WITH THE ALLIES TO PEKIN
[Illustration: THE TIGER SEIZED HIM BY THE SHOULDER.]
WITH THE ALLIES TO PEKIN
A TALE OF
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS
BY
G. A. HENTY
Author of “With Roberts to Pretoria” “Redskin and Cowboy”
“With the British Legion” &c.
_ILLUSTRATED BY WAL PAGET_
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNERʼS SONS
1903
COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNERʼS SONS.
_Published September, 1903._
THE CAXTON PRESS
NEW YORK CITY, U. S. A.
PREFACE
The campaign which ended with the relief of the Pekin Legations is
unique in its way, carried on as it was by an army made up of almost
all the nationalities of Europe. The quarrel originated in the rising
of a mob of ruffians who were known by us under the name of Boxers. The
movement spread like wildfire, and soon developed into the wholesale
massacre of the missionaries of Northern China. The Empress, seeing the
formidable nature of the rising, and hoping to gain by it the expulsion
of all foreigners from her dominions, allied herself with the Boxers,
besieged the various Legations, and attacked Tientsin, which stands
upon the river by which the trade with Pekin is carried on. Admiral
Seymour, with a force of little over a thousand men, marched to the
relief of the Legations. The railway, however, was cut both before
and behind him, and after severe fighting he retired upon a Chinese
fortress a few miles from Tientsin, where he maintained himself until
he was relieved by another force which had arrived by sea and had
destroyed the forts at the mouth of the river. Tientsin itself was
captured by the allies after one dayʼs hard fighting, and the army
then advanced to the relief of the Legations. The opposition they met
with was trifling in comparison with that which they had encountered
at Tientsin, and they arrived at Pekin not a moment too soon. It was
found that the Legations had been very hard pressed, some of them
having been destroyed by fire. But the garrison had maintained a
heroic defence, aided by the native Christians who had escaped the
massacre and taken refuge with them, and who had done excellent work
in the building and constant repair of the defences, sometimes under
the heavy fire of the enemy. The Empress had fled, but negotiations
were opened with her and terms of peace were ultimately agreed to. For
the particulars of the campaign I have relied chiefly upon _The War of
the Civilizations_, by George Lynch, _China and the Powers_, by H. C.
Thomson, and _The Siege of Pekin Legations_, by the Rev. Roland Allen,
M. A.
G. A. HENTY.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. SCHOOL, 1
II. THE BOXERS, 20
III. IN DISGUISE, 39
IV. A RESCUE, 55
V. WITH SEYMOURʼS COLUMN, 76
VI. IN PEKIN, 96
VII. FORTIFYING THE LEGATIONS, 110
VIII. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE, 134
IX. IN THE ENEMYʼS CAMP, 148
X. A MISSION, 180
XI. THE FIGHT AT TIENTSIN, 211
XII. DELAYS, 232
XIII. CAPTURING THE TAKU FORTS, 251
XIV. SURROUNDED, 270
XV. RELIEF IN SIGHT, 286
XVI. THE CAPTURE OF PEKIN, 303
XVII. THE STORY OF THE SIEGE, 322
XVIII. CONCLUSION, 337
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
“THE TIGER SEIZED HIM BY THE SHOULDER,” _Frontis_ ii
REX RESCUES HIS COUSINS FROM THE BOXERS, 62
REX INTERROGATES A WOUNDED BOXER, 100
“THEY WERE LOWERED DOWN ONE AFTER THE OTHER,” 142
“REXʼS REVOLVER CRACKED OUT,” 170
“THERE WAS A LULL OF SURPRISE THEN A CONFUSED JABBERING,
FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL MUSKET–SHOTS,” 200
“BASIL GUY RAN BACK AND BOUND UP HIS WOUNDS,” 236
“THEIR CAVALRY CUT UP THE FLYING CHINESE,” 290
Map illustrating the Relief of the Pekin Legations, _Facing p._ 1
[Illustration: MAP illustrating the RELIEF of the PEKIN LEGATIONS.]
WITH THE ALLIES TO PEKIN
CHAPTER I
SCHOOL
“Well, Rex, how do you think you will like school?”
“I donʼt know very much about it yet, Uncle. You told me that I was to
expect to be bothered and bullied a bit just at first, but it was not
so bad as I supposed. I was asked a lot of questions, and when I said
I had been taken to China when I was a year old and lived there ever
since, they gave me the nickname of the Heathen Chinee at once. Of
course I did not mind that at all. You told me that probably they would
give me a nickname of some sort, and that was just as good as another.
Anyhow, after the first two days they let me alone. I came off better
than some of the other new boys, who got out of temper to begin with;
so I expect it is all over as far as I am concerned now.”
“I expect so, Rex. The boy who takes things good–temperedly is soon
left alone.”
The speakers were Mr. Bateman and his nephew Reginald, who was always
known as Rex. They had landed at Southampton a month before. Mr.
Bateman, who was a member of a firm of merchants at Tientsin, had
returned to England to take up the management of the London house,
the senior partner having died. Rex was the son of James, the younger
brother of the two remaining partners. As soon as it had been arranged
that the elder brother should return to England, it was agreed that
he should take Rex with him. It had for some time been a settled
thing that the boy should come home for three or four years in order
to associate with English boys and learn their ways, and at the end
of that time should return to China and begin to learn the business.
Robert, now the chief partner, was unmarried, and as it was therefore
probable that Rex would some day become in turn the head of the firm,
both his father and uncle were anxious that he should be prepared as
far as possible for that position.
Rex would have been sent over sooner had they not been afraid that he
might altogether forget Chinese, which he now spoke as well as English.
From his early childhood he had been principally under the charge of
a Chinaman named Ah Lo, who had been chosen from among the Chinese
servants for that post. Ah Lo had at that time been a strong young
fellow of eighteen years of age, intelligent and good–tempered. He was
the son of the native storekeeper, and the child had taken to him. The
choice had been a good one. The lad had watched over his charge with
the care of a woman. He regarded it as a great honour to have been
chosen for the post, and was never so happy as when he took the child
out, perched on his shoulder, or rowed him about in a sampan. As he
grew up Rex had to spend half of his time at his books, and his mother
kept him a good deal with her, as it was as necessary that he should
speak English perfectly, and receive the usual education, as that he
should speak Chinese perfectly. And then, when it was decided that his
uncle should return to England, it was at once agreed that Rex should
accompany him.
“I should be glad,” his father said, “if he could go to a great public
school, and then to one of the universities; but there are two
objections to that course. In the first place, when he was finished
he would be less inclined to settle down to office work here; and in
the second place, he would entirely forget Chinese. He might pick
it up again, but he would never come to speak it like a native—an
accomplishment which would unquestionably be a very great advantage
to him in many ways. You and I, Robert, can get on fairly well, but
we help our Chinese largely with pidgin English, and often feel the
disadvantage of not being able to talk fluently to the people in their
own language. Of course I quite agree with you that it is necessary for
Rex to mix with English boys of his own age, and become in all respects
like them, but I am sorry to think that in four years he will have lost
a great deal of his Chinese.”
“I have been thinking of that too, James, and my idea is that it would
be a good thing to take Ah Lo to England with us. He is very much
attached to the boy, and the boy to him.”
“Yes,” the other said doubtfully, “that is so; but it would not be
possible to have Ah Lo with him when he is at school.”
“Quite impossible, James; the boyʼs life, even if it could be managed,
would be made a burden to him. No, I should propose that Ah Lo should
remain with me. He is a useful fellow in many respects, and when Rex
is engaged with his lessons, he, like most of his countrymen, can turn
his hand to anything. My idea is that we arrange with the master of
the school to let Rex off two afternoons and evenings in the week. He
could then meet Ah Lo at the railway–station, or at some other place a
little distance from the school, and could go out for walks with him,
and if there is a river, go on the water, or make an excursion by rail.
In that way, as they would be together for five or six hours twice a
week, Rex could keep up his Chinese. Of course I should choose some
school within a reasonable distance of London. I shall probably take a
house eight or ten miles out of town, near Surbiton, or somewhere in
that direction. We have agreed that Rex cannot go to one of the great
public schools, as, although perhaps better read in English literature
and history than most boys of his age, he is backward in Latin and
mathematics. Still, I could find some good school, say within ten or
fifteen miles of my house. Moreover, the plan I suggest could not be
carried out at a public school. It would not be permissible, at such an
institution, for boys to break through the ordinary routine, but I have
no doubt that I could make the arrangement I propose at what you may
call a good school, other than Harrow, or Eton, or Winchester.”
“It would certainly be a capital plan, Robert.”
“Of course I should see that his off–days were not the half–holidays,
because we want him to learn to play cricket and football, and he
would be out of it altogether if he were to lose the half–holidays. I
see no reason why the plan should not be carried out. In that way he
would keep up the language, and at the same time would take part in the
games played in the school. In winter I should arrange for the use of
a comfortable room in the town, where they could sit and talk. I shall
let Ah Lo wear his native clothes, if he likes, at my place; but when
he goes to meet Rex I shall put him into European costume and make him
twist his pigtail up and hide it under his hat. If any of Rexʼs school
chums were to see the boy about with a Chinaman, he would never hear
the end of it.”
On his arrival in England Mr. Bateman had taken a furnished house near
Surbiton, and had made the arrangements he wished for Rex at a large
school near the river, some fifteen miles away. Rex had now returned
at the end of his first fortnight. He was soon at home in his new
life, and ere long became very popular among the boys of his own age.
His good temper was unfailing, for although at first he was somewhat
awkward in the games, he very speedily picked them up. As usual with
new boys, he had one or two fights, and came out of them fairly well.
Several of the boys learned boxing from a sergeant in the Guards, who
came down from Windsor twice a week to teach them. Hex asked that he
might be allowed to take lessons, and his uncle readily agreed.
“Certainly you may do so, Rex, and I am glad to find that you have
the opportunity of learning how to use your hands. It is a valuable
accomplishment for anyone, for it develops self–reliance and quickness
of eye, strengthens the muscles, and improves the figure and carriage,
and besides, it enables a man to hold his own in any circumstances;
lastly, it is of special benefit to anyone living abroad and liable to
aggression or insult. An Englishman who can box well is a match for any
two foreigners knowing nothing of the art, and need not fear the attack
of any one man unless he is carrying firearms. I intended to propose
that you should take lessons in the holidays, but as you can do so at
school, by all means begin at once. Keep regularly at it, and the last
year before you go back to China you shall have lessons from one of the
best masters I can find.”
Rex found himself very backward, so he set to work hard to repair his
deficiencies, and had the satisfaction, at the end of the first term,
of getting a remove into a higher form, where the boys were for the
most part about his own age. At first many questions had been asked
as to the reason why he was allowed to get off school two afternoons
in the week; and when he said that as he would return to China when
he left school, it was necessary that he should keep up a knowledge
of the language, there was a good deal of amusement. Once or twice in
his walks with Ah Lo he came across some of the boys, who were fond of
hunting for plants or insects, and he was a good deal chaffed at Ah
Loʼs appearance.
“I thought he would have been dressed in Chinese clothes,” said one
of his friends, “with little turn–up–toe shoes, and a skull–cap with
a peacockʼs feather in it, but he is really quite an ordinary–looking
chap. He is a big fellow, and of course of a yellowish–brown
complexion, with queerly–shaped eyes, which make him look as if he
squinted; but he seems very good–natured.”
“He has got a pigtail, but he wears it under his coat,” said another.
“I should think that he would be an awkward customer in a tussle. I had
no idea the Chinese were such big fellows, Bateman.”
“They differ in height in some of the Provinces, but a great many of
them are tall, and very strong. You should see them loading a ship
or carrying things through the streets. They can carry a good deal
heavier weight than most English sailors. They are generally very
good–tempered, but they get into a tremendous state of excitement
sometimes, and holla and shout at each other so, that you would think
they would tear each other to pieces; but it is not often that they
really come to blows.”
At the beginning of the next term Ah Lo distinguished himself. He had
been for a long walk up the river–bank with Rex, when they saw three
of the boys of the school rowing. A barge was coming down, towed by a
horse. There was plenty of room inside for the boat to pass, and the
rope was trailing in the water, but just as they were about to row over
it the man who was riding the horse suddenly quickened his pace. The
rope immediately tightened, and catching the bow of the boat turned it
over, throwing the boys into the water. The driver and a bargee, who
was walking on the bank near them, burst into shouts of loud laughter.
The boys could all swim, and as the overturned boat was but twelve
yards from the bank, they soon clambered up. They at once made for the
driver and furiously accused him of upsetting them on purpose. The
fellows laughed boisterously, and the boys, losing their tempers, made
a rush towards them. At this moment Ah Lo and Rex arrived on the scene.
They had witnessed the whole affair, and had run up. The Chinaman,
without hesitation, brought his stick down on the head of the driver of
the horse, levelling him to the ground, but breaking the weapon in his
hand. The bargee made a sudden rush. Ah Lo had no idea of fighting, but
with a wild shout he threw himself upon the man, striking, shouting,
scratching, and kicking.
The bargee was taken wholly by surprise at such a novel assault, and
stepped farther and farther back till Ah Lo, seeing his opportunity,
clasped him by the waist and hurled him into the river.
“You bery bad man,” he exclaimed, “to strikee lillee boy! You upsettee
piecee boat; you comee out Ah Lo breakie you head.”
The bargee stood with the water up to his waist. He did not like the
look of this strange adversary, who had, moreover, allies in the shape
of four boys, all of whom were evidently prepared to take their part in
the fray.
“Tompkins,” Rex said, “you might as well swim in and get those two oars
that have drifted down. You cannot be wetter than you are, and if these
fellows want any more the oars would come in wonderfully handy.”
“Now then,” shouted the bargee with a string of the strongest possible
language, “how long are you going to keep me standing here, and my
mate a–lying there with his brains half knocked out?”
“He is all right,” Rex said; “he will come round soon without your
help, I dare say. He will have a lump on his head to–morrow, but he
will be no worse. I donʼt think he will try to tighten the rope and
upset another boat. As soon as we get the oars you can come ashore, if
you like, and see to him.”
In a minute or two Tompkins landed with the two oars. Rex gave one of
them to Ah Lo, and took the other himself. The Chinaman swung it round
his head like a windmill, and then nodded with a satisfied air.
“Now the sooner you three get the boat ashore and turn her over the
better,” Rex said. “There is no fear of this fellow interfering with us
again. Now you can come ashore, bargee, and look after your horse. In
another minute the rope will pull him into the river if you donʼt mind.”
The man came out with a growl, and then went to the horse and, taking
him by the head, led him up along the bank until the stream drifted the
barge alongside. By this time his companion had sat up and was looking
round in a bewildered way.
“You just sit where you are,” Rex said, “unless you want another crack
on the head worse than the first. Your mate is getting the barge
alongside. It does not always pay, you see, to play tricks on boys.”
They waited until the others had got the water emptied out of the boat
and put into the river again. The oars were then handed in to them and
they started down the river, Rex and Ah Lo walking quietly down the
path. The bargee scowled at them as they passed him, but the specimen
he had had of the Chinamanʼs strength deterred him from making any
outward demonstration.
“You did that splendidly, Ah Lo,” Rex said. “I had no idea that you
were so tremendously strong. The way you chucked him into the river
astounded me as much as it did him.”
“He was a bad man,” the Chinaman said quietly. “What he want to upset
boat for?”
“He will be cautious how he tries again,” Rex laughed, “unless he sees
that the towing–path is quite clear of anyone who might interfere.”
Hitherto Rex had been a good deal chaffed by the boys about this
Chinaman, but from this time forward Ah Lo was always spoken of with
respect; and indeed a subscription was got up to present him with a
handsome silver–mounted stick in place of the one he had broken. There
was general satisfaction at the defeat of the bargee, for it was not
the first time that boats had been purposely upset, and there was a
standing feud between the boys and these bullies of the river.
It cannot be said that Rex was in any way distinguished in his progress
with his studies. He was on the modern side of the school, for his
uncle did not wish him to waste his time in learning Latin and Greek,
which could be of no possible use to him in a career in China. In his
English subjects he made fair progress, and maintained a good, though
by no means a high, position in his form. In all sports, however,
he took a prominent place among the boys of his own age. Accustomed
to take swimming exercise daily, he was, when fifteen, the fastest
swimmer in the school. He won several prizes in the athletic sports,
and had a good chance of getting into the second eleven at cricket. It
was considered certain, too, that he would have a place in the second
football team. Before he left, at sixteen, he had gained both these
objects of his ambition, and it was generally considered that he might
even win a place in the first football team in the following season.
“You would be light for it,” the captain said, “but you are so fast and
active that you would be more useful than many of the fellows who are a
good deal heavier than you are.”
“I am sorry I am not going to return after this term, but my time is
up. I have been nearly four years away from my people now, and I shall
be glad to be at work.”
“I suppose it is not a bad life out there?”
“Not at all. Of course it is hot, but one is indoors most of the day,
and they do all they can to make the houses cool. The office shuts up
early. After that one takes a bath and puts on flannels, and goes for
a ride or a row on the river. Of course I could not do much that way
then, but I have been so much on the water here that it will be much
jollier now.”
“I suppose you donʼt have much to do with the Chinese?”
“They work as porters and that sort of thing, but otherwise we do not
see much of them. The native town is quite separate from the British
portion, and it is not often that Europeans enter it. I expect that
they do so even more seldom now, for my fatherʼs last letter tells me
that there is a general feeling of disquiet, and that letters from
missionaries up the country say the same thing. But our officials at
Pekin do not seem to be at all uneasy. My father says that you might as
well try to drive a wooden peg into a stone as to get the officials at
Pekin to believe anything that they donʼt want to believe. That is one
reason why I want to be off as soon as I can, for if things look more
serious my father might write and say that I had better stay here for
a time to see how matters turn out, and naturally if there is a row I
should not like to miss it.”
“It would be very hard,” the other said approvingly, “if there was a
row and you were kept out of it. Of course it would be soon over, the
Chinese would never stand against European troops.”
“I donʼt suppose they would, Milton; but they are plucky enough in
their way, and they are not a bit afraid of death. My uncle says that
he hears they have got no end of rifles and guns—good ones, you know;
not the old gimcrack ones they used to have.”
“Look how the Japs thrashed them, Bateman.”
“Yes, but it was from no want of pluck on the part of the Chinese.
The Japs were well disciplined, while the Chinese had no discipline
at all. Besides, what was worse, they had no officers worth anything.
All appointments there are given by exams, and as everyone who is
not an ass knows, a fellow who is awfully good at books may be no
good whatever as a soldier. Look at our sixth form. Why, among the
captains and monitors, how many of them would make an officer? Peebles
is short–sighted, Johnstone is lame, and there is not one of them who
is any good at football or cricket; while many fellows who are not so
high would make infinitely better officers. Well, it is like that with
everything in China. The great thing there is for a man to acquire what
is called a classical style—something the same, you know, as Cicero
writes in and Demosthenes talked. The Romans and Greeks were both
pretty longheaded, but they never thought of appointing either of these
men as generals in the field. Why, look at our head; he is choke–full
of learning. Well, if he had lived in China he would have been made
either an admiral or a general. Just fancy him with his spectacles, a
skull–cap with a peacockʼs feather, and flowing robes, peering vaguely
about him on the look–out for an enemy. How can you expect fellows to
fight who are officered by men of that sort?”
“But our army is officered by men who have passed exams.”
“Yes, but at any rate the exams for the army are not very difficult,
and there is time for them to play as well as work. Still, I know my
uncle thinks that it is about the worst way that could have been chosen
for the selection of officers, and that in the next war we get into
there will be no end of blunders.”
“It is likely enough that there will be; but there is one thing you
must remember, and that is that, fortunately, the fellows who ʻmuzʼ at
school are not the sort of fellows who go in for army examinations.
They go into the church, or to the bar, or as masters in schools,
or things of that sort. Look at us here. Lots of the fellows in the
cricket and football teams are intended for the army, and I suppose it
is the same in other schools, as it is from them that the officers are
drawn. I donʼt say that there maynʼt be a few of what you may call the
grinders; still, certainly the bulk of them are not the sort of men who
would ever set the Thames on fire if it came to only brain work.”
“Have you ever thought of going into the army, Bateman?”
“No, because I have a line ready cut out for me. I think a fellow is a
fool who wants to take up a fresh line for himself instead of taking
that where he is certain, if he is steady and so on, to do well; and in
the next place, when one is an only son, as I am, I think that, even
putting aside the question of doing well, it is his duty to help as far
as he can to take the burden of the work off his fatherʼs shoulders as
he gets on in life.”
“There is no doubt that you are right, Bateman. That is the way to look
at it, though it isnʼt everyone who has the sense to do it. As I have
got two elder brothers I am free to choose my own line, and shall,
if I can pass, go into the army; if not, I shall emigrate. I have got
grit and muscle enough to do as well as most fellows in that way, and
it seems to me that with good health and spirits it would not be a
bad sort of life at all. If I manage to pass we may possibly meet out
in China some day. There are rows in that part of the world every few
years, and although from all descriptions of the country campaigning
there must be unpleasant work, at least it would be a change and an
interesting experience.”
“Well, Milton, if you are out there we shall be very likely to meet,
for any force going towards Pekin would be sure to pass through
Tientsin, and if that were the case I should try to go with it as
interpreter. However, I hope there wonʼt be any rows, for though in
the treaty towns we should no doubt be all right and the troops would
be certain to lick the Chinese, the missionaries all over the country
would be certain to have an awful time of it. We should be very anxious
about that, because my motherʼs sister married a missionary and is
settled a long way up the country.”
“Is your Chinaman going back with you?”
“Yes; I should be awfully sorry to leave him behind. He has been with
me as long as I can remember. My uncle only brought him over here in
order that I might keep up my Chinese. I am sure that he would go
through fire and water for me. It is a good thing to have a man like
that, for, putting aside the fact that I like him tremendously, I would
trust myself anywhere with him, for he is very strong, and, as he
showed when he attacked those two fellows who upset the boat soon after
I came here, there is no doubt that he is plucky. I expect he will be
very glad to be home again. He has got accustomed to European clothes
now, but I have no doubt that he would prefer his own; and then,
of course, his family are there, and in China family ties are very
strong. Families always stick together, even to distant relations. My
uncle says that the population should be counted by families and not by
individuals. Of course I did not think of such matters before I came
away, but he says that it is like the old Scotch clans: the State deals
with the families and not with the different members of it. If a man
commits a crime and gets away, the family are held responsible for it,
and one of them has to suffer penalties and pays either a large money
fine or is executed.”
“That would be very rough on a family that happens to have one scamp
among the sons.”
“Yes, I suppose so; but it helps to keep them all straight. A fellow
who committed a crime, for which his father or any of his near
relations had to suffer, would be considered not only as a disgrace to
the family but as a man altogether accursed and beyond the pall of pity
whatever fate might befall him. My uncle says crime is very rare in
China, and that this is very largely due to the family ties.”
“But there are pirates on the coast and, as I hear, robbers on many of
the rivers?”
“Yes; uncle says these men are fellows who have left their native
villages and have banded together, so that if they are caught it is
never known to what families they belong. They are beheaded, and
there is an end of them, and their family never know anything about
their case. The Chinese are a very peaceable lot, except that they
sometimes get tremendously stirred up, as in the case of the Taiping
insurrection. The people hear stories that the foreigners are trying to
upset their religion or to take some of the land. Hideous stories go
about that they have killed and eaten children or sacrificed them in
some terrible way. Then they seem to go mad; they throw down their hoes
and take up swords and muskets, if they have them, and blindly fall
upon the whites.”
“They call us the foreign devils, donʼt they?”
“No, that is a mistake; the real meaning of the words is ʻocean
devils,ʼ which answers to our word ʻpirates.ʼ Europeans were called
so because the Chinese coasts were ravaged, sacked, and burnt by
adventurers who first sailed into the Chinese seas, and the name has
been applied to the whites ever since. It is the same way with the name
of their country. By a misunderstanding, when we first had diplomatic
relations with them the word ʻCelestialʼ was applied to their empire,
and people ever since have believed that that is what they call the
country. The word ʻCelestialʼ is applied only to the emperor, who is
viewed almost as a god, but they would never dream of applying it to
the country. Because the document said ʻthe Celestial Emperor,ʼ it
was supposed that the kingdom over which he reigned was called the
ʻCelestial Kingdom.ʼ On the contrary, they call it the ʻTerrestrial
Kingdom,ʼ believing, as they did before they had anything to do with
foreigners, that it was, in fact, the only kingdom existing on earth
worthy of the name.”
“And can you write Chinese as well as you can talk it, Bateman?”
“I can write the ordinary Chinese, but not the language of the literati
class; that is entirely different, and the ordinary Chinaman has no
more knowledge of it than I have. I believe that it contains twenty
thousand different characters, and it is very doubtful if even the
most learned Chinaman understands them all. Even the popular language
is scarcely understood in all parts of China. The dialects differ as
much as some of the English dialects, and the native of the Northern
Provinces has the greatest difficulty in conversing with a man from the
South.”
“There is the bell ringing, and I must run round to the boarding–house
to get my books.”
Rex was extremely sorry when the last day of the term arrived and he
had to say good–bye to his friends. Ah Lo, on the other hand, when he
met him at the station, was in the highest spirits. He was delighted
that he was henceforth always to be with his young master, and, though
this was a minor consideration to him, he rejoiced at the thought that
he was soon to return to his native land.
“This is a good country,” he said, speaking in his own language, “much
better than I had thought, and if all my family were not in China I
should not mind living here all my life. They will be glad to see me
too. Except that I have not been with them for so long, I have been a
dutiful son, and have always sent half of my pay to my parents. They
are well content with me. Fortunately I am the youngest of five sons.
If I had been at home I should have had to stay at home to help my
parents; but my brothers are all married and live in the village, so
they can look after them and help them in their labours. As I left
so young they do not miss me, and the money I have saved has helped
to keep them in comfort. They have indeed received much more than
they would have done had I stayed at home and worked for them, for
my wages have been as much as my four brothers could earn together.
I have only sent from here the same as I did when I was at Tientsin,
although I have been paid higher, but then I shall have much to spend
before we start, in buying presents for them and all my relatives.
Besides, I have saved half of my earnings, for I have had no occasion
to spend money here, and with my former savings added to this I shall
be the richest man in the village. If I were to go back I could live
comfortably all my life, but I should never want to do that, master, as
long as you will keep me with you.”
“That will be as long as we both live, Ah Lo; but I think that when you
get back you ought to take a wife.”
“I shall think about it,” the Chinaman said, “but I shall think many
times before I do it. When a man is married he is no longer master of
his own house. The wife is always good and obedient until she has a
son; after that she takes much upon herself. If one were to get the
right woman it would be very good, but it is not in China as it is
here, where you see a great deal of a woman before you marry. In China
I should have to say to one of the old women who act as intermediaries,
ʼI desire a wife,ʼ Then she goes about and brings me a list of several
marriageable girls. She praises them all up, and says that they are
beautiful and mild–tempered, and at last I choose one on her report;
and it is not until after one is married that one can find out whether
the report is true or not. Altogether the risk is great. I am happy and
contented now; it would be folly for me to risk so much with so small
an advantage. Suppose I had married before I came over here, my wife
would have had to stay with my parents, and she might not have been
happy there. I could not have brought her over here, for if I had done
so everything would have been strange to her; the people would have
pointed at her in the street, the boys would have called after her, and
she would have been miserable.”
“I am sorry that you are going back, Rex,” his uncle said to him, when
all the preparations for the voyage had been completed, and he was to
embark on the following day. “I should have liked to keep you here, but
naturally your mother and father want you back, and it is certainly
best for you that you should, at any rate for some years, be over there
to learn the business thoroughly, so that when your father retires you
can succeed him, and in time perhaps come back to take charge here, if
you can find among the clerks one sufficiently capable to represent
us out there. But I shall miss you, lad, sorely. I have always looked
forward to your being home for the holidays, and I had great interest
in your life and doings at school. Still, I knew, of course, that that
could not last for ever. In a small way it will be a wrench losing Ah
Lo; I shall find a difficulty in getting anyone to fill his place. A
more attentive or obliging fellow I have never come across. It will
be a satisfaction to me to know that he is with you, for should any
troubles arise, which I regard as quite possible, you will find him
invaluable.
“I only intended, when I took this house, to stay here until you
returned, but I know so many people round here now that I shall
probably stay on. I found it intolerably dull the first year, but now
that I know all my neighbours it is different, and if I were to leave
and take a house in town I should have all the work of making friends
again.
“I hope that things will settle down in China. Your fatherʼs letters
of late have taken rather a gloomy view of things, and he is not by
any means given that way. I am more impressed by what he says than by
what I read in the papers. In his last letter he says, ʻI feel as if I
were living in a country subject to earthquakes, and that at any moment
the ground might open under our feet. It does not seem to me that our
officials at Pekin have any idea as to the extent of the danger, but
most of us here believe that it is very real. Happily we are strong
enough to hold out here till aid could reach us, and this will be
the case in all the treaty ports, but up–country the outlook would
be terrible. Emma is greatly troubled as to her sister up–country,
although to some extent she shares the belief of Masterton that the
Chinese officials will protect them against the mob if troubles should
begin. Although I donʼt tell Emma so, I do not share in that belief.
“ʼThis Boxer movement, as it is called, might be easily crushed now if
the Chinese authorities chose, but there is good reason for believing
that they have the secret support of the empress, and the men by whom
she is surrounded. If so, the officials throughout the country will
naturally go with the tide; and as life is thought so little of in
China, few of them would bestir themselves in earnest to protect the
missionaries, still less the native converts. Well, I hope that I may
be wrong, but I cannot feel at all comfortable in my mind as to the
future.ʼ
“Knowing your father as I do, I cannot but think that the outlook is
really serious. I was almost surprised that the letter did not conclude
by saying, ‘I think that you had better keep Rex for another year at
school.ʼ”
“I am very glad that it did not say so, uncle. For many reasons I am
sorry to be going back, and I am very sorry to leave you. It has been
very jolly at school, but if there is to be trouble I should like to be
with my father and mother, and to do what little I can to aid in the
defence of the English quarter if it should be attacked.”