"Yes, and we don't mean to give her up, in spite of you," chorussed the others.
"I'll give you three minutes to clear out, arter which I'll shoot the first man as moves," quietly replied the determined defender.
Hearing this, one of the men advanced as if to attack Jerry with his cutlass, when crack went the pistol, and the bully fell headlong at the feet of the brave fellow who had thus risked his life to defend a girl from worse than death. Upon seeing one of their number fall, the others made their escape, and Thompson, turning to the joss, opened the door, and assisted the trembling girl out of the building. When they had proceeded a few yards, she pointed to a door, in a wall, saying, "That is my way;" then, chin-chinning him, was about to depart, when he caught her by the hand, and begged she would give him a small token of remembrance, at the same time pointing to a little image of Fo, worn instead of a button to fasten her jacket. Hastily tearing the same from her garment, she pressed it into his hand, and in another moment was out of sight.
Returning to the joss-house, Thompson found the bully sitting up, and complaining of a pain in his shoulder, upon hearing which he ordered him "to get up," and on arrival at the ya-mun took him to the doctor, who dressed the man's wound before he was placed under arrest. When the matter was reported to the captain, he ordered the other men to be put in irons and conveyed on board, where they were kept in confinement, until the ship arrived in Hong-Kong.
Mr. Thompson received many compliments for the gallantry he displayed upon this occasion; but his only reply was, "Now, do you think any man could ha' done otherwise?" He evidently thought very little about the service he had rendered the poor child, while she never forgot the good Fanqui who saved her from the fiends, who would have eaten her.
There was little to be seen in the city beyond the Chamber of Horrors and some very ancient buildings. In the former place a number of plaster groups, painted to resemble life, were ranged round the three sides of a chamber. Sawing men in halves, boiling in oil, impaling, breaking upon the wheel, decapitation, and many other horrible methods of putting criminals to death, were here represented with life-like fidelity; but no one cared to visit the place twice, although strangers were always taken there, as to a unique exhibition, which probably it was. Canton was comparatively deserted, and in many places in ruins, so the Stingers found their residence there rather dull work, after all.
When the city was first taken a provost-marshal was appointed, whose duty it was to arrest and flog every straggler he found when going his rounds; and as soldiers and sailors always will get astray more or less, that functionary often had his hands full. Sometimes he did not confine his operations to the Army and Navy, and on one or two occasions the sutlers fared rather badly at his hands, for which he was duly shown up in the "Hong-Kong Gong," a rival of that excellent newspaper, "The Friendly Shiner."
About the latter end of June the Stingers received orders to get ready to embark on board their ship, preparatory to leaving for Hong-Kong, and every one anxiously awaited the definite order to leave the ya-mun, when one morning three dirty-looking bonzes appeared at the outer gate, and humbly begged to be allowed an interview with the captain. Upon being shown into his presence, one of their number pulled forth a letter, or order, addressed to Captain Woodward, and signed by the commander-in-chief of the naval forces, which ran thus:—
"Sir,—You are hereby directed to allow the three Chinese bonzes, who will hand you this, to pack up and take away all their property, which they may find left in the small Buddhist chapel situated in the grounds near the left wing of your ya-mun."