Chapter XXIV

Three-quarters of an hour after the first sound of firing was heard by Charlie and his friends, a loud, unmistakably British cheer rang through the air.

'They've entered the town,' Fred exclaimed, and cheered wildly. Every Englishman, and Ping Wang also, joined in the cheer. Then they fell into silence, listening to the distant sounds. The Boxers were yelling furiously, hoping to terrify the Englishmen who had entered the town.

'They're marching straight through the town,' one of the missionaries declared anxiously. 'Perhaps they don't know that we are here.'

'They are certain to be aware of that,' Barton answered. 'No doubt they are going to secure the other gate.'

'My cally message to Number One soldier man,' Number One suggested. 'Say Clistian missionalies big piecee hungy.'

'But the Boxers might kill you,' Barton hinted.

'Boxer man nebber killee me. My plenty clebber. Boxer man nebber catchee me.'

'All right then; you may go.'

Number One grinned with delight, and, when the bamboo ladder had been lowered over the wall, went off at a run.

Charlie, Fred, and their friends found the time pass very slowly. They could hear that the English were fighting their way steadily through the town, and every minute their anxiety to see their gallant countrymen increased. Presently a loud British cheer told them that the other gate had been captured. The firing now became less frequent, and in about ten minutes it ceased entirely.

The excitement in the mission enclosure was now intense. The surviving women and children came out of the basement where they had been prisoners for more than three weeks, and climbed up on the platforms to get the first view of their deliverers. The native Christians, who had borne the hardships of the siege uncomplainingly, chatted and laughed gaily. The sick and wounded lay in the little hospital with their eyes fixed on the door.

'They're coming!' Charlie shouted a few minutes later, and the good news thrilled both Englishmen and Chinamen.

The tramp of drilled men came nearer and nearer, and soon from out of the street, almost facing the mission buildings, marched a British naval officer. He gave a swift glance along the wall, and seeing the men and women peering through the sandbags, he saluted them with his sword. They answered him with a cheer, and instantly some fifty smiling, sun-burnt tars burst into a loud 'Hip, hip, hoorah!'

With the smartness characteristic of our navy the men were formed up in a line with their backs to the mission wall. The officer in command gave one look at them, and then almost ran up the ladder which Barton had lowered.

'It is!' Charlie exclaimed, delightedly, as the officer reached the top of the ladder. 'It's our old friend Williams.'

'So it is,' Fred declared, as he recognised the officer of the revenue cutter, who had captured the coper in which his brother and Ping Wang were unwilling passengers.

Williams heard his name mentioned as he vaulted over the wall on to the platform, and the next moment he recognised his friends.

'Well, this is a delightful surprise!' he exclaimed, as he grasped Charlie's hand.

'It's still more delightful for us,' Fred declared.

'You've had a very rough time, I fear,' said Williams, when he had shaken hands with his three friends. 'You look almost like skeletons, every man of you. However, you shall soon have a good feed.'

'Shall we open the gate?' Barton asked, when he and his colleagues had been introduced to Williams.

'Certainly,' Williams replied; but when he saw how securely the gate had been barricaded, he knew that the task would be more than the half-starved defenders of the mission could accomplish.

'I'll call some of my men to do it,' he said, and in a few moments twelve jovial, sun-burnt, travel-stained sailors had climbed the ladder and entered the enclosure. Instantly the men, women, and children surrounded them, grasping their hands, and showering blessings on them.

'Come along, men,' Williams shouted out. 'Down with that barricade, and open the gates.'

The sailors started their work at once. In a few minutes the barricade, which had taken the missionaries some days to build, was torn down, and the gates thrown open. Number One was the first person to enter the enclosure. He carried a big bowl of cooked rice, which was probably loot, and, hurrying to the ladies and children, placed the tempting dish before them.

'Welly good,' he declared, emphatically; 'makee plenty stlong.'

When every one had had as much as was safe after their long fast, Williams drew Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang aside. 'I suppose you haven't succeeded in getting that treasure?' he said.

'No, but we got very close to it,' Charlie replied, and then told him of their adventures in Kwang-ngan.

'You've been unfortunate,' Williams admitted. 'However, I'll see what I can do. We expect some Japanese troops here to-morrow, and as soon as they arrive we are all going to march on Kwang-ngan. Tell me exactly where the idol is.'

'Let us go to Kwang-ngan with you,' Charlie suggested.

'But, my dear fellows,' Williams replied, 'you're not in a fit state for any more fighting.'

'It's only sleep we want,' Charlie declared. 'We shall be as fit as any one after we have had a good long rest.'

'If that's the case, I shall be glad of your company; but you must turn in at once.'

'Before we do that we want to know how it is that you are here. When we last saw you, you had no idea of going to China.'

'Well, I'll soon explain that. My capture of that coper on which I found you and Ping Wang won the approval of the authorities, and, fortunately for me, I was able to effect another capture, about three weeks later. Soon afterwards I received orders to go up to London, and in less than a week I was on my way to China to join my present ship.'

Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang heartily congratulated their friend, but he cut them short by telling them that if they wanted to accompany him to Kwang-ngan they would have to turn in at once, and get as much sleep as possible.

'If that's the case, good-night,' Charlie replied, and all the three hurried away to their beds in the basement, and slept soundly.

When they awoke they found that the Japanese troops had arrived, and that the British sailors were to start within half an hour for Kwang-ngan. After a rapid but hearty breakfast they marched out, with the rifles at the shoulder, to report themselves to Williams, whom they found outside the enclosure inspecting the men. Some of the newly arrived Japanese soldiers had already been posted around the mission wall, and the Japanese flag flew, side by side with the Union Jack, over the gateway.

'Well,' Williams exclaimed, cheerfully, as he shook hands with Charlie, 'do you still wish to come with us?'

'Certainly,' Charlie replied, speaking for all three of them.

'Then you had better say "good-bye" to your missionary friends, for they must all start for Tien-tsin this morning. They will be safer there.'

Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang hurried back to the mission buildings, but Barton was the only one of their late comrades in danger who was not sound asleep. They bade farewell to him, and extracted a promise from him that when next he came to England he would visit them at Lincoln.

While they had been talking, Williams had marched his men off towards the town gate which opened into the road leading to Kwang-ngan. Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang ran after them and overtook them just as they were quitting the town. They fell in at the rear of the company. Nine of the ten miles which lay between Su-ching and Kwang-ngan were covered in about two hours and a half, and they proceeded more cautiously, but for some time met with no opposition, although, when they drew near Kwang-ngan they were surprised to find that it was a very formidable-looking place, bristling with big guns.

'They are not guns,' Ping Wang declared, smiling. 'They are simply circles which the Boxers have painted on the walls to represent guns, in the hope of frightening us.'

'But I was told that they had two guns,' said Williams.

'That is correct. One is mounted on either side of the gate.'

Ping Wang had barely finished speaking when both guns boomed, and their range was excellent, the shells bursting among the sailors. One man was killed and six were wounded. Charlie was thrown to the ground, but, much to his surprise, he found on getting up that he was not hurt.

The sailors now advanced quickly, and the Chinese gunners being apparently unable to alter their range, the shells passed harmlessly over their heads.

The attacking party soon got to within three hundred yards from the town, and the Boxers lining the wall, having so far received no hurt, became reckless. A few of them fired their rifles, but three hundred yards is a long range for most Chinamen, and not one of them succeeded in doing any damage. Nevertheless, Williams considered that the time had arrived to give the Boxers a warning. He gave the order to his men to lie down and fire a volley. It was a splendid one, and the terror which it caused among the Boxers was almost comical. The uninjured men hid themselves instantly, and not a single threat, or shout of defiance was heard from them as the sailors sprang to their feet and ran a hundred yards nearer to the wall.

They lay there unmolested for three or four minutes until the 'advance' was again sounded. As they rushed forward, the Boxers opened fire upon them with rifles and bows and arrows, and three men fell. But their comrades, breaking into a loud cheer, continued their advance, and arrived at the wall with but few casualties on the way. They had brought from Su-ching twelve long bamboo ladders, and these were speedily placed against the wall at a few yards distance from each other. The Japanese also had provided themselves with ladders.

At the signal from their officers, the men climbed nimbly up the ladders, and all along the south wall the fight became fierce. Many of the attacking party were shot before they reached the topmost rung, but their fall simply added to the determination of their comrades, and in a few minutes nearly a score of them had scaled the wall, and were engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with the Boxers.

Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang were not among the first dozen to enter the town, as the sailors who had fixed the ladder by which they wished to ascend declared that it was their right to be the first to mount it.

When the Chinamen found that they were unable to drive out the men who had entered the town, and that others were scrambling over the wall to their assistance, they turned and fled, closely pursued by the sailors. Within twenty minutes the whole English force held the village. Before long, Fred, Charlie, and Ping Wang found themselves close to the wall of Chin Choo's residence.

(Concluded on page 410.)