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Page 14
I immediately fell into a profound slumber. The few whiffs of opium
which, despite of myself, I had inhaled, had their effect, and
produced a series of those magical dreams with which the drug tempts
and deceives the novice. Through all of them the idea of flight and
pursuit ran bewilderingly. I will give one as a specimen. I dreamt
that I was on the shore of the sea; the waters suddenly began to rise,
and threatened to overwhelm me. I turned and ran, but nearer and
nearer the flood came after. Then there yawned across my path a
precipice of which I could not see the bottom. Down I plunged. I
seemed to fly like a bird, and once more stood on firm ground. The
precipice seemed to reach to the sky behind me. I resumed my flight,
and looking back, beheld the flood leaping down the gulf in a mighty
volume, with the sun rising above it, and bathing the illimitable
cataract with golden light. It would be impossible to describe or
imagine the gorgeousness of the spectacle. With such visions as these
does the treacherous narcotic lure its victims. I believe its use is
forbidden by the Chinese military authorities, but the undisciplined
soldiers seemed to use it extensively when they could get it, like
tobacco.
CHAPTER V
I slept till the middle of the following day, and would in all
probability have slept longer but that I was awakened by my hosts, if
so I may term them. My clothes were quite dry; I got into them, and
was escorted outside at once. The first thing I saw was a detachment
of cavalry, mounted on little shaggy Tartar ponies. One of these I was
invited to bestride, and a moment afterwards, without the possibility
of explanations being either asked or given, we were _en route_.
I may as well say at once that the spot where I had come ashore was
the land below the West Port, and I was being conveyed to the
Man-tse-ying fort, one of the principal seaward fortifications. It has
an elevation of 266 feet above the sea level, and the latter part of
the ascent had to be made on foot. I was at once taken before the
commandant, who with a few other officers and a secretary sat prepared
to investigate the peculiar circumstances which had brought a Fan
Quei, or foreign devil, amongst them. The secretary knew English very
indifferently--so indifferently that I am doubtful if he understood my
story rightly. He asked me if I was acquainted with German, and gave
me to understand that he knew more of that language than of English;
however, I did not know ten words of it. The examination was long,
and, from the difficulty of understanding one another, confused
enough. I gathered that I was, or had been, under suspicion of being a
Japanese spy in the minds of those before whom I had been brought, and
they rigorously questioned the men whom I had first seen as to the
circumstances attending my landing. These, I consoled myself by
reflecting, could not be deemed consistent with the supposition that I
was an agent of the enemy. I was asked if there was any one in the
town who could witness to my having been there previously under the
circumstances I alleged. I replied that probably the people at the inn
would remember me.
Finally the Chinamen held a lengthened consultation amongst
themselves, at the end of which I was told that I would be taken
forthwith before the higher authorities on the other side of the port.
I hinted to the secretary that I had had nothing to eat that day and
felt decidedly hungry. I was accordingly served before my departure
with a meal of fish and boiled bread, with a cup of rice wine, a
decoction which tasted like thin, sour claret. This done, I was placed
in charge of my former escort, who struck across country from the rear
of the Man-tse-ying, passed two or three other forts and numerous
entrenchments and redoubts, and finally reached the water on the inner
side of the long arm of land enclosing the West Port. Here, close by a
torpedo store, I was put on board a sampan, a long, narrow boat, sharp
at both extremities, with an awning. In this I was conveyed to the
East Port and taken through the dockyards to the military
head-quarters near the great drill and parade ground at the entrance
to the town. It was late in the evening when we arrived there, and I
was not brought up for examination until the next day. Here, to my
great satisfaction, I found I had to deal with somebody who knew
English well--a military aide-de-camp, who spoke the language with
both fluency and correctness. To him I told my story plainly and
straightforwardly, and by the testimony of my former landlord, Sen,
and an official at the bank where I had changed my money, established
my identity as the person who had passed two days in the town with
Wong, and accompanied him on board the despatch-boat. This was
sufficient to procure my release. Everything I said was very carefully
noted down. My interrogation was conducted before a couple of
mandarins. The Taotai I believe to have been absent from the place at
this time. He is alleged to have deserted his position and to have
been ordered back again. This may or may not be so, but it is
undoubtedly the fact that he fled from Port Arthur the night before
the Japanese attacked it. He does not appear to have been open to the
accusation of heroism.
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