The sinking of this ship probably went far to decide the future fate of China in Corea, for had these twelve hundred picked men, under the command of a skilful German general, landed in Corea, it would have gone hard with the Japs at Asar.
War was at length formally declared, and soon it raged fast and furious. But in almost every engagement the Chinese, though double, sometimes even triple in numbers, had to give way before the brave and well-drilled Japs.
I have now to relate an adventure of a somewhat extraordinary kind, and very sad in its way, which is more intimately connected with our story than any narrative of the China-Japanese war could be.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
"THE BATTLE RAGES LOUD AND LONG."
I do not really know how far the old-fashioned, out of-date paddler Osprey could have gone in for protecting British interests. In an engagement, even with a cowardly Chinaman, she would very soon have been paddle-less, and a good shell would have blown her two decks into one.
I grant all this, but the bonnie white flag with its red jack in the corner, that floats astern even on an unarmed man-o'-war officer's boat, is one to be respected, and one that has made many a tyrant tremble and pause thoughtfully, with, figuratively speaking, his hand at his pistol-pocket.
That flag is respected wherever it waves, in battle or in breeze. For behind it, though unseen, lies all the might and power of Britain. Moral suasion is often of more use than Gatling guns, and so here is the Osprey, while around her, many times and oft,
"The battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow".
One morning early, while lying off a Chinese river, it was necessary to send letters to some British families—traders who, with their wives and children, desired to be taken to a place of safety, the Chinese having threatened their lives.