“How glad I should be that I have not yielded to the persistent counsels of the other captains!” he cried. “No one knows what these last few days of suspense and uncertainty have been. When Ignacio left us it required the combined effort of Buresford and myself to prevent the rest from following like a flock of sheep. I had wrung a reluctant promise from those remaining to attempt to run the batteries to-morrow night unless the viceroy agreed to our demands. My letter to him sent by one of the renegades has not been answered.”
Phil gasped. The viceroy’s answer was in the pocket of his blouse, but he must not deliver it. To do so would betray the fact of a telegram.
“But now,” the captain continued, “we cannot wait for his answer. The lives of those in the mission depend upon immediate action on our part. I feel sure that the news of the arrival of the monitors and this chart of a safe channel will bolster up our allies’ waning courage.
“I fear for the sailors in the yamen,” he added, a note of grave anxiety in his voice; “but if a hair of their heads is injured I shall not rest until those guilty of the outrage are punished. The viceroy himself shall not escape the penalty of this crime.”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE START FOR KU-LING
The midshipmen, after leaving the captain’s cabin, hastened to their rooms to bathe and don fresh clothes. Phil eyed his bunk longingly; he had not had a comfortable sleep for many nights, but he withstood the temptation and soon found the duty of helping to prepare the ship for battle far more interesting.
Commander Hughes had signaled at once for the gunboat captains, and each had left the “Phœnix,” enthusiastic at the lucky turn affairs had taken, and cordially willing to coöperate.
“I am in doubt,” Commander Hughes confided to Phil on the quarter-deck, where the lad had been directing the work of the men of his division, “what to do with our non-combatants. Each gunboat is carrying a dozen or more of their own nationality, former residents of the foreign concession at Ku-Ling. These gunboats will offer no protection to the women and children if we are discovered and fired upon by the forts. One large shell might even, if it hit in a vital spot, sink this vessel.”
“Why not put all on board the monitors?” Phil suggested; “they would be perfectly safe there behind armor.”
“A good idea,” the captain replied gladly. “I shall signal at once to have the refugees ready to disembark.