“We can hope for no immediate relief from our people,” Phil declared dejectedly. “Even though the allies condemn Ignacio’s actions and are willing to aid in our release, they cannot storm the city by land from Lien-Chow. First the fleet must pass through the fire of the forts.”
“There is one other chance,” Langdon replied hopefully. “The viceroy is certainly acting without or perhaps even contrary to orders from Peking. I could tell that by the anger in his face when I accused him of it. His government is being kept in the dark. It knows nothing of the conditions within his provinces. If the foreign ambassadors in Peking have back-bone enough to insist upon knowing the state of affairs, the throne will ask for reports, and Chang-Li-Hun, as powerful as he is, must disclose his treachery. If these reports are not satisfactory to the ambassadors and at the same time if sufficient fear can be put into the emperor’s heart by intimidating him with the threat of another sack of the capital by the foreign soldiers, then he will send one of his trusted Manchu generals with an army at his back, from a neighboring province. When once these soldiers have arrived in front of the viceroy’s yamen then Chang-Li-Hun must acknowledge himself beaten.”
“Meanwhile what is going to happen to us?” Sydney asked.
“Come, brace up, Syd,” cried Phil, trying hard to appear cheerful. “We’ve been in as bad a place before. If our time has come, nothing that we can say or do will stop it.”
“It isn’t that I am afraid of what’s going to happen,” Sydney exclaimed in a hurt voice. “If they’d given us a show it wouldn’t have mattered; but to violate a truce! That’s what makes me feel like tearing these shackles off and throttling every Chinaman in sight, and to feel I can’t makes me wish to use all the bad words that I know.”
Phil could barely suppress a laugh; Sydney had described his own feeling more accurately than he could himself.
“We may just as well keep our tempers,” Phil replied philosophically. “It only wastes one’s strength to get angry, and we’ll probably need all the endurance we have before we are again with our own people.”
“Did the captain send any telegrams to the admiral or Washington about the state of affairs?” Langdon asked suddenly.
“Yes, he sent one yesterday and one was given to the Chinese operator in the concession this morning,” Phil replied. “The last one was a long one and outlined what he intended doing, with his reasons. They were all in cipher. I helped him prepare them.”
“They haven’t gone further than the viceroy’s waste paper basket,” Langdon returned. “He will guard every outlet for news. Doubtless his version of the actions of the foreigners will be wired, unless he sees fit to remain silent.”