“You’re a cheerful brute!” gasped Gilbert, as soon as he could get back the wind of which he had been deprived. “I thought some of our soldiers were unnecessarily cruel; but I reckon you fellows deserve all you are getting, and more.”
The Boxer did not understand, but he guessed that the young lieutenant was finding fault; and he kicked Gilbert again. Then, with another growl, he took down the lantern and went out, leaving his prisoner in darkness.
If the young lieutenant had felt downhearted before, he was now even more discouraged. He was alone, and it was doubtful if any but his enemies were aware of his situation.
“If the boys knew of this, they would come to the rescue,” he reasoned. “But they don’t know, and it’s likely they won’t find out. For once I have put my head into the lion’s mouth.”
Gilbert wondered how long he had been unconscious, but had no means of finding out. His weapons were gone, also the money he had had in his pocket. The latter had been taken by the priest’s follower, not by the Buddhist himself.
An hour went by, and the young lieutenant realized that he was both hungry and thirsty. Then came a noise which was far from welcome.
A number of rats had discovered his presence, and they came out of a hole in the wall to sniff at his hands and legs. He hissed them off, and they scampered out of sight. But soon they came back, re-enforced by others; and, when he hissed again, they merely retreated to the side of the cell, evidently realizing that he could not come after them. At last one old rat, probably the father of the colony, advanced, and proceeded to sample the flesh of one of Gilbert’s lower limbs.
The yell the young lieutenant gave echoed and re-echoed throughout the cell; and for the minute every rat disappeared, but only for the minute. Then they came back, in greater numbers than ever, and ran all over Gilbert’s body.
Try his best, the young officer could not fight off the rodents; and he was just beginning to think that he might be eaten up alive, when the cell door opened, and the Buddhist priest appeared, along with his follower. The pair saw at once the cause of the disturbance, and quickly chased the rats out of sight, slaying none of them; for to the Buddhists animal life is sacred.
The rats having been disposed of, a short talk followed between the priest and his man; and then the latter caught Gilbert up in his arms, and threw the lieutenant over his shoulder as if he were a bag of flour. Leaving the cell, they ascended a long flight of stone steps, and soon reached the floor of the joss house.