What a change had taken place in the short fortnight that the bluejackets had been in garrison. On their arrival they found a busy, prosperous, and pretty European town, whose inhabitants vied with each other in getting up amusements and sports for the men. Prettily dressed women and children were everywhere in evidence, and by their presence greatly added to the success of the various entertainments. The officers were all billeted in the houses of civilians, who appeared to be only too pleased to have them. The English and German clubs both threw open their doors to the visitors, and it was felt on all hands that if this was war, well, “Vive-la-Guerre.” Now, however, trade was at a standstill, and the recreation ground which had recently been prepared for a cricket match, was one of the principal links in the chain of defence. Hardly a house but had been struck by shells, the valuable contents of the warehouses going to form barricades to keep out the bullets which lay thick about every street, and studded every tree and wall. It was indeed a different spectacle. Women and children were to be seen no longer, and the two clubs were both turned into hospitals, which by this time were nearly crowded with wounded officers and men. Instead of the abundance of fresh food which had been the rule, there was now none; bully beef and ship’s biscuits had taken the place of fresh mutton and new bread. This is not mentioned as a hardship, but merely to indicate the change that had taken place; for the sailors thrive even in peace time on a certain amount of this substituted diet, besides which they never grumble, so long as they understand the logic of the situation, which in this case was palpable. The first siege was over and the garrison had been reinforced, in fact doubled, but for many days to come there was no certainty about the ultimate safety of the settlements.
CHAPTER IV
SEYMOUR’S DASH FOR PEKIN
It will be remembered that Admiral Seymour had suggested that an International Brigade should immediately start for Pekin on the 9th June, and that not only had his colleagues agreed to the step being taken, but had entrusted the command to him. The following account of what took place came from the private diary of a brother officer who served with the column, and is therefore, like the account of most of the other operations, the story of an eyewitness. So many times is one asked the question, “Why ever did Seymour try to relieve Pekin with but 2000 men? Of course the thing was bound to be a failure,” that one gets tired of giving the somewhat lengthy explanation necessary to dissipate their ignorance; but enough has been said in the previous chapters to show that no interference was believed possible from the Imperial troops, in which case the force was undoubtedly adequate. On the Continent the attempt was stigmatized, by one whose eccentricity is well known, as “folly”; but this was not the opinion of his Nationals on the spot, who were well to the fore in all the fighting which took place, and who, by their courage and bearing, set an example unhappily not often followed by some of the other Continental contingents. Apart from this, it must be noted with pride by all Britons, that the first step taken to help the European ministers and the other foreigners in Pekin, originated with one of their own countrymen, who conducted the hazardous enterprise with the greatest intrepidity and skill.
It was believed that two days’ work, with a sufficient force, would put the damaged railway line in sufficiently good order to allow of the passage of trains, and on the 10th June five trains started with a total force of 2060 men, composed of British, Germans, Japanese, Austrians, Americans, French, and Russians. With the force went a few engineers, and any available space was occupied by sleepers and other plant for repairing purposes. On the 10th the trains made about 36 miles’ headway, and it was never doubted that the other 50 would be negotiated in a day or two. Repairing the line, however, was found to be killing work; but after a few miles of digging and plate-laying, the pace at which the work was finished increased, and had it not been for the fierceness of the sun and the scarcity of water, still more might have been got out of the men, who seemed to enjoy the novel experience. The bridges, of which there are a good number, were the most difficult to repair; the Boxers had built huge fires underneath them, which not only burnt the sleepers, but warped the rails.
Repairing the Line outside Tientsin.
[facing page 72.
Charred Sleepers and Warped Rails on the Line outside Tientsin.