With the Allies to Pekin: A Tale of the Relief of the Legations

He struck match after match while this was being done.

“Now,” he said, “you women must make some little changes in your dress, so as to resemble ordinary native women, and then we will sally out.”

Five minutes later they started. They had gone but fifty yards beyond the burnt area when three men came from a house and accosted them.

“Who are you?” they said.

“We are your brethren,” Ah Lo answered.

“Give us the sign, that we may know you are Boxers,” one of the men said.

“Give us the sign,” Ah Lo replied.

“We called for it first,” the man said.

“Very well, this is the only sign that you will get from us,” and Ah Lo struck him a tremendous blow with his sword.

Rex cut down another, and the third took to his heels, shouting.

“This way,” the Chinaman said, running down a narrow alley. “We can get out at the other end, where there is a net–work of lanes.”

They hurried at full speed down the lane, then turned again, and in five minutes were a quarter of a mile from the scene of the fray.

“Now,” Rex said, “let us make for the wall. That man may have given the alarm, and it will not be safe to try the gate.”

They kept on until the wall rose before them, then they followed it till they came to steps leading to the top. When they reached the summit, Ah Lo unwound a rope from his waist.

“Now,” he said to one of the men, “you go down first. If you find that the water is too deep to wade across, stop where you are.”

One by one the men and women were lowered down by Ah Lo, and Rex was the last to descend. Just as he reached the water, steps were heard running along the wall.

“Keep quiet,” Rex said, “let them go by before we try to cross. They wonʼt notice the rope in the dark.”

Some fifty men ran along the top of the wall, leaving one here and there to watch. One was halted immediately above Rex and his companions.

“Now,” Rex asked in a whisper, “how many of you can swim?”

Three of the men said they could do so.

“Very well,” said Rex, “we must carry across those who cannot; the women first. Swim as noiselessly as you can; that fellow above will hear the least noise.”

The first party crossed without noise, but as the second lot were being taken over one of the Chinamen made a splash. There was an immediate shout from above, and a man leaning over the parapet fired a musket. The swimmers and their burdens, however, reached the other side of the moat without mishap.

“It will be five minutes before they gather again here,” said Rex, “and then they will have to get to the gate, which must take them nearly ten minutes. Let us get well out into the country, and then make for the China town. Let each man help a woman along.”

Fortunately all the women had, on becoming Christians, given up the absurd practice of deforming their feet, and were now able to walk with comparative freedom. Nevertheless, they would have made but slow progress but for the assistance of the men. After a time they changed their course, but, hearing a number of men running and shouting, they took refuge in some high grain until they had passed. When their pursuers were well out of sight and hearing, they continued till they reached the gate in the Chinese wall. Here they waited for a quarter of an hour, and then Ah Lo approached the gate.

“I see no guard has been placed here since we passed out, so we can enter without fear.”

Passing through, they turned at once to the right, and kept without interruption along the bank of the canal at the foot of the Tartar wall. The women were, for the most part, drooping now. They had been on short rations for many days, and were no doubt worn out by anxiety and terror. Progress, therefore, became much slower and more difficult, but luckily there was no further alarm, and before dawn they succeeded in reaching that part of the wall held by the Americans.

“We are here, Captain,” Rex called. “We have got them all. Please let down the rope and haul them up.”

“Bravo!” the officer said. “I hardly expected to see you again. We will soon have them all up.”

Half a minute later the rope fell beside them, and one by one the women were hoisted to the top of the wall. The men were next taken up, and finally Ah Lo and Rex.

“So you got through safely,” the officer said, shaking Rex by the hand. “Did you meet with any trouble?”

“We were only stopped by three Boxers, and as we could not give their pass–word they tried to arrest us. My man cut down one, and I polished off another, but the third bolted and gave the alarm. We had no difficulty, however, in eluding them, and making our way to the wall. The fellows came along above us, and, as we had to carry the women over the moat, they heard us. But we got well away before they could come out through the gate, and we hid up till they had passed us in the dark. We had no difficulty in coming through the Chinese town.”

“Well, I congratulate you upon your exploit, which has been the means of saving twelve of these poor beggars.”

“Now I shall be going on at once,” Rex said. “We are all drenched to the skin, and though we have dried a bit on the way, I for one shall be glad to get into fresh clothes. I will thank you to give me those I left here before starting. I must put them on now, otherwise I should never get through the Russian Legation.”

He rapidly changed his clothes, and then they went with his companions down the steps from the wall, passed through the American Legation, and entered that of the Russians. Here the sentry stopped Rex, and refused to let him pass until an officer came out with a lantern and questioned him. This officer, however, recognized Rex at once, and allowed him and his party to proceed. Rex then went on through the houses that separated the Legation from the British quarters. Here they were again questioned by two marines, but having satisfied these men, they entered the British Legation.

“Now you are safe,” Rex said to his friends. “You must lie down and sleep here to–night. To–morrow I will see that you have clothes and rations.”

The Chinese had scarcely spoken a word since they started, but now, as with one accord, they fell on their knees and showered blessings and thanks upon Rex for saving them from a terrible death.

“It is all right,” he said. “I am very pleased to have been the means of saving you and myself. Thank God that I have been able to do so! I had expected to meet with many difficulties, but everything has turned out well. Now I must go, but I will see that you get an allowance of food in the morning.”

Then he went over to his quarters. Sandwich and two or three of his companions were still sitting up, and they gave a shout of satisfaction as they saw Rex enter.

“I am heartily glad to see you back, Bateman,” one of them said. “You found it, of course, impossible, and have had to give it up. I felt sure that you would have to do so, and we waited up to see you.”

“What time is it now?” asked Rex.

“About one oʼclock.”

“Well, I am back sooner than I expected, and am happy to say that I have succeeded without any difficulty. On the way back with the refugees we had one encounter, and had to kill a couple of Boxers. The rest was easy.”

“You donʼt say so, Bateman! Well, I congratulate you most heartily. You have indeed done a good nightʼs work; tell us all about it.”

Rex gave them a short account of his adventure.

“I thought,” he said, “that there would be no great difficulty about it, and I am sorry that it was not accomplished without bloodshed, but we could not help ourselves in that respect. I am glad indeed that I brought the poor creatures in. The women were desperately done up by the time we got within the lines, which is not to be wondered at after all they had gone through. Well, I will lie down now, for I have had a very long day, and I must be up early to–morrow to see that these people get rations, for I fancy they are pretty nearly starved.”

In a few minutes all were asleep. Rex was up before six oʼclock in the morning, and at once ran down to the gentleman whose duty it was to see to the provisioning of the native Christians.

“I want you to put down thirteen more names,” he said.

“How is that, Mr. Bateman?”

“One of a party came in yesterday afternoon, and told me that there were twelve of them in hiding in a cellar near the burnt area, so I went out with my man last night and brought them in.”

“You did, Mr. Bateman? You astonish me! And you did it without opposition?”