The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 7, 1900, Page 9

THE SUNDAY CALL " & - ling us from the Chien 3 Samovar will intercept som ol ble. He never expected : Legat o elves, '« rest of Claude’s words were uttered = whisper. _ W CHAPTER XXIL SILENCE OF PEKING. ponse to the feeble protest of the é c which was dated the seared a few days 1 proclamation paternally Boxers to deal gently tians, 4s they were quite ose only object was pel iu some respects as at of Confucius, and to the wedge of a barbarian civili- which In other lands had been the ble prelude to conquest. since the treaty of 1861, opened China to the missionaries, had been adopted a curious cipbec lamations having reference to n between the ter- 1 Nieh anl his > th commenced sight of the walls Samovar pl ayed his trump T= Y nite reply Prince President” of the in supersession iplhmacy. ingle purpose Arthu false,” M. de s ity which lor o the her ou she the attache's ring anything r Superintendency General igns to Pericord rince Tuan e brought back 11 force the truth ks have to tear her off June, tele- Tientsin wa gation street a now that the he m At b r the e £ 1 border tribes c 5 and of the imperial of fle-armed Bannermen. The aged by Y that the simply rebels i d bra nd Big sought who to en- were tangle the government in a foreign war in order to upset the Ching dynasty and perhaps accomplish_the revolution augurated by Kang Yu-wel. rfnm parties appealed to the Empress Dowager. who w in egual vacillation from different causes. This ambitious and capable woman, although now gver 60 vears of age. still clung to power with the tenacity of Li Hung Chang. For twenty-five years she had held it un. challenged through the puppet she had laced on the throne. ut since the Reform conspiracy of 1895 the Reform par(x was called the Pao Wang Huf and owed its origin to a foreigner—she could no longer rely on the Emperor, Kwang Hsu. On the other hand, she equal- 1y dreaded the accession of Po Chun un- der the masterful regency of his father, Tuan. Her sympathies were strongly In in- VAI DA A---Romance---of- - - PekKi BY JULIAN CRO/KEY COPYRIGHT 1900 tter under the Dg through. It was signed by Mr. Pericord and addressed to any officer of the reliev- ing column into whose hands it should fall. It simply said that the position_was desperate and the column must hasten or it would be too late. The messenger had left the city on June 24 After that no news came out for a month. The only information vouch- eafed to the world was issued in a garbled and equivocal form &t the Taotai of Shanghai, who was in telegraphic nication with the Governor of ( m: Chinan is the capital of the province of Shangtung and 1 five hundred north of Shanghal and three hundred miles south of Peking. Th rmor ¢ the province was one Yuan and capable general. A nc eer having. in a widel ferred to th drilled brigade became, during this of s he prime boge sion: wifacturer of formation they supplied z was opled verbatim traveler's r i eighteen mo Yuan become Governor of CHA\;’TER XXIIT. On the 10th of Ju tories at the Bc telegram ne lef which the outside world and its representatives courier to her old cum. And for se e b ful marching f ur's column, nothing had Peking nd ¢ ] lhv‘\l“ anned the pa ter morn- ing with an impc t agony of fear. What was happening in this hidden o so long looked on as a next-door nei bor to Tientsin? What wa explana- tion of this mysterious and awful silence, hed fallen like a curtain between ill-fated McCalla. ' It accompanied by a battery of ship's s with whicl., o baffiing and Inexplicable had if neces: to blow in the gates of Pe- éver been read of in hist mly a day's king. ney by mounted cou r from the port On of June .he column returned ,f Tientsin which for years had It ha cted nothing save been in telegraphic communteati e te tc Boxers and Im- different lines with every part of its the foreigners were not 400 men in killed arrowly escaped anni- not reached Peking Junc,” when news was Seymour had been attacked troops under Tung foris This was a in g part and The act, d the last pea It threw tne imperial 00ps , the arms of the Boxers, whether their commanders followed or not. The Tak rrisons retreated toward Tientsin, breathing fury and vengeance, tirely cut off. was forgotten. were hurried to Tientsin rrison there. For three weeks 10,000 troops were besieged In the foreign settlement. On the 11 of July they captured the native city of Tien- tsin and were then ouly in a position to think of relieving Peking. But nothing was doue. A week was spent in jealous recriminations among the different generals. Unlted action fell to the ground. The Russians, convinced by the unexpected attack on their Man- churian railway that their cherished scheme to pose as China's champion was based on a blind miscalculation, laid furi- ous hands on the Tientsin-Taku _ Rall- way for fear they should be left behinde in the division of the spoil. The British admiral retired in disgust to Shanghal. The Japanese hung back, their policy changed by the unexgected snerg}r of the Chinese forces on the Russian frontler, which might make an Invasion of Korea more profitable than an invasion of Chi. which R t the United States stood which was unprovoked, d of chance der. “You will marry ‘me, then, my d 1t was the capital of a great empire whose widely scattered off thout the imperi one from coast at trom the interior at Paot to within a few miles of its w population was over a million. in cons intercourse with the country bevond nsely por and rumor dred miles like fire and of the city were a thc foreigners, whom at I a score mantained large staffs of native servants, from among whom at least a dozen triisty messengers could be found. Mr. Pericord had con- trolled an organized courier service for twenty years. Bishop Favier numbered among his parishicners hundreds of de- voted converts who would cheerfully court martyrdom for his sake. Among the resi- dents were three gentlemen who acted as special correspondents of great En newspapers, and who were perfect aware that any news that they could send out would be cheaply conveyed at a price which to a Chinaman would be a fortune, In the student-irterpreter and revenue messes were dozens of daring riders pos- sessed of racing ponles which could out- distance all pursuit, who from mere sport- ing instinct would embrace the opportun- ity to run the gauntlet. Andfinally, the Embassadors were in command of six hundred picked troops armed with Max- ims and revolvers, as well as with maga- zine rifles, who might be supposed cap- able of forcing a way through the gates in the face of the whole Chinese army. And yet during seven weeks not a single letter had been received from the lega- tions. Only one message come ier na. The United Sta were firm with Defeat— r Iyt more end in de- M) troops on t T perhaps drag Regim In these perplex- fense of ed by t ad said about w It's my bel m My bo ing at the “I must again sion which I may not perform foreign army Tientsin to rescue the envoy doing it sea an army of a mere battalion, quite It will simp 1y, Perd that If the powers for the se rvi was a of Peking they 1 It'll me an privat “may still be In Peking. If so, it would be natural that she should seek the pro- tection of her father’s relatives. The United States Legation is the only one which is regarded with friendship by the were doomed to disappointment. B clear of the walls of the cf stopped by a mounted man, who con se city unmolested, but they . they we. and in whispers with Tsung-I Yamen. I think that a party To advance quickly leaving that legation would De reasons the Under € unmolested. Go. I beg of you. Kuel Lien, give—they must 1 and at once, and tell them what I say. Not abuse the 1 And if by any means you could find and friend Blake, f 19 warn Miss Beriskofft—"' other. e you so anxious, maste: faltered The hapless fugitives turned sadly Kuei-lien in Chinese, “that she should to Peking. Blake sat gazing after Mr. Pericord turned his large eyes full on the boy. i to the be—no, en moved ps. that master js he and, cross- -Wang rev- enough to think ithout changing the G £ he wants to retire, and for ake over the Gov- wi force him to ridom and e a_dooced fine rry on tout had come into vos: bell. purpose. Tuan.” He paused for a little while and then re- sumed?, “To-morrow or the next day all the for- The vate Mr. nv: has their sion, b Kuei-lien appe Pericord sa puth, bu k to- de theatricals ay nadequat enrage the Gov- ernment, and its certain defeat will send the wavering to the banners of Prince elgners in Peking will be prisoners. next few hours are the women to withdraw. therefore, my equally Count Berisko window. can go. like his successor, married an American, and some of his wife’s relatives are at present guests of good friend, Mr. had a daughter”— He turned away and looked out of the Kuei-lien was silent. “Miss Beriskoff.” continued tha S, G.. 1f friend. oks to me his the last chance for. there is a general exodus suspicion will be aroused and they will be Stopped. Only a few, Count Beriskoff, un- was my He Conger. ?n the n: ections of youth fant once more with that high which first reminded me I was old; go- “What message shall I give her, sir, from you? I have heard It said among the servants that once when she came to you r et. wishing to do yc a service, missed her harsh 18 she sa mistake. Kuel-len; ? But all that iearnea m “I have how could I have dr she takes love: a love liberty to ut cried the boy.. rder »mphasis breath of scandal 5 on the name of Miss Beriskoff; nor will I, even in the privacy of my own heart, recognize any fact which would compro- mise ber. Go. boy: every moment is ous. And,” he ded, wearlly, “Ching, not tsai-chien, Kuei-lien.” (“Pre- sentiment tells me that I may not see you again.”) The boy fell on his knees and sobbed with passionate silence over his master's hand. Then Mr. Pericord bent over him and kissed his brow with infinite tender- ness. “My daughter,” he whispered, understand?” CHAPTER XXIV. BLAKE GETS HIS PROMOTION, An hour later some ladies, including Miss — and Miss Woodward, ieft the United States legation in closed carts, es- corted by Under Secretary Bainbridge and a squad of marines. Unexpected deference was shown to them by the guards of the Ha Ta zate, snd they passed throush “do you tke a man who r sid Have I any r ou, Miss tro bly, ai e haraly cc led “I have no one to turn to,” she an- swered In a low v n me! Do not tell me anytt n_serve you What el have I to live for X ., Valda? ckery anything, Valda BOTTORRG TS ; -4 e of ser mus order.—Cinderpan.” , no business can stand t said the Comm: aside his work and vain strain a delighted grin. and the threatening tlemen. if any of the club during the next be obliged to stand you augurate the revival of Hiny Then a cheer went up which nearly ty« hooned_the roof of the mew Custom- ouse. Next to the S. G., the Port Com- missioner is the greatest man in the land, and when he unbends even the indoor staff is apt to forget its digni* - THE END P in to ur I shall