The Chinese could not, he knew, have recognized him as a white man, but his extraordinary conduct in hiding in the junk, and the unusual method he adopted of leaving it, would have shown them that at any rate he was not one of themselves, and would perhaps have suggested to them that he was going down with a message from Pekin.
He was presently aware, by the loud shouting, that at least some of the soldiers had joined in the pursuit. The strip of jungle was of no great width, and as he could not therefore hope to escape by keeping to it, he made his way back towards the river. When he made the bank again he saw, to his satisfaction, that the boat in which his pursuers had crossed was lying only some fifty yards away, with but one Chinaman sitting in it. This man, he decided, must be silenced at any cost, for he would give the alarm the moment he was in the water. He therefore approached him as quietly as possible, keeping among the bushes until he was opposite to the boat.
The Chinaman was evidently listening, for he was standing up in the boat, his attention probably attracted by the slight rustle Rex had made in coming along. Rex gathered himself together and sprang suddenly into the boat, grasping the Chinaman by the throat and rolling with him upon the floorboards. He could have shot him easily enough, but he knew that the sound would draw all his pursuers to the spot, and so defeat his purpose. The Chinaman was a powerful man, but Rex had taken such a grip of his throat that he was unable to shake it off. The desperate conflict continued for a minute or two. Then the Chinamanʼs struggles grew more feeble, his colour became almost black, his little eyes began to stare; indeed he seemed at the point of death. Rex was reluctant to kill the man, so he bound his arms tightly to his sides with a rope which he found in the boat, and stuffed his mouth was a piece of cloth which he cut from the manʼs own coat. Then, leaving him lying senseless in the bottom, he seized one of the oars.
As the channel was shallow, he was able to punt across, and as he did so he noted with satisfaction that the junk was so far away that those on board would take him for a native. On reaching the other side he jumped ashore, pushed the boat out into the stream with all his strength, and then, turning, made off as fast as he could go. After covering some two miles he reached the edge of the jungle. Here he halted, for he felt that he could not continue his journey by day without danger of discovery. He threw himself down on the ground. The events of the last few hours had completely exhausted him, and he now discovered that he had lost his bag of provisions; probably he had left them where the tiger had attacked him. This was a great misfortune, for he had still, he calculated, at least thirty miles to pass before he reached Tientsin, and he might be kept some time outside that place before he could enter it. He waited until late in the afternoon, and then he felt that he must have some food. He therefore started again on his journey, and at last, after hesitating several times, determined to risk everything. He recharged his revolvers, and, waiting till night had quite fallen, made his way into the nearest village.
He congratulated himself more than ever that he was able to speak Chinese, and he knew that the dialect differed so much in various parts of the country that although the peasants might see that he was not a native of their district, they would not guess that he was other than a Chinaman. He therefore entered a house where a light was burning, and said: “I am sorely in need of feed. Will you sell me some?”
The occupants of the cottage were an old man and an old woman. At his words they both looked up in some surprise.
“Where do you come from?” the woman asked.
“I come from the north,” he said, “and am the bearer of a message to our general at Tientsin. I have travelled a long way and am hungry.”
“Are you a Boxer?” the old man asked.
“No,” he replied. “My letter is from the Empress.”