Part 23 (1/2)
THE SACK OF KINCHOW--RELEASED--”CASTLED”--A CHECK
When my scattered senses returned, I could not quite understand my position. Had I been wounded? Yes, I remembered something striking me on the head. Whatever it was it had grazed my temples, and my hand sought the wound involuntarily. My fingers came away tinged with blood, my head felt very uncomfortable and dizzy, but after a while I sat up and began to wonder what was the matter.
The Chinese soldiers--all those left alive, I mean--had disappeared.
Dead or wounded men lay around me, but few of the latter moved, and I began to suspect that the victors had killed most of them. My own escape from death seemed marvellous, for I lay almost helpless. The shouts, shots, and shrieks below in the town told me of the fearful scenes, the pursuit of the vanquished, the death of the fugitives. I attempted to rise to my feet, and had just supported myself by the parapet, when a j.a.panese picket approached. The men were almost savage, their weapons were bloodstained, their dress disordered and dusty, and splashed with blood; they were shouting, and indulging in what seemed to me fiendish merriment; they were drunken with excitement and the spirit of slaughter; they bayoneted the few living Chinese within reach, and then levelled their rifles at me, laughing still.
Holding up my hands, I called out the few words I had heard on board the _Naniwa_, ”Long live j.a.pan!” and added in English, ”I am no enemy.
Look! I am a friend.”
Whether the appeal touched their hearts or they recognised the English tongue, they certainly perceived that I was not a native Chinese or Manchu. They examined my appearance closely, saw my stained and painted face, through which spots of white British skin appeared, and my blackened features, which could not belong to any Celestial being, and they looked surprised. One fellow, in sheer brutality, as he intended, seized my pigtail and wrenched me round to torture me, when, behold, it came away in his hand!
A shout of laughter succeeded at the expense of the brutal soldier, whose face was a study for a caricaturist, and his profound surprise saved my life. At this juncture I recalled the badge and permit which the captain and officers had given me. In a moment I had grasped them, and even as the angry soldiers advanced with sanguinary threats to bayonet me, the priceless permit, and, even more than it, the badge of the naval officer, arrested my would-be murderers.
I was saved! The levelled rifles were shouldered, and when the men had talked together, they intimated to me that I must accompany them--to their officer, I presumed. Securely guarded, I proceeded, taking care not to exhibit any of my disgust at the many terrible scenes I noticed, until we met an officer who was wearing white gloves, and appeared almost a dandy in the midst of slaughter and destruction.
My ”pa.s.s” and badge were shown to him, and finding I could not understand his language, nor even ”Corean-Chinese,” he bade me accompany him to the general's quarters. I paced the streets, closely followed by my original captors, the observed of all those by whom we pa.s.sed, maddened soldiers triumphant, Chinese civilians despairing, and dead heaps of fugitives, who received no quarter. It is true, as a j.a.panese told me, ”We do not kill our prisoners, as the Chinese do.”
No, they do _not_ kill prisoners in cold blood--but they leave as few as possible to survive the battle.
We pa.s.sed through the narrow streets, now thronged with j.a.panese, past the shops with their suspended lanterns and long scrolled signs, but had not reached the officer's destination, when a j.a.panese saluted, and, glancing at me, said a few words to my leader. I gazed at the man in surprise, and some diluted pleasure, because I recognised him as my former a.s.sociate Hoko, the scout with whom I had been travelling, and by whom I had been robbed.
Our eyes met in mutual recognition. He made signs to me, and uttered a few sentences in French, asking whether I had presented my permit, and how I came to Kinchow. He informed the officer; and the man being an accredited interpreter and trustworthy, the officer dismissed my unruly escort, and bade the interpreter take care of me pending his own arrival at headquarters.
We exchanged few remarks during our pa.s.sage to the general. I was stiff and sore, aching in head and limbs, weary and dishevelled.
Besides I had a grudge against the interpreter, and anxious for release. He seemed quite careless of my feelings. In this manner I accompanied my preserver to headquarters, where as an interpreter he was welcome, and in a few minutes I was introduced into the presence of the general. My conductor briefly explained matters, mentioning the fact of my having been rescued from the _Naniwa_, and the manner in which I had been received by the officer as an English gentleman and a seaman. A j.a.panese officer, who spoke English fluently, was able to confirm this statement by my interpreted account, and thenceforward all was plain sailing.
”What did the general wish me to do?” I asked the officer in English.
”He will send you to Port Arthur when we go there, and when we take the place he will no doubt permit you to find your way to an English s.h.i.+p.”
”Then I am again a prisoner?”
”Not at all, you can proceed whither you please. There is not the least objection to your getting shot, if you prefer that end.”
”I understand; you think the Chinese will oppose your forward movement?”
”Certainly they will. The fleet is at Talien Bay, though, and we have the enemy in a sack. They may resist, but they must be beaten; there is no cohesion. We are united, firm, and drilled. The Chinese cannot stand against us.”
I acquiesced, but continuing, I said--
”Suppose any Power comes to the a.s.sistance of the Chinese?”
”Then we shall still fight,” he replied.
”Even Russia or Germany?” I asked quickly.
”Ah, that is a different matter! Russia is dangerous--she wants so much. But, unless she is _too_ intrusive, we shall not oppose her. We do not _fear_ her even, though she intends to rule the East some day.
She shall never rule j.a.pan. Come with me, I have the pleasure to convoy you.”