“Stop, or we’ll fire at you!” cried Gilbert.
But the Celestial would not stop; and, raising his pistol, the young lieutenant blazed away. At the same instant Carl’s gun spoke up; and both reports were followed by a scream of pain, for the shots had entered the fellow’s shoulder.
“I think he would rather die than be captured,” said Gilbert. “But we must take him if we can. He may prove to be an important capture. No ordinary Chinaman or Chinese soldier would be swimming around here this time of night.”
“Of I vos a first-class schwimmer, I vos chump in for him,” replied the German. “Put he might grab me und drown me, hey?”
By this time the corporal of the guard was hurrying to the spot, wanting to know what the two shots meant. He was a tall, powerful fellow from South Dakota, and was perfectly willing to leap into the stream and bring in the “pig-tail” by his hair, as he expressed it, although he ‘allowed as how it would be dead easy to plug him fer keeps.’
“I don’t wish him killed,” answered Gilbert. “Bring him in if you can, but beware that he doesn’t knife you.”
“I’ll have my eyes open, lieutenant,” said the corporal “I’ve been in the mines where the Chinks worked, and I know ’em all around.”
The corporal was soon in the water, and his powerful strokes speedily took him to where the Chinaman was making for the other side of the Pei-Ho. Although wounded, there was still a good deal of fight left in the yellow man; and it was not until the corporal hauled off, and hit him in the back of the neck, that he became limp and next to helpless. Then he was dragged ashore, and made a prisoner.
The Chinaman was well dressed, and had on even his elaborately decorated wooden shoes. He would not speak, although it was afterward learned that he understood English very well.
At Captain Banner’s tent the prisoner was submitted to a thorough search. On the inner side of one of his garments a little pocket was discovered, containing several sheets of rice paper, very thin and folded into the smallest possible space. The prisoner tried to throw these sheets away, but Gilbert saw and prevented the movement.