Chatterbox, 1905 Part 133

'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 w.a.n.g 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 Kw.a.n.g-ngan.

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

'Let us go to Kw.a.n.g-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 w.a.n.g 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 w.a.n.g heartily congratulated their friend, but he cut them short by telling them that if they wanted to accompany him to Kw.a.n.g-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 bas.e.m.e.nt, and slept soundly.

When they awoke they found that the j.a.panese troops had arrived, and that the British sailors were to start within half an hour for Kw.a.n.g-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 j.a.panese soldiers had already been posted around the mission wall, and the j.a.panese 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 w.a.n.g 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 Kw.a.n.g-ngan. Charlie, Fred, and Ping w.a.n.g 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 Kw.a.n.g-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 Kw.a.n.g-ngan they were surprised to find that it was a very formidable-looking place, bristling with big guns.

'They are not guns,' Ping w.a.n.g 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 w.a.n.g had barely finished speaking when both guns boomed, and their range was excellent, the sh.e.l.ls 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 sh.e.l.ls pa.s.sed 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 j.a.panese 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 w.a.n.g 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 a.s.sistance, 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 w.a.n.g found themselves close to the wall of Chin Choo's residence.

(_Concluded on page 410._)

TOYS FROM THE STREETS.

(_Concluded from page 390._)

There is not much to be said about our last batch of toys. The cat and her kittens is a wonderful toy for the money; and the round box with a crown on top is a good place to keep the pennies for the next Christmas.

The doll in a box, the two other dolls, the fans, and the frog, are all actually made in j.a.pan, and shipped to England. Fancy the little j.a.panese boys and girls turning their hands--for these toys are all made by hand--to work just to give pleasure to little boys and girls far off in other countries! The reason why these j.a.panese toys can be made so cheaply and sent so far, and yet sold at a profit, is that the j.a.panese, old and young alike, are able to live much more frugally and cheaply than Europeans. j.a.panese shipping companies, too, are anxious to get trade, and carry the toys very cheaply: during the war they actually guaranteed owners against loss or capture by the enemy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: More Toys from the Streets.]

But we must say good-bye to these toys. Remember, if you are fortunate enough to possess any of them, from what distant lands they come, and what pains are taken in making them. Remember, too, what a hard life the poor men and women who sell them have. These toys, like most other gifts, teach the old Christmas lesson of kindness to others and thankfulness for blessings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "We charged at the midst of the foe."]

AGAINST ODDS.

We knew, on that white frosty morning, Our rivals would make an attack, But doubt and timidity scorning, We held on our snow-covered track.