The last dozen yards were open ground, fully exposed to the attack of

the Chunchuses. He ran across them, and stooped to the wounded man. At

the foot of the gully several of the Chunchuses now showed themselves

and watched his proceedings. He first tied his handkerchief round the

injured limb, then lifted the man and turned to make his way back. He

took two steps, then staggered; the man was heavy, and the necessity of

carrying him in a horizontal position, in order to check the flow of

blood to his wounded leg, made him a cumbrous burden on so steep an

ascent. Bob was doubting whether he would be able unaided to bring the

man into safety, when Ah-Sam appeared. He had marked the difficulty,

and, seeing that an attack from below was for the time improbable, had

run to his master's assistance. Together then they carried the

Chunchuse up the gully, and carefully lifted him over the barricade, and

Bob was rewarded by a grateful glance and a murmured word of thanks from

Ethel, who at once bent down to assist the man. Mrs. Pottle, for all

her outward truculence, had a kind heart. Protesting all the time that

it was ridiculous to waste sympathy on a brigand, she lent her niece

willing aid, and soon the limb was well bandaged, and the man was

supplied with food and tea.

By this time the Chunchuses had congregated about the mouth of the

gully, where they stood discussing the situation with some excitement.

Bob guessed that the appearance of a Korean capable of fighting, in

company with a Chinaman of courage and assurance, had somewhat

astonished them; and though it was impossible for Ah-Sam to hear what

they were saying, it was not difficult to guess that they were divided

in opinion, some being inclined to renew the attack, others to seek a

compromise. It was Bob's policy to wait. Suddenly the colloquy below

was interrupted; there was a sound of galloping horses, and immediately

the Chunchuses were scattering, seeking cover behind boulders at the

mouth of the ravine. Behind them came one or two of the men they had

left in the road in charge of the horses. For a few moments there was

wild confusion, a clamour of mingled shouts, the clash of arms, the

stampeding of horses. A shot rang out, the babel ceased, and a man was

seen hurrying up the gully, holding a piece of torn and dirty rag upon

his musket.

"Tell him to stop," said Bob to Ah-Sam when the Chunchuse had come

within fifty yards of the barricade.

"What is happening now?" asked Mrs. Pottle, endeavouring to peep over a

boulder.

"Please go back, Mrs. Pottle," said Bob earnestly. "I don't know what

may happen yet. It appears to be a flag of truce."

"I decline to have any parley with the brigands," said Mrs. Pottle

decisively; "I firmly decline. They are outlaws, and--"

"Auntie, Mr. Fawcett wishes to speak to the man," interposed Ethel

mildly.

The emissary had stopped at Ah-Sam's bidding, and was now speaking

rapidly in answer to the Chinaman's questions. His features wore an

anxious look. From Ah-Sam's translation of his speech, Bob learnt that

the commotion he had recently witnessed was due to the sudden appearance

of a mixed force of Russians and Manchus, who had ridden up in two

parties, one from each side of the valley, and closed in upon the

Chunchuses at the gully's mouth. Sheltered by the large scattered

rocks, the brigands were able for the moment to keep the Russians at

bay; but at any moment their position might be rushed. They knew that

they could expect no mercy from the Russians, and they were now in a

terrible dilemma: on the one side the Cossacks, on the other the armed

men, they did not know how many in number, behind the barricade.

Between two fires they would be utterly annihilated. As a counsel of

desperation the flag-bearer had come to beg the leader of the party more

favourably posted to admit the Chunchuses behind his entrenchments,

where they might make common cause against the Russians.

This was a critical moment which Bob had not foreseen. Obviously there

was little time for deliberation. Though no more shots had been fired,

he had no doubt that the Russians were only awaiting a favourable

opportunity for swooping on the band of Chunchuses, and after they had

been disposed of it would not be long before he too, with his

companions, must fall into their hands. The ladies might be safe with

them, of course; but he himself durst not appear; they were hunting him

for his life. It was thus impossible for him to remain neutral. Recent

events had in fact made him a natural ally of the Chunchuses. They

might be brigands, but they were at the same time patriots, fighting on

their own soil against an alien invader. Their methods were not perhaps

commendable from a western stand-point, but the Russians themselves, as

he himself had seen during his wanderings in Korea, were not always too

scrupulous. There was only one consideration that made him hesitate,

and that was, would the sudden friendliness of the Chunchuses last after

the pressing danger was past?

Bob was not long in making up his mind.

"Tell them," he said to Ah-Sam, "that I will help them if they will help

us in return. If they succeed in beating off the Russians, they must

afterwards help us to cross the Yalu and come safely within the Japanese

lines. Will they do that?"

"My talkee, massa."

Ah-Sam put the case to the man, who stood impatiently awaiting Bob's

decision. The answer was voluble, and accompanied by gestures which to

Bob were very mysterious. Ah-Sam explained that the Chunchuse had at

once accepted the offered terms, and had emphasized his promise by

swearing by the graves of his ancestors that he would make his words

good.

"Is he to be trusted?" asked Bob.

"Oh yes. He one piecee head man; he talkee velly good; he velly muchee

aflaid joss angly, spoilum allo piecee Chunchuses this-tim', supposey no

do what he hab say do. He allo lightee, massa."

"Very well. Tell him I will see what can be done."

"What are you going to do, Mr. Fawcett?" asked Mrs. Pottle. "I strongly

object to have any dealings with the brigands, and I declare--"

"Auntie," interposed Ethel gently, "don't you think we had better trust

to Mr. Fawcett to do what he thinks best?"

"Well, I wash my hands of the whole business. China boy, fetchee more

water from the streamee; we wantee makee more tea."

Thanking the girl with a glance, Bob sprang over the barricade, and,

with a parting order to Ah-Sam to remain with the ladies, set off to

join his late enemy. At the mouth of the gully he found that the

Chunchuses had taken up positions behind every available rock. They

were somewhat tightly packed, and as some of them moved from their

places to meet their returning leader, and for a moment left cover, the

Russians began to take snap shots at them from the crest of a hillock

about six or seven hundred yards away. One man was hit just as Bob

reached the band. There was a reply from several of the Chunchuses; but

it was clear that they were hopelessly outranged. Their muskets did

indeed carry the distance of the Russian position, but with no accuracy,

and as the Russians were careful to present no considerable target, they

were unlikely to suffer any loss.

Peering cautiously round the edge of a boulder, Bob looked across the

valley in the direction pointed out to him. At first he could see

nothing; then, on the crest of the hillock, he saw one or two moving

objects which by and by resolved themselves into the caps of men on the

other side. He wondered why the Russians, armed as they were with good

weapons, did not advance boldly to the attack; but the explanation soon

suggested itself. The horses of the Chunchuses having been stampeded,

escape for the latter was impossible. The Cossacks recognized that they

had them in a trap, but were disinclined to throw away lives by coming

to close quarters in broad daylight with a strongly entrenched enemy.

At nightfall, however, the odds would be all in their favour. They

outnumbered the Chunchuses by at least two to one; under cover of night

they could easily rush the position through the wide gaps between the

boulders; and in a hand-to-hand fight their superior numbers were bound

to tell. Bob had no doubt that they would defer their attack until

night, and that was a serious danger to be provided against.

He was still watching the hillock, wondering how many men were encamped

on the farther slope, when he noticed a dark shape rise upon the crest.

Its outlines were clearly visible in contrast with the snow-covered

ground, and in a moment Bob recognized the form as the head and

shoulders of a Manchu. The man had apparently just spread his cloak

before him, for he bent down face forwards, until only his head was

visible, a dark motionless patch at the summit of the hill. A minute or

two passed, then Bob saw a faint puff of smoke just below the crouching

Manchu, and immediately afterwards a metallic "splat" was heard on the

rock close to Bob's elbow. The man had evidently posted himself with

the object of taking pot-shots at any of the Chunchuses who incautiously

afforded him a target. His rifle was a good one, and that he was a good

marksman was soon proved, for a second puff of smoke was followed, not

by the sound of a bullet striking the rock, but by a howl of pain from

one of the defenders, whose arm, overlapping the edge of the rock behind

which he stood, had been pierced by the Manchu's shot. Only half a

minute later, a third shot was even more accurate; a man's head showed

above a rock, and with a suddenness that startled everyone he fell back,

dead.

The movements which had exposed the defenders to the aim of the Manchu

marksman were partly due to the impatient rage of the Chunchuses at

their inability to retaliate. Bob saw that a succession of such

incidents would destroy their nerve and demoralize them. He was himself

a good marksman; at eight hundred yards he had more than once scored a

possible on the butts at Darnley; and the sight of the dead man by his

side banished his last feeling of compunction at taking an active part.

Removing his cloak and cap to reduce his height and bulk as much as

possible, he cautiously made his way to the boulder at which the

Chunchuses were least huddled. As he ran across a few yards of exposed

space, bullets pattered all around him; a man at the edge of the boulder

for which he was making raised his hand to his cheek, and withdrew it

covered with blood; a splinter of lead or rock had inflicted a slight

jagged wound. The man looked at his hand with stolid indifference, and

wiped it on his coat. It was evident that there were other marksmen on

the crest of the hill, though only the Manchu was in sight. This

incident had the curious effect of steadying Bob's nerve, and when he

reached the boulder he was able to take a quiet look round.

A few feet to the right there lay an isolated rock much lower than the

one whose shelter he had gained. Throwing himself flat on the ground,

he crawled slowly forward, and noticed when he came to the smaller

boulder that, still farther to the right, and a little in advance, there

was a yet smaller rock, the lateral interval between the two being so

narrow that he thought it unlikely he could be seen by the Russians if

he used it as a peep-hole. It turned out as he surmised. He found

that, while himself invisible, he commanded a view of about one-sixth of

the space occupied by the Russians. As he looked, he saw that the

Manchu who had been so troublesome had disappeared; the line of the

hill-crest was unbroken. Bob feared that the man had escaped him, but

in a moment he caught sight of his head and shoulders again, at a point

somewhat to the left of his former position. He lowered himself as

before, and bent forward on his elbow, waiting a favourable opportunity

to test his marksmanship. The moment came; some incautious Chunchuse had

no doubt exposed himself, for Bob saw the Manchu lift his rifle in the

attitude of taking aim. He was destined never to pull the trigger.

From his first movement Bob had covered him; while he was still aiming,

the crack of a rifle was heard in the gully, and the Manchu's head fell

forward, his rifle forming a dark streak on the snow. So instantaneous

had been the effect of his shot that Bob was for the moment doubtful;

but it was impossible to mistake the attitude of the inert form on the

hillside. The man was dead.

The fact came home to Bob with a sort of shock. A soldier in the heat

of battle has no time to reflect; his duty is to shoot straight and keep

his nerve. But this single shot had not been fired in the rush of

fight; it had scarcely caused his nerves to tingle more than in a

keenly-contested musketry competition at home. For the moment he felt

guilty as though he had committed a crime, and, rifle in hand, stared

spell-bound at the prostrate figure. Then he was startled from his

reverie by the sound of a hail of bullets whistling through the air and

pattering on the rocks, and around him the discharge of a dozen

antiquated pieces within the space of a few yards filled the air with

the pungent smell of war.

After some minutes the din ceased. For an hour afterwards the firing

was merely spasmodic. Bob was confirmed in his conclusion that the

Russians were only putting in time until nightfall. Knowing that it

would be impossible to hold the wide gaps at the mouth of the gully

against a rush of superior forces, he saw that sooner or later the

Chunchuses would have to take refuge higher up; but he was anxious to

defer this movement, and cast about for some means of at least

inflicting a temporary check upon the enemy. The Chunchuses themselves

were making no preparations for the changed conditions that must arise,

and being ignorant of their language, Bob was unable to consult with

them. He therefore called Ah-Sam to his side, and through him asked the

leader of the brigands what he proposed to do. The man replied that

when night came he meant to retreat up the gorge behind the barricade;

his men were too few to hold their present position; they would be

overwhelmed at the first assault. Bob pointed out that it was bad

policy to retire within their inmost defences except as a last resource.

Cooped up in the narrow space, above, they would be in desperate straits

if the enemy found a means of climbing the hills and taking them in the

rear. The man at once answered that the hills were unscaleable. Nobody

had ever been known to ascend them from this side. He was ready to make

a stand at the mouth of the gully if it were possible, but the

honourable stranger himself saw that it was out of the question.

Bob considered for a few moments. Dusk was creeping on, and if anything

was to be done it must be done quickly.

"Tell him," he said at length to Ah-Sam, "that if he and his men will do

what I ask them, we can make this position very strong. It will not

take longer than about half an hour."

The Chunchuse at once agreed, and Bob proceeded to explain his plan. As

soon as it was dark enough he proposed to send out ten of the best-armed

and most skilful marksmen in skirmishing order to a distance of a

hundred yards beyond the mouth of the gully, with orders to give instant

warning of the enemy's approach. Twenty of the rest were to act as a

reserve behind the boulders. There were some thirty men left; these he

proposed to divide into squads of five, and they were to roll or drag

towards the entrance of the ravine the loose boulders that lay scattered

along the banks of the stream above. The reserve meanwhile would load

the muskets of the whole body, and hold these in readiness for instant

use at various points, to which the workers would hasten, each to his

appointed spot, at the first alarm.

The suggestion was immediately approved by the leader, and received with

eagerness by his men when it was explained to them. Since Bob had

appeared on the scene, and especially since he had shot the Manchu on

the hill, the brigands had regarded him with a good deal of respect.

When the country had become sufficiently dark for their movements to

escape the notice of the Russians, the plan was immediately put into

operation. Bob himself superintended the work of the thirty. Under his

directions they rolled and dragged the rocks downward, blocking up the

gaps at the foot of the ravine. The task was arduous and unequal. Bob

added a man to a squad at one point where the stone to be moved was

unusually heavy, taking one from a neighbouring squad that happened to

be less taxed. During the first quarter of an hour the work went on at

a great rate. There was a good supply of manageable boulders near at

hand, and the men were encouraged when they saw a continuous breastwork

beginning to fill the gaps which had appeared to them indefensible. But

as the nearest stones became used up, the task grew in difficulty, for

higher up the ravine the boulders were larger and required much greater

exertions to move them. It was becoming colder as the darkness

increased, but the ground was as yet not sufficiently hardened to be

slippery, and the huge masses of rock often sank into holes and were

obstructed by irregularities in the ground, so that the half-hour had

long been exceeded before the breastwork was finished. The task,

however, was completed at last. The new barrier was rough and uneven,

but promised to be quite adequate to its purpose.

There was still no sign of the enemy. No doubt they were waiting until

they might suppose the defenders lulled to security; perhaps they were

having a meal in preparation for their attack. As the idea struck Bob,

he asked whether the Chunchuses had any provisions with them, and was

alarmed to find that they were almost foodless, their supplies having

been on their horses' backs. They carried in their wallets no more than

one day's food. This was unfortunate; it might prove a calamity. The

coming struggle was likely to be severe, and the brigands, however much

inured to hardship they might be, could not fight well if they were

hungry. Bob advised the men to husband their little stock as much as

possible; he feared that nothing could be spared from what Ah-Sam had

brought in the cart, and already foresaw the ultimate destiny of the

little Chinaman's team.

Recalling seven of the scouts outside, leaving three still to keep a

vigilant look-out for signs of the advancing enemy, he leant on the

breastwork, and peered out into the darkness, wondering whether anything

had been left undone. As he looked at the few yards of snow-covered

ground still visible before him, an idea suddenly flashed across his

mind. Calling up Ah-Sam, he sent him to bring his four spades from the

cart. Removing a small boulder at one extremity of the barricade, he

borrowed a spear, went outside to a distance of ten paces, and with the

spear drew a line across the mouth of the gully parallel with the

barrier. Four feet beyond this line he drew another parallel with it,

then returned within the defences. In a few minutes Ah-Sam came back

with the spades, and Bob was astonished to see that he was accompanied

by Ethel.

"I have brought you some tea," she said; "it will refresh you. Auntie

is very anxious to know what you are doing. I could hardly persuade her

not to come and see."

"It is very good of you. Please go back, Miss--" He paused. Mrs.

Pottle had omitted to mention her niece's surname. He saw a faint smile

in Ethel's face.

"Auntie never stands much on ceremony," she said, "and she has taken you

quite for granted. My father's name is Charteris."

"Do, please, go back. The Russians may be upon us at any moment, and

you will be in danger. Tell Mrs. Pottle that we are doing our best.

Ah-Sam, go back with Miss Charteris, and remain with the ladies."

"My no likee go that-side," protested Ah-Sam. "My velly good fighty

man; my no tinkee--"

"Come, Ah-Sam!" said Ethel.

Ah-Sam looked from one to the other, then without another word, but with

a very downcast countenance, he walked behind the girl up the hill.

Bob had no difficulty in making the Chunchuse leader understand by signs

that he required the services of four spademen. These were at once

forthcoming--four strapping fellows, who soon showed by the way they

handled their implements that before they became brigands they were

husbandmen. He set them to dig a trench between the parallel lines he

had drawn, placing one man at each end, and the other two back to back

in the centre, with orders to work towards their comrades at the fastest

rate of which they were capable. After five minutes he relieved them by

another squad, and while these were working it struck him that if the

Russians attacked suddenly, and the diggers tried to scramble over the

barrier, they would come directly in the line of fire and either lose

their lives or cause the loss of precious time to the firing party. He

therefore removed a small rock at each end, and when he sent out the

next relieving squad he gave them express orders to make for the

barrier, each man for the gap nearest him, if the alarm were given. The

men worked so energetically that in a short time a trench four feet

broad and two deep stretched across the entrance to the gully. The men

were then withdrawn. They joined their comrades in disposing of the

scanty rations at command. All being now in readiness to meet an attack,

the scouts also were recalled, and Bob, feeling that he had done all

that he could, sat down to rest and await the event.

The time dragged slowly on. The whole band maintained almost absolute

silence; no sound was to be heard save the rush of the stream. Waiting

in the dark, all his senses on the alert, Bob wondered whether the enemy

had drawn off. It was unlike them so to do; the Russians were

implacable where Manchurian brigands not on their side were concerned.

The existence of these armed bands within their lines was at all times a

serious menace. The whole population, save for parties of hired

desperadoes, was hostile to the Russian cause. If in the coming

conflict with the hosts of Japan the Russians were beaten, the news

would rapidly spread through the country, and each isolated band of

Chunchuses would become the nucleus to which thousands would flock,

harassing the retreating army, and threatening a catastrophe like that

which befell Napoleon's grand army in its retreat from Moscow. It was

therefore most unlikely that the little force of which Bob now found

himself the virtual commander would be left unmolested. The Russian

captain had much to gain with his superiors by extirpating the band.

Bob was turning things over in his mind, when suddenly Ah-Sam made his

reappearance. This was somewhat surprising. The average Chinaman has

no stomach for a fight; he will die at his post if need be, but as a

rule he shows no dissatisfaction at being ordered to the rear. Bob had

expected that Ah-Sam would be more than glad to have the opportunity of

remaining in safety with the ladies.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I ordered you to remain

above."

"My savvy, massa. My velly muchee aflaid largo piecee woman. She say

my come back chop-chop bottom-side; massa want gib orders allo piecee

Chunchuses; no can do supposey China-boy no this-side helpum talkee.

Littee piecee missy say all-same; my no can stay topside no longer,

galaw!"

Bob already knew Mrs. Pottle well enough not to be surprised at her

taking a different view from his own. The fact that Ethel Charteris had

acquiesced in her aunt's command to Ah-Sam to return showed that she was

in no fear; and reassured on this score, Bob reflected that certainly

Ah-Sam would be very useful, even indispensable, to him.

"Very well," he said, "keep close at hand, and we'll see what sort of a

fighting man you are when the time comes."

Bob turned his back on the gully, and once more looked earnestly into

the darkness. He therefore did not see the look of gleeful satisfaction

on the quaint face of his henchman, nor hear the chuckle he uttered as

he sat down to wait beside his master.

*CHAPTER XVI*

*Hemmed In*

The Deadly Breach--Yinkelis-fashion--Chang-Wo is Surprised--Short

Commons--Enfiladed--On the Ledge--The Ammunition Question--Chang-Wo

Disappears--Footsteps

The minutes passed. The air grew colder. Only the dim flickering of

the stars threw a faint light over the scene. One or two of the men had

fallen asleep; the rest waited, some stolidly, some restlessly, for the

expected encounter. Bob remained at the breastwork, intently watching.

At length one of the men who had been out as scouts whispered hurriedly

to the leader; he had heard a slight sound from the distance. The

sleepers were roused; every man stood to arms; all were on the instant

doubly alert. After the first rustle there was an extraordinary

stillness; the watchers seemed scarcely to breathe. Bob heard nothing,

but in a moment the scout whispered again. The Russians were coming!

Through Ah-Sam the message was passed from the chief to Bob. Ten

minutes passed in tense and breathless expectancy, then there came a

sound which every man behind the barrier heard. It was the clash of

wood against steel; one of the enemy had stumbled and clumsily allowed

his weapon to strike that of a comrade. No other sound followed. The

enemy were evidently advancing with extreme caution, hoping, as Bob

conjectured, either to surprise the Chunchuses, or at any rate to

approach sufficiently close unseen to carry the defences with a rush.

In a whisper Bob bade Ah-Sam repeat a caution he had already impressed

upon the chief. Not a man should fire until the word was given. The

reserve were to withhold their fire altogether until the enemy had

reached the wall, or until their comrades had reloaded. Another period

of waiting, shorter; then the crisp footfalls of a body of men creeping

over the freezing ground were distinctly heard. Suddenly, about thirty

yards away, a dark mass of figures came into view; there was a low word

of command, and the whole body of Russians and Manchus sprang forward

with a yell in which every dialect was represented from the Danube to

the Yalu.

Would the obedience of the bandits be equal to the strain of waiting for

the word? Bob had hardly time to wonder, for the enemy had swept over

the first twenty yards dividing them from the rocky breastwork; behind

it, all was silent. Then as if by magic the mass seemed to melt away;

the attacking party had, as Bob expected, failed to see the shallow

trench; the first line stepping into it fell headlong, the second

tripped over them, and next moment the majority of the men were

floundering affrighted on the snow-covered ground. Then Bob gave the

word. The muskets roared, and bullets fell thick into the midst of the

struggling heap immediately under the muzzles of the defenders' weapons.

An awful cry ascended from the heaving mass. It was impossible to

distinguish what was going on, for the men upon the ground were a

tangled medley, some trying to regain their feet and flee from the spot,

others writhing with wounds, too badly hit to rise, a few pressing madly

forward to the breastwork, which they strove to scale. Then the reserve

opened fire; the clamour was redoubled, and the survivors turned their

backs, and, jumping or scrambling over their fallen comrades, fled

amazedly away into the darkness.

Yells of exultation and defiance burst from the throats of the

defenders, now at last able to give vent to the feelings pent up during

hours of silent waiting. The leader was eager to spring across the

breastwork and slaughter the wounded wretches, whose groans were heard

as the tumult subsided. Bob hauled him back by main force, and ordered

him to send out a few scouts to discover whether the Cossacks were

within striking distance. Learning soon that the enemy had all retreated

beyond the hill, he posted five men at intervals about four hundred

yards out to keep watch, and proceeded to attend to the wounded. Among

the defenders only one man had been hurt by the bayonet of a gallant

Russian, who had come right up to the wall and fallen dead beneath a

Chunchuse bullet. But in and around the trench there were twenty-eight

prone forms, and of these Bob soon saw that eleven had keen killed

outright. They were partly Russians, partly Manchus. As Bob went along

the trench, carefully examining the survivors in turn, he came upon one

lying on his right side, and groaning. He turned the man over, and

started--even in the dim light he fancied he recognized his features.

Thrilling with expectancy he went to the man's other side and stooped to

him. Yes, the right ear was gone; it was without doubt the Manchu,

Chang-Wo! Bob rose, and calling to Ah-Sam, bade him carry the wounded

man within the barricade; he himself followed, wondering at the strange

fate which had connected him with the Manchu ever since his arrival in

Japan. He was perplexed as to what could be done for the rest of the

injured, whose moans gave him many a pang. He was in no position to

deal with them--he had no surgical appliances, no food; yet he could not

leave them to perish miserably. What could he do? A thought struck

him. Why not deliver them to their own friends? It might be difficult;

neither party could trust the other; but he was determined that it

should be attempted, even though the Russians regarded it as a trap.

With Ah-Sam's assistance he explained the matter to the leader of the

Chunchuses, whose name, he learnt, was Sing-Cheng. The man was wholly

at a loss to understand Bob's object. He had acquiesced unwillingly in

the order not to butcher the wounded, partly because he knew they would

probably die of themselves if left. But that they should actually be

given up, living, to their comrades, seemed to him a foolish proposal.

Why had they been shot if the effects of the bullets were to be

disregarded?

It was no time to explain. Bob, indeed, felt that it might be a

difficult task to reconcile such opposites in a Chunchuse mind. He

merely asked Ah-Sam to say that it was his wish, and that he had a good

reason for it. A colloquy ensued between Ah-Sam and Sing-Cheng. Then the

former turned to Bob and said:

"He say velly well, massa, but no can tinkey so-fashion. He say massa

plenty good fightee man. Can makee place velly stlong, shoot allo

lightee. He tinkey one piecee Yinkelis topside man. He no savvy

what-for massa helpee spoilum Roshians. Ch'hoy! He do what massa say

this-time."

"Very well," said Bob.

It was necessary to send a message to the Cossack commander. He could

not entrust a verbal message to a Chunchuse; he could not dispense at

present with Ah-Sam. He must write his proposal, and he had neither

paper nor pencil.

"No doubt Mrs. Pottle will have both," he said to himself.

Leaving instructions with the Chunchuses to keep a strict look-out, he

hurried up the gully. The ladies must have been alarmed by the firing,

and he could fulfil his errand and reassure them at the same time. He

spoke to them before he reached the inner barricade, and, when he

arrived, found them standing within the line of boulders, ready to meet

him. Even Mrs. Pottle was subdued; the terrors of the past half-hour

had shaken her. He noticed that she grasped her umbrella.

"Oh, Mr. Fawcett!" she exclaimed; "what has happened?"

"We have beaten off the Russians--once," Bob replied quietly.

"You are not hurt?" said Ethel, leaning towards him, her face very pale.

"No; only one of our party is injured--very slightly. Don't be alarmed.

I don't think we shall be troubled any more to-night. I came to borrow

some writing materials. Some of the enemy are badly wounded, and I want

to send a message to their officer asking him to carry them away."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you! Auntie, a leaf from your block-book. Here

is a pencil."

Mrs. Pottle tore a leaf from the book in which she had noted down her

impressions of travel in the East, and gave it to Bob.

"Come back soon, Mr. Fawcett," she said. "I am very nervous. That

horrid shooting keeps throbbing in my head."

Promising to return if possible, Bob hastened down to the breastwork,

and on a boulder, by the light of matches struck for him by Ah-Sam, he

wrote in French to the Russian officer. Explaining that he was unable

to tend the wounded, he suggested that six men at a time should be sent

unarmed to carry them off; he would guarantee their safety. Meanwhile

he held one of the wounded men as a hostage.

He despatched the note by a scout, who, venturing about half-way to the

Russian position, called aloud for someone to come out and meet him.

After some delay a Cossack cautiously approached and received the note.

Half an hour elapsed, during which his communication, Bob surmised, had

been discussed in the Russian camp; then a Manchu came forward and told

the messenger in his own tongue that the terms were accepted. If

treachery were practised, the Russians would hang every man caught in

the gully. Bob smiled when Ah-Sam translated the message. He knew

that, treachery or no treachery, hanging or worse would be the fate of

any prisoner; there was no mercy for the Chunchuses.

It took more than an hour to remove the wounded, whom Bob had had

carefully carried to a distance of a hundred yards from the breastwork,

in order that his defences might not be too closely inspected. When the

last had disappeared, Bob went to the spot where his wounded prisoner

had been laid. Chang-Wo had now recovered consciousness. He was

suffering from a severe scalp wound, which had already been roughly

dressed. At Bob's orders Ah-Sam struck a match and held it close to the

Manchu's face. He blinked and scowled, then stared at Bob for a moment

with a very puzzled expression; he was clearly trying to reconcile the

features of the man before him with the Korean dress. Then he glared; a

look of rage and chagrin darkened his villainous face. Bob saw that he

was recognized. The Manchu attempted to rise, but fell back and

groaned. Bob said never a word to him, but giving orders that he should

be made as comfortable as possible, he arranged with the chief to keep

half the men on duty during the night, while the others rested; and then

with Ah-Sam he returned to the ladies in the lonely refuge above.

Mrs. Pottle in his company soon regained her self-confidence, and

insisted on a full account of the fight below. Bob told her as much as

he thought she should know, and all the time Ethel, like Desdemona, hung

upon his words.

"You cannot hoodwink me," exclaimed Mrs. Pottle at the conclusion of the

story. "It was you planned it all; I know it was. I have been six

weeks with the Chunchuses, and they've no brains. If it had not been

for your quickness, Mr. Fawcett, we should have been bound to the

Russian cart-wheels by this time."

"Oh no!" returned Bob. "But I must not conceal from you that we are

still in a difficult position, Mrs. Pottle, and it is not too late for

you still to escape all danger by seeking safety with the Russians."

"I positively refuse; I will not hear of it. I have had enough of the

Russians. Besides, what could they do? It appears to me that they've

overreached themselves in undertaking to conquer Japan. And mercy me!

I don't want to be sent back via Siberia! No, Mr. Fawcett, I'm nearer

my country here, and here I shall stay--to the bitter end!"

"But Miss Charteris--"

"She has no wish apart from mine, and of course where I am she must be."

"Well, Mrs. Pottle, you know the position. I will do my best. Now I

think you should try to get some sleep. You have had a most exhausting

day, and will be quite done up."

"Oh, I couldn't sleep a wink. I should dream. No, I must get the China

boy to boil some water; tea will keep us awake. Ethel, my love, you are

not sleepy?"

"I think I am, auntie. I think I could sleep now I know that--that--"

"That what? Well, well! Ah-Sam, fetchee cloakees, ruggies, anythingy,

from the cartee; missy wantee go sleepy."

But it was Bob who brought all the available wraps from the cart, and

made a comfortable couch on the rock for the ladies. After all, it was

Mrs. Pottle that fell asleep first. She slept calmly through the night,

though she declared when Bob made his appearance that she had scarcely

shut her eyes.

The night had passed peacefully. Bob himself had not dared to slumber,

for fear lest the attack should be renewed. When morning dawned, he saw

the Russians in their old position on the hillock. An occasional shot

when one of the garrison exposed himself showed that they were still on

the alert, but hour after hour went by and no attack in force was made.

Thinking over the situation, Bob could not but conclude that the enemy

were either bent on starving him out, or had sent for reinforcements. As

nearly as he could judge, their original strength had been some eighty

Cossacks and sixty Manchus. At least thirty men must now be subtracted

as dead or incapacitated, and as it was likely that many who had escaped

after the night attack were more or less badly hit, it was natural that

they should hesitate before again approaching the fatal gully.

With either of the two alternatives, Bob recognized that the prospects

of the garrison were anything but good. The food question had confronted

them the night before; if the Russians persisted in a blockade they

would soon be face to face with starvation. There were so many mouths

to feed--the ladies first of all, for whom the supply of rice and millet

in the cart might suffice for a few days. There was almost nothing for

the brigands, who, in fact, had already skinned and cut up Ah-Sam's

pony. Ah-Sam had only sufficient fodder in the cart to last his mules

two days, even at the most economical rate, and there was not a vestige

of herbage in the neighbourhood.

Bob kept as much as possible out of Mrs. Pottle's reach during that day.

She had a most uncomfortable habit of asking pressing questions that he

found it impossible to evade. But at nightfall she had an opportunity

of making the enquiry on the matter that had troubled her all day--this

very matter of food.

"We have done very well," she said. "Ah-Sam's rice is excellent, and

his millet cakes passable, though I can't trust him to make the tea.

But what have you had, Mr. Fawcett? You have not shared in one of our

meals to-day."

"No, I shared with Ah-Sam."

"But what did he have? He refused to take any rice or millet."

"He shared with the Chunchuses."

"Yes, but that's what I don't understand. They had nothing left

yesterday: where did they get food to-day?"

Bob hesitated, but knowing that the truth must come out sooner or later,

he at last said:

"We had a little beef--horse-beef, in fact; very like the real thing."

Ethel shuddered. Mrs. Pottle gasped, then cried indignantly:

"I am ashamed of you, Mr. Fawcett. I am not thinking of the poor beast.

It is a shame to deceive me. You could have had rice: I would have

boiled it for you myself."

"But, my dear Mrs. Pottle, we don't know how long we may be cooped up

here; and if I used your rice you would be reduced to eating the mules."

Mrs. Pottle looked at him. Her plump cheeks turned a little green.

Then with a forced laugh she said:

"Well, by all accounts I've eaten worse. I don't say I relish mules,

but if it comes to that--"

"Don't worry, auntie," interposed Ethel. "There is still some rice

left. Mr. Fawcett will find a way out of this difficulty, I am sure."

Bob privately wished that he felt anything like the same assurance. Two

days passed, during which his anxiety did but deepen. No movement was

made by the Russians. This fact only increased his uneasiness, for it

was a proof that the worst of the position had yet to be faced. One of

the mules had been killed and cut up; Bob found, indeed, that the

Chunchuses were almost reckless in their consumption of the flesh, and

he had to impress upon Sing-Cheng the necessity of putting them on fixed

rations. At best the fare was meagre; the animals were hardy and

muscular, but with no superfluous flesh; and what flesh there was was

not too wholesome without vegetable food. The men ate their scanty

rations without grumbling, but they objected to the feeding of Chang-Wo;

in him, indeed, Sing-Cheng had recognized an enemy against whom he bore

an old-standing private grudge. He was for killing the Manchu out of

hand; he reeled off to Ah-Sam a long and passionate account of the evils

he had done. But Bob insisted that the prisoner must be fed exactly as

themselves, and kept him bound hand and foot to the cart.

On the third day, shortly after dawn, Bob was disconcerted to find that

the enemy had achieved what Sing-Cheng had declared to be impossible.

Shots from a point high up the cliff on his left told him that in some

way, probably by making a considerable detour, the Russians had gained a

position whence they could enfilade his encampment behind the boulder.

The new danger to which he was exposed was soon brought home to him.

The enemy, themselves for the most part under cover, began to pick off

the Chunchuses, while their comrades on the hill in front kept up a hot

fire which showed that escape in that direction was impossible. The

unfortunate garrison were placed in a desperate plight. If they shifted

their ground to avoid the flank attack they exposed themselves to the

enemy on the hill. To neither could they make any effective reply. In

the first place their arms were ineffective at the range, and secondly,

the Russians had all the advantage of cover. Bob himself, with his more

accurate rifle, managed to put _hors de combat_ one or two of the enemy

who exposed themselves; though he dared not shoot as often as

opportunity offered, for his stock of ammunition was small, and it was

necessary to husband it.

As his men dropped one by one he recognized at length that the position

was untenable. He must withdraw them behind the barricade above, which

was protected by the contour of the hill from the marksmen on the cliff.

But this raised the question, what was he to do with the ladies? There

were two reasons against their remaining where they were. First,

seventy Chunchuses huddled in the small free space behind the barricade

were scarcely fit company for them; secondly, they themselves would be

in the way if the Russians pushed home an attack. Both Mrs. Pottle and

Ethel had up to the present borne the stress of the situation with good

heart, and under Ah-Sam's tuition had become adepts in the cooking of

rice and millet, which, with tea, brewed in diminishing strength daily,

was their only sustenance. Bob did his best to disguise from them the

full gravity of the position, but felt all the time that they must see

the hollowness of his assurances.

While he was wondering what to do for the best, his eye lit on the

fissure in the rock above which had attracted his attention when he

first came along the road. Was it deep enough, he wondered, to afford

protection to the two ladies? At the mouth it was exposed to the

enfilading fire of the Russians, but if it extended for any considerable

distance into the rock, it might form a place of refuge. He resolved to

explore it. It could only be approached by the shelf of rock that

abutted on the mountain stream, and this for the greater part of its

length was sheltered from the enemy. But there was a strip of some

twenty yards lying in the interval between two shelving rocks, and this

was quite open. It would be a case of running the gauntlet. He looked

round in final search of another way; there was none; he must himself

take the risk.

But it was necessary first to ensure the safety of his little force

during his absence. He therefore withdrew the greater part from the

wall at the mouth of the gorge, leaving only a dozen men, who were

protected from the fire of the Russians on the heights by a projecting

spur of the hill. These being the best marksmen could probably hold the

enemy in check for a time, but Bob ordered them to withdraw behind the

upper barricade if the Russians, realizing the weakness of the defending

force, should at last attempt a rush. Meanwhile the men he had

withdrawn were set to construct with boulders a small fort high up the

gorge just under the waterfall; this would form excellent vantage ground

in case the Russians occupied the lower portion of the gully.

These arrangements having been made, Bob left the ladies in charge of

Ah-Sam and started on his hazardous expedition. Knowing that the

fissure, if of any considerable depth, must be quite dark, he took with

him a torch improvised out of a piece of sacking smeared with mule fat,

and a box of matches. He climbed over the intervening rocks, turned a

corner, reached the ledge, and walked along until he came to the exposed

portion, where he halted for a moment. Then, springing forward like a

sprinter, he dashed over the narrow shelf at the imminent risk of

stumbling and falling to the rocky bed of the stream fifty feet below.

He was seen by the Russians on the hill, and in the few seconds he took

to complete the passage he heard a patter of bullets on the rocks, and

one or two even followed him as he gained the opening and plunged in.

But he had escaped unhurt, and safe in the fissure he paused to take

breath and to light his torch, reflecting that he would run double

danger in coming out, for the Russians would doubtless be on the watch

for him.

Making his way into the cleft, he found that it was broader than he had

expected. After about twenty yards it took a sudden curve to the left,

and then widened into a jagged irregular passage some four yards in

breadth, and of varying height. At one moment, torch in hand, he had to

stoop to avoid a sharp edge of rock; a little later the passage was at

least twenty feet high. He had penetrated as nearly as he could judge

for about fifty yards, when his steps were arrested by the faint sounds

of firing behind him, and he hurried back. As he approached the opening

the sound became so loud and continuous that he felt sure a stiff fight

was in progress. Keeping close to the less-exposed wall of the cleft at

its mouth, he saw from his elevated position that the Russians were at

last making the long-expected attack. From the hill a hot fire was

being brought to bear upon the mouth of the gully, while a number of the

enemy were just emerging from round the hillside to the right, being

protected from the fire of the dozen Chunchuses by the boulders. They

were making for the right extremity of the barrier, a point which it was

impossible to defend because of the direct and rapid firing from the

hill.

Clearly the twelve men gallantly holding their own at the mouth of the

gully were in danger of being cut off. Bob only took a second or two to

recognize the urgency of the case; then, springing on to the ledge at

the mouth of the cleft, he rushed along it at breakneck speed, and owed

his safety to his quick movements, for before the Russians caught sight

of him, occupied as they were with keeping down the fire from the

barrier beneath, he had covered several yards, and the snap shots they

then took flew wide of the mark. Arriving at the corner, he shouted to

Ah-Sam below an order to recall the men from the breastwork. The command

was instantly given, and the brigands, running like cats from rock to

rock, scrambled up the gully and flung themselves pell-mell through a

small gap left for them in the barricade above, one or two of them being

hit by Russian bullets. The advancing enemy at once occupied the far

side of the abandoned breastwork, and opened fire on the upper defences;

but when a few attempted to cross and move up the gully the fire of the

Chunchuses proved too hot for them, and they hastily retreated.

Except that the defenders were now driven into a more confined space,

the general situation had from the Russian point of view improved but

little. The Russians dared not press forward up the gorge, for it had

been so thoroughly cleared of boulders for the construction of the

barricades that it was almost wholly devoid of cover for an attacking

force. The double entrenchments above were even stronger than the

breastwork below, and could only be carried at a terrible cost.

By this time Bob had clambered down among his men. Unpleasant news was

in waiting for him. Through Ah-Sam the brigand leader informed him that

the men's ammunition was running short; they had only an average of five

rounds a man remaining. This was an irremediable misfortune. Only one

course was possible. All the available ammunition was collected and

distributed, principally among the twenty best shots in the band. Ten

of these men were stationed at the barricade by the carts, and ten in

the fort recently constructed higher up the gully. The remainder of the

garrison were given one round apiece, and this was only to be used on an

emergency. They were to make no attempt to reply to the fire of the

Russians. Bob stationed himself by the cart where Chang-Wo was still

bound, and fired a shot at intervals whenever an incautious member of

the attacking force presumed on the general silence of the besieged and

emerged from cover. More than once his shots took effect, and as a

result the enemy became more cautious, keeping well behind the shelter

of the rocks, and settling themselves to establish a strict blockade.

Thus the day passed. At the approach of night, Bob for the first time

informed Mrs. Pottle of the place of safety he had found for her and her

niece. The strain of the siege was beginning to tell on the elder lady,

who quite meekly accepted Bob's proposal, and prepared to climb with him

to the cleft. He was as much pleased as surprised to find that Ethel

became cooler and more self-possessed as her aunt grew more nervous.

When she learnt of the new habitation in the heart of the rock she was

eager to visit it; clearly the romance of the situation appealed to her

more strongly than the danger.

Bob did not care to risk lighting his torch. It was therefore a task of

no little difficulty for him and Ah-Sam to conduct the ladies along the

narrow ledge to the mouth of the cleft. But the passage was

successfully made, and Mrs. Pottle, panting for breath, heaved a sigh of

relief when she found herself seated on the sacks placed by Ah-Sam

within the entrance. Then Bob lit his torch, and by its light the

ladies saw the rugged sides and roof of their new abode.

"You must leave me the torch, Mr. Fawcett," said Mrs. Pottle. "I cannot

be left in this gloomy place in the dark."

"I will give you the materials for one," said Bob, "but it will be

unwise to keep a light constantly burning. The Russians would see it

from their hill, and I don't want them to frighten you by firing shots

into the cleft."

"But in the morning," said Ethel, "we shall want to communicate with

you. Will it not be dangerous for you to come and see us if the opening

is exposed to the Russians' fire?"

"We will guard against that," said Bob. "Ah-Sam and I will pile up some

boulders at the opening, and at the edge of that shelf of rock, and then

we shall be pretty safe. And for your own security here I have brought

a pistol; use it on the least provocation. Either I or Ah-Sam will be

near at hand; when we are not on guard at the barricade we shall get a

little sleep in a recess round the corner, just before the ledge begins;

we shall hear you if you call."

"Well, Mr. Fawcett," said Mrs. Pottle, "I guess you're a real nice boy,

and if we get out of this alive I don't know how I shall be able to show

my gratitude. Anyhow, your name shall be known throughout the United

States, from Texas to Oregon. Ethel, will you take the pistol or shall

I?"

"You have your umbrella, aunt," replied Ethel with a sly look at Bob.

Leaving the ladies to settle the point between themselves, he returned

to the edge of the gully, and succeeded in obtaining a few hours' sleep.

He was awakened by the voice of Ah-Sam addressing him urgently.

"Topside piecee Manchu no belongey no more this-side," said the

Chinaman. "Hab gone wailo other-side, galaw!"

"Gone?"

"Lun wailo chop-chop, massa; my no can find he."

"How did that happen? What was the sentry doing?"

"One piecee man gone dead."

Bob hurried to the cart, and found that it was indeed as Ah-Sam had

said: Chang-Wo had escaped. The cords that had bound him to the cart

lay loose; they were uncut. On the ground beside them lay the dead body

of one of the Chunchuses; he had been stabbed to the heart. No one

could give any information of the escape. The sentry had been changed

at intervals according to Bob's instructions; no sound had been heard

during the night; the Manchu had somehow managed to free himself from

his bonds and stolen away in silence. Bob was vexed, even more at the

slackness of the guard than at the disappearance of Chang-Wo, and he did

not fail to point the moral in a serious talk with Sing-Cheng, who for

his part was almost beside himself with rage. Nothing could be done,

the Manchu was gone. Bob wondered whether their paths would ever cross

again.

That day also passed, and still the Russians had made no sign. Bob

chafed at their inactivity. Apparently they were determined to starve

the garrison out. They might have been waiting for reinforcements, and

the fact that none had arrived seemed a proof that the general advance

of the Japanese army towards the Yalu had given the Russian staff other

matters to think about. How long could the defenders hold out? The

pony and one mule had already been eaten; there was no food for the

other two mules, and they must soon be killed to appease the men's

hunger. For the ladies there still remained a quantity of grain that

might be eked out with great economy for two or three days, but the

supply of fuel was failing. Ah-Sam had hitherto found scattered billets

of wood in the shape of branches fallen from the trees high up the cliff

and inaccessible from below. There was still the cart, and it was

evident that ere long that must be broken up.

That night Bob took a spell of duty at the lower barricade, leaving just

before three o'clock in the morning to snatch a rest before dawn. He

had just dropped off to sleep when he was startled to wakefulness by the

sound of a shot. His resting-place, as usual, was the end of the ledge

leading to the ladies' bower, as Ethel had called it, and the sound

seemed so close to him that he knew at once it must have proceeded from

Mrs. Pottle's pistol. Hurrying along the ledge as quickly as possible in

the darkness, his footsteps were heard by the ladies, and Mrs. Pottle

cried out to him to come to their assistance. The mouth of the cleft

was in pitch darkness, the night being cloudy; but Bob struck a match,

and saw Mrs. Pottle standing with her face to the interior, holding the

pistol in her right hand, and with her left pushing Ethel behind her

ample form.

"What has happened?" asked Bob anxiously.

"I have shot something. Take care; there may be another, there may be

hundreds. I will fire again. Listen! do you hear footsteps?"

All three held their breath. There was not a sound. Bob picked up and

lit the torch, and advanced in front of the ladies, throwing a faint

illumination on the irregular roof and walls. Nothing was to be seen.

"Perhaps it was a bird," said Bob.

"Not at all, Mr. Fawcett. It was a man, I know it was. I was lying

awake, thinking, and listening to dear Ethel's breathing, when I heard a

footstep. I jumped up; I heard it distinctly; then a sort of grunt,

like a man clearing his throat; then I saw a pair of eyes shining--"

"Oh, Aunt Jane, how could you in the dark?"

"My dear, I did; and to prove it, when I fired the pistol the eyes

disappeared, and you woke up, and you yourself heard footsteps, several

footsteps, going quickly away into the interior."

"I did seem to hear footsteps," said Ethel, "but I was so scared

that--Oh, Mr. Fawcett, I don't like this dark place. We don't know who

may be in it."

"But I went a good way through it before I brought you here, and saw

nothing."

"Depend upon it, there's another entrance," declared Mrs. Pottle, "and

the Russians were coming to attack us this way. If I had not been awake

we should all have been murdered. I think I frightened them, I know I

did; but they will come back. Mr. Fawcett, you must bring up your men

and drive the villains out at the other end."

"It is extraordinary. I cannot think that is the explanation. Russians

would not have run away at one pistol-shot. I must go into the interior

and explore. Ah-Sam, go and bring me another torch."

The Chinaman had followed in Bob's footsteps. He soon returned from the

encampment with a torch, which he lit at Bob's order.

"You will stay here with the torch till I return," said Bob.

"No can do," declared Ah-Sam. "My walkee behind-side massa, look-see

iniside. Supposey massa catchee Rosha man; ch'hoy! what for China-boy

stop wailo? One piecee man catchee you, he killum--sartin."

"Nonsense. You must guard the ladies. Do not follow me unless I call

you. I will be as quick as I can," he added to the ladies.

Then taking one torch in his left hand and a pistol in his right, he

advanced cautiously into the cleft, leaving the ladies standing with

joined hands.

*CHAPTER XVII*

*A Night Reconnaissance*

A Council of War--Looking West--Light--The Face of the

Cliff--Scouting--A Question of Navigation

Bob had not walked many yards along the rough floor when he heard a

slight sound ahead. Thrusting his torch well forward, he advanced with

great caution, feeling some anxiety now he had the evidence of his own

ears that Mrs. Pottle had not been dreaming. If by any chance one of

the enemy had found his way to the cleft, Bob felt that he himself would

be at a great disadvantage, being seen while the other was unseen. "But

I am in for it now," he reflected; "it would be as dangerous to retire

as to advance." He was so intent upon watching the space in front of

him that he stumbled more than once over the rocky, uneven floor of the

cavern. At every few yards he stopped to peer more carefully, and to

listen; always he saw nothing, always heard the sound of a light

footfall ahead. Fearing that his quarry would escape him he hurried his

pace; there was a corresponding acceleration in front; he hurried still

more, so did the other; until Bob, his uneasiness now banished by set

determination, was pushing forward at the utmost speed the rough ground

permitted.

Now he heard the sound of heavy breathing, and a scurrying noise as of

more than one person in full flight. Stumbling, falling, scrambling on,

Bob dashed in pursuit; he must know at all costs what this new peril

might be. At length, at a point where the roof shelved downwards, he

caught a glimpse of a dark form not many yards in advance; it was

immediately lost in shadow, then again it was discovered by the torch.

He did not venture yet to fire, but sprang forward to reduce the

distance between himself and the hurrying form. He was gaining on it;

its pace appeared to be slackening; he called on it to stop, or he would

fire. Suddenly the form disappeared, sinking as if into the floor. Bob

took a couple of steps, and then started back with a thrill of terror.

He felt wind upon his cheek; the torch flared more brightly. He had

emerged from the cleft; beneath him yawned a vast empty blackness. He

was on the brink of an abyss. At that moment he heard from below a

heavy thud, and started back from the edge with a sudden feeling of

faintness. Then he became aware that his torch could be seen from far

around, and flinging it upon the ground he stamped out the flame.

Recovering from his momentary vertigo, he crawled cautiously to the

brink of the precipice. There was nothing to be seen, save where a thin

streak of still unmelted snow in a crevice a few yards below made a

grayish patch on the black. He rose, picked up the torch, relit it when

he had retraced his steps for several yards into the cavern, and made

his way back to the other end.

"Well?" exclaimed both the ladies in a breath, as they saw him in a

circle of light some time before he reached them.

"We have been so much alarmed about you." added Mrs. Pottle. Ethel

gave a sigh of relief.

"There was something, or somebody," said Bob quietly.

"A Russian?"

"I don't know. Whoever he was, he is gone. He fell over a precipice at

the far end."

"Oh, how dreadful!" exclaimed Ethel. "Mr. Fawcett, you are quite pale.

Did you--is there--"

"Don't be alarmed," said Bob. "I have been right through the cavern

now. It is open at the other end; and to make sure that you are not

startled again, Ah-Sam and I will build a barricade across the cavern,

so that it will be impossible for anyone to reach you from the rear.

When it is light I will explore again, and find out who the intruder

was."

"I hope you killed him outright," said Mrs. Pottle.

"I could not fire. He was gone before I knew, and--"

"And you nearly followed him! Oh!" Ethel covered her face with her

hands.

"You are pale, Mr. Fawcett," said Mrs. Pottle. "What would I give for a

little brandy! I really cannot allow you to risk your life any more. I

should never forgive myself if I led you into any harm. As soon as it

is light, I will give myself up to the Russians; I will indeed, I am

quite resolved; this cannot go on any longer. I see how selfish I was;

but for us women you could have got away."

Mrs. Pottle's declaration had on Bob the effect of a tonic. He smiled

as he saw the lady grasp her unfailing stand-by--her umbrella.

"I don't think it would have been so easy," he said. "I hope you will

give me another chance. We have got on up to the present better than I

dared to hope; we need not talk of surrender just yet."

"Besides, auntie," said Ethel, "you wouldn't go when Mr. Fawcett gave

you the choice, and it isn't fair now that--"

"There now, that'll do. I am outvoted. I will stay as long as there is

any tea, but when all the tea is gone I shall take that as a warning

from Providence, and then, Mr. Fawcett, I shall give myself up, and

plead with the Russians for your life."

With Ah-Sam's assistance Bob collected the loose rocks within the cleft

and made a rough barrier across the narrowest part of the cavern. Then

he returned to his post and slept, leaving the Chinaman on guard.

After a distasteful breakfast of mule's flesh and tea, Bob again made

his way through the cavern. Counting his paces, he found that it was

about one hundred and fifty yards in length. Just before the farther

opening it narrowed considerably, so that there was little more than

room for two men to pass through abreast. At the mouth it emerged on

the side of a sheer hill-face nearly two hundred feet above the ground.

Standing just within the cleft, Bob was to a large extent sheltered from

view from the open by a jagged spur jutting out from the cliff, a piece

of rock that had apparently offered greater resistance to denudation

than the surrounding surface. He approached the edge of the precipice,

and throwing himself on his face, peered over.

The first object that caught his eye, wedged in between two rocks near

the foot of the precipice, was the body of a large brown bear. It was

almost with a gasp of relief that Bob realized that the object of his

chase was not a human being. In a flash he remembered the bear which he

had seen squatting at the side of the gully when he passed the entrance

a few days before.

"What an ass I was not to remember it!" he thought.

Then he blamed himself for allowing the ladies to take up their quarters

in the cleft; before he had thoroughly explored it. The bear had

evidently used it for his winter's sleeping-place, and had been alarmed

at the disturbance of his domain. He now lay stone dead, having fallen

sheer for about sixty feet and then rebounded from a slope on to the

rocks beneath.

Looking up, Bob saw that the weather-carved cliff stretched for at least

three hundred feet above him. On his left he observed that the

hill-face bent round; beyond its outline he saw an extent of undulating

country bounded by snow-capped hills. He wondered what was round the

corner; the mouth of the gully must of course be in that direction, and

not far away. He remembered that the general trend of the cavern had

been towards the left; it must form one side of an irregular triangle,

of which the gully and the hill-face were the other sides.

What bearing would this discovery have on the situation in which he and

his strange allies found themselves? He had barely asked himself the

question when he saw a Cossack in the distance, riding at speed as if

directly towards him. Coming from the west, he had probably brought

news or orders to the leader of the Russian besiegers. Bob watched the

rider draw nearer and nearer, and then pass from his sight to the left

behind the jagged rock. Then he turned and retraced his steps through

the cavern, thinking deeply as he went.

Nothing happened to break the monotony of that weary day. The

Chunchuses, pent up in their narrow quarters, became restless and

irritable, and Bob feared lest they should quarrel among themselves.

They resented the short rations on which they were kept, and looked

hungrily on the one remaining mule, which, poor beast, seemed so

wretched in its mute famished condition that Bob ordered it to be shot.

More than once, as he pondered over things, he wondered whether it might

be possible for the garrison to slip away through the passage he had

discovered, but always he had to reject the idea as impracticable. Even

if they succeeded in descending the precipitous cliff in safety, they

could not hope to get clear away; for the Russians would soon discover

their absence from the gully, they would be pursued, and the enemy,

being mounted, must infallibly run them down. Nothing was to be gained

by such a hazardous attempt; there seemed no alternative but to wait on.

The position was one of great strain and responsibility for a youth

whose powers of endurance and of organization had never yet been put to

so severe a test. But it is in circumstances of difficulty and danger

that a man shows of what stuff he is made, and the manner in which Bob

braced himself to his task won a good deal of admiration from the

ladies. Though his sunken eyes and lined face showed how severely he

was being tried, he was always cheery, always hopeful, keeping his

anxieties to himself, and ever ready with plausible reasons why his

companions should not despair. Mrs. Pottle sang his praises all day

long to Ethel, and Ethel listened and said little.

Next morning Mrs. Pottle, who had taken charge of Ah-Sam's stock of

grain-food, reported that it was coming to an end. The tea would last

perhaps for two days, she said; but there was no fuel save what could be

got by breaking up Ah-Sam's cart. Mrs. Pottle, in spite of herself, was

evidently hankering after something more substantial than rice. She

began to drop hints. Mules and oxen were both four-footed, she said;

there was a great deal in custom; after all, one couldn't say unless one

tried; and so on. Ethel only shuddered. But one mule would not last

for ever. What could be done? It seemed to Bob that they must all

either starve or submit. More than once during the day he went through

the cavern to the farther end, and anxiously scanned the limited

horizon--with no defined purpose or expectation of help, for from that

direction help could only come to the Russians. He was surprised,

indeed, that the enemy had not already been reinforced. The Cossack who

had ridden up on the morning of his discovery of the bear had no doubt

carried instructions from head-quarters. The only conclusion to be

drawn was that the Russians were too fully occupied with the Japanese on

the farther bank of the Yalu to spare troops for the purpose of wiping

out a band of Chunchuses. The Cossack captain, however, had clearly

received orders to keep his quarry cornered, either until he starved

them out, or until a further force could be sent to his assistance.

Such a force might arrive at any moment.

Even while Bob had the possibility in his mind, he saw, clearly defined

on the sky-line on the farther side of the valley, a small band of

mounted men approaching at a walking pace. The group was too small to

be of any avail as a reinforcement, and Bob was wondering who the

new-comers could be, when, as they drew nearer, he noticed among them

one man on foot, walking with a strangely awkward gait. Intently

watching him, he had in a few moments the explanation of his

awkwardness: he had his arms tied behind him. Evidently he was a

prisoner--some luckless Japanese scout or spy, perhaps, who had fallen

into the hands of a Russian patrol, and was now being marched off for

summary trial. Bob compared his own case with that of the Japanese,

almost to the advantage of the latter, and watched him with mixed

feelings until the edge of the hill hid him from sight.

Glancing down, he saw the dead bear still jammed between the rocks; but

there was a change in its appearance. Pieces of its fur had been torn

away; apparently it had been mauled by some prowling beast of prey. Bob

shuddered as he realized what a fate he had himself escaped--when

suddenly a thought came to him. The bear had fallen headlong down the

precipice. Was it possible that he himself might make a safe and

leisurely descent, and, under cover of night, reconnoitre the Russian

position? At the back of his mind there was a dim outline of an idea

that brought a flush to his cheeks and a light into his eyes. He turned

sharp round, hurried through the cavern, and, stopping only to answer a

remark from Mrs. Pottle, sought his faithful Chinaman, Ah-Sam.

During the next hour the two were busily engaged at a secluded part of

the gully, making the traces from the mule-cart into a long knotted

rope, with three loops at intervals, formed of the collars of the

animals. There was not enough to construct a ladder, but Bob hoped the

rope would prove long enough to let him down from the mouth of the

cavern on to the slope, whence the descent to level ground would be

easy. When it was complete, he took the only shaft of the cart which

had not been demolished for fuel, returned to the cavern, and, evading

Mrs. Pottle's eager questions, went quickly with Ah-Sam to the farther

end. At the point where the cleft narrowed just before opening out on

the hill-face they placed the shaft across from side to side, and then

firmly attached the rope to it.

It was not safe to do anything more in the daylight. During the

afternoon Bob at last yielded to Mrs. Pottle's entreaties, and related

the story of his adventures up to his meeting with her.

"It just beats anything!" exclaimed the lady at its conclusion. "Why,

Ethel, what a story it would make!"

"I don't think of that, auntie."

"Well, why not? My pen is rusting for want of work. What do you think,

then?"

"I think it is all very strange, and very wonderful," said the girl with

a blush. "And very encouraging to us. Mr. Fawcett has come through so

much. And I should just love to see that Japanese gentleman,--Kobo, did

you call him?"

At dusk Bob returned with Ah-Sam to the farther end of the cavern and

let the loose end of the rope dangle down the cliff-side. It fell short

of the top of the slope, the spot from which the hapless bear had

rebounded, by a distance of apparently some ten feet. On to level

ground the drop would have been easy, but on to the slope it might prove

fatal to Bob as to the bear. There being no more rope available, only

one thing could be done: the length of rope in the cleft above, some

four or five yards, must be reduced. Ah-Sam untied the end and

reknotted it to the shaft, using less of the rope; then, carefully

examining the fissure, Bob discovered that the shaft was just long

enough to be jammed vertically between a depression in the floor and a

projection in the roof, about a yard from the mouth. When this had been

done, he found that the lower end of the rope just touched the slope

beneath.

"Allo velly good, massa," said Ah-Sam with an air of satisfaction.

"Yes. Now may it soon be dark. I am going down; you will remain here,

and if you feel a tug on the rope, that means that I am coming back."

"My savvy; my no wailo; no fear!"

Waiting until all was dark, Bob let himself over the edge, and by aid of

the loops, in which he was able to stand upright, thus resting his arms

at intervals, he climbed easily down. When he reached the slope he

found that the upper portion of it was steeper than it had appeared

above, and he was glad the rope was long enough to enable him to steady

his steps down the first few feet. Then he dropped to a sitting

posture, and moved cautiously on hands and heels to the bottom. So

careful was he to avoid making a noise, by displacing a loose stone or

striking the rock too heavily with his boots, that it was nearly ten

minutes before the descent was completed.

When at last he rose to his feet, he looked around to take his bearings

if possible. Fortunately the clouds that had obscured the sky for some

nights past were gone; there was no moon, but a faint radiance from the

stars, by which he saw that there was nothing to serve as a landmark

save the two upright rocks that framed the mangled body of the bear.

Carefully noting the position of these in relation to an irregular

fissure in which there still lay a drift of snow--all snow on the

surrounding hillside being now melted--he turned his back on the steep

cliff and skirted round the rugged spur that hid the mouth of the cavern

from observers below. This spur, though only a few yards wide at the

summit, increased in width as it approached the level until it measured

fully fifty yards at the base.

Groping his way slowly among the loose stones and boulders that had

fallen from the rocky face of the hill, he struck somewhat to the right,

away from the mouth of the gully, knowing that there the enemy would be

alert to prevent the besieged from breaking through. His object was to

gain the open ground and then to make a circuit of the Russian position.

After a time the less frequency with which he encountered boulders

showed that he was passing into the open valley. Suddenly he became

aware of a dull glow in the distance on his left. He was unable to see

whence it proceeded, but, as it was doubtless due to a camp fire, it was

necessary to take double precautions lest his figure should be thrown up

in relief against it and thus become visible to the Russians on the

hill, if any chanced to be there. Inclining still more to the right, he

almost turned his back to the faint light, and took a direction which he

calculated would bring him to the extreme left of the hilltop position

first held by the enemy. This post, he guessed, was probably left at

nightfall and resumed at dawn, but it would be unwise to run the risk of

passing between it and the glow he had noticed; he must make his way

round it.

Pausing a moment, he scanned the sky above him for a bright star by

which to set his course, then set off again, counting his paces. In

daylight he had estimated that the summit of the hill was nearly half a

mile in a straight line from the mouth of the gully; the distance would

be greater over the uneven ground, and still greater from his

starting-point. Every now and then he stopped to listen and look round.

When he had counted some three hundred paces, the source of the glow at

last became visible. On his left there were two fires some distance

apart, with a few men moving about them, standing out for a moment black

against the glow, then appearing red as they passed to the side, then

vanishing altogether. From the position of the fires Bob guessed that

they stood just under the hillside on the far side of the gully. There

could be no doubt that they marked the site of the enemy's camp; and

they were so near the barricade that if the besieged ventured to make a

sortie they would not only have to reckon with the force on duty at the

mouth of the gully, but also with a flank attack from the main body

encamped a few yards away.

In the darkness it was impossible for Bob to tell when he had reached

the summit of the hill. But he stopped at intervals to look back, and

when he found that first one then the other fire gradually disappeared

from sight, he judged that between them and him the brow of the hill

intervened. At this point it was necessary to take another star as his

guide. Turning now to the left, almost at right angles with his former

course, he plodded warily on, skirting the hill not far from the summit,

the fires appearing and disappearing with the inequalities of the crest.

Though he kept eyes and ears keenly alert for sound or sight of the

enemy, he neither heard nor saw any trace of them except at the camp

fires. Continuing his course as nearly straight as he could, he came at

length opposite the farthermost fire; then he turned again to the left,

and moving with still greater caution, he made straight towards it. He

was now descending a gradual slope. The fire was burning low; backed by

the slope he thought he might venture still nearer; so, dropping on

all-fours, he crawled for some distance over the ground, sodden with

melted snow, until he stopped at length within some eighty yards of the

fire. A little in front of him he heard the gurgling of the stream from

the gully running across the face of the two camps. In the dim glow he

saw by their dress that the occupants of the camp opposite him were

Cossacks; the other camp was clearly that of the Manchus. He threw a

glance round the position; a little in advance of him, to the right, he

descried a number of dark forms, which he soon concluded were the

picketed horses of the enemy. Two sentries were on duty, walking to and

fro some forty yards from the outermost row of tents, and meeting about

the middle of the exposed face of the camp. Beyond, Bob caught a

glimpse of the figure of a Manchu patrolling in the same way opposite

his camp. The Manchus' horses were not at the moment in sight, but a

sudden replenishment of the fire caused a bright flame to spring up,

making Bob lie absolutely motionless and almost hold his breath, at the

same time throwing up the figures of the horses tethered just under the

hill.

He had now learnt all that was possible about the enemy's position. As

soon as the fire had died down again he might retrace his steps. He lay

still on his face, waiting, letting his eyes range at random, when

suddenly he gave a violent start. A little to the left of the horses,

beside a tall bare sapling, stood a man whom he perceived, as he looked

more closely, to be bound to the stem. He wore the dress of a Chinaman.

The fitful flame from the Manchus' fire cast a lurid light upon the face

of the prisoner, and with a feeling of dismay Bob recognized him: it was

Kobo!

It flashed upon him at once: this was the prisoner he had seen among the

fresh band of Manchus that morning. Kobo had been captured at last. His

doom was sealed--unless he could be rescued. Bob almost sprang up in

his excitement. How could he make his presence known to his friend? By

his bearing he saw that he was awake. If he could communicate with him

perhaps some means of effecting his escape would offer. Kobo had dared

much for him--to Kobo he owed his own escape from the spy's fate; how

eagerly would he do something in return for Kobo!

He lay watching, thinking, hoping that by some lucky chance he might be

enabled to approach the prisoner. He dared not move. The minutes flew

by, the fire was sinking; in a few moments it would again be

replenished, and his position again be imperilled. He saw not the

shadow of an opportunity of assisting Kobo. For the present he must

give up the idea. Crawling back slowly and stealthily he reached a

point where it would be safe to rise. Then, finding the star by which

he had steered his course, he made his way toilsomely, reluctantly, up

the hill again.

This time he took a shorter circuit inside his first track, and on the

nearer slope of the hill, until he came to a spot which he thought must

be opposite the opening of the cleft. But how could he make sure? If he

swerved too far to the right and blundered upon the breastwork at the

entrance to the gully his life was not worth a moment's purchase, and

the safety of his party would be fatally jeopardized. Pausing in his

incertitude, he bethought him of the fact that the enemy's watch-fires

might be used to determine his rightful course. So long as they were

out of sight, obviously he would be in no danger of coming upon the

breastwork, though he might find himself perilously near it if he

happened to hit the spur at the mouth of the gully. Fetching a wider

circuit he abruptly altered his direction, looking anxiously at the

fires in the hope that they would by and by be concealed from him by the

prominent spur. It was a long time before either disappeared, and more

than once he feared lest, after all, he had turned too early to the

right. But at length first one, then the other, was hidden from his

view, and against the penumbra of their glow the spur stood out dark

upon his right. He gave a sigh of relief, and stopped for a moment to

wipe the perspiration from his brow.

He steered now towards a point somewhat to the left of the bluff's

jagged outline, until he came close beneath it. Then he turned sharp to

the left, to find the slope up which he must climb to reach the fissure.

For some minutes he stumbled about. The night was darker than ever, but

he knew that his general direction was right, for the ground became

rougher and the loose stones more numerous. At last, close at hand, he

recognized the tall twin rocks imprisoning the bear. Swarming up the

steep slope on hands and knees, he came to the top, and stretched out

his right hand, moving it from side to side to feel for the dangling

rope. He touched it, caught it, gave it a gentle tug. He felt it

tighten. Ah-Sam had faithfully remained at his post above. Then with

straining muscles he scrambled up; he reached the fissure and Ah-Sam's

welcoming hands.

"My tinkey Roshians hab catchee," said the Chinaman.

"Not yet, Ah-Sam. Pull up the rope, then follow me back to the ladies."

Soon darkness and silence brooded upon the rugged hillside. The

blinking stars saw nothing; no sound broke the stillness save when at

midnight a hungry wolf came padding to the foot of the slope, and

snarled as he fixed his fangs in the carcase of the bear.

*CHAPTER XVIII*

*Rushing a Cossack Camp*

Panic--To the Yalu--Hill Paths--Historic Ground--An Introduction--A

Man-Hunt--First Aid--Approaching the Ford--Mrs. Pottle Decides

At dead of night, the eyes of a lynx, but none other, might have seen a

rope dangling heavily from the mouth of the fissure high up the cliff.

If the animal had not been scared away, it would have seen a dark form

in cautious silence climbing down the rope--a man, with a rifle slung

upon his back. He reached the slope and waited. A few moments

afterwards a second man followed, and, guided by the first, arrived at

the foot of the slope, interrupting the supper of the half-gorged wolf.

The first man returned to the summit, and met a third man descending,

whom he stationed half-way down the incline. These movements he

repeated until he was able, without descending himself, to pass each

new-comer down from hand to hand. When fifty men had thus descended,

and were assembled on the level, the first man led them with the same

silence and caution among the fallen boulders until they came to open

ground. Then he halted, and stationing his companions some three paces

apart one from another, took from his pocket a long piece of thin

twisted cotton and passed it down the line, each man gripping it with

his left hand.

Taking the end of the cotton in his own hand, the leader moved forward,

followed by the rest, along a track approximating as closely as possible

to that which he had taken some six hours before. Every now and then he

gave a slight tug at the line; his followers at once stopped, while he

took stock of his surroundings. He came to a spot whence he expected to

obtain a view of the enemy's camp. It was almost invisible, for the

fires were very low. Skirting the farther side of the hill-crest, the

long queue of men at length reached the utmost horn of the crescent

track. By the leader the forms of the Russian sentries could be dimly

seen pacing to and fro. Counting off ten men from the right of the

line, he left the remaining forty in position before the Russian camp,

and proceeded with the ten to a point under the hill some distance

farther on in their course. Then creeping forward, he waited till the

nearest sentry's steps began to recede, then stole on again, still

holding the cord, his men still following, until he came within a few

yards of the sentry's beat. Just as he reached this spot his foot

struck against some obstacle; he staggered, recovered himself with an

effort, and stooped to discover what had checked his progress. It was a

prostrate body. Instantly he clapped his hand upon the fallen man's

mouth, lest he should cry out. Something in the touch suggested a

suspicion. He placed his hand over the man's heart; it had ceased to

beat.

The next moment he himself was prone upon the ground, and the ten men

with him did as he did, and lay side by side, motionless. The sentry,

suspecting nothing, tramped back along his beat, came to the end,

wheeled round, and once more receded. Bob rose to a stooping position,

and, followed closely by his ten, crept forward across the sentry's

track towards the tethered horses. From one there was a whinny, from

another a snort as the men approached; otherwise not a sound. The

silent ten passed round the animals, coming between them and the hill.

Suddenly there sounded a cry, the challenge of a sentry. Instantly Bob

fired his pistol and dashed forward towards the smouldering fire, which

he stirred with a kick into a bright blaze. A moment later there was a

shout, a clamour, a babel from the end of the camp. The firing of the

pistol had been the pre-arranged signal for a rush by the forty. It was

instantly obeyed. The Russians, half-awake, struggled to their feet, to

find one force between them and their horses, and another, a larger

shouting band, sweeping upon them in front. In wild confusion and

affright they ran this way and that; many made no attempt even to seize

their rifles; they broke towards the mouth of the gully, their flying

forms making admirable targets in the firelight.

Meanwhile Bob hurried towards the tree to which he had seen Kobo bound,

fearing lest some undesigned shot should do him mischief. To his

amazement the prisoner was gone. There was no time to speculate upon

his disappearance. Without a halt he dashed forward, his ten men

following with loud cries in his track across the low shelter-tents,

cooking utensils, abandoned rifles and lances, and the various

impedimenta of a small camp. The raiders met with almost no resistance,

and the Russians, as they fled in panic towards the barricade, swept

through the startled Manchu camp and carried its occupants with them.

The men stationed on the breastwork at the mouth of the gully stood to

arms, bewildered by the sudden outcries and onrush; but when they were

suddenly attacked from the rear by the small force of Chunchuses Bob had

left in the gully, they also broke and fled with the rest outwards

across the low hills, pursued in the darkness by the exultant brigands.

At Bob's orders Ah-Sam, the first of his ten, shouted to the Chunchuses

to return; nothing was to be gained by pushing the pursuit farther. But

the command was vain; only three or four answered to the summons, the

rest were intent upon paying off old scores.

Amid the rout the Manchus' horses had stampeded; but the better-trained

animals of the Cossacks remained, and over these Bob set a guard. Then

he had the camp fires replenished as beacons for his own men, and

awaited their return. In twos and threes during the next half-hour they

straggled in. They brought no prisoners; but through Ah-Sam Bob learnt

that many a Cossack and many a Manchu lay between the camp and the hill.

Already Bob had collected some ninety rifles abandoned by the fugitives,

and set men to gather what ammunition they could. Scattered as the enemy

now were over the face of the country, most of them without arms, all

probably without horses, rushing blindly onward in the dark, he felt

that little was to be feared from them. His principal danger was lest a

reinforcement should be on the way to join them, or lest the news of the

surprise or the appearance of the stampeded horses should bring up in

hot haste some Russian force in the neighbourhood.

It was imperative that the victors should make good their retreat as

soon as possible. They had captured enough horses to mount the whole

force, and in the camps had been found a sufficient supply of food to

last for several days. Ordering the men, through Ah-Sam, to carry into

the gully all that they could lay hands on, and to lead the horses up

through gaps in the barricade, Bob went to find Sing-Cheng, to discuss

the situation with him.

As he reached the breastwork there was brought to nim a wounded Manchu,

who had been discovered hiding behind the rocks. Bob at once set Ah-Sam

to question him, enquiring specially about the Chinaman whom he had seen

tied to the tree. He learnt that, two days before, Chang-Wo had come

into the camp after escaping from the gully, and had a long conversation

with the Cossack captain. He had then ridden away eastward. During his

absence the Chinaman had been brought in, and as there was reason to

believe he was a Japanese spy, he had been tied up until he could be

conveyed to head-quarters. The Manchu was amazed to hear that the

prisoner had escaped. It was incomprehensible.

When Bob with some difficulty found Sing-Cheng, and asked him what he

advised, the man replied that he had no fear of the Russians, but he did

fear Chang-Wo. He was a very great man, very powerful, very cunning. A

vast number of Manchus were at his beck and call; his fastness lay only

two days' march in the hills. It was surprising that he had not already

brought his bandits in overwhelming force to storm the gully. Bob

suggested as a reason that a large Russian reinforcement was expected.

There was little chance of booty if the Chunchuses were overcome, and

Chang-Wo would prefer that the Russians should bear the brunt rather

than risk losing a considerable number of his own men. The chief

admitted that this might be the reason; but he pointed out that

Chang-Wo, his own capture rankling in his mind, would have a strong

personal interest in the destruction of the garrison of the gully. If

he had gone to his headquarters to fetch more men, he might at any

moment arrive on the scene, with a force numbering anything from three

to five hundred. Clearly no time must be lost in getting beyond his

reach.

Bob asked whether Sing-Cheng was ready to fulfil his promise to escort

the party across the Yalu. The man professed his eagerness to do so, if

the honourable foreign gentleman would lend him his continued

assistance. He himself felt that he was in a dangerous predicament. If

he went westward he would run the risk of falling in with the Russians;

if eastward, he would almost certainly meet Chang-Wo. Northward the way

was blocked by high hills. The only possible course lay to the south,

and that led direct to the Russian positions on the Yalu. But he knew

of a difficult and little-used path over the mountains by which they

might travel. It would bring them out at a point where the river might

be forded, and where such Russian troops as might be in the

neighbourhood would probably be merely small detached forces engaged in

watching the fords and passes. Bob enquired whether the man was sure of

the way. The man replied that he knew every step of it.

"Then we will chance it," said Bob. "Ah-Sam, tell him to get his men in

order, ready to start the moment there is light enough to see the way.

I will go and prepare the ladies."

Mrs. Pottle almost flung her arms round Bob's neck when he appeared.

"My dear boy," she exclaimed, "we have been in a terrible state of alarm

about you. What have you been doing?"

Bob gave her a brief account of the rushing of the enemy's

camp--successful even beyond his highest hopes.

"Why, there!" said the lady at the conclusion of his story. "I told

you, Ethel, that Mr. Fawcett would prove equal to the occasion. Mr.

Fawcett, you are lost as an engineer, you ought to be a soldier. When

we get within reach of the telegraph, I shall wire a full account of you

to my paper, and I guess there'll be a competition for your services in

some capacity or other in my country."

"Auntie, Mr. Fawcett must be very tired," said Ethel. "Is there any tea

left?"

"Of course. Dear me, how thoughtless! Mr. Fawcett, you shall have a

cup of tea in five minutes."

"And you will explain to us what is to be done next, won't you?" added

Ethel.

At the first streak of dawn a long cavalcade stole out of the gully.

The brigand chief led the way, mounted on a strong Korean pony. Behind

him came half his men; then the ladies, for whom side-saddles had been

improvised; after them the remainder of the force, all on horse-back.

Sufficient provisions had been found in the Russian camp to give them

all the good meal so much needed. Bob rode at one time ahead with the

chief, at another with the ladies, who were in high spirits now that the

tension of the last few days was relaxed. He was with them as they rode

past the scene of the midnight sally, and endeavoured to distract their

attention from the terrible evidences of the fray.

Sing-Cheng led the party across the crest of the hill on which the

Russians had first posted themselves, and struck off in a direction

approximately south-west. As they rode, a chain of mountains came into

view in the distance, the foot-hills beginning about three miles off.

The cavalcade made towards a dip in these hills, and after covering

several miles of rising ground, approached what appeared to be an almost

perpendicular wall of rock. Not till they came within a few yards of it

did the strangers see a possibility of penetrating the apparent

obstruction. Taking his course unerringly, the chief led them in single

file along a narrow giddy footpath zigzagging up the face of the cliff.

The horses had much ado to keep their footing, but they were used to the

mountains and carried the whole party up without mishap. At the worst

of the road Bob and Ah-Sam both dismounted and led the ladies' horses;

the former guessed from Mrs. Pottle's look of terror as she rounded

awkward corners and skirted sheer precipices, that her passion for

travel would be cooled for many a day.

After half an hour's difficult climb the fugitives reached a height

whence they obtained a distant prospect of the late battle-ground,

spread like a map in the bright sunlight behind them. Then they turned

a bend in the path, and the scene was shut from their view. The chief

still led on among rugged hills, with no sign of habitation. At one time

they were at the bottom of a ravine; an hour later they were toilsomely

scaling the steep face of a cliff, which from the base appeared

impossible to climb. The horses were fresh when they started, and

plodded along steadily. Except for short intervals for food and rest

the march was continued uninterruptedly till dusk, and then Bob and

Sing-Cheng selected a strong position for camping--a spot sheltered from

the wind, that blew colder towards night. Sentries were placed around

the camp, but the hours of darkness passed without alarm. There was as

yet no sign of pursuit.

Next morning the march was resumed, and continued through similar

inhospitable country until about three o'clock in the afternoon. Then,

just as the riders were climbing what appeared to be the highest peak

they had yet met with, the chief came to a sudden halt, sprang from his

horse, and made signs for the rest of the party to follow his example.

He said a few words rapidly to his men; then, beckoning Bob and Ah-Sam

to accompany him, went forward cautiously on foot towards the skyline

just above.

As they gained the crest, a fine panorama opened before them. At a

distance which Bob roughly guessed at five miles, they saw a broad river

crossing the plain from east to west, at one point broadening into the

semblance of a lake dotted with islands. Hills of varying height shut

off stretches of the river at intervals. On the other side the chief

pointed out a cluster of dwellings just discernible amid a light ground

haze.

"Wiju," he said.

Bob looked at the town with interest, remembering his unpleasant

associations with the place. Below, to the left, between the spectators

and the river, which it shut from their view, was a steep eminence which

the chief called Hushan.

"He callum Tiger Hill," explained Ah-Sam.

"What is that?" asked Bob, pointing to a smaller river on their right,

winding among the hills and disappearing behind Tiger Hill in the

direction of the Yalu.

"Ai-ho," said the chief.

Beyond the Ai-ho, between that river and the Yalu, was a town which,

though it appeared larger than Wiju, Bob judged to be somewhat smaller

in reality, for it lay much nearer to his point of observation.

"Kiu-lien-cheng," explained the chief, in answer to Bob's mute question.

Bob remembered that this place had played an important part in the China

war. It was, moreover, the scene of Kobo's exploit, when his company

had the honour of being first in the town. Beyond Kiu-lien-cheng on the

river, but shut from sight by intervening hills, lay Antung, a place of

bitter memories to Bob. Looking towards Wiju he could see small black

moving bodies, which were no doubt companies or regiments moving about

the town; and beyond it, he descried a long line of carts filing towards

it from the north. He scanned the whole landscape with interest and

care. The first great operation in the Japanese land campaign must

obviously be the crossing of the Yalu; it would probably take place

within the next few weeks, with the beginning of spring. Where would

the decisive action be fought? If the Japanese army attempted to effect

a crossing anywhere in the country outspread beneath him, they would

have indeed a hard nut to crack. The rugged country to the north of the

Yalu seemed to offer ideal conditions for defence, and Bob was convinced

that the Russian engineers would have taken full advantage of the

natural features.

"A very strong position, Mr. Fawcett."

The words so exactly corresponded with his unspoken thought that for a

moment he was scarcely aware that they had been uttered by another.

Then he turned with a start, saw that Ah-Sam and the chief had their

rifles up and their fingers already at the triggers, and, following

their upward gaze, noticed the figure of a short, sturdy Chinaman

between two rocks above his head. Even as he looked Ah-Sam dropped his

rifle and said something to Sing-Cheng, and with a second glance Bob

understood. He went forward eagerly with outstretched hand.

"Kobo San! You don't know how glad I am to see you," he said warmly.

"Are you all right? How in the world did you escape?"

"I will tell you," replied Kobo. "But, pardon me, I am terribly hungry.

Have you a little rice to spare?"

"Ah-Sam," said Bob, "run back and ask Mrs. Pottle to prepare a meal for

a friend of mine. You shall have something in five minutes. Upon my

word, Kobo San, I am glad to see you. I hoped you had got away safely,

but the uncertainty--"

"You seem to know of my capture."

"Ah! The tables are turned this time. I am only sorry you didn't give

me the chance to rescue you. But come, let me take you to the ladies.

They will be delighted to see you."

"Pardon me, did you say Mrs. Pottle?"

"Yes; do you know her?"

"She is at present the subject of diplomatic correspondence between the

United States and Japan," said Kobo, with a smile. "She is the widow of

Mr. Isidore G. Pottle, I presume; I knew him."

"How strange! But come, you must be famished."

Kobo walked slowly down the incline. Bob noticed that he limped.

"Are you hurt, sir?" he asked.

"A slight touch in one foot."

"A sprain, perhaps. This is very rough walking."

"No, it was a Manchu bullet."

"Good heavens! You must be in terrible pain. Let me help you."

"It is nothing--a scratch."

But Bob knew from the manner in which he set his foot upon the ground

that the hurt was not so insignificant as Kobo would have him believe.

Fortunately a few yards' walk brought them to the spot where the rest of

the party had halted.

"Mrs. Pottle, let me introduce a friend of mine--Rokuro Kobo San."

Kobo bowed, and Mrs. Pottle, throwing a hasty glance over his costume,

jumped to a conclusion, and said cordially:

"Very muchee gladee meetee you, sir."

"I am indeed honoured, madam," returned Kobo, bowing again ceremoniously

with impassive face. Bob and Ethel had instinctively turned aside to

conceal their amusement; and Mrs. Pottle, with a surprised and startled

glance at the supposed Chinaman, began haltingly:

"I beg your pardon--but--"

"I am a Japanese, madam. I think I once met your esteemed husband, Mr.

Isidore G. Pottle."

"Well!"

Mrs. Pottle was too much amazed for further words. To cover her

embarrassment; she ordered Ah-Sam with a flourish of her umbrella to

bring the food he had been preparing, and Kobo fell to with avidity,

explaining that he had eaten nothing for nearly two days. When he had

satisfied his hunger, explanations were exchanged. Kobo's story, told

in his quiet unemotional way, made a strong impression upon the ladies,

Mrs. Pottle frequently exclaiming, "It's wonderful! It's wonderful!"

At Liao-yang, he explained, he had made a discovery that promised to be

of great importance to his government. It was worth risking something

to convey the news with all speed to General Kuroki, and he decided to

take the shortest cut, the main road through Feng-huang-cheng,

Kiu-lien-cheng, and Wiju, frequented though it was, trusting in his

disguise as a Chinese merchant to escape detection. To guard against

accident, he had sent his man Taru with an oral message by way of

Yongampo, hoping that in any case he would succeed in crossing the Yalu

near its mouth.

Provided with unexceptionable papers, he himself had journeyed without

interference until he had come some distance beyond Feng-huang-cheng.

Then, however, he was overtaken by a party of two Cossacks and three

Manchus, who stopped him and put him through a close interrogation. One

of the Manchus caught him by the pigtail, and, being, dissatisfied with

his replies, gave that ornament a vicious tug. It came away in his

hand. The Manchu's suspicions were redoubled, though it is not unusual

for a Chinaman whose locks are scanty to wear a false pigtail. Kobo was

made prisoner, and carried with the party, who struck off eastward from

the high-road into the hills. From scraps of their conversation he

gathered that they had been sent to bring help to a Russian force, he

could not tell how large, which was bent on routing out a band of

Chunchuses entrenched in a mountain fastness, but that they had been

unsuccessful in their errand, the Russians being unable to spare troops

for the purpose. The men discussed among themselves the result of their

failure. Clearly it would be necessary for the chief of the Manchus to

send for men from his own head-quarters three marches away, a course

which for some reason or other they supposed he would be reluctant to

adopt. But Chang-Wo, as they named him, had sworn to exterminate this

particular gang of bandits; they had for long been a thorn in his side;

and he had now additional reasons for his venomous hatred of them, for

they had captured him and held him a prisoner until he escaped by

slipping his bonds and killing a sentry.

Kobo was brought into the Russian and Manchu camp and carried before the

officer. Chang-Wo happened to be with them. He instantly recognized

the Japanese he had so good reason for hating, and demanded that he

should be put to the torture. But on being asked for his reasons, he

had shown by his own admissions, reluctant as they were, that the

prisoner was too important a man to be summarily dealt with; his

vindictive wishes had been overruled by the Cossack captain, who

resolved to carry the Japanese to Feng-huang-cheng as soon as the

Chunchuses were disposed of. In his eagerness to wreak vengeance on his

old enemy, Chang-Wo resolved to fetch reinforcements from his stronghold

and hasten the final discomfiture of the Chunchuses, and set out the

same day.

"But how did you escape?" asked Bob. "I saw you tied to a tree."

"We had an agent in the Manchu camp," replied Kobo quietly. "He cut my

ropes after dark, and I slipped away. There was a commotion immediately

afterwards; but it was dark, no one could find me."

Bob remembered the dead Manchu whom he had stumbled upon outside the

Russian camp. Evidently this was Kobo's agent. He had met his death

through rescuing Kobo; and Kobo spoke coldly of a commotion!

After his escape, Kobo had pushed on eastward during the night, and at

dawn was several miles from the scene. He continued his journey until

mid-day, and then had the ill-luck to be sighted by a band of

Manchus--the men whom Chang-Wo himself was bringing towards the Russian

camp. Instantly the whole band of four hundred were at his heels. For

three hours they chased him among the hills. Being mounted, sometimes

they had the advantage, at others their horses were only an encumbrance.

But Kobo was faint with hunger and fatigue. They gained on him slowly

but surely. The nature of the country did not give him an opportunity

of eluding them. More than once they could easily have shot him, and

that they did not do so indicated that Chang-Wo had ordered that he

should be taken alive, reserving for him, doubtless, a slower and more

horrible death. At last he was almost run down; Chang-Wo and half a

dozen men were but a short distance behind him, leading their horses up

a rocky path too steep and rugged for them to ride. Kobo knew that as

soon as they were able to remount he must be overtaken; capture seemed

inevitable. He looked round anxiously, almost despairingly, for a means

of escape. On the far side of the ravine he was skirting he saw a rocky

ledge jutting out, approaching within a short distance of the path he

was travelling, then receding again. The sight was as a ray of hope.

To leap across the chasm involved a terrible risk; the descent between

ledge and ledge was a sheer hundred feet, and if he missed his footing

he must be dashed to pieces. In a moment he took his resolution.

Collecting his remaining strength he jumped. His feet lighted on the

projecting ledge. For an instant he swayed, and his life hung in the

balance--an inch forward, an inch backward, would mean life or death.

The crisis was but momentary. He stumbled forward, he was safe.

Meanwhile the pursuers were hastening up the opposite path. They came

to the spot whence Kobo had made his desperate leap; and though Chang-Wo

stormed and cursed, not one of them would face the risk. To reach their

quarry in any other way would involve a long detour, meanwhile he every

moment increased his distance from them. Then Chang-Wo raised his rifle

and fired. His shot struck Kobo in the foot.

At this point of the story Ethel rose quietly and slipped away.

In spite of the wound, Kobo had tramped on until dusk. He had had no

food, he had travelled almost without rest for a whole day and night,

yet he could not afford to delay. Until he reached the Japanese

head-quarters he would be in constant danger; and it was a matter of the

most urgent necessity that he should give to General Kuroki the

information he had gained. He rested for a few hours, cold, hungry, in

increasing pain. He bandaged his injured foot as well as he could, then

with morning light set off again.

"I count myself fortunate that I met you, Mr. Fawcett," he said. "You

can perhaps assist me with a horse. I must press on, there is so much

risk that my servant Taru will fail to get through."

There was no complaint--no further reference to his wound. He showed no

curiosity as to how Bob had known of his capture, nor as to the strange

company in which he found him. His mind was entirely possessed by

anxiety lest the news should not reach his general.