At a quarter to twelve Rex and Ah Lo set out, and on arriving at the barricade found their two companions already there. The lanterns were lighted, and they at once set out. They advanced until they judged that they were near the line of snipers, and then lay down. They had scarcely done so when the defenders of the barrier opened fire, and directly afterwards, as Rex had expected, the Chinese ahead replied. The shots were all pretty close together, which seemed to show that the Chinese there were in a group. Rex and his companions immediately set off again, and, after proceeding about a hundred yards to the right, again went forward. All had muffled their shoes with strips of blanket before starting, and, treading very cautiously to avoid stumbling against stones or other obstacles, they went quietly forward, holding their pistols in readiness for action, and stooping low.
They met with no interruption. The party on the left were still firing, and they found no one ahead of them. Gradually they moved towards the left until the Chinese snipers were behind them and they had the two lanterns in line. They went on faster now till they knew that they must be near the houses, for the night was so dark that they could not even see the outline. Looking frequently back to be sure that they were keeping the exact line, they proceeded steadily and at last came upon a wall, evidently the remains of a house. From this point they moved forward foot by foot until they felt that they were far enough among the ruins; then they scattered a little until, to their delight, they came upon the guns. Listening intently they could hear the sound of heavy breathing and snoring a short distance ahead, and judged that the Chinese must be lying but fifteen yards away. They drew together round one of the guns and felt the breech.
“Here is the handle of the lever,” Rex whispered.
Opening the breech they took out the wedge and stopper, and then moved to the other gun and completed the operation. They had finished it and were moving off when one of them stumbled and fell. A Chinaman, startled by the sound, exclaimed: “Who is there; what are you doing?” Making no reply, however, they hurried on, and making two or three turns among the ruins were soon in the open again.
“Keep along still farther to the left,” Rex said, as there was a sudden shout behind. “Evidently the wakeful Chinaman has got up to investigate the cause of the disturbance, and has discovered that the guns have been tampered with.”
As he spoke a chorus of yells came from the direction of the guns.
“Look here!” Rex said, “here is a pile of earth where a wall has fallen. Letʼs shove these things in here and cover them up; they are precious heavy, and we canʼt do any fighting until we have got rid of them.”
The suggestion was no sooner made than it was carried out. Kneeling down they rapidly scraped a hole in the debris, and carefully hid the portions of the guns which they had carried off. As they did so they could hear a rush of shouting men behind them.
“We had better follow them,” Rex said. “No doubt they will scatter along the line, and we shall then have a good chance of getting through.” Accordingly they retraced their steps and joined their pursuers. The mob of Chinamen scattered as they advanced, and halted to make enquiries when they reached the sniping line. As the men here declared that no one had passed them, the great bulk went on to the right or left. Rex whispered to Ah Lo, who exclaimed: “They may have run on; we will see if we canʼt overtake them!” and with his companions passed on at a run.
It was straight sailing now; the guiding lantern was in front of them, and at the top of their speed they ran down towards it. They were challenged as they approached the barricade, for the Chinese had opened a heavy random fire.