The War Tiger

by William Dalton

  CHAPTER XLII.

  THE RIVAL SEA CHIEFS.--RE-APPEARANCE OF AN OLD FRIEND.--A COMICAL BATTLEWITH THE TARTARS.

  Once masters of Pekin, which being so near their native wilds, enabledthem to introduce hordes of their fellow-countrymen, the Tartarsconquered province by province, till they obtained possession of thewhole empire. The most difficult, however, to subdue, were the southerndistricts, which edged the sea, and chiefly for this reason: that notlong after they succeeded in entrapping Chin-Chi-Loong, to theirsurprise, there appeared another and a greater sea chief, whose fleetwas so large, and his successes so great in destroying the Tartarsettlements upon the coasts, and even the great towns up theYang-tse-Kiang, that the greater part of the Chinese, who had any spiritor patriotism remaining, flocked to his standard, and swelled his fleetand army to such a size, that the Tartar government, trembling with fearfor the capital itself, offered immense rewards for his head; andfinding that of no use, offered to give him the command of the seas, andeven a kingdom, if he would acknowledge their rule; but all this was ofno use: the terrible patriot TCHING-TCHING-KONG, (or Koshinga, as thePortuguese did, and I shall for the future, name him,) would listen tono other terms but their departure from the country, to which, but forthe sudden appearance on the coast of another formidable sea-chief,named Yuen, they would in all probability have been compelled to yield.

  Now the difference between these two chiefs was, that while Koshingaprotected the Chinese against the invaders, the chief Yuen was a merepirate, and, if booty were to be gained, destroyed both peoples alike.Moreover, the latter seemed to have a great hatred for Koshinga; for,although he dared not meet him in fair fight, if by chance he ever fellin with a solitary ship of his fleet, he would wantonly sink it with allits crew; and so terrible had the name of this Yuen become, that thepeople upon the coast named him the Black Sea-dragon. Neither was itpossible to make out the object of this pirate. It could not have beenthe desire of mere wealth, for the Tartar government, thinking him avery desirable antagonist to Koshinga, offered him wealth, and the samerank they had offered to his rival, provided he succeeded in destroyingthe latter; but still, although Yuen hated the patriot sea chief, hisdislike to the Tartars was no less, for, like Koshinga, he destroyedtheir houses and massacred their people at every opportunity. So atlength, giving up all hope of conquering either of his amphibiousenemies, Chun-ti issued an order that all the houses, cities, towns, andvillages, within ten miles of the sea, should be destroyed, chiefly, Ibelieve, to prevent the people from supplying them with provisions.

  Well, one day, shortly after this order had been received, and theinhabitants of a small town on the coast of Fokien were in high bustlepacking up their goods and chattels ready for departure, some by meansof carts, others, and the greater part, by junks and barges, a largemerchant junk stood in from the sea, entered the narrow creek into whichthe river emptied itself, anchored, and would have remained unnoticed bythe soldiers, who were inspecting the carrying out of the Emperor'sorders, but for the appearance of a young man, who, stepping on shore,was immediately seized by the order of the officer. "Who is the vileslave, that he dares disobey the commands of the great Emperor?" saidthe latter.

  "Surely thy servant, who has but just entered the town, can be guilty ofno crime?"

  "Are the words of the Emperor dirt, that they should have escaped theears of so small a dog?" said the officer.

  "Truly these holy words have not fallen into the ears of thy meanservant, O magnificent commander," returned the other.

  "Then let the dog's ears be opened, and he shall hear," said theofficer, directing a soldier to proclaim the royal command, which was tothe effect that the long hair of every Chinese should be shaven from hishead, and the growth of a Tartar tail encouraged, in order that thereshould be no difference between the two races.

  When the stranger, however, heard the order, his eyes flashed, and hislips quivered with rage, at the great badge of slavery the Tartars werethrusting upon his countrymen; and he placed his hand beneath his robe,as if clutching the hilt of a sword; but then, looking at the Tartartroops, who had by this time surrounded him, and perceiving the folly ofresistance, he said, "Truly the ears of thy servant have not heard thisorder."

  "Let the dog obey, or he shall be strangled," was the only reply.

  Then, with a look half tragic, half comic, and, taking his long flowinglocks in his hand, he said, "Surely the magnificent commander will givehis servant a few hours to prepare his head for so serious a farewell?"

  The next minute, however, one of the barbers who accompanied the troopsfor the purpose of performing the first operation upon the conqueredpeople, made his appearance, and, setting down his apparatus, began toprepare his scissors and large knife, when, like a half-secured animalwhose dim instinct had just been aroused to the fact of the comingslaughter, the stranger struck out with both fists, sending barber andofficer rolling one over the other, and darted off, followed by at leasta dozen arrows from the bows of the soldiers, who, however had been toomuch surprised to aim properly.

  Now, weak and effeminate as the Chinese had shown themselves in allowingthe empire to become so easily conquered by the Tartars, this insult wasalways deeply felt even by those who had been compelled to submit, so ina few minutes they gathered about the Tartars in great numbers, andbeing inspired by the stranger's pluck, from hard words came to suchhard blows, that the bully Tartars were very glad to beat a retreat,only promising to themselves a great revenge hereafter.

  As for the stranger, he ran with such speed and blind terror, at thenotion of losing his beautiful hair, that he tumbled headlong over anold sow into a litter of pigs, which were among the goods about to betaken away; and, comical as was this scene, it might have been serious,for the animal, seeing her family attacked by so formidable an enemy,would have made it a personal matter, but for a mob of people who cameto the rescue of the stranger, at whose spirit in resisting the hatefulorder they were so delighted, that they lifted him upon their shoulders;when the youth, in his excitement, mistaking them for Tartars, put bothhis hands to his locks, exclaiming, "You dogs, I will rather lose myhead than prove such a coward."

  "A patriot! a hero! down with the Tartar thieves!" said the mob.

  When the stranger, recovering from his fright, said, "Pardon, O mybrothers, for believing you to be such dogs."

  Then the crowd gave more cheers, and asked where he would be taken to.

  "Know any of you the residence of the colao Ki?" was the reply.

  "To the house of the good Ki," exclaimed the mob, and in a few minutesmore they had deposited him at the gates of a great house not fardistant from the sea.

  "What rogue is this who dares disturb the quiet of the noble Ki?" saidthe servant who opened the gate.

  "Let me pass, thou mean fellow," said the apparently mad-headed stranger,rushing through halls and courts till he reached the door of the women'sapartments, which, to the horror of the servant, who now called forassistance, he burst open, and, seeing two ladies, fell at the feet ofone of them, sobbing aloud, "Then my information is true, and I havefound thee again, my venerable and beloved parent." Need I tell you thatthe stranger was no other than Chow?

  "The gods punish me with a false vision, my eyeballs must be old, or itis indeed my beloved son Chow," said the lady, throwing her arms aroundher son's neck.

  "The faithful friend of the noble Nicholas! Surely this is notpossible," said the princess, hysterically, so forgetting her rank inher delighted surprise, that she embraced him as a brother, not alittle, I assure you, to the wonder and horror of the servants, and thecolao himself, who had hastened to the apartment to secure the daringrobber, as the frightened servant had reported, and which Ki believedChow to be, feeling certain that none but a thief would be guilty of soprofane an act as entering the sacred apartments of the ladies.