In the room in which the fugitives now found themselves, there were
several garments hanging.
'Let us change our clothes,' Charlie whispered; 'it will be a splendid
disguise.'
Ping Wang's face beamed. He pulled off his coat and trousers and donned
in their place a dirty jacket and a pair of ragged knickerbockers. Then,
taking off his 'beehive,' he wound round his head the yellow scarf of
the Boxers.
Charlie and Fred hastened to follow his example. Ping Wang tied their
Boxer cloths around their heads, and then looked at them with interest.
'Splendid,' he declared, 'and now we must be off in case any of the
people return. They have gone,' he added, after listening for a few
minutes.
He opened the door. A passer-by spoke to him, and he answered
cheerfully, making some remark which caused the man to laugh heartily as
he continued his journey.
'Come on,' Ping Wang whispered, when the man had passed out of sight,
and stepped into the street, followed by Charlie and Fred.
No one penetrated their disguise as they hurried along the streets. One
man informed Ping Wang that the three foreigners had been killed. They
had taken refuge in a house and the mob had thereupon set light to it.
He pointed to the distant flames. Ping Wang was sorry for the men who
had been mistaken for them, if they were really in the burnt house, but
could not help feeling relieved at the thought that now the mob had
wreaked its vengeance it would probably disperse for the night.
'When we turn the next corner we shall be facing the gates,' Ping Wang
said after a short walk; and Charlie and Fred heard the news with
thankfulness. They were as determined as ever to recover their friend's
wealth before quitting China, but they realised that it would be folly
to make another attempt to do so while the Boxers were stirring up the
people. Their idea was to return to Hongkong and remain there until the
anti-foreign feeling had grown less strong.
Ping Wang was the first to reach the corner. To the astonishment of his
friends he stopped short, with an exclamation of surprise. Charlie and
Fred were at his side in a moment and saw at once the cause of his
astonishment--the town gates were closed!
The surprise which they showed on seeing that the gates were closed did
not cause any comment or notice among the people standing near, for they
too had been surprised and annoyed by the same thing. Chin Choo had
given the order for the gates to be shut, and the soldiers dared not
open them until they received from him a command to that effect.
After a time the crowd began to disperse, some of the people wandering
off to find lodgings for the night, and others sitting down by the
roadside in the hope that, before long, the gates would be thrown open.
Among the latter were the Pages and Ping Wang. They found a dark corner,
and sat there almost entirely hidden from passers-by. Ping Wang sat in
front of his friends, so that if any one did peer into their corner he
would see him, and conclude that his companions were Chinamen. A long
silence was at last broken by the shouts of an advancing mob.
'They've discovered their mistake,' Charlie declared, 'and are
continuing the search for us.'
'Don't talk,' Ping Wang said, and once more they became silent,
listening eagerly to distinguish what the mob was shouting. In a few
minutes their suspicions were confirmed, for the cry which burst from
hundreds of throats was one that there was no need Ping Wang to
translate--Charlie and Fred understood only too well what it meant.
'Kill the foreigners!' Nearer each moment came the crowd, every man
uttering the same cry. Soon it came in sight. At the head of the mob was
Chin Choo in his palanquin, wearing the yellow head-cloth of the Boxers.
'They're Boxers,' Ping Wang whispered, 'and evidently they have no idea
that we are alive.'
This was welcome news to Charlie and Fred, and remembering that they too
were members of the Boxers' Society, they watched the crowd with great
interest. Every Boxer wore his yellow head-cloth, and carried a weapon
of some sort. A few only had rifles, the remainder being armed with
swords, knives, bows and arrows, and sticks.
When the Boxers had arrived at the town gates, Chin Choo addressed his
followers from his palanquin. He declared that the foreigners had come
to the Middle Kingdom for the sole purpose of taking their country, and
that, therefore, it was necessary to kill them all at once. If any were
permitted to escape, they would return to their own land, and come back
with many more. Then he declared that the Boxers would avenge all the
cruelties which he said had been enacted by the foreigners, and finished
up with the statement that the Boxers could not be wounded. Bullets
would glide off their skin without making a scar, and swords, spears,
and knives would make no impression.
Chin Choo saw that the people had doubts about the truth of his last
assertion, and beckoned two of his officers to approach him. He talked
with them for a few moments, and then declared, in a loud voice. 'Now
you shall see that nothing can harm the men who wear yellow
head-cloths.'
As he spoke six Boxers advanced, and stood with their backs to the town
gates. Then twelve of the soldiers marched forward with their rifles at
the trail, and halted about twenty yards in front of them. At the word
of command they loaded their rifles and raised them to their shoulders.
An instant later they fired a volley at the six Boxers, but, to the
astonishment of the onlookers, not one of the men was injured.
'They used blank cartridges,' Fred declared.
'It was smart of Chin Choo,' Charlie declared, and Fred and Ping Wang
agreed with him, for not one Chinaman in a thousand knows that there are
such things as blank cartridges.
The crowd was delighted with this miracle, and the Boxers themselves
became wild with joy. They waved their weapons about, and shouted to be
led against the enemy at once. Their desire was granted, the gates were
thrown open, and the Boxers marched out of the town.
'Come on,' Ping Wang said, when the Boxers began to move forward. 'We
will march out with them.'
They slipped into the road, and joined the tail of the Boxers boldly,
brandishing the knives that they had with them in imitation of the
Chinamen's actions. Ping Wang shouted as loudly as any man, and shook
his fist fiercely at an imaginary enemy.
'Keep your eye on me,' he whispered to Charlie when they had marched
about a mile. 'We will bolt soon.'
Charlie saw that it would not be a difficult thing to escape from the
rabble army, for men straggled away right and left, just as they felt
inclined. The officers walked in front, and beyond looking round
occasionally to see that the mob was following, kept no further watch on
them.
Before long Ping Wang halted to rearrange his head-cloth. Charlie and
Fred turned, and stood looking at him as if they were waiting for him to
finish and march on. Their action was very natural, and the few men who
had been marching behind them passed on without a remark.
Ping Wang continued to fumble about with his head-cloth until the last
of the Boxers were out of sight. Then he said, 'Now's our time,' and
quitted the track. The bushes, which grew thickly along the roadside,
afforded ample 'cover' if they needed it.
'We must hurry through this undergrowth without being seen, and get well
ahead of the Boxers,' said Ping Wang; 'then we will rejoin the track and
run forward at full speed.'
They proceeded cautiously, but travelled quick enough to gain on the
Boxers.
'We are about level with the middle of the mob,' Ping Wang declared some
minutes later. 'We must get a good half-mile ahead of them before we
rejoin the track.'
As Ping Wang finished speaking, Fred, who had looked behind him,
exclaimed, anxiously, 'There's some one following us.'
Charlie and Ping Wang stopped short, and, looking in the direction
indicated by Fred, saw a dark figure struggling through the bushes after
them.
'Let us wait and tackle him,' Charlie suggested, but Ping Wang objected
firmly to that proposal.
'There may be other fellows following him,' he added, 'and a shout from
any one of them would bring the mob rushing over here in a moment. The
best thing that we can do is to hurry on as quickly as possible.'
'Come along, then,' Charlie said, and started running. They ran a little
more than a mile. They soon left the Boxers behind, but the man whom
they were trying to avoid still pursued them.
'He has gained on us,' Charlie declared, and Fred and Ping Wang could
not deny it.
'We must run faster,' Ping Wang said, but, as he was panting for breath,
Charlie and Fred felt sure that they would not get rid of their pursuer
by running.
'He is alone,' Fred declared; 'let's stop and see what he wants. We may
be certain that he hasn't any firearms with him, for if he had he would
have had a shot at us long before this.'
Ping Wang, however, did not agree; he preferred to keep on running. But
he sadly over-rated his running powers, and before they had gone another
hundred yards he had to stop and gasp for breath. The pursuer was now
approaching them rapidly, so Charlie and Fred grasped their knives and
waited for him. He increased his speed, and, as he drew nearer, they saw
that he was wearing the yellow head-cloth of the Boxers.
(_Continued on page 378._)
[Illustration: "The pursuer was approaching them rapidly."]
[Illustration: "Three men came running up."]
AFLOAT ON THE DOGGER BANK.
A Story of Adventure on the North Sea and in China.
(_Continued from page 375._)