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Page 13
British war-vessels were frequently in sight, but to my requests to be
put on board one of them, or at least to be brought before a Japanese
admiral, the commander of the _Itsuku_--I have completely forgotten
his name--turned a deaf ear. October wore away, and any termination of
my captivity seemed as distant as ever. I was obliged to put an end to
it on my own initiative. One evening--the fourth or fifth of November
it would be--we were outside Port Arthur. At dusk the gunboat
anchored, and a boat was despatched on some errand of reconnaissance.
A point of the coast was less than a mile distant, and as I leant over
the bulwark in the fore-part of the vessel, it struck me that I might
easily swim off to it, if I could get into the water unobserved. Under
Webster's tuition I had become an excellent swimmer. I looked round; I
was apparently not under notice, and there was no light near where I
was. My mind was made up at once. I stole as far forward as I could,
and watching my opportunity, and steadying myself by the cathead, I
made a leap for the cable, intending to climb down it to the water. A
leap in the dark is proverbially a dangerous thing; the vessel
perversely veered away as I sprang, and instead of catching the cable
I soused into the water with a loud splash. The sentry on the gangway
heard it, ran forward, and emptied the magazine of his rifle at me as
I swam away, but by diving and swimming under water out of the direct
line of advance, I managed to evade the bullets. A boat was soon down
and in hot pursuit, but I had had a good start, and they were at a
loss for my true direction at first. I struck out vigorously and made
good headway, but had the disadvantage of swimming in my clothes;
moreover, the water was frightfully cold, and began to chill me to the
bone. I could tell, however, that the tide was strongly in my favour,
and I believe I should have escaped the boat's notice, but that the
people on shore, hearing, I suppose, the rifle-shots, turned on an
electric search-light to see what was going forward. I was still a
good quarter of a mile from the shore, and the boat was nearly as
close in--almost parallel with me, though several hundred yards away.
There was no fort near, but I could see the dark mass of one on a
towering height far to the left. The bright glare soon showed me to my
pursuers, who turned the boat's head towards me and gave way with
might and main. They closed fast, and I gave myself up for lost. A
heavy rifle-fire began crackling along the shore, and the balls
frequently skimmed along the water disagreeably near me. I struggled
on, but would inevitably have been retaken if the event had depended
on my own efforts. There was a small coast battery near containing two
or three mortars, and a shell was thrown at the boat as it held its
daring course for the shore. It was not a hundred yards from me at the
moment. I heard the scream of the projectile, saw it describing its
flaring parabola in my direction, and with my last energies dived to
avoid it. The sound of its explosion rang in my ears as I went under.
When I came up again, the boat was putting back in a hurry with three
or four oars disabled. How near to them the bomb had pitched I cannot
say, but they had evidently got a good allowance of the splinters,
though chance probably had more to do with the matter than
marksmanship. The gunboat was under steam and standing in, returning
the fire. I strained every nerve, and struggled ashore at last in such
a numbed and exhausted state that I could not stand upright without
assistance. I found myself surrounded by Chinese soldiers, who plied
me with questions, which I could not have answered even if I had
understood Chinese. Perceiving my condition, they took me off to a
small building like a guard-house, some way to the rear of a line of
trenches. They made a blazing wood fire in the middle of the stone
floor, and when I had stripped off my wet clothes and was partially
thawed, they renewed their interrogatories. I absolutely knew not a
word of Chinese, and could only endeavour by gestures to give them an
idea of what had happened. This was not very satisfactory, but they at
least could make out that I was no friend to the Japanese. They
jabbered away for a while amongst themselves, apparently discussing
me. At length one of them brought me some food in a large wooden
bowl--a strange mess of I know not what mysterious compounds, amongst
which, however, I could distinguish rice. It was palatable and I ate
it gladly, and asked, too, for a supplementary supply, which was not
denied. Overcome by exhaustion and the fierce heat of the fire, a
drowsy stupor came upon me, and I made signs that I wished to sleep.
They did not seem to have any clothing to offer me for my own which
was drying in the blaze, but they brought in several long, coarse
cloaks or mantles, and one of them enveloping himself in these,
stretched himself before the fire on the ground, to intimate to me
that in such a manner I must pass the night. Another offered me a pipe
of opium, which I knew it would be a great discourtesy, according to
their ideas, to decline, although I was quite unaccustomed to the
drug. I therefore took it and affected to smoke, and as I lay down,
they left the little room in which they had placed me, and I heard
them barricade the door outside.
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