CHAPTER VI
IN PEKIN
All were hard at work on the following day making preparations forthe advance. Rex acted as interpreter to the major, and got on quitefamiliar terms with his officers. The start was made early the nextmorning in four troop trains. The men cheered lustily as they started,and the residents of the town all gathered to give them a heartysend–off. Rex managed to get a place in the train for Ah Lo, and tookwith him in a small bundle the disguise he had worn at Chafui. Hewas perhaps the only person in the train who did not feel absolutelyconfident of a triumphant march to Pekin, but he had made up his mindthat should they have to fall back he would himself pursue his journeywith Ah Lo.
For a time the train passed through cultivated ground, but the workof the enemy was very soon visible. Portions of the line were tornup in many places, and attempts had evidently been made to destroythe bridges. Several times the train had to stop in order to makerepairs, but owing to the large number of hands available the work wasperformed so rapidly that there was only a short delay at these points.At Lo–Fa for the first time the Boxers were seen actively engaged.The plate–layers? cabins were in flames, and the telegraph poles hadbeen cut down, and men were engaged in destroying them. The villagesbordering the line were also in flames, and the inscription, “Kill allforeigners,” was posted up everywhere. The Chinese troops alighted andfired several volleys at parties of Boxers, but apparently withoutdoing any execution, their ineffectual efforts exciting much merrimentamong the allied troops.
A mile farther smoke was seen rising from several villages, and GeneralNieh refused absolutely to continue the journey, declaring that thewhole country was evidently swarming with Boxers, and that it washighly dangerous to advance. He insisted on returning to Lo–Fa. AdmiralSeymour strongly urged him to remain there with his men, but withoutsuccess; he and his soldiers were firmly convinced that it was uselessto try to fight the Boxers, who, they believed, were invulnerable toshot. After the Chinese had left, the troops were detrained. The workof repairing the line had for the last few miles been very heavy, andas it was already late they halted there for the night.
So far their work had been altogether unimpeded by the enemy, whohad apparently fallen back as soon as the laden trains were seenapproaching in the distance. The troops had grumbled a good deal at thecowardice of the enemy, but consoled themselves with the idea that theyhad not yet gone half–way, and that no doubt the Boxers would make astand later on.
There were plenty of materials for making camp fires, and these weresoon blazing, and as night closed in, songs in various languages rosefrom the bivouacs of the different nationalities. The officers gatheredround their own fires and chatted on the prospect before them.
“Your anticipations have not been fulfilled thus far, Bateman,” one ofthe lieutenants said to Rex.
“No, but it is not yet time for them to be fulfilled. It was onlyduring the first half of my journey down that I saw the Boxers? firesall over the country. They will become thicker and thicker as we nearPekin, and in the end I expect that the whole Chinese army will comeout to meet us, swollen by the rabble of the town.”
The expedition moved forward again in the morning. It was soon evidentthat in the country through which they were now advancing the Boxershad carried out their operations more thoroughly than in that throughwhich they had already passed. In many places the railroad had beentaken up for some hundreds of yards, and the sleepers carried off andburned, while the whole of the telegraph poles had been cut down andthe wires carried away. The troops were very soon all detrained againand employed in the work of restoring the line, an operation which wasonly carried on with great difficulty.
In the meantime Lieutenant Smith of the _Aurora_ went forward with aparty of three officers and forty–four men to try to reach Neting,thirteen miles ahead, to prevent more damage being done to the lineand to hold the railway–station there. He was attacked soon after hestarted. At three villages in succession he drove the enemy out withease; but at half–past ten a determined attack was made on him byabout four hundred and fifty Boxers, who charged in line with greatcourage. His little force, however, repulsed them with heavy loss; butas ammunition was then beginning to run short, and the enemy was stillincreasing in strength, Lieutenant Smith retired. As great bands ofBoxers could be seen in the distance, Major Johnston was sent forwardwith sixty men to examine the line ahead.
“You may as well come on with me, Bateman; we shall very likely fall inwith some villagers and perhaps capture a Boxer, and so get informationas to the position of the enemy in front of us and the state of theline.”
“I shall be very glad to come, sir.”
Ah Lo, without receiving any specific orders, fell in as a matter ofcourse in the rear of the marines. They went steadily on, keeping twomiles ahead of the leading train, and when eight miles above Lo–Fathey saw a body of Boxers, which they reckoned about three thousandstrong, streaming out from a village on the left. This force did notmake directly for the little party, but bore towards their rear withthe evident intention of cutting them off. They had with them a goodmany mounted men who, dashing forward, crossed the railway behind them,while the men on foot made for a partially–burned bridge and a villagecommanding the line.
“Fall back at the double!” Major Johnston called. “Not too fast; itis certain that we shall have to fight them, and it won?t do to putourselves out of breath. Keep up a quick fire as you go; halt whenyou fire, and take steady aim. They won?t like the long range of ourbullets. I don?t suppose we shall do them much harm, but our fellowswill hear the firing at the wagons and we shall soon have a party up toour assistance.”
Rex and Ah Lo unslung their rifles and joined the marines in theirsteady fire. The return of the enemy was not effective; only a few werearmed with guns, and these were not of long range. For a mile a runningfight was kept up, twenty or thirty of the enemy being killed. Theynevertheless persisted in their endeavour to cut off the party. When,however, he saw a body of marines and blue–jackets coming up at thedouble, the major at once halted his men.
“Now, my lads, you can give them independent fire as quick as you like;there is no fear of their closing with us now.”
The Boxers who had crossed the line began to move back and join theircompanions, and the approaching blue–jackets at once opened fire uponthem with rifles and Maxims. The reinforcements soon joined MajorJohnston?s party, and under his lead attacked the village and drove theBoxers from it. Following hotly upon their heels, they forced them alsoto retire from another village with the loss of some forty killed andwounded.
Rex?s services were at once called into requisition. He slung his riflebehind him, and set to work to interrogate seven wounded Boxers who hadfallen into our hands. From them he learned that farther back the linehad been almost entirely pulled up, that the forces there were verynumerous, and their strength had just been increased by the additionof ten thousand regular troops, who had been nominally disbanded inorder that they could join the Boxers, while the Government might beable still to affirm that the Boxers were acting in defiance of theirorders and that no Imperial troops had joined them. They said, too,that a considerable proportion of the troops in Pekin had been broughtto the southern gate to oppose the relieving army if they broke throughthe forces opposed to them. Rex learned that two days previously therehad been fighting in Pekin and that it was expected that the Legationswould all be taken in the course of a few days.
The army advanced no farther that night, but the next day pushed onto Lang Fang, which was half–way to Pekin. They found all the stationbuildings destroyed and three hundred yards of the track torn up.Boxers were seen busy in the work of destruction, but when a shell wasdropped among them they fled. A patrol that went out reported that amile and a quarter of the track had been destroyed.
REX INTERROGATES A WOUNDED BOXER.]
The news that he had learned from the wounded Boxers on the previousday had excited in Rex a burning desire to push forward. Th
e positionin Pekin seemed to be precarious, and he became so impatient to getto the principal scene of action that he determined to leave the armyand make his way up in disguise. It was evident that if the line was,as it seemed, almost totally destroyed beyond this point, the progressof the relief column must be extremely slow. As the troops must holdto the railway, for they had no other means of carriage, it seemed toRex highly improbable that they would be able to fight their way intoPekin. Having made up his mind, he went to Major Johnston.
“I am most anxious to go forward,” he said. “We know that the Legationsare attacked, not seriously perhaps at present, but they may be so anyday. It appears to me very doubtful whether this expedition will beable to fight their way into the town, and if they do so it must bea considerable time before they get there. I do not know that if theplace were taken I should be able to get my cousins off, but at least Icould try. At any rate, I have brought my native disguise with me, andhave no doubt that I can make my way into Pekin. How I shall get intothe Legation I don?t know, but I think that by mixing with the Boxers Ishall be able to make my way in at night. Is there any occasion, sir,for me to inform Admiral Seymour of my intentions?”
“None at all, Bateman. I shall probably have an opportunity of speakingto him in the morning, and shall mention to him that you have startedto make your way in alone. It is a risky business, I know, and I wishyou well through it. I begin to think that you were quite right whenyou said that the opposition would be greater than we expected. Weonly reckoned upon the Boxers, and did not think that they would tearup the railway. It is now evident that our difficulties will increasewith every foot that we advance. I trust, however, that if we do haveto fall back, the Legations will be able to hold out. Our people maybe driven from some of the outlying places, but I should think that ifthe whole of the defenders are concentrated at our Legation they oughtto be able to defend it as long as food and water hold out. You did nothear, I suppose, when you were there, how they were provided in thatrespect.”
“No, I did not hear anything about it. You see, when I was there theambassadors still clung to the belief that the Empress was favourablydisposed towards foreigners. As far as I could hear, no one elsethought so; but I am afraid that they did not believe it necessaryat that time to lay in provisions for a siege, and if the nativeChristians take refuge with them they will want a very large supply.
“Very well, sir; then as soon as it is dark I shall make off. I shallmake straight for the river and follow its course. It is certain thatthe greater portion of the enemy will be gathered close to the line ofrailway, and I don?t anticipate any difficulty in making my way up.Pekin is only some forty or forty–five miles from here, and I shallenter it to–morrow. I shall, of course, make a circuit of the city andgo in at the northern gate, and in that way I shall probably have nodifficulty whatever until I get near the Legation.”
That afternoon Rex said “Good–bye” to the other officers of hisacquaintance, and as soon as it was dusk, coloured his skin, touchedup his eyebrows and eyelashes, painted a line from the corners of hiseyes so as to give them an upward inclination, fastened on his pigtailagain, and set out with Ah Lo. As he had anticipated, they experiencedno difficulty in making their way up. Occasionally they saw partiesof Boxers on the banks of the river, and had to make detours to avoidthem, but by morning they saw the towers of Pekin ahead. Turning asideinto a field of standing grain they lay down and slept for some hours,and when they awoke they made a detour round the city and entered bythe northern gate. As no troops were stationed here, they went onunquestioned into the city.
As they advanced they came upon many ruined houses, and at one pointa large tract had been cleared by fire. Many dead lay in the streets,for the most part horribly slashed and mutilated. Bands of roughs werestill searching ruined houses for loot. In some parts business wasstill going on; the better class of shops were all closed, but thosethat supplied the poor were open, and the inhabitants were going abouttheir usual avocations as if nothing had happened.
As they neared the Legations they could hear occasional firing. Inthis part the shops were all closed, and there was no traffic whateverin the streets. At some points large numbers of Boxers were gathered.Avoiding these, they turned into a narrow lane which led towards theBritish Legation. They went nearly to the end of this, and here Rexentered a doorway, took off his Chinese clothes, under which he hadhis own, wrapped up his pigtail, and put over it a Scotch cap he hadcarried with him. Then he and Ah Lo started out at a run for theLegation. Here and there men were grouped on the walls, and these, onseeing a European coming along, shouted words of welcome to him. Halfa dozen shots were fired from neighbouring houses, but they arrived atthe entrance untouched. A dozen soldiers were stationed here.
“You have managed that well, sir,” the sergeant in command said as theyentered. “Have you come far?”
“I have come on from the relieving force. They are at Lang Fang.”
“Will they be here soon, sir?”
“I very much doubt whether they will get through at all. The line isall torn up, and they will be opposed by an immense force. I fear thatyou will have to wait till a much bigger force is gathered.”
“That is bad news, sir, but I expect we shall hold out all right. Theydon?t seem very anxious to come to close quarters.”
Rex went straight to the ambassador?s quarters and sent in his name,and he was at once admitted.
“So you are back again, Mr. Bateman?”
“Yes, sir; I came up with the relieving force two thousand strongunder Admiral Seymour. They had reached Lang Fang, but I have greatdoubts whether they will get much farther, as the railway has beencompletely destroyed, and they are without means of carriage. Thereis no doubt that they will be met by an ever–increasing resistanceas they move forward, and twenty thousand regular troops have movedround to the south gate to oppose them if they get as far as that. Thecommunications are already cut behind them, and so large a force isconcentrated near Tientsin that that town will probably be attacked.
“The Taku Forts will be attacked very shortly. Troops are on their wayfrom India, Port Arthur, and Japan, and I have no doubt that beforelong an army will be gathered sufficiently strong to fight its way up.But I fear that it must be some weeks before they are in a position todo so.”
“Do you bring any despatches for me?”
“No, sir; I was afraid that if I mentioned to the admiral that I wascoming on, he would object, so I came off of my own account. I hadlearned that the Legations were being attacked, and I was most anxiousto be here to cheer my cousins up, and to endeavour to do what I couldfor them if things went badly.”
“Very well, Mr. Bateman, I am glad of the news that you have broughtme, though it is not satisfactory, but I own that I have had my owndoubts whether the force that is coming up was strong enough to makeits way here. It is better, however, to know the worst. We shall beglad of the assistance of your rifle and that of your man, for weare very short–handed, and even the aid of two rifles is not to bedespised. You had better take up your quarters, as before, at thecollege.”
Rex withdrew, and at once went to the doctor?s house.
“I am glad to be able to tell you,” said the doctor, “that the youngladies have now pretty well recovered, and if the railway were workingI should say that they could very safely be taken down to Tientsin. Asit is, however, they will have to wait until reinforcements come up.”
“Then I can see them, sir?”
“Certainly; the elder girl is quite recovered, and the younger one isconvalescent, but is still weak. It will do her good rather than harmto see you, for they have necessarily been somewhat lonely, as everyonehere is busy. The ladies have all been occupied in making sacks to holdearth for the fortifications, and the girls have therefore been leftmore to themselves than they otherwise would have been.”
Rex at once went across to the house. The girls leapt up with a cry ofdelight as he entered.
“Oh, Rex,” cried Jenny,
“we are glad to see you! When did you return?”
“About half an hour ago. I had to come up in the disguise I worebefore. You know, I suppose, that we are quite cut off from Tientsinnow?”
“So we have heard, and they say that there is going to be fightinghere?”
“Yes, but there is no doubt that we shall beat them off. You need notbe uneasy.”
“Oh, we are sure of that! I feel quite different from what we didbefore. For the past three or four days I have been helping to makesacks, and even Mabel has done a little. And how are Uncle and Aunt?”
“They are all right. I believe my father will have his share offighting, for a great force of Chinese has gathered outside the town,and they expect to be attacked. It is hoped, however, that the shipswill destroy the Taku Forts, in which case the light craft will maketheir way up to Tientsin. Then, of course, every man that can be sparedfrom the ships will join the relief column.”
“But I thought that they were on their way up now, and that we wereexpecting them here to–day?”
“I am sorry to say, dear, that I think there is very little chance oftheir coming at all at present. I came up with Ah Lo.”
The girls looked at each other in dismay.
“Then how long do you think it will be before they really come up?”
“I am afraid it will be many weeks. Large reinforcements of Britishtroops are coming from India, Russians have been despatched from PortArthur, and any number of Japanese, and French, and Germans are beingsent forward; but it must be some time before they are all here, and wemust make up our minds that we are going to hold our own.”
Then he changed the subject.
“And so you are getting stronger, Mabel? You are looking ever so muchbetter.”
“Oh yes! I am feeling ever so much better, and the doctor says I shallsoon be strong and well again.
“We are getting quite full here now, for numbers of the nativeChristians are coming in for shelter. Everyone is told off to dosomething. Jenny is to help serve out food to the women and children,and I expect that I shall soon be able to assist also.”
“Yes, I expect we shall all be made useful,” said Rex.
“Ah Lo has come up too, I suppose?”
“Yes, he came with me as a matter of course, and we shall both aid inthe defence.”
“I wish I were a boy,” Jenny said. “I should like to help kill some ofthe Boxers. I dare say a good many of those who were at Chafui havecome here and will be among those who are going to attack us.”
“You will be just as useful in your own way, Jenny, as if you were aboy and could carry a gun.”
“You must give us each a pistol, Rex, so that if they should take theplace we can shoot ourselves. We have both made up our minds that wewill do that rather than fall into their hands again. You don?t thinkit would be wicked to kill ourselves, do you?”
“Certainly not, Jenny; but in the first place I don?t think that thereis much chance of their capturing the Legations, and in the next placeI hope that if they did so, Ah Lo and I should be able to get you outagain in disguise. But at any rate I don?t think you need have anyfear. There are four hundred soldiers here, and the employees of allthe Legations would certainly make a hundred more. Besides these thereare the merchants and other people, and I expect they will form a corpsout of the Christians who have come in. Most of these Legations arestrong buildings, and it will be hard if we cannot beat off any attack.It is lucky that all the Legations lie within a short distance of eachother, and can all be defended together. When I leave you I will goround and see what has been done to fortify them.”
He stayed chatting with them for another half–hour, and then went downto the college.
“I have turned up again like a bad penny, Sandwich,” he said, as he methis friend, “and am quartered here.”
“We shall all be heartily glad to have you with us, and I regard youand your man as a valuable reinforcement. Have you heard that thismorning the Boxers have begun to massacre the native Christians? Ibelieve that great numbers have been killed.”
“They ought all to have come in here,” Rex said.
“No doubt we should have done the best we could for them,” Sandwichsaid, “but we should have had a lot of difficulty in feeding tenthousand of them. Though I am awfully sorry for the poor beggars, theirpresence here would scarcely be an advantage, for they would hamperus terribly in our defence. You will have to put up with bad cookingunless some of these Christians that are coming in turn out to bedecent cooks, for the servants and coolies are all leaving. You shouldsee Sergeant Herring talking to them as they go out!”
Rex laughed. He had already made the acquaintance of the sergeant, whohad been twenty years at the Legation, and who was in general controlof its arrangements. He was a big man, with a powerful voice and anauthoritative manner, and ruled the coolies with a rod of iron. He wasa well–known figure in the city, and was regarded by the populace asbeing only less important than the ambassador himself.
“I can quite fancy him,” Rex said, “and how the coolies would sneak offunder the thunder of his voice. Well, I should say that we are just aswell rid of the coolies. I don?t suppose they could have been reliedupon. They are not like the native Christians, who, knowing that theirlives are forfeited if the Boxers get in, will certainly be faithfuleven if they are not very useful. By the way, I have not brought yourclothes back. I came up in a suit of my own under my disguise, but Iwas afraid of carrying a bundle. They will come up, then, washed andironed, when all this is over.”
Sandwich laughed. “All right, Bateman! I sha?n?t be able to get muchwashing done now, and shall hail the arrival of a clean suit when—thatis a very vague word—_when_ they come up.”
There was a good deal of excuse to be made for the coolies andservants. They were almost all drawn from the population of Pekin,and their families, according to the Chinese law, would assuredlysuffer were they to remain at the Legation. This would account for thedifference between their conduct and that of the native servants in theIndian Mutiny, for these, in the great majority of cases, remained trueto their masters.