was found to be slightly wounded,as was one of the Russians; but these were the only casualties that thelegation defenders were compelled to pay for the most important victoryof the entire siege. By it they had gained a clear quarter of a mile ofwall that they never afterwards gave up, and which remains to this dayAmerican Legation territory.