Wong-lih's reply, after a somewhat lengthy pause. "But, unfortunately,
he is so highly placed that even I dare not mention his name. If the
man so much as guessed that I suspected his treachery, I should be
assassinated within twenty-four hours; so, for my country's sake, I must
refrain from telling you something I would give a good deal to be able
to do."
"Someone very highly placed?" repeated Frobisher, drawing his chair a
little closer to Wong-lih's, and lowering his voice. "Should I be very
wide of the mark in guessing him to be a prince of the blood royal?"
Wong-lih turned pale, and glanced uneasily round him. "You would be, on
the contrary, very near the truth, if my suspicions are correct," he
replied. "That man has played many a scurvy trick in his time; but his
other delinquencies are light compared with treachery to his country;
and I fear to breathe his name in connection with so horrible a crime.
But tell me, how came you to suspect also? Have you any grounds?"
"None," replied Frobisher. "But I have met the man twice, and on each
occasion he has impressed me most unfavourably. I suppose one should
take no notice of intuitions; but he certainly looks a thorough
scoundrel, to my mind. I shall watch him as carefully as I can."
"Do," said the admiral. "You say you have met him twice; I recollect
the first time, but do not recall a second. When was it?"
"Not an hour ago, sir," returned Frobisher. "I met him, with his
retinue, just leaving the dockyard. He honoured me so far as to treat
me to a very impertinent scrutiny as he passed."
"Leaving the dockyard!" echoed Wong-lih. "I did not see him about here.
He ought to be on board his ship, the _Ting Yuen_, by rights, for she
is quite ready for sea; and I know Admiral Ting is only too eager to
take his fleet out to look for the enemy. Indeed, as soon as you are
aboard the _Chih' Yuen_ and have hoisted your flag, he is likely to make
the signal to proceed to sea. No; that man had no business here. I
wonder what he was doing."
Acting upon Wong-lih's hint that the interview had better terminate,
Frobisher and Drake took their leave of the kindly admiral, and went
back into the city to transact some necessary business before going on
board. This included securing uniforms, and suits of mufti, toilet
articles, and, in fact, personal requisites of every kind, of which both
men had been destitute for several months past. This business having
been transacted, their new possessions were packed and sent to the ship,
and Frobisher and Drake followed immediately afterward. Arrived on
board, the former had his commission read by the interpreter (for it
was, of course, written in Chinese script), and at last, after many
strange vicissitudes, found himself standing on his own quarterdeck,
captain of the Chinese cruiser _Chih' Yuen_.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
PRINCE--AND TRAITOR?
Once fairly settled on board the _Chih' Yuen_, although there turned out
to be an enormous amount of work to be done, and numerous little matters
to be attended to before the cruiser could be said to be thoroughly
"shipshape", Frobisher found time to look round him a little, and to
cast his eyes over the remainder of the northern fleet lying off the
city of Tien-tsin. Accustomed as he was to the sight of Great Britain's
noble squadrons, and the enormous size of her battleships and cruisers,
the Chinese fleet at first glance seemed utterly insignificant as a
fighting machine. In the first place, the ships were few in number, and
there were but two battleships among them; and both they and the
cruisers would nearly all have been considered obsolete in England.
About a quarter of a mile from his own ship, and anchored in mid-stream,
lay the two battleships which formed the backbone of the Chinese Navy at
that time--the _Ting Yuen_, the flagship of Admiral Ting, with
Frobisher's pet abomination, Prince Hsi, as captain; and the _Chen
Yuen_, commanded, like his own ship, by an Englishman.
Both these craft were old and out of date, having been built as long ago
as the year 1879; but their armour was enormously thick, and both of
them carried two eighty-ton monster guns, placed in turrets and set in
_echelon_, so that the immense weight of the weapons should be evenly
distributed. The ships themselves were a little over seven thousand
tons displacement, and were fitted with particularly long and strongly
reinforced rams, upon the effective use of which the Chinese admiral was
building largely--not without justification, as events proved.
These two battleships completely dwarfed the fleet of cruisers lying
above and below them in the river, none of these being of more than
three thousand five hundred tons--less than half the size of the
flagship, and of course not nearly so heavily armed. In fact, none of
the cruisers carried anything more powerful in the way of guns than the
five-inch weapons which Frobisher's own ship, the latest addition to the
Navy, mounted; and of these the _Chih' Yuen_ possessed only two, one in
a barbette forward, and one similarly mounted aft.
Then came two sister ships, cruisers of three thousand tons, the
_Yen-fu_ and the _Kau-ling_, armoured vessels, and one of two thousand
seven hundred tons, also armoured, named the _Shan-si_; while close up
under the walls of the city lay a couple of protected cruisers, of two
thousand five hundred tons each, the _Yung-chau_ and the _Tung-yen_.
Frobisher's old acquaintance, the _Hat-yen_, which had been Admiral
Wong-lih's flagship at the battle of Asan, was also to be seen busily
preparing for sea; and the dispatch vessel _San-chau_, which he likewise
recognised, had also been pressed into service. The _Su-chen_, in which
Frobisher had made his ill-fated attack on the pirates, was still in the
hands of the repairers, who had managed to spin out the job of putting
her to rights again after the fight ever since the time of her return
from the Hoang-ho. Lastly, there was the old cruiser _Kwei-lin_, which
had been in the Navy for over twenty years, and which had not moved from
her anchorage for the last decade. She was absolutely useless as a
fighting machine; and, short as the Chinese were of ships, the futility
of taking her to sea was at once recognised, and she was to be left
behind to carry on her former duty as guardship to the port.
In addition to the above-mentioned ships, there were seven
torpedo-boats, which were to accompany the fleet, ranging in size from
seventy to a hundred and twenty tons; but, unlike Japan, China possessed
none of the type of craft known as torpedo-boat destroyers--T.B.D.'s for
short. Japan had quite a number of these, all over a hundred tons, one
or two being even over two hundred; and they were, of course, much
faster and more heavily armed than the Chinese torpedo-boats. Japan
also possessed an advantage in that her cruisers were not only larger
than those of China, they were also newer, faster, and more heavily
armed; and there were more of them. One ship in particular, the
_Yoshino_, was larger than the Chinese battleships; while the armoured
cruisers _Matsushima, Hiroshima_, and _Hakodate_ were all well over four
thousand tons, and much more heavily armed than any of the Chinese
ships, with the exception of the _Chen Yuen_ and _Ting Yuen_. These
were superior only in the possession of the two big guns each: their
secondary armament was not so powerful as that of the enemy's cruisers.
Frobisher, who, of course, knew pretty accurately the composition of the
Japanese naval strength, shook his head as he contemplated the
collection of vessels in the river. There was a sad lack of homogeneity
in the squadron, which would render quick and effective manoeuvring
extremely difficult. Some of the newer ships--his own, for instance--
were capable of steaming fifteen or sixteen knots, but the battleships
were not good for more than thirteen, while some of the older cruisers
could not be relied upon for more than ten or eleven; and as the speed
of a fleet is necessarily that of its slowest ship, this meant that the
whole squadron could not steam at more than ten knots or thereabout.
The speed of the slowest Japanese ships he knew to be not less than
thirteen knots; so, in the event of a naval engagement, the enemy's
fleet would be able to outmanoeuvre the Chinese, and choose their own
locality for fighting, as well as the range and position. It was a most
important advantage to possess; and, as Frobisher considered the
likelihood--nay, the practical certainty--of the Chinese ammunition
proving faulty, he did not feel at all certain that China would come out
on top, notwithstanding her possession of the two powerful battleships.
He was aroused from his somewhat gloomy reverie by observing a signal
fluttering up to the signal-yard of the flagship. Running below to his
cabin, he seized his telescope, and, hurrying up on deck again, read off
the communication, which he was enabled to do by means of his Chinese
secret naval code book, a few copies of which had been prepared with
English translations for the use of the British naval officers in the
fleet, of whom there were several.
The signal read: "Captains to repair on board the flagship immediately",
and Frobisher then knew that the time for action was close at hand. A
council would be held in the admiral's cabin on the _Ting Yuen_, and the
admiral would inform his captains of his intended plans, and be willing
at the same time to receive suggestions. It was to be, in fact, a
Council of War, and Frobisher looked forward to it eagerly, as being the
first actual war debate he would ever have attended. This would be his
first introduction to war as a reality. Hitherto he had only taken part
in sham naval battles; he was now face to face with the stern reality,
and he rejoiced exceedingly.
Calling his interpreter to him, he had his gig ordered, got himself
quickly into his full-dress uniform, handed over the ship to Drake's
charge during his absence, and in a few minutes was being pulled across
the quarter-mile stretch of water that lay between the _Chih' Yuen_ and
the flagship.
On his arrival there, owing to his ship lying farthest away, he found
the remainder of the captains assembled, only awaiting his presence to
commence business. He was greeted very cordially in English by Admiral
Ting, with whom Wong-lih had already been in communication, and received
a few very courteous words of condolence upon the disaster on the
Hoang-ho. Then followed his introduction to his fellow captains, among
whom was Prince Hsi. With this one exception, he was very warmly
welcomed by them all, especially by his compatriots, Captain Foster, of
the _Chen Yuen_, who, as a matter of strict fact, was a Scotsman, and
Captain James, of the cruiser _Shan-si_. These were the only other
Britishers present being captains; but there were several others in the
fleet in the capacity of first and second lieutenants, and especially in
the engineering department. In fact, with one exception, the chief
engineers of the ships were all either Englishmen or Scotsmen.
The council was not a very lengthy one, for it was impossible to make
plans very far ahead, since little information was so far available as
to the enemy's movements. The first duty of the fleet, explained
Admiral Ting, was therefore to proceed to Wei-hai-wei, where a fleet of
transports was already taking aboard several Chinese regiments destined
for service in Korea. These were to be convoyed by the entire squadron
to the mouth of the River Yalu, forming the boundary between China and
Korea, and landed there; after which the fleet's future movements would
be guided by circumstances.
The probability was that enough information would be obtained meanwhile
to enable Admiral Ting to locate the position of the Japanese fleet. In
this event, the Chinese squadron would sail for the spot indicated, and
endeavour to force a general action; for it was vitally important to
China that she should obtain command of the sea at the earliest possible
moment, and keep it; otherwise she would be seriously handicapped in
transporting her troops to the seat of war, if not entirely prevented
from doing so. Similarly, it was necessary to prevent the Japanese, if
possible, from transporting their troops and supplies to Korea; and this
could only be accomplished by first destroying or seriously crippling
the Japanese Navy. In conclusion, Admiral Ting stated that he intended
to put to sea that same afternoon, and desired his captains to make
their preparations accordingly.
This decision was received with every symptom of delight by everybody
except Prince Hsi, who argued long and forcibly for a delay of a day at
least, giving as his reason that the flagship was not, in his opinion,
quite ready for sea.
On hearing this statement the admiral looked very keenly at his
subordinate, and asked him to explain his ship's unreadiness, while the
rest of the captains looked the astonishment they were too polite to put
into words. The ensuing explanation was somewhat unintelligible to
Frobisher, notwithstanding the valiant efforts of his interpreter. But
he gathered that the admiral considered Prince Hsi's reasons as quite
inadequate, and concluded by informing the Prince, without any
circumlocution, that he, as admiral, was quite as capable as her captain
of judging whether the ship was fit for sea or not, that as in his
opinion she was perfectly ready, to sea she should go, and the rest of
the squadron with her, as he had already decided.
There was therefore nothing left for his Highness but to obey; but the
spoilt scion of royalty showed very plainly by his bearing that he was
considerably upset by the admiral's adherence to his decision.
Admiral Ting then signified in his courteous fashion that the
deliberations were at an end, and dismissed each of his captains with a
word or two of hope and encouragement; being particularly gracious to
the three Britons. He added for the benefit of all that it was his
intention to _hoist the signal to_ proceed to sea as soon as _possible
after the skippers had regained their own ships_.
Frobisher noticed that no sooner were these words out of Ting's mouth
than Prince Hsi murmured a low-voiced excuse, and disappeared hastily
from the cabin, as though he had suddenly recollected something of
importance. He paid little attention to the fact at the moment, being
too fully occupied with his own thoughts; but the circumstance was
recalled to his memory during the short journey between the _Ting Yuen_
and his own ship.
His gig had just passed under the stern gallery of the flagship, at a
few yards' distance, when one of the Chinese seamen who were pulling the
boat uttered an exclamation and covered his eyes for a few seconds with
his hand, as though something had blown into them. Frobisher instructed
the interpreter to enquire what was the matter, and was told that "there
must be an evil spirit in the boat", for while he had been keeping his
eyes on the _Ting Yuen_ a blaze of light, "brighter than the sun", had
flashed into them, nearly blinding him. The Englishman could see for
himself, when the fellow removed his hand, that he was still dazzled.
Puzzled to know what had happened, for the sky was absolutely clear,
with no possibility of the light being attributable to a flash of
lightning, Frobisher handed the yoke-lines to the interpreter and turned
round in the sternsheets, looking to see where it could have originated.
A few seconds later he saw what it was. From one of the cabin ports in
the flagship's stern, situated just below the gallery and in the
position where the captain's quarters would almost certainly be placed,
there came another quick flash of brilliant light, lasting but an
instant, but extraordinarily dazzling in its intensity; and the
Englishman at once recognised what was happening. Somebody--and he was
able to form a pretty accurate guess who--was using a hand-glass or
shaving-mirror as a heliograph, evidently either trying to attract the
attention of someone on shore, or sending a message: it did not much
signify which, for Frobisher was easily able to pick out the spot on
shore where the light impinged. This was a window in a small,
whitewashed house standing by itself in a large garden, situated about
half-way up the hill; and that the message or signal was expected was
soon proved to Frobisher when he saw, through his telescope, a man
hurriedly dash out of the house and make his way through the garden
toward the beach, where several boats could be made out, drawn up on the
sand.
By this time, however, the gig had reached the _Chih' Yuen_, and
Frobisher was unable to spend any more time watching the strange game
that seemed to be going on, being fully occupied as soon as he got on
board in giving orders to his officers to prepare the ship for
proceeding to sea, the signal for which, as Ting had said, was now
flying from the signal-yard of the _Ting Yuen_.
Just as the anchor was in process of being catted, however, he chanced
to glance again in the direction of the flagship, and saw, lying right
under her stern, and concealed from the view of those on deck by the
stern gallery, a small boat; and in that small boat was the man to whom
the signal had been heliographed. He was evidently talking to somebody
through the open port of the captain's cabin; and a few seconds later
Frobisher saw a hand appear through the same port holding something
white that looked suspiciously like a letter or packet. The man in the
boat at once seized it and thrust it into his bosom; then, after a hasty
glance round, he seated himself, and pulled slowly back again toward the
shore with an exaggerated air of nonchalance.
Frobisher could not avoid wondering who was the man that had been so
anxious to send a message ashore, and also what the nature of the
message might be that the sender was so intensely eager to dispatch at
the very last moment. It must certainly be an important one to render
it advisable to send for a special bearer to take it, instead of letting
it go ashore in the usual way by the boat in which the admiral would
send off his last official dispatches, notifying his departure to the
Navy Council.
But, as a matter of fact, Frobisher could hardly be said to wonder very
much about these points; for if he had been put to it he felt almost
certain that he could have named both the sender and the contents of the
message. Also, he thought that, without a very great effort, he might
be able to name the man for whom that message was intended. What he did
wonder at was the audacity of the man who dared to undertake so
dangerous a business in full view of the fleet, and also whether anybody
besides himself had witnessed the transaction. Perhaps the mysterious
sender had reckoned on everyone else being too busy to notice the
occurrence.
A voice just beside Frobisher at that moment testified to the fact that
at least one other person in the fleet had eyes wherewith to see. The
voice was Drake's, and all he said was: "I suppose you saw that, sir?"
But from the tone in which the words were spoken Frobisher knew that his
own suspicions were shared.
Frobisher glanced round him. "Ay, I saw," he replied, with set teeth.
"There is a noose waiting for a certain acquaintance of ours, Drake; and
the sooner it is placed round his neck and hauled taut, the better will
it be for China."
Further conversation was out of the question, for at this moment there
came the boom of a gun, followed by a string of flags fluttering up to
the signal-yard of the _Ting Yuen_, which, interpreted, signified that
the flagship's anchor was up and that she was under way. Then came
another signal, ordering the ships to proceed to sea in double column of
line ahead, the starboard line being led by the flagship, and the port
line by the other battleship, the _Chen Yuen_.
Gradually the two battleships gathered way and proceeded to head down
the river abreast of each other. Then came Frobisher's own ship, the
_Chih' Yuen_, in the starboard division, with the _Shan-si_ as her
companion; the _Yen-fu_ and _Khu-ling_ came next, then the _Yung-chau_
and _Tung-yen_; while the old _Hai-yen_ and _San-chau_ ended the lines,
the fleet thus being composed often vessels, two of which--the two last
named--were practically useless for the fighting line, but were to be
employed as tenders or dispatch vessels as occasion might require. The
seven torpedo-boats had taken their departure from the anchorage while
the War Council on the flagship was in progress, and had been sent on
ahead to the mouth of the river as scouts. They were to run a distance
of twenty miles out to sea, to ascertain whether there were any of the
enemy's ships in the offing, and then to return with their report to the
entrance of the Pei-ho, where the battle fleet would await their arrival
under the guns of the Taku forts.
The torpedo-boats, on their return from the scouting expedition,
reported the sea clear of the enemy's war-ships, and the fleet
immediately proceeded on its way to Wei-hai-wei, which was reached the
following afternoon. Here things were in a state of almost hopeless
confusion, and the troops waiting to be embarked were scattered all over
the neighbourhood, foraging the countryside for provisions on their own
account. Some of the baggage had been put aboard the transports; some
could not be found at all; officers could not find their troops; and the
_men_ themselves did not know their own officers when they saw them: so
it was not until the fleet arrived and the Navy men began to take things
in hand that order began to be evolved out of chaos, and matters to
straighten themselves out gradually.
At length, however, the last man, the last horse, and the last rifle
were safely got aboard the transports, of which there were no less than
ten, and the fleet with its convoy got under way for the port of Wi-ju,
at the mouth of the Yalu, where the troops were to be disembarked.
The distance from Wei-hai-wei to Wi-ju is a little under two hundred
miles, and the voyage was completed without mishap in about twenty
hours, the whole fleet coming to an anchor in the roadstead just as the
first shades of evening were falling. There being no facilities at the
port for working during the night, the task of disembarkation was
deferred until the following morning, and the soldiers on board the
troop-ships seized the opportunity to indulge in a "sing-song" to while
away the evening--the last entertainment of its kind that many of them
were ever to take part in.
The transports were of course anchored nearest the shore, with the
war-ships outside of them for protection in case of a sudden raid by the
Japanese fleet; while outside of all, a mile distant, the seven
torpedo-boats steamed constantly to and fro, acting the part of
patrol-boats, and keeping a sharp look-out seaward, for the Chinese
would have been caught in a trap had the enemy appeared while they were
lying at anchor in the roadstead, unable to manoeuvre.
Night came down as black as the inside of a wolf's mouth; the air was
thick and heavy, difficult to breathe, and surcharged with electricity;
and to Drake, intimately acquainted as he was with these seas, it seemed
that a typhoon was more than probably brewing. There was a sense of
discomfort and uneasiness in the atmosphere which communicated itself to
man and beast, for in the stillness of the night, in the pauses in the
singing and uproar, the horses in their stalls on board the transports
could be heard whinnying and neighing, as though not altogether at ease.
Little balls of electricity came and went on the yards and at the
mastheads, like mysterious signals, presenting a very weird and uncanny
effect; and some of the superstitious Chinese sailors, who had had no
previous experience of "Saint Elmo's fire", burnt joss-sticks and
twisted their prayer-wheels, in the hope of scaring away the evil
spirits which they averred were hovering round the ships.