Chatterbox, 1905 Part 124

AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.

A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.

(_Continued from page 367._)

CHAPTER XX.

In the room in which the fugitives now found themselves, there were several garments hanging.

'Let us change our clothes,' Charlie whispered; 'it will be a splendid disguise.'

Ping w.a.n.g's face beamed. He pulled off his coat and trousers and donned in their place a dirty jacket and a pair of ragged knickerbockers. Then, taking off his 'beehive,' he wound round his head the yellow scarf of the Boxers.

Charlie and Fred hastened to follow his example. Ping w.a.n.g tied their Boxer cloths around their heads, and then looked at them with interest.

'Splendid,' he declared, 'and now we must be off in case any of the people return. They have gone,' he added, after listening for a few minutes.

He opened the door. A pa.s.ser-by spoke to him, and he answered cheerfully, making some remark which caused the man to laugh heartily as he continued his journey.

'Come on,' Ping w.a.n.g whispered, when the man had pa.s.sed out of sight, and stepped into the street, followed by Charlie and Fred.

No one penetrated their disguise as they hurried along the streets. One man informed Ping w.a.n.g that the three foreigners had been killed. They had taken refuge in a house and the mob had thereupon set light to it.

He pointed to the distant flames. Ping w.a.n.g was sorry for the men who had been mistaken for them, if they were really in the burnt house, but could not help feeling relieved at the thought that now the mob had wreaked its vengeance it would probably disperse for the night.

'When we turn the next corner we shall be facing the gates,' Ping w.a.n.g said after a short walk; and Charlie and Fred heard the news with thankfulness. They were as determined as ever to recover their friend's wealth before quitting China, but they realised that it would be folly to make another attempt to do so while the Boxers were stirring up the people. Their idea was to return to Hongkong and remain there until the anti-foreign feeling had grown less strong.

Ping w.a.n.g was the first to reach the corner. To the astonishment of his friends he stopped short, with an exclamation of surprise. Charlie and Fred were at his side in a moment and saw at once the cause of his astonishment--the town gates were closed!

The surprise which they showed on seeing that the gates were closed did not cause any comment or notice among the people standing near, for they too had been surprised and annoyed by the same thing. Chin Choo had given the order for the gates to be shut, and the soldiers dared not open them until they received from him a command to that effect.

After a time the crowd began to disperse, some of the people wandering off to find lodgings for the night, and others sitting down by the roadside in the hope that, before long, the gates would be thrown open.

Among the latter were the Pages and Ping w.a.n.g. They found a dark corner, and sat there almost entirely hidden from pa.s.sers-by. Ping w.a.n.g sat in front of his friends, so that if any one did peer into their corner he would see him, and conclude that his companions were Chinamen. A long silence was at last broken by the shouts of an advancing mob.

'They've discovered their mistake,' Charlie declared, 'and are continuing the search for us.'

'Don't talk,' Ping w.a.n.g said, and once more they became silent, listening eagerly to distinguish what the mob was shouting. In a few minutes their suspicions were confirmed, for the cry which burst from hundreds of throats was one that there was no need Ping w.a.n.g to translate--Charlie and Fred understood only too well what it meant.

'Kill the foreigners!' Nearer each moment came the crowd, every man uttering the same cry. Soon it came in sight. At the head of the mob was Chin Choo in his palanquin, wearing the yellow head-cloth of the Boxers.

'They're Boxers,' Ping w.a.n.g whispered, 'and evidently they have no idea that we are alive.'

This was welcome news to Charlie and Fred, and remembering that they too were members of the Boxers' Society, they watched the crowd with great interest. Every Boxer wore his yellow head-cloth, and carried a weapon of some sort. A few only had rifles, the remainder being armed with swords, knives, bows and arrows, and sticks.

When the Boxers had arrived at the town gates, Chin Choo addressed his followers from his palanquin. He declared that the foreigners had come to the Middle Kingdom for the sole purpose of taking their country, and that, therefore, it was necessary to kill them all at once. If any were permitted to escape, they would return to their own land, and come back with many more. Then he declared that the Boxers would avenge all the cruelties which he said had been enacted by the foreigners, and finished up with the statement that the Boxers could not be wounded. Bullets would glide off their skin without making a scar, and swords, spears, and knives would make no impression.

Chin Choo saw that the people had doubts about the truth of his last a.s.sertion, and beckoned two of his officers to approach him. He talked with them for a few moments, and then declared, in a loud voice. 'Now you shall see that nothing can harm the men who wear yellow head-cloths.'

As he spoke six Boxers advanced, and stood with their backs to the town gates. Then twelve of the soldiers marched forward with their rifles at the trail, and halted about twenty yards in front of them. At the word of command they loaded their rifles and raised them to their shoulders.

An instant later they fired a volley at the six Boxers, but, to the astonishment of the onlookers, not one of the men was injured.

'They used blank cartridges,' Fred declared.

'It was smart of Chin Choo,' Charlie declared, and Fred and Ping w.a.n.g agreed with him, for not one Chinaman in a thousand knows that there are such things as blank cartridges.

The crowd was delighted with this miracle, and the Boxers themselves became wild with joy. They waved their weapons about, and shouted to be led against the enemy at once. Their desire was granted, the gates were thrown open, and the Boxers marched out of the town.

'Come on,' Ping w.a.n.g said, when the Boxers began to move forward. 'We will march out with them.'

They slipped into the road, and joined the tail of the Boxers boldly, brandis.h.i.+ng the knives that they had with them in imitation of the Chinamen's actions. Ping w.a.n.g shouted as loudly as any man, and shook his fist fiercely at an imaginary enemy.

'Keep your eye on me,' he whispered to Charlie when they had marched about a mile. 'We will bolt soon.'

Charlie saw that it would not be a difficult thing to escape from the rabble army, for men straggled away right and left, just as they felt inclined. The officers walked in front, and beyond looking round occasionally to see that the mob was following, kept no further watch on them.

Before long Ping w.a.n.g halted to rearrange his head-cloth. Charlie and Fred turned, and stood looking at him as if they were waiting for him to finish and march on. Their action was very natural, and the few men who had been marching behind them pa.s.sed on without a remark.

Ping w.a.n.g continued to fumble about with his head-cloth until the last of the Boxers were out of sight. Then he said, 'Now's our time,' and quitted the track. The bushes, which grew thickly along the roadside, afforded ample 'cover' if they needed it.

'We must hurry through this undergrowth without being seen, and get well ahead of the Boxers,' said Ping w.a.n.g; 'then we will rejoin the track and run forward at full speed.'

They proceeded cautiously, but travelled quick enough to gain on the Boxers.

'We are about level with the middle of the mob,' Ping w.a.n.g declared some minutes later. 'We must get a good half-mile ahead of them before we rejoin the track.'

As Ping w.a.n.g finished speaking, Fred, who had looked behind him, exclaimed, anxiously, 'There's some one following us.'

Charlie and Ping w.a.n.g stopped short, and, looking in the direction indicated by Fred, saw a dark figure struggling through the bushes after them.

'Let us wait and tackle him,' Charlie suggested, but Ping w.a.n.g objected firmly to that proposal.

'There may be other fellows following him,' he added, 'and a shout from any one of them would bring the mob rus.h.i.+ng over here in a moment. The best thing that we can do is to hurry on as quickly as possible.'

'Come along, then,' Charlie said, and started running. They ran a little more than a mile. They soon left the Boxers behind, but the man whom they were trying to avoid still pursued them.

'He has gained on us,' Charlie declared, and Fred and Ping w.a.n.g could not deny it.

'We must run faster,' Ping w.a.n.g said, but, as he was panting for breath, Charlie and Fred felt sure that they would not get rid of their pursuer by running.

'He is alone,' Fred declared; 'let's stop and see what he wants. We may be certain that he hasn't any firearms with him, for if he had he would have had a shot at us long before this.'

Ping w.a.n.g, however, did not agree; he preferred to keep on running. But he sadly over-rated his running powers, and before they had gone another hundred yards he had to stop and gasp for breath. The pursuer was now approaching them rapidly, so Charlie and Fred grasped their knives and waited for him. He increased his speed, and, as he drew nearer, they saw that he was wearing the yellow head-cloth of the Boxers.

(_Continued on page 378._)

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The pursuer was approaching them rapidly."]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Three men came running up."]