Kitabı oku: «With the Allies to Pekin: A Tale of the Relief of the Legations», sayfa 7
“Do you bring any despatches for me?”
“No, sir; I was afraid that if I mentioned to the admiral that I was coming on, he would object, so I came off of my own account. I had learned that the Legations were being attacked, and I was most anxious to be here to cheer my cousins up, and to endeavour to do what I could for them if things went badly.”
“Very well, Mr. Bateman, I am glad of the news that you have brought me, though it is not satisfactory, but I own that I have had my own doubts whether the force that is coming up was strong enough to make its way here. It is better, however, to know the worst. We shall be glad of the assistance of your rifle and that of your man, for we are very short–handed, and even the aid of two rifles is not to be despised. You had better take up your quarters, as before, at the college.”
Rex withdrew, and at once went to the doctorʼs house.
“I am glad to be able to tell you,” said the doctor, “that the young ladies have now pretty well recovered, and if the railway were working I should say that they could very safely be taken down to Tientsin. As it is, however, they will have to wait until reinforcements come up.”
“Then I can see them, sir?”
“Certainly; the elder girl is quite recovered, and the younger one is convalescent, but is still weak. It will do her good rather than harm to see you, for they have necessarily been somewhat lonely, as everyone here is busy. The ladies have all been occupied in making sacks to hold earth for the fortifications, and the girls have therefore been left more to themselves than they otherwise would have been.”
Rex at once went across to the house. The girls leapt up with a cry of delight as he entered.
“Oh, Rex,” cried Jenny, “we are glad to see you! When did you return?”
“About half an hour ago. I had to come up in the disguise I wore before. You know, I suppose, that we are quite cut off from Tientsin now?”
“So we have heard, and they say that there is going to be fighting here?”
“Yes, but there is no doubt that we shall beat them off. You need not be uneasy.”
“Oh, we are sure of that! I feel quite different from what we did before. For the past three or four days I have been helping to make sacks, and even Mabel has done a little. And how are Uncle and Aunt?”
“They are all right. I believe my father will have his share of fighting, for a great force of Chinese has gathered outside the town, and they expect to be attacked. It is hoped, however, that the ships will destroy the Taku Forts, in which case the light craft will make their way up to Tientsin. Then, of course, every man that can be spared from the ships will join the relief column.”
“But I thought that they were on their way up now, and that we were expecting them here to–day?”
“I am sorry to say, dear, that I think there is very little chance of their coming at all at present. I came up with Ah Lo.”
The girls looked at each other in dismay.
“Then how long do you think it will be before they really come up?”
“I am afraid it will be many weeks. Large reinforcements of British troops are coming from India, Russians have been despatched from Port Arthur, and any number of Japanese, and French, and Germans are being sent forward; but it must be some time before they are all here, and we must make up our minds that we are going to hold our own.”
Then he changed the subject.
“And so you are getting stronger, Mabel? You are looking ever so much better.”
“Oh yes! I am feeling ever so much better, and the doctor says I shall soon be strong and well again.
“We are getting quite full here now, for numbers of the native Christians are coming in for shelter. Everyone is told off to do something. Jenny is to help serve out food to the women and children, and I expect that I shall soon be able to assist also.”
“Yes, I expect we shall all be made useful,” said Rex.
“Ah Lo has come up too, I suppose?”
“Yes, he came with me as a matter of course, and we shall both aid in the defence.”
“I wish I were a boy,” Jenny said. “I should like to help kill some of the Boxers. I dare say a good many of those who were at Chafui have come here and will be among those who are going to attack us.”
“You will be just as useful in your own way, Jenny, as if you were a boy and could carry a gun.”
“You must give us each a pistol, Rex, so that if they should take the place we can shoot ourselves. We have both made up our minds that we will do that rather than fall into their hands again. You donʼt think it would be wicked to kill ourselves, do you?”
“Certainly not, Jenny; but in the first place I donʼt think that there is much chance of their capturing the Legations, and in the next place I hope that if they did so, Ah Lo and I should be able to get you out again in disguise. But at any rate I donʼt think you need have any fear. There are four hundred soldiers here, and the employees of all the Legations would certainly make a hundred more. Besides these there are the merchants and other people, and I expect they will form a corps out of the Christians who have come in. Most of these Legations are strong buildings, and it will be hard if we cannot beat off any attack. It is lucky that all the Legations lie within a short distance of each other, and can all be defended together. When I leave you I will go round and see what has been done to fortify them.”
He stayed chatting with them for another half–hour, and then went down to the college.
“I have turned up again like a bad penny, Sandwich,” he said, as he met his friend, “and am quartered here.”
“We shall all be heartily glad to have you with us, and I regard you and your man as a valuable reinforcement. Have you heard that this morning the Boxers have begun to massacre the native Christians? I believe that great numbers have been killed.”
“They ought all to have come in here,” Rex said.
“No doubt we should have done the best we could for them,” Sandwich said, “but we should have had a lot of difficulty in feeding ten thousand of them. Though I am awfully sorry for the poor beggars, their presence here would scarcely be an advantage, for they would hamper us terribly in our defence. You will have to put up with bad cooking unless some of these Christians that are coming in turn out to be decent cooks, for the servants and coolies are all leaving. You should see Sergeant Herring talking to them as they go out!”
Rex laughed. He had already made the acquaintance of the sergeant, who had been twenty years at the Legation, and who was in general control of its arrangements. He was a big man, with a powerful voice and an authoritative manner, and ruled the coolies with a rod of iron. He was a well–known figure in the city, and was regarded by the populace as being only less important than the ambassador himself.
“I can quite fancy him,” Rex said, “and how the coolies would sneak off under the thunder of his voice. Well, I should say that we are just as well rid of the coolies. I donʼt suppose they could have been relied upon. They are not like the native Christians, who, knowing that their lives are forfeited if the Boxers get in, will certainly be faithful even if they are not very useful. By the way, I have not brought your clothes back. I came up in a suit of my own under my disguise, but I was afraid of carrying a bundle. They will come up, then, washed and ironed, when all this is over.”
Sandwich laughed. “All right, Bateman! I shaʼnʼt be able to get much washing done now, and shall hail the arrival of a clean suit when – that is a very vague word —when they come up.”
There was a good deal of excuse to be made for the coolies and servants. They were almost all drawn from the population of Pekin, and their families, according to the Chinese law, would assuredly suffer were they to remain at the Legation. This would account for the difference between their conduct and that of the native servants in the Indian Mutiny, for these, in the great majority of cases, remained true to their masters.
CHAPTER VII
FORTIFYING THE LEGATIONS
“Now, Sandwich, tell me what have been the events here so far.”
“Well, things have been gradually getting worse since you went away. It is difficult to say what was the first act of violence, but on the ninth the Boxers burst into the pavilion on the race–course and threatened some of the students, one of whom, in order to get away, had to shoot a man with his revolver. On the tenth the Summer Palace of the Legation, on the hills, was burnt, and since then it has been impossible to go beyond the town. By the evening of the eleventh all the whites in the city were gathered at the various Legations, but the streets were still crowded with people, and business went on as usual within this quarter. The Chinese teachers in the British Legation, however, all struck, the coolies began to desert, and some property belonging to the Roman Catholics was looted. This morning the outlook was still more threatening. Mysterious marks appeared on the doors. A party of Germans and Italians raided a temple where the Boxers were said to be drilling, but they only captured a few weapons and a quantity of the red cord which the Boxers use as girdles. This afternoon things looked still more serious. Two of the Legation servants were cut down while shopping, and orders were given to clear the streets. In a short time all the shops were shut and the crowd cleared out. If you had arrived yesterday you would have witnessed the usual bustle instead of empty streets. Later on there was a fire in the streets, and the marines turned out, but it proved to be the French clearing the street near their Legation. At night there were fires in many parts – the American Mission, the Eastern Roman Catholic Cathedral, and the Presbyterian Mission were all in flames, and to the east there must have been half a square mile of shops in flames. All through the evening we heard firing in the city.
“Still later a large party of Boxers, carrying torches, moved down towards the Austrian Legation. A machine–gun mounted on the wall was in readiness for them, and when they came within a hundred and fifty yards it opened fire. The torches were immediately dropped and the Boxers bolted. The Austrians turned out to pick up the dead, whom they expected to find strewn in the street, but not a single one was seen, and it was discovered next morning that the bullets had cut some telegraph wires where they crossed the street nearly thirty feet above the level. Of course we had a good deal of laughing about it this morning, but it was a very unlucky affair. Had the machine–gun been well aimed it would have done great execution, for the Boxers were all crowded together, and it would have been a very valuable lesson. As it was, however, it only confirmed the Boxers in their belief in their invulnerability.
“This morning we heard that the South Cathedral was on fire. That takes you up to the present time. Oh, by the way, we hear that the tower over one of the gates has been burnt.”
“What is the actual line we hold?”
“Well, at present it goes from the Tartar wall to the Imperial wall by the side of the French Legation and the customs–house, and runs from the north bridge along by the side of our Legation across some houses to the Russian Legation, and then by the side of that across Legation Street to the Tartar wall. The Americans and Russians defend the west corner, the Germans and French the southeast, the Austrians the northeast, and the British the north–west. Of course the thing is only beginning yet, and there has been no organized attack, but no doubt we shall have plenty of it before long.”
“What are the Chinese authorities doing?”
“They occupy themselves principally in encouraging the Boxers in every way, and in the next place in sending in assurances to the ambassadors that everything is perfectly peaceful and that they need be under no uneasiness whatever. At the same time Prince Tuan, the head and patron of the Boxers, has been appointed to the head of the Tsung–li–yamen, which is equivalent, you know, to our ministry. Several of the moderate members, moreover, have been turned out of it, and their places filled by creatures of Tuan. I really wonder that they think it worth while to keep up the farce of friendliness.”
“Ah! there is the dinner–bell. At any rate we can for the present enjoy our meals; we may not have much to enjoy in that way presently.”
They had scarcely sat down when there was an outbreak of musketry fire and a call for reinforcements. All had brought their rifles into the room with them, and, catching these up, they ran out. The fight was over, however, before they got to the scene. It was upon the north bridge that the sentries had been firing. A party of Boxers had come down from that direction, and after a volley had been poured into them, had charged, but had fallen back on receiving another, leaving two of their number dead upon the ground. Two wounded also were taken prisoners.
During the night they were several times aroused by the sounds of volley–firing, but as these were not followed up, no one stirred. They learned in the morning, however, that the Boxers had come down from all the various roads leading to the Legations, but had retired on finding that they were strongly guarded.
The next morning the Boxers started a number of large fires in the west, and as reports came in of the massacres of Christians in that quarter, Dr. Morrison, the Times correspondent, got together a relief party, who went out and brought in a large convoy of refugees, and terrible tales of the scenes of slaughter that they had witnessed.
So far the Ministers had done nothing to save these unfortunate people, being apparently afraid of giving the Chinese Government the excuse for declaring war against them for their interference between the different classes of their subjects, and for the present, though they were protected, they were given no rations, and were dependent entirely on what small supplies they brought in with them, or the charity of the merchants and traders. Later in the siege, however, they rendered invaluable service, and it was to their zealous labour that the safety of the Legations was finally due. They were housed in Prince Suʼs palace, which was generally called the Fu, and their occupation of this was in itself of immense service, as the artificial hills in its grounds commanded the east walls of the British Legation, and covered the Japanese and French Legations from the artillery fire in their rear.
After breakfast Rex, Sandwich, and several other student interpreters went round the whole line of defence. The barricades were extremely weak and only calculated to check for a moment the rush of the enemy; they consisted merely of Chinese carts turned on their sides across the road. Beyond, however, the quiet and deserted streets spoke eloquently of the threatened danger. Sentries were thrown out well along these, and within that range a few of the European shops kept their doors open, and officers and servants of the Legations went out and bought provisions. No great effort had been made to gather in stores, as the general conviction was that Admiral Seymourʼs column would soon be up.
The next day a fire was started near the tower known as the Chien Mên, the great gate leading into the Chinese city. It began in a shop which did a great sale in foreign medicines, and spread rapidly. The people worked hard to carry off their property to a place of safety, and for the most part conveyed it through the gate and stowed it away in a moat which was at that time dry. The whole quarter was soon in flames, and frequent explosions were heard as the flames reached the shops stored with petroleum and fireworks. The conflagration raged all day. Towards five oʼclock the fire spread to two small arcades running through the gates, and the wooden shops blazed up furiously. The flames ultimately reached the beams supporting the roof of the tower, and in a short time the whole edifice was in flames, presenting a splendid spectacle.
Rex spent the greater part of the day watching the fire, and brought his cousins out to look at it.
“Why should the Chinese wish to burn their own town?” Mabel asked.
“Simply because they are savage brutes. It is perfectly astounding that all these quiet patient shopkeepers do not fall upon the Boxers and smash them up. I should say that millions of pounds worth of damage has been done already, for all the principal trading quarters have been destroyed. One can understand the people looking on placidly while the European buildings are burnt, but when it comes to their own houses one would have thought that the most peaceful and quiet people would be excited to madness and would attack with fury the scoundrels who are doing all this damage. I think they would anywhere else in the world. I cannot see what the Boxers expect to gain by it. At present they are practically doing nothing against us, and are simply destroying the property of their own people. In one respect they are absolutely benefiting us, for they are making a great clearance round our lines, and are thereby adding to our power of defence; for however brave the Boxers may be they will hardly face our rifles across that open space.”
All this time the attitude of the Chinese soldiers was friendly. Those on guard at the Chien Mên did not interfere with parties of sight–seers who went out there. Occasionally they were seen to fire at the Boxers, and although there were one or two affrays with them these were brought on by the recklessness of the Russians and Germans, who fired upon them without any reason.
The next morning Rex saw a party of marines with a few civilians going out of the gate, and hearing that they were to attack a temple in which the Boxers were torturing some Christians, he called to Ah Lo and followed them. The building lay a little to the north of the Austrian Legation. They surrounded the place and effected an entrance, when they found that the Boxers, having fastened their captives to the walls, were performing incantations preparatory to murdering them. They opened fire at once. The Boxers made desperate attempts to escape, but as they were hemmed in on all sides, every one of them was shot, and their captives were then released and brought into the Legations.
The Russians were that day busy in pulling down some houses which lay near their Legation. At present the British authorities were still in doubt, and although there were many houses near which would have constituted a great danger to the defence had they been fired, no attempt was made to imitate the example of the Russians.
“The apathy that our people display is perfectly astounding,” Rex said that evening as the students were chatting together. “Everyone else, as far as I see, is conscious of the tremendous danger, and yet Ministers allow themselves to be continually humbugged by the Empress and her advisers. They really seem to be inviting disaster.”
“It certainly is remarkable,” Sandwich said. “We shall be lucky indeed if we donʼt suffer for it. Even in the matter of provisions their negligence is astonishing. If we had set to work at once when the danger began we could have brought in all the stores within a quarter of a mile round and should have been in a position to carry on the siege for three months. As it is we are little more than living from hand to mouth, and if the streets round us were burned, as those by the Chien Mên gate were, we should not have ten daysʼ provisions left in the place. I do hope that the Boxers will make so earnest an attack that the big–wigs can no longer close their eyes to the danger of the situation. Of course it is heresy for us to say so, but it is what every man here, outside the official circle, thinks.”
“Yes,” another said. “I have no objection to any amount of fighting, but I do object to fight on an empty stomach when there is no reason whatever why we should be fasting. I suppose your cousins are all right, Bateman?”
“Yes, they are quite recovered and are ready for anything – to load as we fire, or to exist on a dry crust. You know how they have suffered at the hands of the Boxers, and they will go through anything to see them routed.”
“Well, there is one comfort,” another put in, “when the Boxers do attack us in force there can be no more shilly–shallying. The ambassadors must see then that we have to stand a siege, and will have to make an effort to get some provisions in. I have not a shadow of fear that we shall not be able to beat off the Boxers and regular troops too, but I am afraid of hunger.”
“So am I,” Rex agreed. “Two ounces of bread and a drink of water is a very poor regime to fight on. Thank goodness we have plenty of wells in the Legations, and shall not have thirst to fight against; but water pure and simple is a pretty poor diet.”
Sunday the seventeenth passed quietly, except that there was a fight between the Germans and the Chinese regular troops, for which the former were to blame. The next day a courier arrived from Tientsin with the news that the Roman Catholic Cathedral there had been burnt down. No news had come of the relief force, and there was a general feeling of disquietude concerning it. On Tuesday a man who had been sent off with letters to Tientsin returned, saying that he had been unable to make his way through. The day passed tranquilly; everyone was still discussing the expected arrival of the admiral, and fears began to be entertained for the first time that he might fail to reach Pekin, or that, even if he did, he might not be able to fight his way out again, cumbered as he would be by the non–combatants from all the Legations. The barricades, however, were being gradually strengthened, and supplies could still be bought from the shops round them.
As evening approached it was reported that the Ministers were about to hold a council, and it leaked out that an ultimatum had been received from the Tsung–li–yamen, calling upon them to leave the city the next day, as the allies had threatened to take the Taku Forts. The question was discussed at the gathering, and the feeling was unanimously against going. All felt that no confidence whatever could be placed in any undertaking the Chinese might give to protect the convoy on its way down. If they were to decide on retiring they would require a large number of carts to carry food, for they could not possibly now desert the native Christians, and with only six or seven hundred men to protect the long line, it was morally certain that the whole would be massacred on the way down. The council agreed, therefore, that it was better for the Europeans to stay and defend themselves to the last than to place the smallest confidence in the sincerity of the Chinese or their promises of an escort.
There was a general feeling of relief throughout the Legations when it became known that the Ministers had answered guardedly. Their reply, indeed, was simply an enquiry as to what amount of transport would be supplied, and what would be the strength of the escort. They were not aware that Admiral Seymour was retreating at the time, and that the Taku Forts had been already captured.
The next morning the Ministers met again. No message had been received from the yamen, and the German Minister set out with only his secretary and a couple of Chinese servants to go to the yamen and ask for their reply. On the way he was attacked and killed, and his secretary was wounded. Although the loss of life was to be regretted, the affair was in one respect a most fortunate one, for it showed the Ministers how critical their position was. It was clear now that if the life of one of the Ministers on his way to the courts was not respected, even the most timid could no longer place the smallest confidence in the promises of the Empress and her counsellors. The situation was at once changed. There was no longer any hesitation, no longer any feeble hope in the promises of the Chinese Ministers; there was nothing to do but to fight, and at once the apathy that had come over the Legations was at an end. Nothing was thought of but defence.
The whole strength of the Legations was now employed in building strong barricades and in collecting stores. The first was important, the second even more so. Those searching for stores met with unexpected good luck. Two of the three foreign stores lay within the line of defence, and all the provisions in the third were speedily brought in. The searchers came upon a large wheat–shop crammed with grain, a large store of fodder was found within the line, and in many other shops large or small stores of provisions and eatables were discovered and secured. A store of coal was also discovered, and all through the day provisions were brought in in carts or by hand. From all the other Legations the people began to pour in, as it was decided that the British Legation was the most defensible, and must be the rallying–place. This building presented a wonderful scene of confusion. Ministers, their secretaries and servants, civilians, sisters from the mission, a few European traders and merchants all mingled together, talking in half a dozen languages.
The American mission brought in with them one thousand seven hundred Christians, who were placed in the Fu; seventy missionaries were encamped in the little chapel; the Legation students moved their beds into their mess–room, and gave up their quarters to the visitors; the second secretaryʼs house was given up to the Russians, and the doctorʼs to the Americans. Every room in the Legations was closely packed, and many took up their quarters under the numerous verandas. Four American ladies were lodged in the room hitherto occupied by Rexʼs cousins, and the girls were greatly interested in the crowd and bustle, which was all novel and strange to them after their quiet life in the mission–house at Chafui. The ball–room of the Ministerʼs house was given up to the ladies, and their beds were so closely packed that it resembled a great hospital. The military officials were encamped in tents, while many others were prepared to sleep in the open air. Boxes, bundles, and bales were piled and scattered everywhere. Some people, while working actively, laughed and joked, others sat disconsolate and miserable. All the unemployed men at the Legation worked hard helping the immigrants and trying to effect a semblance of order.
Four oʼclock was the hour at which the ultimatum expired, and exactly at that hour firing began, and one man was killed and another wounded. The artillery available for the defence was absurdly small; the Italians had a one–pounder, the Americans a Colt, the Austrians a machine–gun, and the British an old Nordenfeldt, which could not be relied upon to fire a half dozen shots without jamming. The supply of rifle ammunition was also exceedingly meagre; the Japanese had but one hundred rounds apiece, the Italians one hundred and twenty, the Russians one hundred and forty–five, while the French, Germans, and British had from this up to three hundred.
In the course of the afternoon the marines had captured and driven in small flocks of sheep and three or four cows. The garrison had, however, to depend for meat principally upon the ponies and mules belonging to the officers of the various Legations and the merchants and missionaries. Of these upwards of one hundred and fifty were tied up in various parts of the Legation. In other respects the provisions that had been collected – wheat and rice, groceries of all sorts, wines and spirits – were sufficient to supply the whole occupants of the Legations for a considerable time.
Now that the suspense was at an end and they knew what was before them, all went about their work with brightened faces and an air of energy and determination that had for weeks been wanting. If a stranger had looked in upon them he would hardly have guessed that the die had just been cast and that the issue was battle, and battle against overpowering odds. All were ready to meet the worst.
Directly after the first outburst of firing it was reported that the Austrians had, for no apparent reason, abandoned their Legation without an attempt at defence. Though within the line of defence, the Austrian Legation was a separate outpost; but its abandonment necessitated the withdrawal of men from the customs–house, which lay behind it, and was a strong and well–constructed building. All the customs staff were therefore ordered to retire to the British Legation, and at the same time the British advance post on the north bridge across the canal between our Legation and the Fu had to be called in. All this caused the day which had been so bright and hopeful to end with a feeling of depression.
Rex had been busy all day bringing in and piling stores and turning his hand to work of all kinds. In the evening he went in and had a chat with the girls.
“We are all glad,” he said, “that it has been settled at last that we are to stay here and fight. The murder of the German Minister was the very best thing that could happen to us, for it opened the eyes of all the others, and showed them that the Chinese were, as everyone else knew, wholly untrustworthy. We really were afraid yesterday that the Ministers would accept the Chinese offer to send an escort down with us. If they had done so, it is absolutely certain that none of us would ever have reached Tientsin. As it is, we all believe that we can hold out for a month at least, and perhaps a good bit longer. You may be sure that every nation will spare no effort to gather a force sufficient for our relief.
“It is a pity that we have not a better stock of ammunition. If there is fighting every day, three hundred rounds, which is all the most fully–supplied have got, will not go very far, and ammunition is a thing we cannot manufacture. I doubt, however, whether the Chinese will attack us in earnest, and I am certain that if they do, we shall repulse them as long as ammunition holds out, and even after that we shall make a pretty stiff fight with the bayonets and other weapons. At any rate, girls, it will be a long while before I have to tell you to put on your native dresses again, and before I begin to look out for some quiet spot on the walls where I can let you down when the defence is finally over.”
