It was early in December that H.M.S. _Perseus_ was cruising off the
mouth of the Canton River. War had been declared with China in
consequence of her continued evasions of the treaty she had made with
us, and it was expected that a strong naval force would soon gather to
bring her to reason. In the meantime the ships on the station had a busy
time of it, chasing the enemy's junks when they ventured to show
themselves beyond the reach of the guns of their forts, and occasionally
having a brush with the piratical boats which took advantage of the
general confusion to plunder friend as well as foe.
The _Perseus_ had that afternoon chased two Government junks up a creek.
The sun had already set when they took refuge there, and the captain
did not care to send his boats after them in the dark, as many of the
creeks ran up for miles into the flat country; and as they not
unfrequently had many arms or branches, the boats might, in the dark,
miss the junks altogether. Orders were issued that four boats should be
ready for starting at daybreak the next morning. The _Perseus_ anchored
off the mouth of the creek, and two boats were ordered to row backwards
and forwards off its mouth all night to insure that the enemy did not
slip out in the darkness.
Jack Fothergill, the senior midshipman, was commanding the gig, and two
of the other midshipmen were going in the pinnace and launch, commanded
respectively by the first lieutenant and the master. The three other
midshipmen of the _Perseus_ were loud in their lamentations that they
were not to take share in the fun.
"You can't all go, you know," Fothergill said, "and it's no use making a
row about it; the captain has been very good to let three of us go."
"It's all very well for you, Jack," Percy Adcock, the youngest of the
lads, replied, "because you are one of those chosen; and it is not so
hard for Simmons and Linthorpe, because they went the other day in the
boat that chased those junks under shelter of the guns of their battery,
but I haven't had a chance for ever so long."
"What fun was there in chasing the junks?" Simmons said. "We never got
near the brutes till they were close to their battery, and then just as
the first shot came singing from their guns, and we thought that we were
going to have some excitement, the first lieutenant sung out 'Easy all,'
and there was nothing for it but to turn round and to row for the ship,
and a nice hot row it was--two hours and a half in a broiling sun. Of
course I am not blaming Oliphant, for the captain's orders were strict
that we were not to try to cut the junks out if they got under the guns
of any of their batteries. Still it was horribly annoying, and I do
think the captain might have remembered what beastly luck we had last
time, and given us a chance to-morrow."
"It is clear we could not all go," Fothergill said, "and naturally
enough the captain chose the three seniors. Besides, if you did have
bad luck last time, you had your chance, and I don't suppose we shall
have anything more exciting now; these fellows always set fire to their
junks and row for the shore directly they see us, after firing a shot or
two wildly in our direction."
"Well, Jack, if you don't expect any fun," Simmons replied, "perhaps you
wouldn't mind telling the first lieutenant you do not care for going,
and that I am very anxious to take your place. Perhaps he will be good
enough to allow me to relieve you."
"A likely thing that!" Fothergill laughed. "No, Tom, I am sorry you are
not going, but you must make the best of it till another chance comes."
"Don't you think, Jack," Percy Adcock said to his senior in a coaxing
tone later on, "you could manage to smuggle me into the boat with you?"
"Not I, Percy. Suppose you got hurt, what would the captain say then?
And firing as wildly as the Chinese do, a shot is just as likely to hit
your little carcase as to lodge in one of the sailors. No, you must just
make the best of it, Percy, and I promise you that next time there is a
boat expedition, if you are not put in, I will say a good word to the
first luff for you."
"That promise is better than nothing," the boy said; "but I would a deal
rather go this time and take my chance next."
"But you see you can't, Percy, and there's no use talking any more about
it. I really do not expect there will be any fighting. Two junks would
hardly make any opposition to the boats of the ship, and I expect we
shall be back by nine o'clock with the news that they were well on fire
before we came up."
Percy Adcock, however, was determined, if possible, to go. He was a
favourite among the men, and when he spoke to the bow oar of the gig,
the latter promised to do anything he could to aid him to carry out his
wishes.
"We are to start at daybreak, Tom, so that it will be quite dark when
the boats are lowered. I will creep into the gig before that and hide
myself as well as I can under your thwart, and all you have got to do is
to take no notice of me. When the boat is lowered I think they will
hardly make me out from the deck, especially as you will be standing up
in the bow holding on with the boat-hook till the rest get on board."
"Well, sir, I will do my best; but if you are caught you must not let
out that I knew anything about it."
"I won't do that," Percy said. "I don't think there is much chance of my
being noticed until we get on board the junks, and then they won't know
which boat I came off in, and the first lieutenant will be too busy to
blow me up. Of course I shall get it when I am on board again, but I
don't mind that so that I see the fun. Besides, I want to send home some
things to my sister, and she will like them all the better if I can tell
her I captured them on board some junks we seized and burnt."
The next morning the crews mustered before daybreak. Percy had already
taken his place under the bow thwart of the gig. The davits were swung
overboard, and two men took their places in her as she was lowered down
by the falls. As soon as she touched the water the rest of the crew
clambered down by the ladder and took their places; then Fothergill took
his seat in the stern, and the boat pushed off and lay a few lengths
away from the ship until the heavier boats put off. As soon as they were
under way Percy crawled out from his hiding-place and placed himself in
the bow, where he was sheltered by the body of the oarsmen from
Fothergill's sight.
Day was just breaking now, but it was still dark on the water, and the
boat rowed very slowly until it became lighter. Percy could just make
out the shores of the creek on both sides; they were but two or three
feet above the level of the water, and were evidently submerged at high
tide. The creek was about a hundred yards wide, and the lad could not
see far ahead, for it was full of sharp windings and turnings. Here and
there branches joined it, but the boats were evidently following the
main channel. After another half-hour's rowing the first lieutenant
suddenly gave the order, "Easy all," and the men, looking over their
shoulders, saw a village a quarter of a mile ahead, with the two junks
they had chased the night before lying in front of it. Almost at the
same moment a sudden uproar was heard--drums were beaten and gongs
sounded.
"They are on the look-out for us," the first lieutenant said. "Mr.
Mason, do you keep with me and attack the junk highest up the river; Mr.
Bellew and Mr. Fothergill, do you take the one lower down. Row on, men."
The oars all touched the water together, and the four boats leapt
forward. In a minute a scattering fire of gingals and matchlocks was
opened from the junks, and the bullets pattered on the water round the
boats. Percy was kneeling up in the bow now. As they passed a branch
channel three or four hundred yards from the village, he started and
leapt to his feet.
"There are four or five junks in that passage, Fothergill; they are
poling out."
The first lieutenant heard the words.
"Row on, men; let us finish with these craft ahead before the others get
out. This must be that piratical village we have heard about, Mr. Mason,
as lying up one of these creeks; that accounts for those two junks not
going higher up. I was surprised at seeing them here, for they might
guess that we should try to get them this morning. Evidently they
calculated on catching us in a trap."
Percy was delighted at finding that, in the excitement caused by his
news, the first lieutenant had forgotten to take any notice of his being
there without orders, and he returned a defiant nod to the threat
conveyed by Fothergill shaking his fist at him. As they neared the junks
the fire of those on board redoubled, and was aided by that of many
villagers gathered on the bank of the creek. Suddenly from a bank of
rushes four cannons were fired. A ball struck the pinnace, smashing in
her side. The other boats gathered hastily round and took her crew on
board, and then dashed at the junks, which were but a hundred yards
distant. The valour of the Chinese evaporated as they saw the boats
approaching, and scores of them leapt overboard and swam for shore.
In another minute the boats were alongside and the crews scrambling up
the sides of the junks. A few Chinamen only attempted to oppose them.
These were speedily overcome, and the British had now time to look
round, and saw that six junks crowded with men had issued from the side
creek and were making towards them.
"Let the boats tow astern," the lieutenant ordered. "We should have to
run the gauntlet of that battery on shore if we were to attack them, and
might lose another boat before we reached their side. We will fight them
here."
The junks approached, those on board firing their guns, yelling and
shouting, while the drums and gongs were furiously beaten.
"They will find themselves mistaken, Percy, if they think they are going
to frighten us with all that row," Fothergill said. "You young rascal,
how did you get on board the boat without being seen? The captain will
be sure to suspect I had a hand in concealing you."
The tars were now at work firing the gingals attached to the bulwarks
and the matchlocks, with which the deck was strewn, at the approaching
junks. As they took steady aim, leaning their pieces on the bulwarks,
they did considerable execution among the Chinamen crowded on board the
junks, while the shot of the Chinese, for the most part, whistled far
overhead; but the guns of the shore battery, which had now been slewed
round to bear upon them, opened with a better aim, and several shots
came crashing into the sides of the two captured junks.
"Get ready to board, lads!" Lieutenant Oliphant shouted. "Don't wait
for them to board you, but the moment they come alongside lash their
rigging to ours and spring on board them."
The leading junk was now about twenty yards away, and presently grated
alongside. Half-a-dozen sailors at once sprang into her rigging with
ropes, and after lashing the junks together leaped down upon her deck,
where Fothergill was leading the gig's crew and some of those rescued
from the pinnace, while Mr. Bellew, with another party, had boarded her
at the stern. Several of the Chinese fought stoutly, but the greater
part lost heart at seeing themselves attacked by the "white devils,"
instead of, as they expected, overwhelming them by their superior
numbers. Many began at once to jump overboard, and after two or three
minutes' sharp fighting, the rest either followed their example or were
beaten below.
Fothergill looked round. The other junk had been attacked by two of the
enemy, one on each side, and the little body of sailors were gathered in
her waist, and were defending themselves against an overwhelming number
of the enemy.
The other three piratical junks had been carried somewhat up the creek
by the tide that was sweeping inward, and could not for the moment take
part in the fight.
"Mr. Oliphant is hard pressed, sir." He asked the master: "Shall we take
to the boats?"
"That will be the best plan," Mr. Bellew replied. "Quick, lads, get the
boats alongside and tumble in; there is not a moment to be lost."
The crew at once sprang to the boats and rowed to the other junk, which
was but some thirty yards away.
The Chinese, absorbed in their contest with the crew of the pinnace, did
not perceive the new-comers until they gained the deck, and with a shout
fell furiously upon them. In their surprise and consternation the
pirates did not pause to note that they were still five to one superior
in number, but made a precipitate rush for their own vessels. The
English at once took the offensive. The first lieutenant with his party
boarded one, while the new-comers leapt on to the deck of the other. The
panic which had seized the Chinese was so complete that they attempted
no resistance whatever, but sprang overboard in great numbers and swam
to the shore, which was but twenty yards away, and in three minutes the
English were in undisputed possession of both vessels.
"Back again, Mr. Fothergill, or you will lose the craft you captured,"
Lieutenant Oliphant said; "they have already cut her free."
The Chinese, indeed, who had been beaten below by the boarding party,
had soon perceived the sudden departure of their captors, and gaining
the deck again had cut the lashings which fastened them to the other
junk, and were proceeding to hoist their sails. They were too late,
however. Almost before the craft had way on her Fothergill and his crew
were alongside. The Chinese did not wait for the attack, but at once
sprang overboard and made for the shore. The other three junks, seeing
the capture of their comrades, had already hoisted their sails and were
making up the creek. Fothergill dropped an anchor, left four of his men
in charge, and rowed back to Mr. Oliphant.
"What shall we do next, sir?"
"We will give those fellows on shore a lesson, and silence their
battery. Two men have been killed since you left. We must let the other
junks go for the present. Four of my men were killed and eleven wounded
before Mr. Bellew and you came to our assistance. The Chinese were
fighting pluckily up to that time, and it would have gone very hard with
us if you had not been at hand; the beggars will fight when they think
they have got it all their own way. But before we land we will set fire
to the five junks we have taken. Do you return and see that the two
astern are well lighted, Mr. Fothergill; Mr. Mason will see to these
three. When you have done your work take to your boat and lay off till I
join you; keep the junks between you and the shore, to protect you from
the fire of the rascals there."
"I cannot come with you, I suppose, Fothergill?" Percy Adcock said, as
the midshipman was about to descend into his boat again.
"Yes, come along, Percy. It doesn't matter what you do now. The captain
will be so pleased when he hears that we have captured and burnt five
junks, that you will get off with a very light wigging, I imagine."
"That's just what I was thinking, Jack. Has it not been fun?"
"You wouldn't have thought it fun if you had got one of those matchlock
balls in your body. There are a good many of our poor fellows just at
the present moment who do not see anything funny in the affair at all.
Here we are; clamber up."
The crew soon set to work under Fothergill's orders. The sails were cut
off the masts and thrown down into the hold; bamboos, of which there
were an abundance down there, were heaped over them, a barrel of oil was
poured over the mass, and the fire then applied.
"That will do, lads. Now take to your boats and let's make a bonfire of
the other junk."
In ten minutes both vessels were a sheet of flame, and the boat was
lying a short distance from them waiting for further operations. The
inhabitants of the village, furious at the failure of the plan which had
been laid for the destruction of the "white devils," kept up a constant
fusilade, which, however, did no harm, for the gig was completely
sheltered by the burning junks close to her from their missiles.
"There go the others!" Percy exclaimed after a minute or two, as three
columns of smoke arose simultaneously from the other junks, and the
sailors were seen dropping into their boats alongside.
The killed and wounded were placed in the other gig with four sailors in
charge. They were directed to keep under shelter of the junks until
rejoined by the pinnace and Fothergill's gig, after these had done their
work on shore.
When all was ready the first lieutenant raised his hand as a signal, and
the two boats dashed between the burning junks and rowed for the shore.
Such of the natives as had their weapons charged fired a hasty volley,
and then, as the sailors leapt from their boats, took to their heels.
"Mr. Fothergill, take your party into the village and set fire to the
houses; shoot down every man you see. This place is a nest of pirates. I
will capture that battery and then join you."
Fothergill and his sailors at once entered the village. The men had
already fled; the women were turned out of the houses, and these were
immediately set on fire. The tars regarded the whole affair as a
glorious joke, and raced from house to house, making a hasty search in
each for concealed valuables before setting it on fire. In a short time
the whole village was in a blaze.
"There is a house there, standing in that little grove a hundred yards
away," Percy said.
"It looks like a temple," Fothergill replied. "However, we will have a
look at it." And calling two sailors to accompany him, he started at a
run towards it, Percy keeping by his side.
"It is a temple," Fothergill said when they approached it. "Still, we
will have a look at it, but we won't burn it; it will be as well to
respect the religion, even of a set of piratical scoundrels like these."
At the head of his men he rushed in at the entrance. There was a blaze
of fire as half a dozen muskets were discharged in their faces. One of
the sailors dropped dead, and before the others had time to realize what
had happened they were beaten to the ground by a storm of blows from
swords and other weapons.
A heavy blow crashed down on Percy's head, and he fell insensible even
before he realized what had occurred.
When he recovered, his first sensation was that of a vague wonder as to
what had happened to him. He seemed to be in darkness and unable to move
hand or foot. He was compressed in some way that he could not at first
understand, and was being bumped and jolted in an extraordinary manner.
It was some little time before he could understand the situation. He
first remembered the fight with the junks, then he recalled the landing
and burning the village; then, as his brain cleared, came the
recollection of his start with Fothergill for the temple among the
trees, his arrival there, and a loud report and flash of fire.
"I must have been knocked down and stunned," he said to himself, "and I
suppose I am a prisoner now to these brutes, and one of them must be
carrying me on his back."
Yes, he could understand it all now. His hands and his feet were tied,
ropes were passed round his body in every direction, and he was fastened
back to back upon the shoulders of a Chinaman. Percy remembered the
tales he had heard of the imprisonment and torture of those who fell
into the hands of the Chinese, and he bitterly regretted that he had
not been killed instead of stunned in the surprise of the temple.
"It would have been just the same feeling," he said to himself, "and
there would have been an end of it. Now, there is no saying what is
going to happen. I wonder whether Jack was killed, and the sailors."
Presently there was a jabber of voices; the motion ceased. Percy could
feel that the cords were being unwound, and he was dropped on to his
feet; then the cloth was removed from his head, and he could look round.
A dozen Chinese, armed with matchlocks and bristling with swords and
daggers, stood around, and among them, bound like himself and gagged by
a piece of bamboo forced lengthways across his mouth and kept there with
a string going round the back of the head, stood Fothergill. He was
bleeding from several cuts in the head. Percy's heart gave a bound of
joy at finding that he was not alone; then he tried to feel sorry that
Jack had not escaped, but failed to do so, although he told himself that
his comrade's presence would not in any way alleviate the fate which was
certain to befall him. Still the thought of companionship, even in
wretchedness, and perhaps a vague hope that Jack, with his energy and
spirit, might contrive some way for their escape, cheered him up.
As Percy, too, was gagged, no word could be exchanged by the midshipmen,
but they nodded to each other. They were now put side by side and made
to walk in the centre of their captors. On the way they passed through
several villages, whose inhabitants poured out to gaze at the captives,
but the men in charge of them were evidently not disposed to delay, as
they passed through without a stop. At last they halted before two
cottages standing by themselves, thrust the prisoners into a small room,
removed their gags, and left them to themselves.
"Well, Percy, my boy, so they caught you too? I am awfully sorry. It was
my fault for going with only two men into that temple, but as the
village had been deserted and scarcely a man was found there, it never
entered my mind that there might be a party in the temple."
"Of course not, Jack; it was a surprise altogether. I don't know
anything about it, for I was knocked down, I suppose, just as we went
in, and the first thing I knew about it was that I was being carried on
the back of one of those fellows. I thought it was awful at first, but I
don't seem to mind so much now you are with me."
"It is a comfort to have someone to speak to," Jack said, "yet I wish
you were not here, Percy; I can't do you any good, and I shall never
cease blaming myself for having brought you into this scrape. I don't
know much more about the affair than you do. The guns were fired so
close to us that my face was scorched with one of them, and almost at
the same instant I got a lick across my cheek with a sword. I had just
time to hit at one of them, and then almost at the same moment I got two
or three other blows, and down I went; they threw themselves on the top
of me and tied and gagged me in no time. Then I was tied to a long
bamboo, and two fellows put the ends on their shoulders and went off
with me through the fields. Of course I was face downwards, and did not
know you were with us till they stopped and loosed me from the bamboo
and set me on my feet."
"But what are they going to do with us do you think, Jack?"
"I should say they are going to take us to Canton and claim a reward
for our capture, and there I suppose they will cut off our heads or saw
us in two, or put us to some other unpleasant kind of death. I expect
they are discussing it now; do you hear what a jabber they are kicking
up?"
Voices were indeed heard raised in angry altercation in the next room.
After a time the din subsided and the conversation appeared to take a
more amiable turn.
"I suppose they have settled it as far as they are concerned," Jack
said; "anyhow, you may be quite sure they mean to make something out of
us. If they hadn't they would have finished us at once, for they must
have been furious at the destruction of their junks and village. As to
the idea that mercy has anything to do with it, we may as well put it
out of our minds. The Chinaman, at the best of times, has no feeling of
pity in his nature, and after their defeat it is certain they would have
killed us at once had they not hoped to do better by us. If they had
been Indians I should have said they had carried us off to enjoy the
satisfaction of torturing us, but I don't suppose it is that with them."
"Do you think there is any chance of our getting away?" Percy asked,
after a pause.
"I should say not the least in the world, Percy. My hands are fastened
so tight now that the ropes seem cutting into my wrists, and after they
had set me on my feet and cut the cords of my legs I could scarcely
stand at first, my feet were so numbed by the pressure. However, we must
keep up our pluck. Possibly they may keep us at Canton for a bit, and if
they do the squadron may arrive and fight its way past the forts and
take the city before they have quite made up their minds as to what kind
of death will be most appropriate to the occasion. I wonder what they
are doing now? They seem to be chopping sticks."
"I wish they would give us some water," Percy said. "I am frightfully
thirsty."
"And so am I, Percy; there is one comfort, they won't let us die of
thirst, they could get no satisfaction out of our deaths now."
Two hours later some of the Chinese re-entered the room and led the
captives outside, and the lads then saw what was the meaning of the
noise they had heard. A cage had been manufactured of strong bamboos.
It was about four and a half feet long, four feet wide, and less than
three feet high; above it was fastened two long bamboos. Two or three of
the bars of the cage had been left open.
"My goodness! they never intend to put us in there," Percy exclaimed.
"That they do," Jack said. "They are going to carry us the rest of the
way."
The cords which bound the prisoners' hands were now cut, and they were
motioned to crawl into the cage. This they did; the bars were then put
in their places and securely lashed. Four men went to the ends of the
poles and lifted the cage upon their shoulders; two others took their
places beside it, and one man, apparently the leader of the party,
walked on ahead; the rest remained behind.
"I never quite realized what a fowl felt in a coop before," Jack said,
"but if its sensations are at all like mine they must be decidedly
unpleasant. It isn't high enough to sit upright in, it is nothing like
long enough to lie down, and as to getting out one might as well think
of flying. Do you know, Percy, I don't think they mean taking us to
Canton at all. I did not think of it before, but from the direction of
the sun I feel sure that we cannot have been going that way. What they
are up to I can't imagine."
In an hour they came to a large village. Here the cage was set down and
the villagers closed round. They were, however, kept a short distance
from the cage by the men in charge of it. Then a wooden platter was
placed on the ground, and persons throwing a few copper coins into this
were allowed to come near the cage.
"They are making a show of us!" Fothergill exclaimed. "That's what they
are up to, you see if it isn't; they are going to travel up country to
show the 'white devils' whom their valour has captured."
This was, indeed, the purpose of the pirates. At that time Europeans
seldom ventured beyond the limits assigned to them in the two or three
towns where they were permitted to trade, and few, indeed, of the
country people had ever obtained a sight of the white barbarians of
whose doings they had so frequently heard. Consequently a small crowd
soon gathered round the cage, eyeing the captives with the same interest
they would have felt as to unknown and dangerous beasts; they laughed
and joked, passed remarks upon them, and even poked them with sticks.
Fothergill, furious at this treatment, caught one of the sticks, and
wrenching it from the hands of the Chinaman, tried to strike at him
through the bars, a proceeding which excited shouts of laughter from the
by-standers.
"I think, Jack," Percy said, "it will be best to try and keep our
tempers and not to seem to mind what they do to us, then if they find
they can't get any fun out of us they will soon leave us alone."
"Of course, that's the best plan," Fothergill agreed, "but it's not so
easy to follow. That fellow very nearly poked out my eye with his stick,
and no one's going to stand that if he can help it."
It was some hours before the curiosity of the village was satisfied.
When all had paid who were likely to do so, the guards broke up their
circle, and leaving two of their number at the cage to see that no
actual harm was caused to their prisoners, the rest went off to a
refreshment house. The place of the elders was now taken by the boys
and children of the village, who crowded round the cage, prodded the
prisoners with sticks, and, putting their hands through the bars, pulled
their ears and hair. This amusement, however, was brought to an abrupt
conclusion by Fothergill suddenly seizing the wrist of a big boy and
pulling his arm through the cage until his face was against the bars;
then he proceeded to punch him until the guard, coming to his rescue,
poked Fothergill with his stick until he released his hold.
The punishment of their comrade excited neither anger nor resentment
among the other boys, who yelled with delight at his discomfiture, but
it made them more careful in approaching the cage, and though they
continued to poke the prisoners with sticks they did not venture again
to thrust a hand through the bars. At sunset the guards again came
round, lifted the cage and carried it into a shed. A platter of dirty
rice and a jug of water were put into the cage; two of the men lighted
their long pipes and sat down on guard beside it, and, the doors being
closed, the captives were left in peace.
"If this sort of thing is to go on, as I suppose it is," Fothergill
said, "the sooner they cut off our heads the better."
"It is very bad, Jack. I am sore all over with those probes from their
sharp sticks."
"I don't care for the pain, Percy, so much as the humiliation of the
thing. To be stared at and poked at as if we were wild beasts by these
curs, when with half a dozen of our men we could send a hundred of them
scampering, I feel as if I could choke with rage."
"You had better try and eat some of this rice, Jack. It is beastly, but
I daresay we shall get no more until to-morrow night, and we must keep
up our strength if we can. At any rate, the water is not bad, that's a
comfort."
"No thanks to them," Jack growled. "If there had been any bad water in
the neighbourhood they would have given it to us."
For six weeks the sufferings of the prisoners continued. Their captors
avoided towns where the authorities would probably at once have taken
the prisoners out of their hands. No one would have recognized the two
captives as the midshipmen of the _Perseus_; their clothes were in
rags--torn to pieces by the thrusts of the sharp-pointed bamboos, to
which they had daily been subjected--the bad food, the cramped position,
and the misery which they suffered had worn both lads to skeletons;
their hair was matted with filth, their faces begrimed with dirt. Percy
was so weak that he felt he could not stand. Fothergill, being three
years older, was less exhausted, but he knew that he, too, could not
support his sufferings for many days longer. Their bodies were covered
with sores, and try as they would they were able to catch only a few
minutes' sleep at a time, so much did the bamboo bars hurt their wasted
limbs.
They seldom exchanged a word during the daytime, suffering in silence
the persecutions to which they were exposed, but at night they talked
over their homes and friends in England, and their comrades on board
ship, seldom saying a word as to their present position. They were now
in a hilly country, but had not the least idea of the direction in which
it lay from Canton or its distance from the coast.
One evening Jack said to his companion, "I think it's nearly all over
now, Percy. The last two days we have made longer journeys, and have
not stopped at any of the smaller villages we passed through. I fancy
our guards must see that we can't last much longer, and are taking us
down to some town to hand us over to the authorities and get their
reward for us."
"I hope it is so, Jack; the sooner the better. Not that it makes much
difference now to me, for I do not think I can stand many more days of
it."
"I am afraid I am tougher than you, Percy, and shall take longer to
kill, so I hope with all my heart that I may be right, and that they may
be going to give us up to the authorities."
The next evening they stopped at a large place, and were subjected to
the usual persecution; this, however, was now less prolonged than during
the early days of their captivity, for they had now no longer strength
or spirits to resent their treatment, and as no fun was to be obtained
from passive victims, even the village boys soon ceased to find any
amusement in tormenting them.
When most of their visitors had left them, an elderly Chinaman
approached the side of the cage. He spoke to their guards and looked at
them attentively for some minutes, then he said in pigeon English, "You
officer men?"
"Yes!" Jack exclaimed, starting at the sound of the English words, the
first they had heard spoken since their captivity. "Yes, we are officers
of the _Perseus_."
"Me speeke English velly well," the Chinaman said; "me pilot-man many
years on Canton river. How you get here?"
"We were attacking some piratical junks, and landed to destroy the
village where the people were firing on us. We entered a place full of
pirates, and were knocked down and taken prisoners, and carried away up
the country; that is six weeks ago, and you see what we are now."
"Pirate men velly bad," the Chinaman said; "plunder many junk on river
and kill crew. Me muchee hate them."
"Can you do anything for us?" Jack asked. "You will be well rewarded if
you could manage to get us free."
The man shook his head.
"Me no see what can do, me stranger here; come to stay with wifey;
people no do what me ask them. English ships attack Canton, much fight
and take town, people all hate English. Bad country dis. People in one
village fight against another. Velly bad men here."
"How far is Canton away?" Jack asked. "Could you not send down to tell
the English we are here?"
"Fourteen days' journey off," the man said; "no see how can do
anything."
"Well," Jack said, "when you get back again to Canton let our people
know what has been the end of us; we shall not last much longer."
"All light," the man said, "will see what me can do. Muchee think
to-night!" And after saying a few words to the guards, who had been
regarding this conversation with an air of surprise, the Chinaman
retired.
The guards had for some time abandoned the precaution of sitting up at
night by the cage, convinced that their captives had no longer strength
to attempt to break through its fastenings or to drag themselves many
yards away if they could do so. They therefore left it standing in the
open, and, wrapping themselves in their thickly-wadded coats, for the
nights were cold, lay down by the side of the cage.
The coolness of the nights had, indeed, assisted to keep the two
prisoners alive. During the day the sun was excessively hot, and the
crowd of visitors round the cage impeded the circulation of the air and
added to their sufferings. It was true that the cold at night frequently
prevented them from sleeping, but it acted as a tonic and braced them
up.
"What did he mean about the villages attacking each other?" Percy asked.
"I have heard," Jack replied, "that in some parts of China things are
very much the same as they used to be in the highlands of Scotland.
There is no law or order. The different villages are like clans, and
wage war on each other. Sometimes the Government sends a number of
troops, who put the thing down for a time, chop off a good many heads,
and then march away, and the whole work begins again as soon as their
backs are turned."
That night the uneasy slumber of the lads was disturbed by a sudden
firing; shouts and yells were heard, and the firing redoubled.
"The village is attacked," Jack said. "I noticed that, like some other
places we have come into lately, there is a strong earthen wall round
it, with gates. Well, there is one comfort--it does not make much
difference to us which side wins."
The guards at the first alarm leapt to their feet, caught up their
matchlocks, and ran to aid in the defence of the wall. Two minutes later
a man ran up to the cage.
"All lightee," he said; "just what me hopee."
With his knife he cut the tough withes that held the bamboos in their
places, and pulled out three of the bars.
"Come along," he said; "no time to lose."
Jack scrambled out, but in trying to stand upright gave a sharp
exclamation of pain. Percy crawled out more slowly; he tried to stand
up, but could not. The Chinaman caught him up and threw him on his
shoulder.
"Come along quickee," he said to Jack; "if takee village, kill evely
one." He set off at a run. Jack followed as fast as he could, groaning
at every step from the pain the movement caused to his bruised body.
They went to the side of the village opposite to that at which the
attack was going on. They met no one on the way, the inhabitants having
all rushed to the other side to repel the attack. They stopped at a
small gate in the wall, the Chinaman drew back the bolts and opened it,
and they passed out into the country. For an hour they kept on. By the
end of that time Jack could scarcely drag his limbs along. The Chinaman
halted at length in a clump of trees surrounded by a thick undergrowth.
"Allee safee here," he said, "no searchee so far; here food;" and he
produced from a wallet a cold chicken and some boiled rice, and unslung
from his shoulder a gourd filled with cold tea.
"Me go back now, see what happen. To-mollow nightee come again--bringee
more food." And without another word went off at a rapid pace.
Jack moistened his lips with the tea, and then turned to his companion.
Percy had not spoken a word since he had been released from the cage,
and had been insensible during the greater part of his journey. Jack
poured some cold tea between his lips.
"Cheer up, Percy, old boy, we are free now, and with luck and that good
fellow's help we will work our way down to Canton yet."
"I shall never get down there; you may," Percy said feebly.
"Oh, nonsense, you will pick up strength like a steam-engine now. Here,
let me prop you against this tree. That's better. Now drink a drop of
this tea; it's like nectar after that filthy water we have been
drinking. Now you will feel better. Now you must try and eat a little of
this chicken and rice. Oh, nonsense, you have got to do it. I am not
going to let you give way when our trouble is just over. Think of your
people at home, Percy, and make an effort, for their sakes. Good
heavens! now I think of it, it must be Christmas morning. We were caught
on the 2nd and we have been just twenty-two days on show. I am sure that
it must be past twelve o'clock, and it is Christmas-day. It is a good
omen, Percy. This food isn't like roast beef and plum-pudding, but it's
not to be despised, I can tell you. Come, fire away, that's a good
fellow."
Percy made an effort and ate a few mouthfuls of rice and chicken, then
he took another draught of tea, and lay down, and was almost immediately
asleep.
Jack ate his food slowly and contentedly till he finished half the
supply, then he, too, lay down, and, after a short but hearty
thanksgiving for his escape from a slow and lingering death, he, too,
fell off to sleep. The sun was rising when he woke, being aroused by a
slight movement on the part of Percy; he opened his eyes and sat up.
"Well, Percy, how do you feel this morning?" he asked cheerily.
"I feel too weak to move," Percy replied languidly.
"Oh, you will be all right when you have sat up and eaten breakfast,"
Jack said. "Here you are; here is a wing for you, and this rice is as
white as snow, and the tea is first rate. I thought last night after I
lay down that I heard a murmur of water, so after we have had breakfast
I will look about and see if I can find it. We should feel like new men
after a wash. You look awful, and I am sure I am just as bad."
The thought of a wash inspirited Percy far more than that of eating, and
he sat up and made a great effort to do justice to breakfast. He
succeeded much better than he had done the night before, and Jack,
although he pretended to grumble, was satisfied with his companion's
progress, and finished off the rest of the food. Then he set out to
search for water. He had not very far to go; a tiny stream, a few
inches wide and two or three inches deep, ran through the wood from the
higher ground. After throwing himself down and taking a drink, he
hurried back to Percy.
"It is all right, Percy, I have found it. We can wash to our hearts'
content; think of that, lad."
Percy could hardly stand, but he made an effort, and Jack half carried
him to the streamlet. There the lads spent hours. First they bathed
their heads and hands, and then, stripping, lay down in the stream and
allowed it to flow over them, then they rubbed themselves with handfuls
of leaves dipped in the water, and when they at last put on their rags
again felt like new men. Percy was able to walk back to the spot they
had quitted with the assistance only of Jack's arm. The latter, feeling
that his breakfast had by no means appeased his hunger, now started for
a search through the wood, and presently returned to Percy laden with
nuts and berries.
"The nuts are sure to be all right; I expect the berries are too. I have
certainly seen some like them in native markets, and I think it will be
quite safe to risk it."
The rest of the day was spent in picking nuts and eating them. Then
they sat down and waited for the arrival of their friend. He came two
hours after nightfall with a wallet stored with provisions, and told
them that he had regained the village unobserved. The attack had been
repulsed, but with severe loss to the defenders as well as the
assailants; two of their guards had been among the killed. The others
had made a great clamour over the escape of the prisoners, and had made
a close search throughout the village and immediately round it, for they
were convinced that their captives had not had the strength to go any
distance. He thought, however, that although they had professed the
greatest indignation, and had offered many threats as to the vengeance
that Government would take upon the village, one of whose inhabitants,
at least, must have aided in the evasion of the prisoners, they would
not trouble themselves any further in the matter. They had already
reaped a rich harvest from the exhibition, and would divide among
themselves the share of their late comrades; nor was it at all
improbable that if they were to report the matter to the authorities
they would themselves get into serious trouble for not having handed
over the prisoners immediately after their capture.
For a fortnight the pilot nursed and fed the two midshipmen. He had
already provided them with native clothes, so that if by chance any
villagers should catch sight of them they would not recognize them as
the escaped white men. At the end of that time both the lads had almost
recovered from the effects of their sufferings. Jack, indeed, had picked
up from the first, but Percy for some days continued so weak and ill
that Jack had feared that he was going to have an attack of fever of
some kind. His companion's cheery and hopeful chat did as much good for
Percy as the nourishing food with which their friend supplied them, and
at the end of the fortnight he declared that he felt sufficiently strong
to attempt to make his way down to the coast.
The pilot acted as their guide. When they inquired about his wife, he
told them carelessly that she would remain with her kinsfolk, and would
travel on to Canton and join him there when she found an opportunity.
The journey was accomplished at night, by very short stages at first,
but by increasing distances as Percy gained strength. During the daytime
the lads lay hid in woods or jungles, while their companion went into
the village and purchased food. They struck the river many miles above
Canton, and the pilot, going down first to a village on its banks,
bargained for a boat to take him and two women down to the city.
The lads went on board at night and took their places in the little
cabin formed of bamboos and covered with mats in the stern of the boat,
and remained thus sheltered not only from the view of people in boats
passing up or down the stream, but from the eyes of their own boatmen.
After two days' journey down the river without incident, they arrived
off Canton, where the British fleet was still lying while negotiations
for peace were being carried on with the authorities at Pekin. Peeping
out between the mats, the lads caught sight of the English warships,
and, knowing that there was now no danger, they dashed out of the cabin,
to the surprise of the native boatmen, and shouted and waved their arms
to the distant ships.
In ten minutes they were alongside the _Perseus_, when they were hailed
as if restored from the dead. The pilot was very handsomely rewarded by
the English authorities for his kindness to the prisoners, and was
highly satisfied with the result of his proceedings, which more than
doubled the little capital with which he had retired from business. Jack
Fothergill and Percy Adcock declare that they have never since eaten
chicken without thinking of their Christmas fare on the morning of their
escape from the hands of the Chinese pirates.