A Chinese Command: A Story of Adventure in Eastern Seas

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TEN.

  THE PIRATES' LAIR.

  It was about midday when the _San-chau_ anchored off the port ofTien-tsin; and Wong-lih suggested to his young protege that they shouldlunch aboard before going ashore to the Navy Buildings, which were atthat time situated in the "Street of many Sorrows"--an ill-omened name,indeed, as after-events were to prove.

  They were nearing the completion of the meal when there came a knockupon the cabin door, and the sentry announced that a messenger hadarrived with a letter for "his Highness, the most honourable AdmiralPrince Wong-lih". The admiral opened and read it, wrote a brief reply,and then explained to Frobisher that, the arrival of the _San-chau_having been observed, and his own presence on board disclosed by thefact of his flag flying from the fore-topmast head, the Council, thensitting in debate at the Navy Buildings, had sent to say that they wouldbe glad to see him on a matter of importance as soon as he could make itconvenient to come ashore.

  "Further developments in Korea, I suspect," observed the admiral,frowning. "I pray that no open rupture between ourselves and Japan mayoccur just yet; for we are utterly unprepared. We must put off the evilday as long as possible, even if we have to humble ourselves before themfor a month or two; for it would be absolutely suicidal for us to engagein a war with Japan at the present moment. Our ships are good; our menare excellent fighters; and to the outsider it would naturally appearthat all the advantages are on our side: but alas! men, however bravethey may be, cannot fight to win under the command of inefficientofficers, and with arms, ammunition, and stores that may fail them atany moment. Ah me! ah me!"

  "You feel, then," said Frobisher, "that war is inevitable?"

  "I am sure of it," replied the admiral. "Perhaps not to-day, orto-morrow; but war there certainly will be before many months are past.I only wish I could bring the realisation of this fact home to some ofthose officials who are content to wait and wait, spending the country'smoney, if not on themselves personally, at any rate upon things on whichit ought not to be spent; until the time comes, all too suddenly, whenthey will awake to the fact that they have procrastinated too long, andthat their country is at the mercy of the enemy."

  "Let us hope, sir," replied Frobisher, cheerfully--for he had begun tohave quite a strong liking for the cultured and patriotic Chinesegentleman and sailor, and was sorry to find him taking so pessimistic aview of the situation--"that matters are not so bad as you imagine, andthat China will issue from the coming struggle more powerful thanbefore."

  "We will, indeed, hope so," said Wong-lih, rising. "But I greatly fearthat our hope will be unfulfilled. However, an end to these dismalforebodings of mine, Mr Frobisher! I am growing old, and am on thataccount more liable, perhaps, to look on the dark side of things. Letus go ashore now, and see what it is that the Council wishes to talkabout. I will seize the opportunity to introduce you to the officialscomposing it, and we will get your commission made out and signed, sothat you may be ready for service whenever called upon."

  With these words Wong-lih went up on deck, followed by Frobisher, andthe two men, entering the _San-chau's_ gig, were pulled ashore.

  Frobisher was very favourably impressed by the handsome appearance ofthe various public buildings, and was quite astonished at the size andmagnificence of those devoted to the Navy Department, when he and hiscompanion finally halted before the wrought-iron gates which gaveadmittance to the grounds surrounding them.

  Wong-lih, exhilarated at the near prospect of a discussion upon hisfavourite subject, the Navy, ran up the steps leading into the buildingwith the activity of a boy; and in a few minutes the two men foundthemselves in a beautifully-furnished antechamber, whither they had beenconducted to wait for the summons to present themselves before theall-powerful Council. Frobisher himself felt just a trifle nervous atthe prospect, but Wong-lih's countenance was transformed by a happysmile, while he actually sniffed the air from time to time, like an oldwarhorse scenting battle.

  Presently a door, opposite that by which the two had entered, opened,and a gorgeously-dressed attendant stepped up to Wong-lih and saluted,saying something at the same time in Chinese.

  "Come along, my young friend," smilingly exclaimed the admiral, as herose to his feet; "the moment of your ordeal has arrived. Present abold front, my boy; there is nothing to be nervous about, I assure you."

  He led the way, through the door which the attendant respectfully heldopen, into another chamber--or rather hall, so large and lofty was it--where Frobisher saw a group of Chinamen, nine in number, seated round anoval table on which a quantity of official-looking documents were lying.So far as it is possible to tell any Chinaman's age from mereobservation, they were all elderly men, with the exception of oneindividual, who was obviously quite young, and who was seated at theright hand of the one who was clearly the chief official present.

  He was a man of perhaps thirty, or possibly younger still, with a veryyellow skin, a long, very thin, drooping moustache, and brilliant,coal-black eyes, deeply sunken in their sockets, out of which theyglared with an emotionless, steely glitter that reminded Frobisher mostunpleasantly of a snake. There was also in them something of the deadlymalevolence that all snakes' eyes seem to possess, and the Englishmancould barely repress a shudder of disgust as he found those eyes fixedon his, for he felt as though he had suddenly come in contact with somenoxious reptile.

  As they entered, the Council, with the exception of the man justreferred to, rose and bowed solemnly to Wong-lih, who returned the bowceremoniously. He and Frobisher were then signed to seat themselves,after which the Councillors resumed their seats.

  Commencing with the old man at the head of the table, each of themembers of the Council in turn questioned Wong-lih, and a longconversation in Chinese ensued, which Frobisher was of course unable tounderstand. He occupied himself with looking round the room andadmiring the wonderful carving and the priceless tapestries on thewalls, and was quite taken by surprise when he suddenly heard Wong-lih'svoice calling his name.

  He was then introduced to the Council collectively, and a number ofquestions were put to him in English, with which tongue he was beginningto think every Chinaman must be familiar, so many had he alreadyencountered who were able to speak it almost as fluently as himself.Like many of his fellow countrymen, he had up to now imagined that theChinese were a barbarous race, knowing nothing of anything that happenedoutside their own country.

  Apparently he soon satisfied his examiners as to his nauticalattainments; and presently he found himself in possession of a parchmentwhich set forth the fact that Murray Frobisher was appointed to theChinese Navy with the rank of captain; and he was informed that he wasto take command of the _Chih' Yuen_ as soon as she was ready for serviceagain. Until that time he was to consider himself on the staff ofAdmiral Wong-lih, who would find employment for him in the interim.After this little ceremony a further lengthy discussion took place inChinese, and it was not until late in the evening that he and hissponsor were able to get away and return to the ship.

  Arrived there, they proceeded to the cabin where Wong-lih had taken uphis quarters, and here Frobisher received an account of what hadoccurred at the meeting.

  "It seems," announced the admiral, "that a dispatch has been receivedfrom our Minister in Tokio, informing us that the Japanese, althoughthey have sent an escort for their Minister at Seoul, have decided todelay for a time the dispatch of a large armed force to Korea, and toawait further developments. This is grand news, for it gives us alittle longer in which to make our preparations; but our Minister alsoadvises us to be on our guard, for Japan means to force a quarrel,sooner or later. Now, as regards yourself, news has recently beenbrought that the river merchants of the Hoang-ho have been greatlytroubled lately by the excesses of a band of pirates, who are believedto have their head-quarters somewhere near the place where the old bedof the river leaves the present channel--that is, not far from thevillage of Tchen-voun-hien, three hundred miles from here. I wish youto take comm
and of the gunboat _Su-chen_, and proceed in her to thisplace. You will investigate the matter thoroughly; and, if the storiesare anything approaching truth, you will hunt down that band of pirates,and destroy them and their head-quarters. No quarter must be shown, MrFrobisher; those criminals must be dealt with severely.

  "The interpreter I mentioned to you shall be attached at once to yourperson, and I shall be glad if you will enter upon your new dutiesimmediately. Oh, by the way, I have also had news of your friend,Captain Drake. He was told of what had happened by a survivor from yourparty; and he came round here in the _Quernmore_ to demand that we sendan expedition to rescue you. He appears to be very much attached toyou.

  "Of course he was told that such a course was not to be thought of,besides being quite useless; and he appeared to be very much cut up atthe news, so I am told. He accepted a contract from the Navy Departmentfor the supply of a cargo of arms, ammunition, and guns, and left in hisship for England only a week before our own arrival here. When hereturns, should you not be here yourself, I shall of course inform himof your rescue, and so ease his mind.

  "Now, Captain Frobisher, I have little more to say. Get away as soon asyou can. Your crew is already aboard; and, if you need any stores orammunition, indent for them in the usual way; they will be dulysupplied. But there, I need not tell a British Navy man how to do hisbusiness. Good-bye, my boy, and Heaven grant you a safe return!" heconcluded, affectionately.

  The two men clasped hands, Wong-lih buried himself in a mass of papers,and Frobisher departed to bed to refresh himself in readiness tocommence his duties early on the following morning. His last thought,as he dropped off to sleep, was that he was now Captain Frobisher, ofthe _Chih' Yuen_; and that it would not be his fault if he did not makeher name famous in Chinese Naval history.

  He awoke in the morning, however, utterly unrefreshed, for he had sleptbadly. A vague feeling of foreboding and a strong presentiment ofdisaster had oppressed him throughout the night, and his dreams had beenhaunted by a thin, yellow face, with long, attenuated, droopingmoustache--a face out of which peered a pair of eyes, glowing like flameand with hideous possibilities of evil shining in their black depths.The face was the face of Prince Hsi, the youngest member of the Council.

  The splendid, keen, invigorating air of a Chinese morning soon blew thecobwebs away from Frobisher's brain, and half an hour after leaving hisbed he was smiling to himself at his own folly in allowing Prince Hsi'sevil countenance to affect him to such an extent as to spoil his rest.The man couldn't help being born with a face like that; and perhaps anugly exterior might in reality hide a very kind and gentle soul. By thetime that Frobisher had arrived at the wharf where the _Su-chen_ waslying, he had completely forgotten the existence of "the man with thesnake's eyes", as he afterwards came to call him.

  The interpreter promised by Wong-lih had duly presented himself toFrobisher on board the _San-chan_ that morning, and the Englishman verysoon began to find the man's services invaluable. With his assistance,the _Su-chen_ was easily located, and Frobisher at once boarded her andmade himself known, and read his commission to her officers and crewthrough the medium of Quen-lung, the interpreter. A very quiet, decentset of men they seemed to be, to all appearance. They gave him suchinformation as he asked for, quickly and without hesitation; and, so faras he could learn on such brief acquaintance, seemed thoroughlyconversant with their duties. He made enquiries about the amount ofwater and provisions that was aboard, satisfied himself that there was asufficiency to serve them for the expedition, and then went into thequestion of the quantity of ammunition remaining on board.

  This did not at all satisfy his requirements; for he found that,although there appeared to be plenty of small-arm ammunition, there wasvery little belonging to the machine-guns and the guns in the batteries;so, taking Quen-lung with him, he made his way to the magazines, takinghis requisition book with him in his pocket.

  It was then that he obtained his first insight into the subtle ways ofChinese Naval officialdom. He knew perfectly well what kind ofammunition he required, and how much of it, but he seemed utterly unableto find anybody who possessed the necessary authority to issue it. Hewas sent from one official to another, all of them gorgeously dressedand very eager to give every assistance; yet when the moment arrived forthe stores to be actually given into his hands--well, they wereheart-broken to give the honourable captain so much trouble, but wouldhe be pleased to obtain the approval of his Excellency the honourableSomebody Else, whose signature was also needed before the ammunitioncould be removed.

  At last, so disgusted did Frobisher become at all this delay andprevarication that he went back to the _Su-chen_, selected some twentyof the strongest members of his crew, and himself took them up to themagazine with a number of hand-wagons which he had collected, under muchvoluble protest, _en route_. Then, having found the required pattern ofcartridge, he ordered his men to load the cases on to the wagons, and,amid the intensely-shocked expostulations of the outraged officials ofthe Ordnance Department, who were quite unaccustomed to fill arequisition in less than a month, the several indents were wheeled downto the gunboat by the Chinese sailors, who already began to show therespect they felt for a man who knew what he wanted, and got it.

  The task was finished at last, and that afternoon the _Su-chen_ dippedher ensign to the _San-chau_, on board of which Admiral Wong-lih had hisquarters, steamed down the river Pei-ho, past the Taku forts at itsmouth, and out into the open sea on her way to the mouth of theHoang-ho, some three hundred miles up which lay the village ofTchen-voun-hien, at or near which the pirates' lair was said to besituated. During the hundred-mile run across the gulf of Chi-lih,Frobisher set his men to clean ship thoroughly, overhaul and polish theguns, and make things in general a little more shipshape than they hadbeen since the time when the _Su-chen_ left her builders' hands on theThames.

  Frobisher was fortunate in the moment when the gunboat arrived off themouth of the Hoang-ho, for the sea was smooth, and the usually dangerousbar at the mouth of the river was passed with ease. But there were manyreminders, in the shape of broken spars, and in some cases fragments ofhulls, projecting out of the water, to show that the sea was not alwaysin so gentle a mood, and that many other captains had been lessfortunate. The bar at the mouth of the Hoang-ho is indeed one vastgraveyard, both of men and ships.

  Frobisher anchored a few miles up the river, and spent a whole dayexercising his men at cutlass and small-arm drill, to smarten them up alittle and prepare them as far as possible for the cut-and-thrust workwhich, he felt sure, the task of exterminating the pirates wouldultimately involve. Early on the following morning the voyage upstreamwas continued, the _Su-chen_ making not more than about six knots anhour against the strong current, the result, evidently, of heavy rainsup-country, for the river--well named the "Yellow River"--was thick andturbid with mud, which had been washed off the surface of the land bythe floods.

  Mile after mile the _Su-chen_ crept along, and the low, flat,uninteresting banks slipped gradually astern. A few junks were passed,but they were all too far away for Frobisher to communicate with them,as they were well in under the land, while the gunboat was obliged, onaccount of her draught, to keep more or less in the centre of the river.

  One afternoon, however, there came from the man whom Frobisher hadposted in the foretop, to give warning of rocks or shoals, a shout thatthere was a dismasted junk about a mile ahead which appeared to betrying to intercept the gunboat. She seemed, the look-out reported, tohave been on fire, as well as having lost her mast, for he could plainlymake out through his telescope the black patches where her deck andbulwarks had been charred. There were only two men on deck, he added,and these men were doing all they could to attract attention, wavingsomething--he could not quite make out what--above their heads, andleaping about excitedly. There were other dark-coloured patches aboutthe deck, but at that distance it was not possible to say whether theywere the result of fire, or of something else. Frobish
er, however, whohad carefully listened to a report of the details from the interpreter,had the conviction that there had been some happening on board that junkother than that of mere fire, and that he was shortly to receiveevidence with his own eyes of the activities of the pirates whom he wasgoing to exterminate; for he felt certain that the dark stains were notthose of fire, but of blood.

  As soon as the unwieldy craft, which was progressing solely by the forceof the current, approached to within a quarter of a mile of the_Sit-chen_, Frobisher rang his engines to half-speed, so that thegunboat barely made headway against the current, and thus awaited thejunk's arrival. The gunboat was skilfully manoeuvred alongside her, andthe crew, with ropes and grapnels, soon secured her, and assisted thetwo men who formed her sole complement up on deck. Here Frobisher,after giving them some refreshment, of which they were plainly in greatneed, questioned them through the interpreter as to the cause of theirpresent condition.

  It was precisely as he had expected. The junk had, it seemed, sailed afew days previously from Tchen-tcheou, a town about six hundred milesfrom the mouth of the river, with a valuable cargo of sandalwoodintended for Tien-tsin; but on passing the spot where the old bed of theriver used to lie before the channel was diverted, she had been attackedby no fewer than five large and heavily-armed junks, crowded with men.Before the crew could even place themselves in a position for defence,the junk had been seized and the men cut to pieces by the ruthlesspirates. The two men standing on the _Su-chen's_ deck had escaped as bya miracle, for, after taking all her cargo out of the junk and throwingdead and wounded overboard, the leader of the pirates had indulged hishumour by binding the two survivors and laying them on the deck,afterwards firing the junk and setting her adrift. The men had securedtheir freedom by one of them gnawing the other's bonds loose, and theyhad then managed to extinguish the fire.

  But--would not the honourable captain take his ship up the river, andwipe the pirates out, lock, stock, and barrel? Frobisher informed themthat such was his intention; and, after asking the two men whether theywould accompany him as guides, and receiving their assurance that theydesired nothing better, he set the junk adrift again, since she wasabsolutely useless, and continued his journey.

  At nine o'clock the next morning one of the two new men, who had beenlooking keenly ahead for a few moments, came up to Frobisher and pointedout what appeared to be a large, square, stone-built castle, or fort,standing some distance back from the river bank, upon the top of a knollof rising ground.

  "That," he announced, "is the pirates' head-quarters. There is a littlebight just at the junction of the old and the new channels, and it isthere that they lie in ambush with their junks. Now, sir, you canperhaps see their masts standing up behind that low bank yonder?"

  Frobisher looked, and counted, indeed, five masts. They were, then,evidently those belonging to the pirate junks which had attacked theChinese merchantman on the preceding day; and the fort on the hill,yonder, was the pirates' lair which he had been specially dispatchedfrom Tien-tsin to destroy. He rubbed his hands gleefully and gaveorders to clear for action; then, with his telescope fixed unwaveringlyon the fort, he leant over the bridge rail, watching, while the_Su-chen_, her engines working at full pressure, stemmed the muddy tideon her errand of retribution.