A Chinese Command: A Story of Adventure in Eastern Seas

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  FROBISHER'S COMMISSION.

  The Chinese naval officer--who, Frobisher decided, was undoubtedly a manof high rank and very considerable distinction--looked keenly about himfor several minutes, evidently taking in and forming his own opinion asto the details of the scene which met his gaze. Then he stared long andappraisingly at the young Englishman, who thought he detected the ghostof a smile hovering about the new-comer's mouth as he again glanced atthe forms of the two assistants. Turning to the Governor, the navy-mansharply addressed what seemed to be a series of questions to him. TheGovernor replied, making what Frobisher guessed to be a long andelaborate explanation. Finally, with a gesture expressive of anger andimpatience, excited apparently by the unsatisfactory character of theGovernor's explanation, the stranger cut him short and turned toFrobisher.

  "Sir," he exclaimed, touching his cap as he stepped forward, andspeaking almost as excellent English as the Governor's own, "permit meto introduce myself. I am Admiral Wong-lih, of the Imperial ChineseNavy; and I deeply regret that it should have become my duty to offerapologies, on behalf of my illustrious master, to an Englishman who hasbeen unfortunate enough to undergo such treatment as you have sufferedat the hands of a countryman of mine." Here he turned and glowered atthe Governor, who bowed deeply, probably to hide the chagrin andannoyance that showed themselves only too plainly in his yellow face.

  "My name," returned the Englishman, "is Murray Frobisher; and I was,some time ago, a lieutenant in the British Navy. I came out here forthe purpose of delivering a cargo of arms and ammunition to the Koreanrebels at a certain Korean town. Owing to the treachery of a native inmy employ, I was betrayed into the hands of the Korean regular troops,and brought here a prisoner. The situation in which you found me wasthe result of his Excellency's desire to obtain further informationrespecting the rebels and their arrangements. Of such information, Imay tell you, sir, I possess very little, and under any circumstances Ishould not have felt myself at liberty to divulge even that little. Ishould like to add that I by no means range myself on the side of therebels, for, as a matter of fact, I know too little of the circumstancesof the case to judge between them and the Government, although, fromwhat I have already seen, my sympathies, such as they are, are on theside of the insurgents. I am in no way connected with the insurgentforces; and when captured I was merely acting the part of agent ofanother private individual in convoying that caravan across country.But of course, when an attempt was made to take that property out of myhands, I had no option but to try to defend it. That, sir, is the fulltruth of the matter; and I desire to place myself under your protectionas an officer of the Chinese Navy, that I may not again be subjected tothe kind of treatment which I have suffered since my arrival here."

  "I thank you," returned the officer, "for your voluntary explanationwith regard to your connection with the rebel forces; which explanation,I may mention, differs very considerably from the statement made to meby his Excellency here. At the time that that statement was made itstruck me as being somewhat faulty, and therefore I determined toinvestigate matters for myself--a course which I am now very glad Iadopted. I was informed by his Excellency, when I enquired whether anyprisoners were confined here, that there was but one, yourself; and thatyou were merely undergoing temporary imprisonment as a result of yourbeing captured in arms, so to speak, against the Korean Government; andit was not until I entered this chamber and saw--what I saw--that Idreamed of the occurrence of any such atrocity as has been practised onyou. Again I offer you my most heartfelt apologies."

  "Which I most cordially accept, in the spirit in which they areoffered," said Frobisher, extending his hand, which Wong-lih grasped andpressed in a friendly fashion.

  Then, turning to the Governor, the admiral icily remarked, still inEnglish:

  "I will detain you no longer, your Excellency. I desire to have alittle private conversation with this gentleman; and when I require yourattendance again I will send for you. Pray leave us."

  "Your Highness's commands shall be obeyed," replied the Governor,bowing; and with a sullen scowl on his brow the man turned and left theroom, giving the impression that he would gladly have slammed the doorbehind him, had he dared.

  "Highness!" thought Frobisher to himself, during the short pause thatensued. "I seem to be suddenly getting among very importantpersonages--with a big `P', too. This particular prince must be quite acelebrity in his own country, I should judge, by his behaviour. TheGovernor seemed to be a man of considerable importance, I thought; buteven he has to curl up and eat humble pie when this man speaks to him."

  "Now, Mr Frobisher," continued the admiral, "I trust that you willexcuse my claiming your attention for a few minutes longer, for I shouldlike to have a little conversation with you, and this appears to be theonly room in the fortress where we can talk without being overheard.You informed me, just now, that you are an ex-naval officer. Would youobject to informing me of the reason why you are no longer in theService?"

  "Not at all," replied Frobisher. And thereupon he proceeded to give theadmiral a circumstantial account of the accident which led to hisdismissal from the Navy. When Frobisher had finished his recital,Wong-lih pulled his long moustache thoughtfully for a few momentswithout speaking; then he said:

  "Well, Mr Frobisher, I am bound to admit that I think you have beenvery harshly treated. I do not consider that the fault lay with you atall, but with the men who ought to have been on the look-out aboard thesteamer which ran you down. There was never any question, I presume, asto your efficiency as a seaman?"

  Frobisher flushed slightly. "None whatever, sir," he answered. "I havealways been considered a quite capable officer, I believe; and, previousto the accident of which I have spoken, my skill as a seaman was neveronce called in question."

  "I am glad to hear that," was the admiral's reply, "for I have asuggestion to make which I trust may meet with your approval. I supposeI may take it for granted that you are open to an offer of employment inyour own vocation?"

  "Well," returned Frobisher, hesitatingly. "I scarcely know how toanswer that question. You see I signed on under--under--"

  "You may safely continue, Mr Frobisher," smiled the admiral."Everything you may say to me here shall be considered as absolutelyprivate."

  "Under Captain Drake, of the _Quernmore_, then," Frobisher continued;"and although I did my best to carry out his orders, I failed, and hewill consequently be a very heavy loser. My failure cannot, I think, beconsidered my fault; and, as I only signed on for the voyage out here, Isuppose I may now consider myself a free agent, especially as I have notyet drawn any pay for my services. But I feel that it is perhaps myduty to go back to Sam-riek, to see Captain Drake and explain matters;for he may be waiting there for me, expecting my return."

  "Of course I do not know Captain Drake, or how he would be likely to actunder the circumstances," rejoined Wong-lih; "but I feel sure that bythis time he will have learnt of the capture of the consignment--newstravels fast out here, you know; and knowing that you had fallen intothe clutches of the Korean troops, he will, to put it bluntly, expectnever to see you alive again. Nor would he ever have done so, but forthe fortunate circumstance of the arrival of my squadron here on thisparticular day. This being so, it occurs to me that Captain Drake wouldnot be at all likely to risk a long stay at Sam-riek in the very forlornhope of your returning, but would get away from the place as quickly aspossible. I should not be at all surprised if his vessel were to befound in Chemulpo harbour within the next few days. In any case, if youreally wish to communicate with him you can write him a letter, and Iwill engage to get it delivered to him, if his ship is still in thesewaters. How would that suit you, Mr Frobisher?"

  "The arrangement will suit me admirably, sir," replied Frobisher,"though I cannot quite see why I should not endeavour to rejoin CaptainDrake. You mentioned, however, I remember, something as to my beingopen to accept other employment. Possibly that may have s
ome bearingupon the matter."

  "It has everything to do with it," said the admiral, "as I willendeavour to show you presently. But, first of all, I must ask you tolisten to me for a few minutes while I try to give you an insight intothe trend of recent events out here; for unless I do so, you will beunable to understand what I am `driving at', as I believe you Englishcall it."

  "Pray proceed, sir," was Frobisher's reply.

  "Very well then. You are of course aware that rebellion has been rifein Korea for some months past, hence the endeavour of the insurgents toprocure arms; while the Korean Government has been making every effortto put down the rebellion without the necessity of asking for outsideassistance or intervention. The attempt, however, has not been asuccess, for the rebels are making headway all over the country; to suchan extent, indeed, that the Korean Government has at last been obligedto apply to my Imperial master, the Emperor, for assistance. Thatapplication arrived some weeks ago; but it was only a few days ago thatthe necessary arrangements could be completed for armed intervention onour part. It was necessary to get together troops, transports, and soon, and to recall some of our men-of-war to act as convoy; and all thisnaturally took time.

  "The preparations were finally completed, however, and four days ago Iembarked the troops and left Wei-hai-wei for the port of Asan, where wenow are, and which was reported to me as being a centre of disaffection,a hotbed of rebellion. But I most certainly never anticipated, when Ileft, that I should have the pleasure of rescuing a fellow sailor from amost serious predicament. However, to continue. By the convention of1884 at Tien-tsin, between China and Japan, it was agreed that, shouldeither country have occasion to send an armed force into Korea, thesender should inform the other country of the circumstance, giving fullparticulars of the reason, the strength of the force sent, and any otherinformation deemed necessary. This was done by cable, before I leftWei-hai-wei, and the Japanese reply arrived by cable, also before Ileft. It was curt in tone to a degree, and intimated briefly that Japanintended to send a guard to Seoul for the protection of her ambassador--as though we ourselves could not afford him the necessary protection--and hinted very strongly that she might consider it advisable to send anarmed force of her own--to see that we do not run away with the country,presumably.

  "Little enough, you will say, to cause misgiving on our part; but thefact remains that relations between China and Japan have been verystrained for some time past, and our Council feels that this action onour part will bring matters to a head, especially in view of the veiledthreat that Japan may perhaps find it necessary to land an armed forceherself. Matters look very ominous, Mr Frobisher, in the opinion ofnearly all our leading men, so we are naturally eager so to order thingsthat, if trouble should arise between the two countries--as I, for one,feel certain it will--we shall not be entirely unprepared. It is mostunfortunate, however, that we are at present extremely short of navalofficers; indeed, if war were to break out to-morrow it is an absolutecertainty that several of our men-of-war would be unable to put to sea,for want of capable officers to man them. Crews sufficient we have, butofficers--"

  "Surely you are not serious, sir?" exclaimed Frobisher.

  "But I am, indeed, sir," replied Wong-lih. "And now you will seewhither this long story of mine is leading, and why I asked you if youwould be ready to accept employment. Stated very briefly, the situationis this. If you will agree to my proposal, I can secure for you theposition of captain on board a very fine new cruiser of ours, which, atpresent, we cannot send to sea for the reason I have just mentioned. Icannot actually make the appointment myself, but I can give you passageto Wei-hai-wei, whence you can easily reach Tien-tsin, where the Councilis now sitting; and on my recommendation there would be no hesitation onits part about giving you the post--quite the reverse, indeed. Therewould be no unpleasant conditions imposed upon you; you would not berequired to become a Chinese subject, or to do anything, in short, thatwould affect your allegiance to your own glorious Queen--whom may Buddhain his mercy preserve! All that would be required of you would be anoath to serve faithfully and to the best of your ability while in theChinese service. Now, I have said my say; let me have your opinion anddecision, for I have already spent more time in this fortress than Ishould have."

  For some moments Frobisher remained in deep thought. Undoubtedly, thisoffer of Wong-lih's opened up a most rosy vista of the future. Captainof a fine new cruiser, with the prospect of a naval war in the nearfuture--what more could any Navy man ask for? There would be chances inplenty to win honour, fame, renown; and his name might even go down inhistory if he had any luck! It was a tempting bait, indeed, thatWong-lih held out; and, being at a loose end, the Englishman would havebeen more--or less--than human if he had not jumped at it. Besides, whyshould not he? His own country had rejected his services; anothercountry, apparently, had need of them: so why should he not sell hissword to that country? There was no reason at all, so far as he couldsee; and his mind was made up in less than a minute.

  Turning to Wong-lih, he held out his hand with the simple words, "Iaccept"; and by so doing, altered the whole course of his existence, andopened up for himself a vista of such dazzling brilliance that, could hebut have glanced into the future, even his steady, somewhat unemotionalbrain might have been very nearly turned. But before this could berealised he was to pass through scenes and experiences which were toleave their mark indelibly upon him.

  The admiral returned Frobisher's grip with great heartiness.

  "I am rejoiced to learn your decision, Mr Frobisher," he said, bowingcourteously; "and I feel sure you will never have cause to regret it.For such a man as yourself, the Chinese Naval service, at the presentmoment, offers almost unlimited scope; and there is no reason at all whyyou should not, in the course of a few years, rise to the highestposition in it. We urgently need good men just now, for I am sorry tosay that bribery, corruption, and treachery are frightfully prevalent inboth the Army and the Navy; and my heart sometimes misgives me when Ithink of the revelations that are bound to be made when we come tohand-grips with Japan--as I feel confident we soon shall.

  "But I must not continue in this strain, or you will be refusing the jobwith thanks. I suppose there is nothing to keep you here? I mean, youwill be able to accompany me back to my ship and make the voyage toWei-hai-wei with me? I return almost immediately, for my dutiesconsisted simply in convoying the transports here, and looking intomatters at Asan sufficiently to enable me to make a report on my return;and that I have already done; so that I am prepared to weigh as soon asit is daybreak. I shall be honoured, also, if you will consideryourself my guest while on board the _Hai-yen_, my flagship."

  Frobisher bowed his thanks. "The honour is mine," he said, "and I shallhave great pleasure in accepting your kind invitation. Also, as I haveabsolutely nothing but what I stand up in, my preparations are notlikely to occupy much time," and he laughed. "But," he continued, asWong-lih turned toward the door, "there is one thing which I think wehave both forgotten, and which may prove an insuperable objection to myjoining the Chinese Navy."

  "And that is?" enquired the admiral, raising his eyebrows.

  "That I have practically no knowledge of the Chinese language," repliedFrobisher. "To be of any real use as captain of a cruiser it seems tome that a thorough acquaintance with Chinese is an absolute necessity."

  "If that is your only objection," exclaimed Wong-lih in a tone ofrelief, "you may dismiss it at once. I had not overlooked the fact thatyou might be ignorant of Chinese; but we shall do for you exactly whatwe are doing in the case of Captain Foster of the battleship_Chen-yuen_, who is also an Englishman. We shall provide you with anefficient interpreter, whose sole duty it will be to remain constantlyat your side and translate your wishes and commands into Chinese; so,you see, there will be no difficulty at all on that score. Now, if youare quite ready, shall we go? I have no time to spare, and, moreover,the atmosphere of this place is anything but agreeable."

&nbs
p; As he spoke, the admiral opened the heavy door and, courteously signingto the Englishman to precede him, allowed Frobisher to pass out into thestone-flagged corridor. Thence they followed the route by which theEnglishman had been brought on the previous day, until they came to theroom in which he had been cross-examined by the commandant of the fort;and there they found the latter, with the Governor and several otherofficials, all of whom respectfully rose to their feet upon theadmiral's entrance.

  With a somewhat curt gesture Wong-lih directed them to be seated; andthen ensued a rather lengthy conversation in Chinese, the principal partof which was borne by the admiral, who seemed to be asking questions andissuing instructions. Then, rising to his feet, he dismissed the littlegroup and requested Frobisher to follow him.

  "Before we leave, sir," exclaimed the Englishman, suddenly remembering,"I should like to ask a favour. When I was captured by the Koreantroops I had in my possession a pair of rather valuable revolvers, whichI prize very much, apart from their intrinsic value, from the fact thatthey were given me by a very dear friend. I feel convinced that theofficer who seized them has not allowed them to pass out of his hands;and, if he happens to be in the fort, I shall be very much obliged ifyou will request him to return them to me. Also, if the jacket that wastaken from me has been preserved, I should like to have that as well. Imay perhaps be permitted to mention, too, that I have not tasted foodfor fully twenty-four hours, and am feeling the need of a meal."

  "My dear sir," exclaimed Wong-lih, in tones of genuine concern, "whatcan I have been thinking of not to have enquired if you were hungry! Myonly excuse is that I was so full of the matter we have just beendiscussing, that the first rules of hospitality escaped me for themoment. If you will remain here for a few minutes I will myself seethat food is served to you. I will at the same time make enquiriesabout all your property; and if it is indeed here it shall mostcertainly be returned to you. I will be with you again very shortly."

  With these words the kind-hearted admiral left the room, returningpresently with Frobisher's pistols in one hand and the jacket in theother, bringing also the welcome information that a meal was beinghastily prepared, and would be served with the utmost expedition.

  Half an hour later Frobisher, feeling a new man and quite himself again,followed Wong-lih out of the fort and down to the beach, where theadmiral's own boat was now waiting to take him on board. On the waythither it was necessary to pass over the scene of the day's battle, andalthough it was night and the only illumination came from the moon, andthe lantern which the admiral's coxswain was carrying, there was lightenough to reveal many of the horrors of the past day's fight, andFrobisher was more than glad when that blood-stained field was leftbehind and they came to the margin of the clean, wholesome sea.

  Here they found the officer in command of the troops who were to remainin Korea and to assist the Government in stamping out the rebellion.They were, it afterward transpired, first of all to occupy the town ofAsan, and operate against the insurgents, with Asan as their base, untilfurther instructions were received or other developments arose; and theofficer was then waiting to hold a short consultation with Wong-lih withreference to his future course of action, so that the admiral would bein a position to report fully to his Government upon his return toChina. The transports, which had also been fitted up as store-ships,were to remain behind in Prince Jerome Bay, with one of the gunboats toprotect them, while the two cruisers and the other gunboat were toproceed to sea immediately.

  The general plan of campaign had evidently been already arranged, for aquarter of an hour later the officer and Wong-lih saluted each other infarewell, and the Army man returned to the fortress, where the troopswere quartered for the remainder of the night, while the admiral enteredhis barge, and, with his latest recruit in the stern-sheets beside him,was pulled swiftly away to the _Hai-yen_.

  Once on board, the admiral conducted Frobisher to a handsomely-furnishedcabin, of which he was to have the exclusive use during the voyage, andalso, with his characteristic kindness, presented him with a completeChinese Naval captain's suit in perfectly new condition, which by alucky chance proved to be a very passable fit. Of course Frobisher wasnot as yet entitled to wear it, but Wong-lih was so certain that theproposed appointment would be promptly confirmed that he had no qualmsin donning it.

  It was by this time not very far off daylight. Frobisher thereforedecided that, tired though he felt, he would not turn in just yet, butwould wait for sunrise in order to watch the squadron get under way.Wong-lih also had no intention of retiring during the short time thatstill remained before they were ready to leave, so he invited the youngEnglishman into his own spacious and luxuriously-fitted quarters in thestern of the ship, where the two remained smoking, talking, and drinkingcoffee, until the sound of the morning gun from the fort, followed bythe report of one of the twenty-four pounders on deck, announced that itwas "official sunrise", and that the hour had arrived for them to taketheir departure.

  With the admiral's permission Frobisher followed him on deck and up onto the bridge, where a yeoman of signals was already waiting to hoistthe necessary flags as a signal to the other ships to weigh and proceedto sea. Thick, greasy columns of smoke were rising from the funnels ofall three craft, proving, to the Englishman's experienced eye, that thecoal they were using was quite unsuited to Naval requirements; while awhite feather of steam rising from their steam-pipes showed that therewas already full pressure in their boilers. After a comprehensive lookround, the admiral spoke a few words to the signalman, and a momentlater a string of parti-coloured flags soared aloft to the cruiser'syard-arm.

  Instantly the shrill clamour of boatswains' whistles was heard from eachship, and next followed the measured "clank-clank-clank" of iron cable,as the steam-capstans got to work and began to haul the vessels up totheir anchors. For a few seconds the clatter subsided as the strain of"breaking out" the anchors came upon the cables, then it started againwith a rush; and presently the dripping, mud-bedaubed anchors made theirappearance under the bows, and were catted and promptly stowed.

  Then, slowly at first, but with gradually increasing speed, the_Hat-yen's_ screws revolved, the decks quivered, and the ship began toslide through the water, her bows turning toward the entrance of the bayas she did so. The other cruiser fell into line astern of the flagship,and, with the gunboat bringing up the rear, the squadron headed for theopen sea in line-ahead formation, sped upon its way by the salutes ofthe fort and the remaining gunboat, to which the _Hai-yen's_ gunsreplied.

  Wei-hai-wei is only a matter of some two hundred miles from Asan; and atmidnight the squadron found itself entering the Chinese harbour, where anumber of twinkling lights betrayed the presence of other shipsbelonging to the Navy. The anchors were let go just opposite the fort,and both Frobisher and the admiral went below to enjoy a well-earnedrest and refresh themselves in readiness for the duties that awaitedthem on the following day.