DREAM -uv ^^^^C DD o 1 tH ==2 ru - •" [T 0= ■ CONQUEST EY AUTHpR OF YCE, M H PARADISE," ''THE ROMANCE Of AN ALTER E60,'* ETC. REPRINTED FROM LIPPINCOTT'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE. PHILADELPHIA: J.%. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY, 1890. Dream of Conquest %lk(>^.4.^ LLOYD , BRYCE, AUTHOR OF "PARADISE," "THE ROMANCE OF AN ALTER EGO," ETC. > o PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. C I f^^^) t' 'f ^ Copyright, 1889, by J. B. Lippincott Company. • ,•••• • • ► • • • » • • * •• • « • • ' • • • • • « • DREAM OF CONQUEST. CHAPTER I. WANG-CHI-POO sat in his bamboo chair, discontentedly twisting the end of his queue. The fragrance of orange-blossoms breathed softly on him from the garden, but could not soothe his perturbation, nor could the noise of the fountain hard by that came in through the paper-glazed windows. Everything palled upon him ; the silken hang- ings interwoven with gold that decorated his apartment, the brightly tessellated floor, in short, the wealth and Oriental luxury that were on every side were, this morning, less than naught to him. The Chinese have a song that runs somewhat in this manner : At first, man hungers for a meal ; And then, that clothes his form conceal; Finely attired, a wife he craves ; Married, for palanquins he raves ; Supplied with horses, mules, and lands, Official rank he next demands ; Ennobled, he would yet climb higher, Till by degrees he claims empire ; At last enthroned as Heaven's son, He thinks not yet his dues are won, But, yearning still for something more, 'Gainst Death he fain would bolt the door. Fool, Death alone thy wants can tame : " I crave," thy epitaph and name. But greed for more is, I fear, too common to the human race fairly to indicate the cause of Wang-Chi-Poo's disquietude. His discontent was of a less personal description, though it was connected with ambi- tion : it was of a more truly Chinese character than the proverb just quoted. It had its root in his country's ancestor- worship ; and to Western ears it will sound peculiar. Wang-Chi-Poo, though barely 4 ., ,, A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 'forty-s^eri j^mof age, had reached the Second Mandarin's rank, and the cause of his discontent was the conviction of his incapacity to secure, by the usual means, the yellow button of the first rank. Nor was it for the gratification that this yellow button would confer on his personal pride that he craved this, but — here comes in the distinction, and, O land of the Antipodes, O land of the Topsy-turvy, it is a curious one it was to gratify the pride of his grandmother, now some twenty- five years in her grave. Takiug everything into consideration, for a man still in his prime, surrounded with every luxury and temj)ted by wealth and leisure to lead a life of pleasure,— for such a man thus to cast his longings and his aspirations backward to a previous generation illustrates, I think, one of the most beautiful traits of the Chinese char- acter, and it is one that might well be copied by other peoples. Wang- Chi-Poo therefore pulled his queue discontentedly, and continued to brood on the hard fate of his progenitrix thus deprived, through him, of what he considered her just due. We in the West announce our coming with a knock ; those in the East enter first and knock afterward. Thus it happened that Wang- Chi-Poo was abruptly disturbed in his meditations by the presence of his secretary, before his entrance was so much as suspected. The new- comer was a small, narrow-chested young man with a large head and eyes like coals, set ofi* by a pair of enormous spectacles tied by bows behind his ears. He was attired in the garb of the literary class, and, with much ceremony, took his seat opposite Wang-Chi-Poo, presenting him with a neatly-enveloped package of manuscript as he sat down. Wang-Chi-Poo weariedly took up the parcel, only to allow it to drop as weariedly into his lap. " O Taonsu," he observed at last, " I am not in harmony with state papei-s, and the doctrines of Confucius sadly pall on me to-day. Amuse me, rather ; tell me the doings of the town ; or stay I thou who hast sojourned in the land of Foreign Devils, tell me more of it. Tell me again of this land beyond the seas, where they dress in the color of coals and wear shining black boxes for coverings of the head ; where, as thou hast said, they call change progress, and select an em- peror every four years, though the moment he is on the throne they pro- ceed to look out for a new one ; whereof this same emperor, as thou hast told me, is yet a god during the first two years of his term, a demon during his last, and behold when he is stripped of his authority and a new ruler elected there are none so poor as to do him honor. Have they religions there, O Taonsu, and do the followers of Confucius numl)er many?'' " There are many from the Flowery Kingdom in America, Great Excellency, whom the press of hunger has driven thither, and a few in the schools who, like myself, were sent out by His Celestial Majesty to be instructed in their sciences." " And what are their sciences, O Taonsu ? Is it true that the fiery horse walks on big stilts through their cities, crushing and trampling down all before it ? Is it true, too, that each man takes only one she- devil for his wife, and even so is obliged to cut off her nails that she can't scratch?" A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 6 Taonsu raised his eyebrows with a queer little smile. " They certainly cut off their nails, Great Excellency ; but as for one man taking only one she-devil for his wife, they often take as many as we do, only the process is different. Permit me, Your Excellency ; the newspaper around this manuscript is of Western origin and chanced to come over in the last steam-junk." And Taonsu, removing the parcel from his patron^s lap, untied it and spread the enveloping wrapper flat out on the floor. " There, Your Excellency," he continued, pointing to the advertisement of a lawyer who guaranteed absolute divorce, with perfect secrecy thrown in, for ten dollars, " when a man wants a new wife he goes to this lawyer, states his complaints, and gets freed from the old one by paying down his money. This is the first step." Then Taonsu ran his eye down the sheet till he came to the advertisement of a matrimonial agency. " And here is the second step," he continued. " He visits this agency, pays down ten chop-dollars more, and selects from a series of photographs he is shown the woman whose picture he likes best. Thus for twenty chop-dollars in all he is both rid of his old wife and provided with a new one." " What strange devils these Foreign Devils are !" said Wang Chi- Poo, reflectively ; " to understand them thou must look at them upside down. But our people, how do they prosper ?" he went on, inquiringly. " They did well until too many came ; then the natives massacred them." " Thev massacred them ?" " Even so." " But why, when our people were many ? If they were few it were more natural." " Excellency, the natives feared we would overrun their country and take the bread out of the mouths of their own children ; but here is mention of our people in this very paper, and what they suffer." And Taonsu read a serio-comic description of a late ball given at Washing- ton by the Chinese Legation, with an exaggerated account of the scram- ble for supper. This he translated remarkably well, only taking in too literal a sense the Western humor. On Wang-Chi-Poo, of course, the humor would have been entirely lost ; to him only the indignity was manifest. The Chinese Embassy had been insulted ; and he swore lustily in the dialect of Confucius, and would not be comforted. "This last occurred some time ago," resumed Taonsu. "More recently, however, they have passed a law that is an express violation of all their agreements, for it will exclude our people entirely from their shores." In Wang-Chi-Poo's eyes, the desire to exclude his people fur- nished rather a curious instance of that topsy-turviness he had re- marked upon, but the insult inflicted on the Legation was a breach of tliat ceremonial which to a Chinaman is as the breath of life itself. For a long time he swore ; then, his passion s^ibsiding, he chewed the recollection like a melancholy cud. " Go on," he said at last, " read me something more of these Foreign Devils. What do those great letters say on the top of the sheet ?" g A DREAM OF CONQUEST. Taonsu, thus directed, resumed his office of interpreter. " They speak, you see. Great Excellency, of the unprotected con- dition of their harbors, showing the billions and billions of wealth that lie exposed to any invader with no provision for their defence. Each city on the coast, it is stated, could easily be laid in ashes by a fleet of even a fiflh-rate power." " And is this true, O Taonsu ?'* " Too true. Your Excellency. To defend the great city of New York, which is almost as large as this city which we inhabit, there are barely half a dozen forts well-nigh crumbling into the dust." " How many cities are there on the coast ?" Taonsu reflected. " There are at least six of the flrst class, and innumerable small towns." " How many days' sail is it to this land ?" ^* Steam, Great Excellency, has bridged the ocean." " Taonsu, leave me : I would think." When a Westerner " thinks," he generally requires the repose of absolute quiet ; when a Chinaman " thinks," his cogitations are assisted by a noise. The same results are attained by exactly the reverse process. Stillness is proverbial of the fisherman\s craft ; in China the fisherman surrounds himself with gongs. The Chinese watchman beats his rattle, not to let the householder know that all is well, but to make thieves and evil-doers aware that he is about. And where, under Western civilization, a man having a grudge murders his foe, a China- man, instead, kills himself upon his enemy's threshold. Wang-Chi-Poo entered the garden with the purpose of seeking his » wives' quarters beyond, for Wang-Chi-Poo had one first wife, and — not to offend the delicate sensibilities of my lady-readers — he had several wives besides. This garden was a marvel of quaintness in its way. It was crossed and recrossed in every direction by little porcelain-paved paths ; brightly-painted bridges spanned diminutive canals, and iu the middle of the garden was a fountain from which the canals all radiated outward. In the basin of the fountain stood an enormous artificial flamingo, of so natural an appearance that it served as a perpetual puzzle to a live flamingo which could do nothing but walk around him and stare at him the entire day. Passing through the garden, Wang-Chi- Poo entered his wives' quarters by a curious gateway in the wall, cut in the exact shape of a large teapot. Naomoona, the first wife, was reclining luxuriously in a hammock ; Taomoona, the second, was similarly engaged ; Saomoona occupied a third hammock ; and, in fact, the whole number, down to the very newest, were quietly swinging themselves, keeping time to the oscilla- tions of their bodies by the motion of their fans. On the floor was a highly-decorative bamboo mat, and on this some half-dozen little Wang-Chi-Poos were disporting themselves. A shout of delight from the latter announced the coming of the author of their beings ; the ladies severally rose from their hammocks, and each, taking hold of the chair that was nearest her, proceeded to wipe from its seat with her dress imaginary particles of dust. A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 7 " The Light of the Household shall sit on my chair," exclaimed Naomoona. " No, he shall sit on mine,'^ interrupted Taomoona. " Nay, but on mine," added Saomoona. But the Light of the Household solved the dilemma by taking his seat with the juvenile Wang-Chi-Poos on the floor, drawing some curious little tissue butterflies from his voluminous pocket, and with his fan making them mount into the air for the edifi- cation of his children. " What would you think, O wives of my heart, if I should never sit on any of your chairs again ? if, on the contrary, I should take my seat on the lofty stern of one of His Majesty's smoke-junks and sail away to the laud where the White-skin Devils abide ?" A hush of intense surprise greeted this speech ; then each of the ladies raised her curious little enamelled face over the edge of her curious little hammock and stared at her husband, who was still engaged with the butterflies. " They say that they make silks of strange designs, these Foreign Devils," said number one. " And set diamonds in a way we know naught of here," observed the second. "Ay, and cut their stones to make them shine with unwonted lustre," observed a third. "A jeweller from India once showed me some that had been cut, he said, in barbaric lands." " The house would be dark," exclaimed Saomoona, " without the presence of its Light, but we will curb our impatience till his return bringing with him these weird proofs of the Foreign Devils' skill." Wang-Chi-Poo rose from the floor, tightened his broad red sash, rearranged the folds of his voluminous tunic, and called for his palan- quin. He felt annoyed, just as a AVesterner might, at the flippant reception his serious proposal had met with. " Wang-Chi-Poo has not gone yet," he muttered, " but should he depart he will console himself with the reflection that his wives will bear up against his return." CHAPTER II. The strictness of ceremonial used in approaching His Celestial Majesty was in no wise relaxed for Wang-Chi-Poo, though he was a mandarin of next to the highest rank ; and for the purpose of approach- ing His Majesty Wang-Chi-Poo had called his palanquin. To go in proper state required, for Wang-Chi-Poo, six runners in front and six behind, without counting the fourteen bearers of the sedan-chair. Ahead of all rode a horseman with a huge sheet of paper in his hand and horns like rams' horns fastened to his cap on each side of his head. The duty of the horseman was to strike awe into the public by loudly reading off the paper the titles and dignities of Wang-Chi-Poo coming on behind ; that of the runners, to prevent these same honors from being forgotten, by belaboring the public over the heads with their staves. Not to particularize the precise road the procession took, suffice it 3 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. to say that in due time it arrived before the walls of the Imperial palace, where the great man descended. The plan of this palace much resembles one of those curious Chinese boxes which you open only to find another box inside. One wall serves but as an outwork to another wall, and one series of buildings but as shells to other buildings within ; all interspersed with court-yards and gardens in a way to baffle and bewilder whoever would describe it. Wang-Chi-Poo, being received by at least twenty-five court officials, and havmg them as guides, threaded without much difficulty the labyrinth, and was ushered at last into an apartment at the lower end of which, in a sort of niche partly screened by a mat, the Son of Heaven sat on his throne. Though but a boy in years, the sovereign was a veteran in intelligence. Wang-Chi-Poo, on arriving at the threshold of the sacred precincts, dropped on his stomach and advanced into the apartment on his hands and knees, making a series of little hops like a frog, with his head in the air and his mouth open ; for, being a stout man, it was a decidedly uncomfortable manner of progress. Opposite the niche he stopped. "O great Son of Heaven, august Lord of the Universe, and Master of Ten Thousand Kingdoms,'^ he exclaimed, " an idea, a great idea, has taken possession of thy slave." His youthful Majesty glanced down condescendingly from over the mat. " Take care, O Wang-Chi-Poo : ideas are dangerous," he observed, with precocious instinct; "ideas are as the witch-fires in the lowlands that lead a man on rejoicingly only to engulf him in mud. Is this idea of thine inspired by Confucius ?" "No, sire, it is a new idea, one born of extraordinary circum- itances." "Hush; I have heard it said that there is nothing new but the forgotten." *' True, sire, but this idea is not altogether my own ; rather let me say it is sprung from thy great sire's generosity." " Rise then, O Wang-Chi-Poo ; but if it be not as thou hast stated the bamboo basket shall lift thy head higher than thou aspirest to raise it, and Foong-Shoong [the evil spirit] shall take thy body." " Great Majesty, I crave thy indulgence ; what I would say requires secrecy for its success." Now, with most Oriental sovereigns to clap the hands is the signal to approach ; with the Son of Heaven it is the reverse. The Son of Heaven clapped his hands behind the mat, and instantly the numerous attendants lining the apartment disappeared, as if by magic, through trap-doors in the floor. Left alone with his august sovereign, Wang-Chi-Poo proceeded to relate the substance of Taonsu's communications, describing the unpro- tected condition of the seaboard towns across the ocean and their enormous wealth, and showing with how little risk, owing to the semi- wvihzed condition of the inhabitants, they might belaid under tribute. Then he went on to portray the powerful navy China now had, the vast Bums that had been expended on it, and the growing conviction of the A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 9 people that, because it had accomplished so little, the old style of war- junks was superior. Lastly, Wang-Chi-Poo described the indignities China had suffered from Foreign Devils generally, jumbling up the ex- pedition of the French, the half-forgotten burning of the summer palace by the English, the Chinese riots in America, and the passage of the Chinese-exclusion bill, and winding up as a grand climax with the sup- posed indignities inflicted on His Majesty's Embassy in Washington. As he finished, the eyes of his precocious Majesty snapped fire. " And why has no one told me of this last, O Wang-Chi-Poo ?" for, in the opinion of the sovereign also, the supper episode was a more grievous insult than the anti-Chinese bill. " Because, Great Majesty, the Son of Heaven is supposed to know all." The Son of Heaven pondered deeply over this home-thrust. " And thou couusellest me to use my powerful armaments for ven- geance ?" he observed at last. " Thy idea is not without value. Long now have we had these foreign steamers, and long have we been doubtful what use to make of them. Ah, Wang-Chi-Poo, thou givest me an idea that is not in Confucius, — namely, to signalize my accession by some notable event. Thou givest me an idea ; I will, I will, I will ; yes, I will take the reins of power, as the law now allows me, into my own hands, and declare war against these Foreign Devils ; thus I will stretch out my arms to devastate their cities as they have devas- tated mine, — why not ? These expensive armaments brought from across the sea shall go back across the sea aryi declare in tones of thunder that the majesty of China is more than a name, and His Majesty more than a child. But stay, thou who hast really had something to do with giving me this idea, what wouldst thou advise ? Though thou art but of the second rank, thy head is not completely addled, and I have often thought thee not quite the fool thou seemest." Wang-Chi-Poo modestly acknowledged this compliment by a bow. Before replying to the question, however, he ran the long nail of his little finger down the breast-seam of his tunic. "Tell me, who should command this expedition?" continued the sovereign. Wang-Chi-Poo still hesitated. "August Son of Heaven," he at last replied, " thou hast many admirals educated in foreign lands to com- mand thy fleet ; but I was thinking that if some commissioner could be found to accompany it, some one not quite of the highest rank, for so he might be arrogant and spoil all by his wilfulness, — one who was well read in Confucius, but yet not so blind a follower of Conflicius as to refuse to look beyond, — one whose greatest ambition was to raise an ancestor who had no rank, and who would give as security for his suc- cess perchance a million chop-dollars, — I was thinking that if such a man could be found, the nominal direction of this expedition could be safely reposed in his hands." " But where is such a man, O Wang-Chi-Poo ? Gladly would I lay my hands on him." Wang-Chi-Poo bowed self-complacently. " By the bones of my ancestors, I almost believe thou meanest thy- 20 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. self I Ha ! if it is thou, I shall have to ask TWO million chop-dollars. Thou art too 'cute, O Wang-Chi-Poo." " Thy servant is too poor." " Say rather ray servant is too rich. But stay ; there is something in thy plan, and, as thou thyself hast said, it demands secrecy and discretion. Regents are obstructive, courtiers are bowing puppets, while ministers of the crown are as pots that leak at the bottom and have sieves for sides. Thou didst mention a certain Taonsu whom our generosity permitted to study in the Foreign Devils' lands ; with him I might more freely consult as to the likelihood of what thou hast told me. Wang-Chi-Poo, I salute thee ; get thee hence." Then Wang-Chi-Poo retired, — retired as is the custom in China, backing out not only through the first door, but through the second, backing out through one room after another, backing out through court-yard after court-yard, and through the labyrinth of gardens by which he had come; keeping his face turned always in the opposite direction to that in which he was going, and salaaming to this official and salaaming to that as one after the other passed him on. Nor was the manner of his progress changed on arriving outside the palace; for on entering his palanquin it was borne to his home backward through the streets, so that his face might never be turned away from that of his juvenile but Celestial Majesty. CHAPTER III. It has been said of Russia that the system of its government is military despotism tempered by assassination. Of China it may be said that the system of its government is competitive examination tempered by purchase. China has reached the highest development of what is called here Civil Service Reform, only in China the subject-matter of the exami- nation is always Confucius. No matter what the post sought for may be, Confucius is always the test of fitness. For a collectorship of customs — Confucius ; for a generalship in the^ army — Confucius ; Confucius for every post, Con- fucius for secretaries, ministers, and judges, with a sublime impar- tiality and a sublime indifference to the particular requirements of each case. For positions in the navy, however, in addition to the doctrines of Confucius, a thorough knowledge of seamanship is required, and the Naval Academy at Foo-Chow, under the management of European instructors, turns out quite efficient officers. These, in addition to the many young men educated in the European seats of naval instruction, form a sufficiently large class to draw upon for the command of their new Armstrong and German-built steamers. I can think of no more glaring contradiction than this rapid engraft- ment of new methods and of new sciences on the old trunk of Chinese civilization ; this scientifically built and scientifically managed fleet, armed with steel guns, and under the command of a monarch who A DREAM OF CONqUEST. H attains his majority at the age of fourteen ; this scientifically managed army too, equipped with arms of precision at the whim of a sovereign, however precocious, who sits on an ivory throne behind a bamboo screen. China is awaking from her long sleep ; her four hundred millions are beginning to rub their eyes and to look about them with all that confusion of ideas which occurs on suddenly encountering the light, — trying to reconcile Confucius with foundries, and Western ideas gen- erally with paper butterflies and gongs. As if to give a last touch to a situation strikingly suggestive of op6ra bouffe already, the command of expeditions that would be supposed to stand in need of extra intelli- gence is often a mere matter of barter. Thus, Wang-Chi-Poo, utterly ignorant of steamships, scarcely having more experience of naval matters than was to be acquired by paddling his little boat on his artificial lake, aspired to command a European- built armada, and was willing to pay down two million chop-dollars for that distinction. One saving clause, however, removed at a stroke the most striking absurdities of the situation, — namely, that his command would be merely titular, and that he really would have nothing more to do with the leadership than the gilded figure-head on the bow of the vessel that bore him. Looked at from another stand-point it becomes more natural still. Wang-Chi-Poo would be merely the representative of his sovereign on the high seas, a commissioner, an envoy extraor- dinary to His Majesty's own fleet. This fleet consisted of seventy vessels, principally steamers and of iron or composite construction. I give a list of them, which is official : five armored men-of-war; two cruisers of the protected type ; two cruisers of the partially protected type ; eighteen unprotected cruisers ; forty- three gun-boats, of which two were protected and eleven partly protected. The most extraordinary fact, however, is the slight notice the de- velopment of this really extensive navy has attracted in foreign lands. We hear of the Japanese navy, but the Chinese navy has been steadily improving till the Celestial Empire to-day is one of the actual naval powers of the world, and yet ninety-nine Americans out of every hundred still believe its fleet to consist of sailing-junks alone. CHAPTER IV. Now let us turn to a different quarter of the world, but one with which we shall have more to do ; let us turn to that country whereof the inhabitants " dress in the color of coals and wear on their heads for covering black boxes of silk ; where every fourth year they elect an emperor, and the moment he is up proceed to search out a new one ; to the land whose emperor is a god for his first two years, and a demon during his last, and when he is out, and a new emperor is selected, behold scarce a man can be found so poor as to do the old one honor ;" let us turn to the capital of this emperor, even to the Houses of Con- gress which make the laws. It is exactly five months later than the events related in the first 22 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. chapter, and the session of Congress is drawing to its close. Many events have taken place during this Congress : for instance, China has made certain preposterous demands in retaliation for the Chinese- exclusion bill, and, failing to receive satisfaction, has just withdrawn its legation. This act, which, if done by a more civilized country, would be held tantamount to a declaration of war, was viewed by the people at large with about as much concern as if the King of the Sandwich Islands had abruptly withdraw^ his representative. War was held to exist at this very moment with China, and the prospect of the dragon across the sea at last showing his teeth caused general mem- ment. The session of this particular Congress is drawing near its close, as we have said ; consequently, in the slang of the day, many bills are being " railroaded through." The River and Harbor bill, for instance, has })assed, " under a suspension of the rules," and one among its many clauses is an appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars for widening and dredging Little Log-Rolling Creek. This bill, be it understood, was not for fortifying the rivers and harbors, but simply for improving them : Little Log-Roiling Creek was to be improved into a river ; the edict of the House had gone forth. No one outside of the locality through which the creek passed liad ever heard of it, nor was it on any map that the eyes of man had ever seen ; but no doubt when Little Log-Rolling Creek had been dredged and widened it would grow into a river, and that was all that could be expected of it. No city stood upon its banks, but once improved many cities might. And at all events its improvement would afford bathing-facilities to the juvenile community thereabouts, of which they had long stood in special need. So the River and Harbor bill passed^ and each clause of its many new appropriations was passed with it, — passed with the rush of an express train, and regardless of the fact that there was yet an unexpended balance of $16,636,362.71 from the appropriation of the preceding year. The bill for defending the harbors, however, which was on the calendar for to-day, was expected to create a very lively debate, and the galleries were packed. At three o'clock precisely, a certain Mr. Starr arose and clearly demonstrated the unprotected condition of the cities on the seaboard ; pointing out, in the course of his remarks, the necessity for providing steel guns, and showing the cost and time required for merely the plant to produce these. A ^Ir. Blank replied that iron guns were quite as good as steel guns ; while a Mr. Asterisk boldly declared that no guns were needed at all. Going on to speak of Daniel Webster, he touched gracefully on the American Eagle, and, closing in a pyrotechnic display of choice language, said that the glory of the American name was sufficient to keeji the enemy from our door. To this a Mr. Dash replied, in suave accents. " The eloquence of the gentleman who has last spoken," he said, " is as flowery as the flowers that bloom in the spring, but, like them, it has nothing to do with the case : the question is about guns, not eagles, nor can any A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 13 skill of rhetoric confound Daniel Webster with dynamite bombs. The gentleman has observed that the grandeur of the American name is a sufficient guarantee against invaders ; this is like the belief of the Emperor of China, during his last war with England, that the list of his titles loudly proclaimed would suffice to stay the advance of the enemy into his dominions. While speaking of the Chinese, every one knows that a Chinese-exclusion bill has been passed, and that, failing to receive a satisfactory explanation of this, the Chinese Minister has demanded his credentials. As for myself, I am not an alarmist, but this action may mean something. Even now there are vague rumors afloat about the movements of the Chinese fleet. Extravagant as it may seem, it is quite possible that these movements may be ultimately directed against our ports or shipping. Three Chinese war- vessels have lately touched at the Sandwich Islands, ostensibly on a cruise of instruction for cadets, but no cadets are on board. Five more ships of the same nation, it is well known, have lately appeared in South American waters, while one at this very moment is creating a deserved sensation in Canada. " Not only is it within the bounds of possibility that these power- ful s(|uadrons may suddenly concentrate on our coast, but, consistently with the code of the most civilized nations, they may be coming to strike in revenge for the violation of our treaties with the Chinese Empire. " To be sure, such a navy as China possesses, and in the hands of such a people, is like a watch in the hands of a savage ; but the very backwardness of that country would make it oblivious to those respon- sibilities which would restrain a more enlightened government ; and, having indulged in the extravagance of a large European-built fleet, it might be induced to try its prowess without reflecting upon the like- lihood of retaliation. At all events, the appearance of so many Chinese vessels hovering about our shores is most unusual, and, being unusual, it ought to excite suspicion." After this Mr. Dash gave a detailed description, obtained from the Navy Department, of China's armaments, and closed with a timely reminder as to the risk of " monkeying with a buzz-saw." Alas ! of how little use are such warnings ! nothing is believed till the predicted event has happened. " What is your idea of Parliament ?" was once asked of a dis- tinguished foreigner after a visit to the classic halls of Westminster. " Why, simply," was his reply, " how much better and more expedi- tiously three men of ordinary business capacity could have accomplished the work." I am afraid the present case was an instance of the justice of this observation. The overwhelming sentiment of the country, as proved by the press, was unanimously in favor of our adequately protecting ourselves against invasion. Congress, too, as a whole, was in favor of it ; but because one set of legislators desired steel guns and another set iron, the wishes of that minority which desired no guns at all carried the day. One word more, and then I go on. From the speech of Mr. Dash it will be inferred that wiser counsels must have prevailed at the last 24 A DREAM OF CONqUEST. moment in China, and that the pretext for withdrawing her legation from Washington was rather the passage of the Chinese-exclusion bill than the absuixl supper-party. CHAPTER V. Among those who listened to the debate, or rather let me say attended it, was Mrs. Percival T. McFlusterer. Not that Mrs. Perci- val T. cared a hair-pin for Congress ; on the contrary, she despised politics and everythmg connected with politics, as every fashionable New York woman does. But she had run on to Washington for the benefit of the earlier spring weather, and had attended Congress as she might have done the zoological garden or the menagerie in some strange place. Then, l)esides, Washington was becoming a fashionable resort, in spite of Congress and its horde of politicians. Unfortunately, however, the spring weather hung fire, and, instead of the balmy breezes she had expected, the session closed in a flurry of snow. The flurry, much to Mr. Percival T.'s displeasure, carried Madame back to New York. For though Mr. Percival T. was anything but a careless husband, and toiled day and night for his wife, he did like just occasionally to have a " let-up" from the opera and a chance to talk stock at his club. In fact, a more melancholy spectacle than Mr. P. T. at the opera can scarcely be imagined. A fish out of water was a weak simile of his case : indeed, to the outer world Mr. P. T. more resembled a fish than a biped, and, so far as spontaneity went, he was quite as cold-blooded. In consequence, he was voted dull in general society, but in the neighbor- hood of the Stock Exchange he was dubbed the " Razor." Mrs. P. T., however, aspired to be a social leader, and with a view to that rdle had of course obliged her husband to purchase her a house " on the Avenue." It was at this house, naturally, that Mrs. P. T. arrived, bringing on with her the snow-flurry from Washington. When Mrs. P. T. was absent, Mr. P. T. invariably put out the fires, on account of the expense, and solaced himself over a register. I can imagine no drearier sight than Mr. P. T. sitting warming his toes over the register, taking his ease ; but then Mr. P. T., as we must infer, never looked comfortable anywhere except on the floor of the Stock Exchange. Mr. P. T. happened to be thus solacing himself when Mrs. P. T. arrived, and the comfort — or the discomfort — of her lord impressed her disagreeably. Mrs. P. T. had a way of entering a room when she was annoyed that displayed the condition of her feelings without her uttering a syllable. In her heart of hearts, Mrs. McFlusterer was not a cruel woman, but she was an irritable one, — which is sometimes worse. "I just ran back for the opera," she, however, observed, lightly: " so, if you'll order the carriage, I'll be ready at nine sharp." P. T. groaned. " Oh, I won't keep you waiting, dear," she went on, persuasively ; A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 15 " no fear of that. I found Washington cold as Lapland, and back lam." At dinner Mrs. P. T. continued her sprightly attack. She even remembered here and there fragments of the speeches she had heard in Washington. " Oh, my !" she ejaculated, "just think, if New York were really bombarded, what should we do ?" " I suppose we'd have to face the music," replied Mr. P. T., with his mind still on the opera ; " there's some things worse than a bom- bardment." " But just think, if the Chinese should really come ! One of those horrid creatures in Congress said that the fleet had left China for parts unknown." " I hope they'll get there," said Mr. P. T., beneath his breath. " And such nasty people, these Chinese !" " I once made a corner in opium," Mr. P. T. observed, reflectively, " but they've stopped the trade now." " I wish you'd be lively and agreeable like other men," petulantly put in Mrs. P. T. " I wanted you to say there was no chance of their coming, but I feel it in my bones something is going to happen, and I'm sure it is connected with the Chinese." "If they'll only come and bombard the Opera-House," muttered Mr. P. T., beneath his breath, " I'd be danged if I'd stop them." Mr. P. T. at the opera, as I have already intimated, was even a more melancholy sight than he was at his family register-side. After he had stood the noisy Wagnerian music as long as he could, he usually retreated into the smoking-rooms, where he found some other congenial spirit and talked over the market. It was really P. T. who made that now famous bon mot (and, it being the only one he had ever been guilty of making in his life, it may as well be recorded), — namely, that, if Wagner's music is the music of the future, " it were a great pity not to postpone it to then." " Percival, dear," lisped Mrs. P. T., as they were driving home- ward from the opera in their smart brougham on the evening of her return, " you must buy me Confucius to-morrow. Now promise me." " Confucius !" exclaimed Mr. P. T., absently. " I'm afraid it isn't listed : it's one of the fancies, I suppose." Mrs. P. T. laughed out loud. " I'm not talking of stocks. Can't you ever get them out of your head ?" " I wonder where you'd be if I did ?" said Mr. P. T., with unwonted fire ; then, more meekly, " You mean the man that wrote a book on China, don't you ?" " Yes, and Arnold's ' Light of Asia,' too. I know the Chinese are coming. I told you before. I feel it in my bones." Mrs. McFlusterer was a woman of sudden whims and turns ; you could no more tell of her than of a swallow which way she would dart next. Thus forewarned, we are prepared for the startling announce- ment she made to Mr. P. T. the next afternoon when he returned home, like a good New York husband, fairly worn out from his oper- ations in the street, and with the books she had asked for under his arm. 2g A DREAM OF CONQUEST. « Percival, dear, IVe got a little surprise for you," she said. P. T. felt uncomfortable; be knew these surprises of old. " What bit The asked, feebly. . , ^ ^r ^ -x •* i. . " Why, we are going to Cuba m the Terror, i ou know it is her trial trip, 'and the government has proposed, as a condition of her acceptance, her getting around Cuba and back in a month.'' *^ I wouldn't like to go to sea in a vessel intended for the govern- ment," said Mr. McFlusterer, cautiously. "Tilt, tut, tut I" said Mrs. McFlusterer, "she's as safe as a yacht, and if Mr. Puncherry, who built her and knows all about her, is willing to risk it, I don't see why we shouldn't; he wrote this morn- ing to invite us, and I opened the letter, though it was addressed to you." Mr. P. T. was sorely discomfited. "And may I ask why you opened my letter?" he asked. " Well, you see, if I hadn't, you might have kept back his invitation. I had three reasons for accepting before you saw it," she went on, in a relenting spirit, " but, as two were on your account and only one on mine, you mustn't be angry." " And what may they be, madam ?" (When particularly refractory, Mr. P. T. addressed his wife as Madam.) " First, you'll look so well in a yachting-suit," she said, checking off the reasons on her fingers ; " secondly, you will really save a great deal of money in household bills, etc., by our being at some one else's expense ; and, thirdly, PU escape the cold weather, which I failed to do in Washington. You see Pm influenced exactly twice as much on your account as on my own." " It is very kind of you, indeed," he said, grimly ; but then the clause about the expenditure was not without its weight. Indeed, when Mr. McFlusterer came to think over the matter calmly, the plan develo})ed its advantages. He was carrying an enormous line of stocks, and this might be unloaded on a suffering community with less suspicion, and therefore with greater ease, during an absence, than if he were present in New York. His very absence would give a fictitious strength to the market, and therefore might supply what he had long been looking for, — namely, a market to unload ou. The street would say, all must be well, when the Razor was satisfied to take his ease for a month. The tone of things, which had been sagging downwards, in sympathy perhaps with the vague rumors from China, might rally. Then, besides, his wife was so continually harping on the necessity of an interval of genial weather between the Arctic cold of winter and the torrid heat of summer, that he had become impressed with the idea that she did need it. Thirdly, Mr. P. T. had secretly been weighing in his mind that one solitar)^ form of indulgence a wealthy New York business-man permits himself, — I mean the purchase of a yacht. This trip might save him, by its experiences, the extravagance of getting one. All said and done, he would go, — as in any case he would have been obliged to go. Madam directing. A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 17 CHAPTER VI. " Coming events cast their shadows before," and the vague sur- uises about the advent of the Chinese fleet were not unfounded. The mrest indicator, the stock market, believed it before the public did, md had been growing continually weaker for the past three months, rhe great armada, in fact, had sailed, and was creeping on^from port ;o port, often a vessel going backwards as if to China, and then turning ibout and continuing her course, each one drawing nearer little by little its objective point. Gladly would I describe in full the incidents leading to the com- missioner's departure, as well as the daily occurrences of the voyage, but space forbids. Suffice it to say that poor Wang-Chi-Poo, when it finally came to starting, would fain have renounced his rash determina- tion. He found the desire of ennobling his grandmother weakening in exact proportion as the time of his departure approached. At the last moment it is doubtful whether anything would have induced him to sail, were it not that his two millions of chop-dollars had already been passed in. Besides, he was wroth that his wives and family 3id not take his departure more to heart. On the contrary, his mission was so extraordinary that it seemed rather to amuse them ; and as for his children, they blew their butterflies with increased assiduity into the air, just as if nothing in particular was going to happen. Long and wearily that last night he had stood in his garden and looked at the artificial stork ; long the artificial stork had stared at him. Then he went to the temple hard by, and passed two hours in silent adoration of his ancestors. The next morning he made propitiatory ofierings in the same pagoda, and burnt innumerable little pieces of paper to propitiate the Dragon of the sea, — that horrible demon who causes the waves to swell when he is angry, and the winds to roar as they emerge from his mouth. In due time he repaired to his ship, and truth compels me to relate that when, at the moment of embarking, the boiler suddenly let off steam, AYang-Chi-Poo jumped from the poop in an agony of terror, thinking perhaps that this same demon was coming on board through the funnel. Upon several occasions too, during the voyage, Wang-Chi-Poo came near setting his cabin and with it the ship on fire, by burning little joss- papers in propitiation of the Sea-Dragon ; but, as he was firmly persuaded that only by such pious rites could disaster be averted, he concerned himself little about the lesser evil of a conflagration. It may be questioned, how so large a fleet could have sailed without attracting more than " vague suspicions," even with the extraordinary precautions that had been -taken. They had sailed, as we know, in different detachments, under sealed orders, and to far different points and at different times. It was rather the concentration of these vessels in harbors of the Western Hemisphere that aroused attention, and then it was too late for the United States to guard against them. Indeed, it was left to America herself to bring about the climax, for, when the movements of the fleet could be no longer doubted, a cablegram was 2 2g A DREAM OF CONQUEST. despatched to China stating that, if these vessels continued to approach, their presence would be considered a casus beUi. I am sorry to confess that this message was dictated in a spirit of bluif ; and when to this an insolent reply was received, America awoke to the disagreeable realization that she had a war on her hands with a people whom it was no honor to vanquish, yet who were better prepared to take the initiative than she was to defend herself. As for the vessel that bore Wang-Chi-Poo, she had passed around the Horn, and it was really her arrival at Rio that inspired the telegram from the State Department. Throwing off the cloak here, as to her intentions, she joined the squadron previously mentioned as cruising in South American waters, and boldly sailed up the coast. It was exactly one month after Mr. and Mrs. McFlusterer had sailed for Cuba that the fleet skirted that island and approached the shores of Florida. As they drew nearer, Wang-Chi-Poo's curiosity, which had been steadily increasing, rose to fever-heat, and Taonsu, who had come out as inter- preter, was kept busy answering his questions about the country. Land might even now be sighted at any moment, and since early morning "Wang-Chi-Poo had been eagerly searching the horizon with his glass. At last he closed the instrument with a gesture of impatience. " Thou hast said, O Taonsu, that this land is one of many laws, but of little inclination to abide by them. How many laws has it ?" " It has many in name, Great Excellency, but only two laws are rigorously enforced." "And what are they, O Taonsu?" " The laws of supply and demand. These laws are harsher than even our criminal code, for they grind the poor to powder, and heap the rich with riches compared with which the wealth of our great Emperor is as naught." " But I thought this country was governed by the people." " In name, again, Great Excellency, so that the people may be ground down the more." " But who grinds them down, O Taonsu ? I have heard that this land was a republic, which I take to mean a beast with no head and many tails, meaning by that a country that sits down on its ruling classes." "Stay, Great Excellency, thou dost not understand the system. There is a ruling class, but it is not, as with us, the official class. On the contrary, the class I speak of rules the official class, being composed of kings, — Kings of the Highways, they are called, — and all products, even those necessary to sustain life, must pay them tribute. Under these are two lower grades, called respectively ' Directors' and ' Stock- holders.' The last, however, are held in little account. Another kind of ruler is the ' Silver King,' and still another the * Coal Baron :' the one owns the silver-mines and makes the nation take his ore at enormous premiums for chop-dollars, and the last controls men's bodies through, their love of warmth and comfort. The official class is often but the creature of these kings, and, though they are always prating of the rights of the poor man, they are continually wronging him by helping the rich to grow still richer." A DREAM OF CONQUEST, 19 "How SO, OTaonsu?" " By voting the rich special charters and privileges in which they ilso share in the profits, not always receiving their pay direct, but hrough a species of middleman, called a 'lobbyist.'" " But this four-year emperor, is he really of no account to prevent his state of things ?" " Great Excellency, his only function is to shake hands with all his ubjects, so that they may feel happy and comfortable and never notice low things are going. I have seen one of these emperors shake hands 7ith fifty thousand people in one day I'' *' And that is why they have to choose a fresh one every four years, —he gets worn out ?" " That is why. Great Excellency ; oftentimes he does not last so ong." " But this ' progress,' that we hear so much about in Western ountries, what means it, Taonsu ? — that affairs go forward ?" " It is rather that they go ' round.' " " Taonsu, thou makest my heart sick with what thou tellest me ; •f a truth, this land is upside-down. Ha ! but what is that? A sail ! , sail r It was indeed a sail that they had overhauled, — if a long line of moke against the far edge of the horizon could be so denominated, — the Irst sail they had sighted for several days. What made that particular teamer take that particular direction was one of those things that could >nly be explained by an inscrutable Providence which brings the ex- remes together. To be accurate, if neither the fleet nor the steamer Itered their courses, the steamer in proper time would cross their bows. )he was evidently taking the most direct route from the Queen of the Antilles to Florida ; but at last, as if not liking the look of things, she Itered her course in such a way as to steer for the nearest point. Key N'estj turning her stern instead of her side to the fleet in order to reach hat port. Having yet a start of some seven miles, and barely fifteen to go, she 70uld in all likelihood reach her haven, could she sail one mile to the nemy's two. As if in doubt of this, however, she was evidently put- iug on steam to her utmost capacity, and crowding on all the canvas he could carry. CHAPTER VII. Off the coast of Florida, like the dot to an i, lies the island of Key West, and connected with the island by a long causeway is a giant brtress. This fortress, lying midway as it does between Cuba and the Jnited States, commands, on the south, the approach to the whole lastern seaboard. This fortress, vast and stately, is garrisoned by one nan. The utter loneliness of Sergeant McKenna's life I can compare o nothing but that of a state prisoner sentenced to solitary confine- nent. Sergeant McKenna was both garrison and commander rolled into )ne. Sergeant McKenna, being a soldier every inch of him, had a high 20 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. sense of his duties. Sergeant McKenna tried to fulfil in his one person the duties of the various personages he represented. Thus, he would keep guard, and, when the usual four hours were up and he was com- pletely exhausted, he would relieve himself by a fresh guardrmount. To do the honors of the garrisonto himself as commander-in-chief was difficult, but at stated intervals he would call out the guard to himself, and regularly on Sundays he would have dress inspection of himself. Evening parade, too, was seldom neglected; but the crowning achievement of Sergeant McKenna's efforts appropriately to garrison single-handed one of the greatest fortresses of his country was, strange to say, accom])lished with — his foot. Sergeant McKenna, by an ingenious arrangement of strings and pul- leys touched at the proper moment by his foot, managed to let off the sunset gun and to haul down the standard, and this, too, without leaving his beat as sentinel the while. To a casual observer who noticed this threefold performance, — who saw the smoke circling upward from one part of the fort, the stately stars and stripes descending the flag-staff in another, and yet who noticed the soldierly figure of the sentinel un- concernedly pacing his beat on still a third part of the fortress, — nothing would have seemed amiss. He would therefore have been ignorant at what a cost in time, thought, and ingenuity this had been accomplished. It is even stated that a Congressman once sailing past was struck by the lavish extravagance of Uncle Samuel in maintain- ing a garrison at this distant point, and on his return to Washington demanded an investigation. A commission certainly went down with a salary at the rate of five thousand dollars per year for each mem- ber, with a secretary in addition at two thousand and a stenographer at fifteen hundred. Collectively they sat on poor Sergeant McKenna, and, since they could not very well cut him off, they cut off his powder. From that day Sergeant McKenna's spirits began to flag. Sergeant McKenna, though garrisoning the fortress, boarded at Mrs. Ayres's. Mrs. Ayres lived in the village of Key West, and the fortress, as we know, was connected with the village by a bridge. This bridge was some six hundred feet long, and, when the tide was in, the fortress was an island. Now, the boys of Key West, quick to notice the changed demeanor of the sergeant, would wait at the town end of the bridge to observe his comings or goings to and from Mrs. Ayres's, and, as is the wont of boys, would chaff him, shout at him, ask him how the garrison was feeling, and how much Uncle Sam allowed for powder. At first Sergeant McKenna treated these insults with the contempt they deserved ; he would unlock or relock, as the case might be, the padlock of the wooden gate on the bridge, deposit the key of the fort m his pocket, and go his way. But once, when the youths, growing bolder, scaled this wooden gate and attempted to carry the fortress by storm, Sergeant McKenna sallied forth, charged suddenly upon them, and vowed heM fill them so full of shot that their mothers wouldn't know them. Then the boys' feelings underwent a sudden change, and, from contempt, they began to feel respect for the sergeant. As time went on, they even got to lend him assistance in cleaning the guns, and keepmg up the appearance of things generally about the fort, actually A DREAM OF CONqUfiST. 21 at last paying out of their own pockets for the gun-polish and the blacking, as any recent visitor to Key West will testify. Nevertheless, in spite of these evidences of devotion, the sergeant was growing morose. He, too, had long felt it in his bones that war was imminent, and as soon as war was declared (though no one believed that actual combat would result) he laid in as large a supply of powder as his slender means admitted of, further utilizing the boys in training them to load and manoeuvre the cannon. Each day, after returning from Mrs. Ayres^s he would sweep the horizon with his glass, and would watch for the enemy of whose arrival his poor old bones had warned him long before his government had. Sergeant McKenna was not only losing spirits, but was losing his flesh, and his bones were about all that was left of him. Smile as you may, there is something grand in the spectacle of this poor old man standing by the government that had so cruelly neglected him. Tattered and torn, hungry and sorrowful, the butt of ridicule for all men, he : and yet there was an unexpended balance of $16,636,362.71 belonging to our Little Log-Rolling Creeks ! The late patriotic demands on his pocket had made serious inroads on his stomach ; he paid half board and got half fare at Mrs. Ayres's. A reef in his belt for break- fast, a long walk for dinner, and a sweep of the glass for supper would have constituted before long his sole apology for diet. But an end was coming, — an end was coming soon. ******** It is a w^arm and balmy afternoon, — one of those soft, sensuous days when the sky and ocean seem to meet in a long lover-like embrace. Far to the south lies Cuba, and far away behind a yellowish haze that may be water, or may be sky, so indistinct it looks. Sergeant McKenna thinks he sees something. His eyes, however, in general sympathy with his physical condition, are a little weak, so he takes another look, first wiping well the glass ; then at last from out of the haze he sees the Chinese fleet coming, preceded by the strange steamer, all with their sails set and gleaming, and with long lines of smoke standing out be- hind them. Sergeant McKenna, warned by his bones that the on-comers must be the long-expected foe, summons the boys from the village forthwith, and makes them a stirring speech. He tells them how much the government has done for them, and how happy they ought to be for this opportunity to serve it: stating that, if they will accurately obey his orders, they can yet strike a blow for American honor; that heretofore their efforts had been principally directed in keeping things in repair about the fort, but now the country demanded a return for the privilege which it had so magnanimously allowed them. Then he touches upon the youths of Lexington, and, after seeing them load the guns and close the gates, he sends one of them up the flag-staff to nail the standard to the mast. All this had consumed some fifty minutes, and in the mean time the fleet had drawn quite close, with the chase still nearer in. To a careful observer, the steamer in the lead would appear to be laboring badly, and evidently trying to double a ledge of rocks ex- 22 A DREAM OF CONQUEST.* tending out from the fortress, and so around into the harbor which the fortress protected. Then at the moment when she would naturally turn and go around this ledge of rocks, she puts down her helm, but, owing to some defect of machinery, or to the severe strain her flight has subjected her to, her steering-gear fails to work. There is much con- fusion and swearing on deck ; a stout man gives contradictory orders, and. a lady faints. At last, however, she — the vessel, not the lady — does "come round,'* but, coming around too far, is unable to be stopped, turning when she has once got started, like a balky horse, a wilful child, or a wound-up machine, and gaining in speed and obstinacy till she is whirling around on a pivot like a thing possessed. It was at this moment of all others, when her broadside was presented full, and at a distance of barely six hundred yards, that — either astounded at her behavior or unable to contain their impatience any longer — the boys in the fort " let drive.'* CHAPTER VIII. DuEiNG the pursuit, Wang-Chi-Poo had been standing on the deck, regarding the vessel they had been so quickly overhauling. " So thou thinkest it is one of their new junks intended for the navy ?" he exclaimed, turning to Taonsu. " Great Excellency, there is no doubt on that point ; she is now returning from her trial trip around Cuba, as it was telegraphed us at Rio she would do, by our agents in the United States. Her description exactly tallies with this paper." And the secretary looked at a sheet whereon was written a full description of the Terror, her dimensions, the guns she was to carry, the conditions of her acceptance, her machinery, and particularly an improvement on the Kunstadter patent screw which was intended to give greater rapidity in turning. " It seems to me, then," said Wang-Chi-Poo, " that we have little to fear from their fleets if perchance they resemble her ; she is too weak to fight, too slow to run away, — and this last we have proved without firing a gun." " Great Excellency, that is the reason I counselled thee not to fire on her. Had we done so, it would only have proved the weakness of her armor. As we have now tested the slowness of her engines as compared with those of the whole fleet, you can fire when vou like." -^ The commissioner was on the point of following out this suggestion when the fortress opened fire itself. The astonishment of Wang-Chi-Poo at this unexpect^ occurrence took off his attention from the object of their pursuit, and was only equalled by his rage. " 9 Taonsu," he exclaimed, turning angrily to that official, " thou hast misinformed me ; thou didst tell me there was no fortress fully equipped the entire length of this coast." Taonsu was himself astounded. " Great Excellency, I must admit that It is strange. Perchance this is the one solitary exception to the rule. But see, Great Excellency, they have saved us our powder. They • A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 23 have sunk their own junk, and not only settled the question of the efficacy of her armor, but also that of the Kunstadter turning-gear, which they are trying on a vessel called the Nina, so as to apply it to their other new ships." It was too true. The shot, while rattling off the sides of the Chi- nese fleet like peas off a plank fence, had perforated the iron plates of the Terror, and all that remained in evidence of her now was a small boat containing three people rowing frantically on the waste of waters. Wang-Chi-Poo's blood was up. "It will never do to leave this place in our rear; it must be carried," he said ; and the fleet continued their advance. After the first outburst, the fortress had subsided into a suspicious quiet. As they closely examined it through the glass, men's heads, as it appeared, showed over the ramparts, and the glitter of steel could be seen as of bayonets. The fleet, led by the flag-ship, continued on, opening fire as it came ; still no sound, no response, after that first discharge. The marksmanship of the fleet was admirable, and after each shot huge splinters of stone rose in the air, or, if the projectile were a shell, great sliowers of dust. " Of a truth," exclaimed Wang-Chi-Poo, " this is most mysterious. Perchance they wish to draw us into some monstrous trap. What counsellest thou, O Taonsu, thou who knowest what these foreign devils be? Perchance it were better that thou took the boats and carried the place by assault. I will remain here with the fleet, to see that no evil betide them." " Rather let us stop and pick up the fugitives from the steam-junk," said Taonsu, who little relished the proposal of his master. " The rest of the fleet, having no precious life like thine on board, can carry this accursed fortress as they will." " Thy advice is good, O Taonsu. It is the part of a great com- mander to guard properly his own safety. Moreover, it is only humane to succor the afflicted." In view of this magnanimous proposal, the flag-ship stopped, leaving the rest of the fleet to continue on. The fort by this time was pretty badly damaged, and its capture would not seem a difficult operation ; still the bayonets flashed from the ramparts, and the heads of numerous men showed mysteriously above the walls, for the sergeant had skilfully placed such cannon-balls as he might not require, at various points of vantage, and alongside of -each a musket, upright. Yet the same suspicious quiet reigned. The shape of the fort was a pentagon, and the vessels as they approached finally fronted a new side. Then another sudden discharge belched forth. To be sure, the fire did little damage, and what few shots struck the vessels rattled, as I have intimated, on their iron plates like peas shot from a glass tube. Still, the manner of defence was peculiar, — these hysterical outbursts, succeeded by fits of remorse, as it were. One more discharge only there was, and then the boats were manned and lowered. 24 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. CHAPTEB IX. The phenomenon wliicli so surprised the invaders would have been easily uudei-stood had they been. aware of the reduced condition of the garrison. Sergeant McKenna, short-handed as he was, could not direct the cannon, and was obliged to wait till tlie fleet got opposite each suc- cessive battery of guns. Sergeant McKenna was weak with mucii fast- ing, and saw with dismay his youthful garrison falling away around him. When the boats left the fleet, he gave orders that the firing should cease, and, calling the boys that yet remained alive to his assistance, they dragged a small swivel loaded with canister up to the gates of entrance. The sergeant knew, from the direction the boats were taking, that the landing would be made on the bridge, and he directed the swivel in such a way as to command this. Then, attaching to the gun one of his old arrangements of strings and pulleys by which it would be discharged on the bursting in of the gates, he sadly closed them, and marched out with the remnants of his plucky battalion. Sergeant McKenna, I have heard, has since been severely criticised for not having held on longer to the fort which his government had placed in his charge. Truth compels me to say that I think these criticisms unjust. Sergeant McKenna "held the fort'' till his garrison was decimated, and only left because the sturdy boys would not leave without him. As for Wang-Chi-Poo, as we know, he had stopped behind to pick up the survivors' from the sunken steamer. Nevertheless, the par- ticulars of the assault had been signalled back to him in all its details, including the terrible sacrifice of life that met the invaders when they burst in the gates, and after all the retreat of but one man and half a dozen boys. There was evidently something unnatural about such a defence, and Wang-Chi-Poo stands talking with his Jidus Achates over the extraordinary occurrence : " Of a truth, O Taonsu, this is a strange land, where they confide their fortresses to children. It passes my comprehension, however, that the demon who must have assisted them did not provide them \yith guns to perforate our ships' sides. By the bones of my grand- mother, we must accept the combat as a happy augury, since, with all their commotion, they have only sunk their own steamer. But hush ! ^what is that?" And, as they listened, a long wail rising over the cadence of the waves was wafted to them from the shore. " It is the grief of the female devils weeping for their offspring. Great Excellency, and they will not be comforted, because they are not." Wang-Chi-Poo pondered deeply. " By the way, O Taonsu, talking about female devils, didst thou not mention that one was picked up in the boat of the sunken junk? My attention was so sorely distracted by this accursed fortress that I did not notice the survivors when they were brought on board." " Yes, Great Excellency : it is now six years since I beheld one A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 25 of their white-skinned women, but I'm sure a female devil was among the saved. She is now in the cabin along with her two mates/' " Have them all up, O Taonsu : I would feast my curiosity on these strange beings." Taonsu gave the necessary orders; and in a couple of minutes afterwards Mrs. McFlusterer in a dead faint, Mr. P. T. in a fancy yachting-suit, and Mr. Puncherry in a towering rage and a profuse perspiration, were before their Eastern captors. Wang-Chi-Poo bowed low, brushed the dust from the seat of a cane-bottomed chair, and then brought Mrs. McFlusterer back to life by tickling her facetiously under the chin with his queue. " Tell them," he said at last, turning to his interpreter, " that I find the she-devil fair, and ask them to what class in life they belong." Mr. P. T., with the idea of a heavy ransom in his mind, was in the act of explaining that they were poor gentlemen travelling for their health, when he was interrupted by a volley of expletives from Mr. Puncherry, whose fat leg one of the monkey-like crew took occasion to pinch as he was sitting down on a seat. As for Mrs. McFlusterer, she looked at Wang-Chi-Poo, and in- stinctively regretted that she could not have had him at a dinner as a curiosity for her friends on the Avenue, In some respects she thought him a handsome man, and his embroidered tunic would make such a lovely tea-gown ; nevertheless, she was palpitating with terror as she reflected on the predicament she was placed in. Mr. Puncherry was the first to demand an explanation. " Will you tell me," he asked of Taonsu, " what the devil this all means, that a vessel intended for the United States government should be pursued on the high seas by a lot of cut-throats from China ?" And Mr. Pun- cherry stretched out his legs and folded his hands as if he had pro- pounded an unanswerable conundrum. " It means, O inhabitant of the West, that the righteous claims of his Celestial Majesty having failed to meet with recognition, Ave have come at the head of this mighty fleet to enforce them." Mr. Puncherry drew a long whistle, and looked at the " Razor," and the " Bazor" looked at him. Mrs, McFlusterer raised her hands to her brow and gave vent to an hysterical sob. " Oh, Percival, oh, Mr. Puncherry, this is what comes of never having stopped in a port during our trip ! China has declared war," " How the mischief could I stop in a port, when I only had a month to make the trip in?" said Mr. Puncherry. "Around to Cuba and back is thirty-seven hundred miles. I had to steam a hundred and twenty miles a day to do it.- I consider it a great feat, a really great feat, and never to have been obliged to put into port during so long a time is more than most ships in our navy could boast." Wang-Chi-Poo was not a cruel captor, and the grief of the lady touched his heart. " Tell her, O Taonsu, I find her fair, and I like her none the less because her nails are cut ; tell her, though her feet, as compared with our daughters', are as the blades of paddle-wheels, they are not uncouth in shape; tell her, therefore, to curb her sorrow, and, though many 26 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. love her, for she resembleth my grandmother, in form, spirit, and beauty, very much." Then Wang-Chi-Poo subsided into his cane-bottomed chair, arranged the folds of his robes in what he considered a becoming style,' and proceeded to ogle the lady over his fan. Adequately to portray the feelings of Mrs. McFlusterer as Taonsu translated this speech literally, defies my powers of description ; indig- nant protest struggled for supremacy with rage and indignation, as she ghired at Wang-Chi-Poo, who, taking it all for approval, 'sat in his chair, like one of those squat Chmese figures, smiling and nodding his head. At last Mrs. McFlusterer, giving up the mandarin, somewhat illogi- cally turned upon her husband. " If it had not been for you," she cried, with a great gasp, " we would not be here now; it was you that brought me, you, you, YOU !" " Me ?" said Mr. McFlusterer, with very natural surprise. " Yes, you. At least it was you that made me want to come ; if you had been like other men, I should have been content to remain at home." This interesting discourse was interrupted by the man at the mast- head suddenly announcing fresh signals from the fleet, and the captives were hurriedly remanded to their quarters in the rear cabin. It was not an uncomfortable locality ; the port-holes were open, and, had it not been that Messrs. McFlusterer and Puncherry were secured by chains to ring-bolts in the side, they might have imagined themselves on board of their former luxurious craft. The cabin evidently adjoined that of the commissioner, and was not lacking in emblems of Western civilization, though they were somewhat misappreciated. For instance, on a table stood a stove, but manifestly for ornament ; in a corner was a French clock, with its face to the wall ; while the sides of the apartment were adorned with pictures hung upside down. Mr. McFlusterer, as soon as his fetters had been again made fast, demanded of Mrs. McFlusterer, in a slightly injured tone of voice, wherein his difierence from other men could be held responsible for her desire to risk the dangers of the deep. " Why," exclaimed his wife, " if, for instance, you had joined the Jockey Club, as I wished last year, we might have been driving on a coach to the races at this very instant. It was just to save the initia- tion-fee, Percival," she continued, in a dramatic tone of voice, " that you have sacrificed me your wife, Mr. Puncherry your best friend, and, what you probably consider of greater moment, yourself, for twenty-five dollars !" " Oh, Lord ! I wonder what they'll do with us," exclaimed Mr. Puncherry, anxious to draw off the fire from his friend; for Mr. Puncherry, though touchy, was a good-hearted gentleman. " Curse it ! this infernal idiot has got my chain so short I can't sit down. Here, A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 27 you black-tailed imp of darkness!" he continued, vainly calling after the vanished attendant, and then to Mrs. McFlusterer, who alone of the party had the free use of her lower limbs. " Might I beg you, madam, to see if you can find a bell ?" Mrs. McFlusterer, thus appealed to, began a search which the civilized appearance of things generally gave promise of being suc- cessful. " It's very awkward, but you see I can't even sit down ; it keeps me so tight to the wall. How is yours, Mr. McFlusterer ?'' " It might be worse,'' replied poor Mr. P. T., who endeavored to cultivate on all occasions a cheerful and philosophical frame of mind. '* It's better than being drowned." "I'm really glad, though, the vessel sank," said Mr. Puncherry, in a meditative way. " There were a lot of improvements in her machinery which it would never have done for these fellows to have seen and adopted." " I guess it will be a big loss," said Mr. McFlusterer, with the slightest possible tinge of irony. " Oh, no," replied Mr. Puncherry, who besides being kindly was a large, hopeful man. " You see, I'll have her raised up and pumped out, and then I'll sell her to the next administration." " I wonder what they'll do with us ?" asked Mr. McFlusterer, to change the conversation. " Why, they'll hold you both for enormous ransoms and sell me into slavery; you heard the proposal of that odious wretch. Oh, no, I forgot : you are both to be tossed overboard to propitiate the Dragon of the Sea." Mrs. McFlusterer said this with a slightly irritating tone of decision : the delightful ecstasy of the thrust, indeed, alone saved her from a fresh fit of hysterics. " I think," said Mr. McFlusterer, with a return to his usual caution, " we'd better avoid all appearance of being rich : it might raise our price." " Great heavens ! how the papers will talk, when they hear we are captured !" cried Mr. Puncherry. " Gad ! if I could only get hold of the end of a telegraph-wire, I'd begin a suit against the government for sinking my ship." " Do you really think it will get into the papers ?" inquired Mrs. McFlusterer, as a ray of hope lightened the murky horizon ; for Mrs. P. T. revelled in a sensation. " Of course it will : does anything of interest keep out of them, madam ?" Mr. Puncherry, among his many possessions, owned a hun- dred shares of newspaper jH-operty. Mrs. McFlusterer at this moment screamed. A dark figure, stripped to the waist, had entered the room without her knowledge, and was crawling along the floor behind her. *' Melican woman's tongue too long," angrily exclaimed the wretch, rising on his knees and glancing down at the blade of a murderous knife that was stuck in his belt. Mrs. McFlusterer screamed again, while both of the gentlemen, chained to the wall, could do nothing but stare in dumb horror. 28 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. " Melican woman all foot and all tongue ; not miss a little of either," continued the intruder, in the same pigeon English. Id point of fact, he was simply a new attendant who had come in answer to the bell. But, unfamiliar with the customs of the East, Mrs. McFlusterer was alarmed by his crawling in on his stomach ; while the servant, on his part, probably annoyed at his reception, did not hesitate to give his coming a more sinister interpretation than necessary. At all events, Mrs. McFlusterer had retreated to the far end of the cabin, and her screiuns brought in the guard, headed by Taonsu. She appealed to him, throwing herself on her knees before him. . ** O lady of the West,'' he exclaimed, looking severely at the ser- vant, " this creature has exceeded his instructions. Thy privilege it shall be to allot his punishment." In the ecstasy of her supposed deliverance, Mrs. McFlusterer flung lier arms about his neck. Taonsu blushed, if the sickly flush that pene- trated his sallow skin could be so denominated. " He shall be beheaded, daughter of the West, and his head shall serve to ornament thy bridal state-room." Mrs. McFlusterer had the utmost difficulty in dissuading Taonsu from the immediate execution of this grim sentence. Then, as a mark of his favor, she induced him to give the two gentlemen a little more slack in chain. Shortly afterwards the table was spread for dinner, and, though they were a little suspicious of the dishes, their appetites were such as to make them do ample justice to what was put before them. At the close of the meal, Mr. Puncherry pushed back his chair as far as his chain would permit. " You see, I go in more for safety than for speed," he said, with the same delightful assurance, as he recurred again to his vessel. " To be sure, that infernal fort sank her, but round balls, as every one knows, are obsolete, and my armor wasn't prepared to withstand them ; indeed, it is my principle to get rid of a projectile as quick as you can ; it's better for it to go slap through and away, than to stick, particyilarly if it's a shell that might burst on boai'd. You must confess too, McFlusterer, that it ain't every ship that can sail around Cuba and get back' in a month." "It certainly is not," acceded Mr. McFlusterer; "at least, every ship that you build." Mr. Puncherry failed to notice the subtle irony. " Great Scott !" he continued, " the idea, of the only garrisoned fort in the country letting drive at the only really well-equipped vessel ! it's like the story of the Kilkenny Cats. I tell you what it is, if we go on like this, we will soon have no navy at all to fight these rascals." And Mr. Puncherry lay back in his chair and lighted a cigar. CHAPTER X. Mr. Puncherry was right. Everything does get into the papers, and it was scarcely possible that so momentous an event as the arrival of the hostile fleet off the shores of America could be omitted. A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 29 A detailed account of the defence of the fort was flashed up from Key West, also of the sinking of the Terror, on which so many hopes had centred. A full description of her successful trial-trip around Cuba, too, was given, and the rash assumption was ventured that if she had not been overtaken and run down by the enemy she would have been an honor to the naval armament of the nation. As to the exact manner of her destruction there seemed to be a wide discrepancy of opinion, but the report most favorably Received was that she had been sunk by the Chinese fleet. " Of her crew," this version went on to say, "but three persons are known to have been saved, and they are now in the hands of the enemy. There is reason to hope that Mr. Puncherry is one of these three survivors, since he always kept ready at hand for instant use on his own vessels a small life-boat answering to the description of the one seen frantically pulling away from the Terror as she went down." As it happened", China's proclamation of war, or, to be more accurate, the message which amounted to a declaration of war, was re- ceived at Washington the day after the sailing of the Terror on her ill- fated trip ; thus New York, along with the country at large, had barely had a month for preparation. These thirty days having now elapsed, the enemy were already ofi* the coast and steadily advancing northward, having, presumably, for their first objective point the richest city of the New World. Let us see what New York had done to protect herself during this interval. After her first paroxysm of astonishment, indignation, and alarm, she had set herself valiantly to meet the emergency. She had ample talent at her disposal, and hastily called a meeting of the same Board on Fortifications whose counsels she had shortly before despised. This board had previously suggested that steel towers and sunken batteries should be located at Sandy Hook, at points near Forts Ham- ilton and Wadsworth, and, besides this, at Throgg's Neck to protect the entrance to the city by the Sound. The board had further suggested that a series of small islands running like stepping-stones from the extreme east of Long Island to the Connecticut shore should be fortified as outer bulwarks against approach from the sea. These several bat- teries, properly equipped, would have amply guarded New York, and they could have been constructed at a total cost of fourteen million dollars, being but little more than one-half of one ])er cent, of the value of that city's destructible property, which has been estimated at $2,574,490,678. Thus for fourteen million dollars, or one-half of one per cent, of its destructible wealth. New York could have been made secure; and this fourteen million dollars, curiously enough, was two millions less than the unexpended balance due upon our Little Log- Rolling Creeks before many millions more were voted for their further improvement. It has been shown, however, that it would require five years to obtain a " plant" sufficient to make the guns wherewith to equip such forts. To be sure, it may be parenthetically observed, a march had been stolen on us ; for we never could believe that China — this quintessence of absurdity, with its stock-still conservatism, and its boy 30 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. monarch sitting on an ivory throne behind a bamboo screen — would ever involve us in a real war. But suppose hostilities should spring up between us and Germany, France, England, or even Chili, let me ask, would these nations magnanimously allow us five years for prepa- ration? You reply, America, wishing to live at peace with all the world, will take care to involve herself in no complications. European nations will be equally cautious, if from no other motive than because any trouble with the United States would be extremely unpopular with the masses of any such country, which, in their hearts, sympathize with the experiment of democracy here being essayed. This is all very true ; but you forget that the act of some hot-headed lieutenant on one of our own ships at some distant port or station might put us in a position from which we could not with honor withdraw. You also forget that the unprotected condition of our harbors might prevent us from maintaining our just claims in some case where an immediate settlement might be demanded. But to return to the Board on Fortifications. As it was naturally impossible to procure steel guns in thirty days, and as the guns that we had would be worse than useless, and, further, as the various forts that decorated the approaches to the city would be more dangerous to the garrisons than to the invaders, the board suggested that, in the emergency, the chief reliance should be placed on torpedoes. The result, at all events, would settle a much-disputed point, — namely, whether torpedoes alone would not adequately fulfil all the purposes of harbor defence. Now, these torpedoes were made both by the government and by private individuals. As the principal torpedo-stations belonging to the government— viz., at Willett's Point and at Goat Island — had been long without appropriations, it was deemed advisable to trust to private enterprise to supply the machines. Not to^ enter into a technical description of the various kinds of torpedoes, it will be enough to state that they can be divided into two l)rincipal classes. First, the "controllable" class,— that is, machines directed by the operator on terra firmaj or even from a vessel. Second, the " stationary" or " submarine mine," which is anchored, and dis- charged either by contact with the enemy or by electricity from the shore. ^ The first class generally have this objection, that if they are to be directed from the shore they are limited in their flight, and hostile fleets, knowing their range, keep just out of reach. There is a third class,— namely, the "automobile torpedo,"— but, as the United States is the only nation that possesses none, I have not included them in the list. There was discovered to be an additional objection against con- trollable torpedoes, so far as the present emergency was concerned, for, when they came to be experimented with, they were found to be a singularly uncontrollable machine ; as one of them, after rushing a few hundred yards towards its imaginary enemy, suddenly turned around, and, commg back in its course, exploded among the spectators, with terrible effect. Under these circumstances, it was deemed best to trust to the stationary torpedo, and a force had been sent out to lay these along the various channels by which the fleet might approach the city. A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 31 Though such an operation is usually conducted with the utmost secrecy, in the present case the hurry was great, and proper precautions to keep away spectators were neglected. Many people, therefore, witnessed the work, and amid the swarm of crafts that were tempted forth, a small row-boat escaped any particular notice. She came from a long, rakish schooner that hovered about in the offing, and at the oars was seated a man with a slouch hat and a dirty face, who stopped and marked on a little map the exact location of each torpedo as it was anchored. " And where was the great American navy ?" you ask. I will tell you exactly where it was at the time of the declaration of hos- tilities. Four vessels were being sold at auction at San Francisco, — viz., the Cyane, the Shenandoah, the Wachusett, and the Lackawanna ; one was being sold at League Island, — namely, the Pilgrim ; and three more at Brooklyn, — viz., the Tennessee, the Powhatan, and the Ticonderoga. Of our effective fleet we had the following encouraging particulars, which I quote verbatim from the official report that was received, curiously enough, a few days earlier. " The Swatara," it stated, " is at Portsmouth. She is to have new boilers and extensive repairs made in her hull ; she will be ready for sea, it is hoped, in a few months, and will then in all likelihood join the North Atlantic Squadron if she can reach it. The Nipsic, Enterprise, Thetis (an old whaler), and the Richmond are almost ready for sea. The former will relieve the Pinta at Alaska, and the latter will become the flag-ship of the North Atlantic, i.e.y the Home Squadron. The Nipsic and the Enterprise will be ready for sea within a few months, and will also join the Home Squadron. The Trenton, at Norfolk, will require several months for necessary repairs. To take the place of the condemned vessels we have the Porpoise and the Pacific, and a cruiser called the Hub, now in process of construction." Such were the condition, locality, and situation of the best part of the American navy on the declaration of hostilities. In addition to these were a half-dozen old monitors, one of which, lying off the Brooklyn Navy Yard, immediately sank when it was taken into deep water. Nevertheless, the ferry-boats and the magnificent Sound and River steamers might be utilized; and, these being faster than any ships the government possessed, it was proposed to man them, to run down rapidly upon the enemy, and to throw on each of the iron-clads a sufficient force to carry it by assault. It was a desperate under- taking, but, the times being bad, and many people out of work, sufficient tiumbers for the purpose answered to the call for volunteers, and they were immediately put into training. You ask. What did Congress do ? Was it not appealed to ? Of course it was. The President called an extra session, but, as munitions of war, not speeches, were what the poor cities wanted, the extra session was a work of supererogation. To assist every seaboard city in so few days was a matter of utter impossibility; and while enormous sums of money (ten times greater than any that had been previously asked) were voted, and while every ship of the navy that 32 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. could float was hastily ordered out, the inhabitants of the exposed towns were practically told that they must look to their own resources. As regards the State of New York, the Governor had called out the militia; the Knights of Labor had come forward as knights of war ; the police were reinforced by special constables ; and, not to be behindhand, the young club-men had volunteered en masse. They were dubbed the " Fancies," and, the question of uniform exciting so bitter a diiference of opinion, they resolved as a compromise to stick to tlieir usual attire. Its essentials were a high, glossy black hat, and a light overcoat, with little swallow-like tails projecting out behind, and the effect was decidedly military. These several classes of forces, it was hoped, would repel at all events a landing; and, to have them ready at hand, sheds and tempo- rary barracks had been erected in the principal parks and squares of the city. Nevertheless, the great majority of well-to-do citizens looked some- what askance at these extensive preparations, and they" had already begun to leave the city slowly. When the news was telegraphed up that the hostile fleet had reached Key West, however, their desire to get away received a sudden impulse. Fifth Avenue became one moving caravan, and valuable pictures, silver, and statues were being hurriedly flung into vehicles of all kinds. Here would be a Fortuny lying on the side-walk, and there a bust by Launt Thompson, wait- ing to be moved. I myself bought for ten cents a priceless Jules Breton, which a boot-black told me had fallen out of a cart and which he had picked up in the gutter. On every side was confusion worse confounded, and the agonized haste of others growing contagious, as at fires, people were throwing valuable mirrors often out of the windows, while they carefully removed their mattresses by hand. Happy were the owners of a horse and wagon. Cab-fares, never low in New York, rose to unheard-of altitudes, and it is stated that a driver received two hundred dollars for driving a bronze copy of the Yenus of Milo beyond the city limits in his cab. Every species of vehicle was brought into requisition, and even hearses were seen carting away the precious plunder, or sometimes packed with living babies whose fond mothers could secure no other description of conveyance to transport them from the scene of danger. Many people, however, did not move their children or effects, — people that lived down in the Five Points, and had no effects to move, — people that lived in tenements even higher than the cab-fares, but had no cab-fares to give. The people, in general, who lived in the crowded purlieus of the great city, having no works of art, did not move them ; and, havinf nowhere to go themselves, they remained where they were, with their offspring. Thus endeth the first lesson of the Dream of Conquest. ^ DREAM OF CONQUEST. • 33 CHAPTER XI. It was a lovely spring morning when the fleet again approached the coast, in the vicinity of Hampton Roads. Mrs. McFIasterer was standing on deck, pensively regarding the sea, and anon looking in the direction of the country she had come, so to speak, to devastate. The probable commiseration of her fate by the public, the sensation that her capture must have in all likelihood occasioned, the fact that at this very moment she was probably the one absorbing topic of conversation in ten thousand homes, tinctured her sadness with a sense of gratification impossible to describe. She was looking over the taifrail deep down into the dark-blue water, observing a school of porpoises that were playing about the vessel, when Taonsu approached and interrupted her reveries : " Ah ! the lady of the West is sad to think of the proud cities that are to be laid low, the homes that are to be desolated, and the multi- tudinous graves ; but little did thy people heed it, O daughter, when the English sailed into our harbors, destroyed our cities, and laid in ashes the summer palace of the very Son of Heaven himself." It was sweet to the ears of the captive to be called " daughter," and her gentle sadness took a more sentimental cast. " But thou must know, O Taonsu," she urged, adapting her style to the formal phraseology of her companion, " that we have revolted from England. Rememberest thou not George Washington, who never told a lie, Daniel Webster, Jeiferson, and the other great men who struggled and bled to free us from England's tyrannical rule?" Mrs. McFlusterer, like many other fashionable women that I know, was somewhat weak in her history. " What are thy revohitions compared with the sum of China's antiquity ?" replied Taonsu. " You are English sprung, and, according to the word of your sacred book, the sins of the father shall be visited upon the offspring unto the third and fourth generation thereof." Taonsu, as we know, spoke English fluently, with only the slightest possible accent. Mrs. McFlusterer resolved to make one last appeal to him. " But is it right, O Taonsu," she exclaimed, still continuing in the style of speech she had adopted, " that tliou who hast benefited by this Western civilization shouldst come to destroy it ? What good will it do thee?" " Lady, we in the East do not measure everything by the profit thai accrues ; such is the habit of money-changers, and of those who, as with you, deal in stocks."" Mrs. McFlusterer unconsciously turned and regarded her husband, who, attached to the end of a long chain, was being led up and down by a Chinaman, like a dog by its master, for his morning walk on the deck. On the other side of the deck, Mr. Puncherry was being sim- ilarly conducted. How the unfortunate gentlemen could have prevented this undignified treatment, Mrs. McFkisterer did not stop to puzzle out; but, as she gazed at them, there appeared something so ignoble 3 3^ A DREAM OF CONQUEST. in their situation, and even in their character, that it gave emphasis to Taonsu's remark. Like a woman, she unreasonably despised tliem. How pointed, indeed, were the observations of this quaint young man ! " Those of the West measure everything by the profit that accrues •" and, were they landed at this very moment m New York, she felt' obliged to confess that nothing but the chains that now held her two friends would keep the one from the Stock Exchange and the other from his place of business. , . , x- «.» " Taonsu,'* she asked, with a weary sigh, " what is to be my fate ? " Thou hast learned, daughter of the West, that his Great Ex- cellency is to bear thee with him back to his home across the sea, where thou shalt ride in a palanquin of ivory and gold.'' " But is this proper, O Taonsu? Thou forgettest I am a wedded wife." " At thy wish thou canst be freed, O daughter, for thou hast but to say^the word, and thy two husbands are struggling in the waves." Mrs. McFlusterer turned away resolutely from this tempting pros- pect. "But why does he wish to take me across the sea?" she asked; and visions of hareems, of fountains, and of beautiful Georgian women suddenly floated before her mind. " Why does he wish to tear me from my home?" she continued, sentimentally; then, with a blush of embarrassment, " He said I resembled his — his grandmother, and that my feet were as the blades of paddle-wheels : wherefore should he say this, if his heart longeth for me ?" "Ah, fair daughter, by this he intended to signify his great affec- tion. We in the East venerate our ancestors, and the greatest compli- ment is to compare our loves to them. Filled out to suit the Western fancy, his words meant this : that thou dost resemble his grandmother when she was in the first flush of her glorious youth and beauty." "And dost thou really think he meant this delicate flattery?" " As surely, fair lady, as his treatment of the servant that offended thee was delicately flattering to thee." " And what of him, O Taonsu ?" asked the lady, unsuspiciously. " Why, he has already partaken of him." " Already partaken of him ?" cried Mrs. McFlusterer, with vague horror. " Partaken of him in the spirit, fair daughter of the West. His tongue was served him for breakfast, his ears for luncheon, and what there was over was left to the crew, — not to be actually eaten, but to serve as a feast for the eye and to show the danger of offending thee. Deemest thou not, therefore, that his affection for thee is unbounded ? It is strong and abiding, and as certainly exists as the vessel that ap- proaches is the one that will quickly pilot us to our destination." ]\f rs. McFlusterer looked in thefdirection where Taonsu was point- ing, and saw that they had approached, without her notice (though signals from the steamer must have announced the fact before), a rakish schooner that was lying-to. Indeed, a boat was already rowing from the craft towards the flag-ship, and, as Taonsu spoke, the latter slack- ened up. The lady's surprise was so great that for a moment she forgot A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 35 the revolting nature of the communication just made to her ; or let me say that the hope of some unexpected assistance was inspired by the stoppage. As she gazed down into the boat, however, the appearance of the man in the stern-sheets gave her little encouragement. He wore a low felt hat ; the cast of his countenance was villanous, and his face was so dirty that it actually suggested a negro's. Nevertheless, she would appeal to him : no American would be so lost to patriotism as to pilot a fleet against his own country. Alas ! she knew not that the wile of the enemy had engaged a hated Canadian, nor had she calculated that before the stranger reached the ship's side, herself and her two companions would be summarily dismissed below. CHAPTEB XII. The captives, we say, were hurried down below ere the man with the slouch hat and dirty face had mounted to the deck. Until now she had scarcely realized the nature of the people in whose power she was, but the communication of Taonsu woke her up to the full realities of the situation. What should she do, what steps should she take for her escape ? Ignorant of the exact locality on the coast opposite which the fleet had arrived, she yet knew sufficient of its geography to realize that they must now be less than two days' sail from her native city, since she had been on board already five days, and from early this morning they had been sailing on in sight of land. During these five days, too, the captives had been treated with courtesy, not to say kindness. To be sure, there had been that question raised once or twice about flinging Mr. Puncherry and lier husband into the waves ; but the object of the proposal, when she came to analyze it, was that she might be maritally unencumbered, and the offer had only been made with a view to meet the prejudices of Western propriety, so to speak. With regard to these chains, too, it was several times explained to the prisoners by Taonsu that their being tied by the foot was merely complimentary, intended to show that they were persons of very great distinction ; and, though both gentlemen had energetically expressed their willingness to forego these marks of honor, Wang-Chi-Poo, through the same interpreter, again and again insisted that he could never bring himself to treat them with so little consideration as to let them loose. Indeed, their evident displeasure at their fetters was entirely misinterpreted by Wang-Chi- Poo ; for, thinking that they were dissatisfied because the form of their captivity was lacking in punctilio, he was only persuaded by Taonsu not to "grade up" their distinction by incarcerating them in a couple of bamboo cages reserved for prisoners of the most exalted rank. Looked at from one point, horrible as it was in itself, the punish- ment of the servant was intended as a courtesy ; and, although her abhorrence at his fate could never be overcome, the spirit that dictated it was flattering, and must be recognized. In short, her heart was touched, or rather let me say her womanly instincts were gradually be- ginning to reassert themselves. Barely two hours after the prisoners had been dismissed below they 36 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. were unexpectedly told that their presence was again desired, and par- ticularly that of Mr. Puncherry. At the companion-way they were met by the commissioner and his interpreter, who, ceremoniously leading them on deck, accompanied them to the forward part of the ship. Here, on the forecastle, they found, to their surprise, a number of chairs facing forward and ranged as for private theatricals, with a large one, like a throne for royalty, in the middle. On these the captives were told to seat themselves, Mr. Puncherry being directed to take the principal chair. Then Taonsu explained that the pilot who had so recently come on board brought news that the American fleet was in the offing, and, the ships having just been sighted, he thought that perchance the patriotism of the party would be fired by the proud spectacle of seeing them come into action. And in truth, as they bore down, it was a sight to make any American feel proud, even Mr. Puncherry, naval expert that he was. Here was the Swatara, with her newly-tinkered boilers and her patched- up hull. Here were the Nipsic and the Enterprise, hastily got ready ; here was the Trenton, with a great gaping hole in her bottom stopped up with tarpaulins ; and here were the Pilgrim and the Tennessee. Next came the Powhatan and the Ticonderoga, taken from under the very hammer of the auctioneer at the Brooklyn Navy- Yard, and, though condemned, commissioned. After all, with uncertain motion and most melancholy, came the Pinta, which had just returned from Alaska to die. And indeed it did seem cruel to bring out these decrepit old vessels that twenty years ago had so well earned a needed repose. In many of them the scars of the late war had never been obliterated. Serving as a sort of escort for the squadron were the new steel cruisers the Porpoise and Pacific. Like a host of lame men in charge of a couple of small but vigorous boys, the fleet hobbled forth to meet the enemy, bringing with them the recollections and traditions of a glorious past, when the flag they carried at their peak was borne to victory instead of ridicule. As I have intimated, the Porpoise and Pacific were steaming around these vessels, now rendering assistance to one and now to another, and trying to bring them all up in proper shape into action. Wang-Chi-Poo is smiling with a mild sort of irony. " O Taonsu," he exclaimed, turning to his secretary, " this is most remarkable : these people, thou hast told me, protect their industries, but fail to protect their coasts. How is it ?" Mr. Puncherry at this point broke in upon the dialogue. He failed to comprehend the commissioner's words, but that they were inspired by the decrepit appearance of the fleet was manifest, and it angered him to be set up on a throne, as it were, to behold the ignominy of his country. ^ " WeVe spent more money on that fleet than you have on your en- tire navy,'' he said, rudely ; and he looked at the commissioner as if he dared him to contradict the statement. " ^u* wbich of the two is the more proper subject of pride?" de- manded Taonsu,— "that much is spent on one's fleet, or that much is A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 37 accomplished by that expense ? Of a truth, O inhabitant of the West, we do not wish to quarrel ; if you are satisfied, so are we." " It's all very well to crow," said Mr. Puncherry, " because youVe stolen a march on us. Suppose you can lick this fleet ; fightin' ain't the only quality demanded in a navy. S'pose you can sail round it ; sailin' ain't everything. The great use of a navy with us is to encour- age American ship-building ; and if it wasn't for patchin' up them old hulks, — which is all Congress allows me the money for, — where would I be?" Before a fitting reply could be found to the question, the American squadron, which by this time was barely two miles distant, endeavored to perform what was for it a highly complicated manoeuvre, — namely, to fall into line of battle. In the act of doing so, most of the ships ran foul of each other, owing to the rottenness of their equipment, for, though principally steamers, their engines' were weak and it was neces- sary to assist the operation with their sails. Yet the top-hamper was so defective that in the act of coming about a sheet would give way, or a yard would get jammed ; and it was not surprising that they should, for you cannot expect to take condemned vessels from under the auctioneer's hammer and have them in first-class sailing trim in a month's time. Wang-Chi-Poo still stands just where he was, with his hand resting on the back of Mr. Puncherry's chair. " Of a truth," he observed, meditatively, to the interpreter, " the progress these Westerners make so much boast of is not shown in their ships ; and as for their forts, they have arrived but at the Stone Age. How is it I have heard you say that they call us back- ward?" In the mean while the distance between the two fleets was being rapidly lessened, and the nearer the Orientals drew the more aston- ished they were at the appearance of everything on board. So great had been the haste in getting these vessels ready that in many cases their tattered sails and rigging had not been changed for new. Hence, shortly afterwards, as they camQ opposite to the American flag-ship, and when it became necessary for it to send a force of men aloft to take in a tattered sail, Wang-Chi-Poo distinctly saw the ratlines of the shrouds give way under the sailors' feet, causing them to slide back, one after another, to the deck, as on so many greased poles. Yet it was a glorious evidence of American valor that men should come out at all in such poor old tubs ; and this was the view that principally struck Wang-Chi-Poo. Indeed, the commissioner, with all his faults, was a gentleman, a man unwilling to take any unfair advantage even of an enemy. It went against his grain to fire upon such brave fellows, and he felt that respect for them which none but the brave can feel. So he waved his hand affably, as is the wont of Orientals, at the American admiral as he passed him in his flag-ship, and, sailing through the very thick of the fleet, left it to be settled by a heavy squall that he saw gathering on the edge of the horizon. And indeed we may as well allow this storm to be a veil and draw it gently over the poor old hulks. 3g A DREAM OF CONQUES'l. As for the Porpoise and the Pacific, the new steel cruisers, I can say nothing. Their efforts were principally directed to lending such assistance to the others as would keep them above water. The Chinese officers were of the opinion, however, that they were too large for torpedo-boats, and too small to carry guns of sufficient calibre to con- tend with their larger vessels. Certainly, armed only with six- and eight-inch guns, the projectiles which, I have forgotten to state, they hurled at the foe, could not be expected to penetrate steel plates tested to resist sixteen-inch guns ; and while the contract for their construction stipulated a speed of fifteen knots an hour, they could not very well run down with their rams vessels that steamed nineteen. All the Chinese officers were agreed, however, that the one — from her propensity to roll — was very well named the Porpoise, and the other — from the little injury she seemed capable of inflicting — the Pacific. CHAPTER XIII. It was late on the morning of the third day after leaving Hampton Roads when Mrs. McFlusterer awoke. The sun was shining brightly into the cabin. Both her husband and Mr. Puncherry assured her that tliey had arrived off Sandy Hook at daybreak, and that there they had lain for the past three horn's. They were again in motion, however, and Mi-s. McFlusterer could hear the blades of the propeller striking the water • yet they w^ere proceeding cautiously, advancing slowly, and frequently stopping. Mr. Puncherry, whose eyes were glued to the port-hole, explained in professional language that they were removing the outer line of torpedoes that New York had probably set out for its defence. Overseeing this work was a steam mosquito-boat called the Fang, which he had often noticed during his promenades on deck. When the steamer would slacken up and swing around with the tide, this vessel would frequently be disclosed to him ; and, although Mr. Puncherry made light of her, it may as well be stated here that, according to the opinion of the English Admiralty, the Fang was the fastest and best-equipped" boat of her "kind in any service. Built for the Chinese government by Messrs. Yarrow & Co., of Poplar, the well- known English builders, she could steam the incredible sgeed of twenty- four and three-eighths knots an hour. , At the wheel, directing her movements, stood the dirty-faced man with the slouch hat, studying a map which he had made at the time these very torpedoes Were set out. Mr. Puncherry also explained that they had been subjected to a heavy fire from certain earthworks at Sandy Hook ; but, as Mrs. McFlusterer had failed to be disturbed by this, it can only be inferred that the damage had been slight. Yet that morning seemed very long to the poor lady, and she thought it would never come to an end ; she was weary of the continual stoppings and backings of the vessel and the rattle of the ernicism, was its sudden termination. The abruptness with which it began was only surpassed by the extraordinary abruptness with which it ceased. Was the motive merely to give the city a taste of what the Chinese could do? If so, it amply served its purpose. Men won't suffer their residences, their places of business, their Penates and their Lares, their churches, and particularly their banks of deposit, to be hammered into smithereens if they can save them by buying off the enemy. Without stopping to question the reason for this cessation of hostilities, however, or to ask themselves why it had not been explained by the fleet, the twelve principal gentlemen of the city (for afler the warning of the Centennial Ball I don't wish to make invidious distinctions by men- tioning names) constituted themselves, on the first cessation of the firing, into a select committee and hastily called a meeting of all the less well-known gentlemen of New York in the Fifth Avenue Hotel. A hush of expectation fell over the city, as people waited to hear what these Solons would agree upon. At last it was decided by the less well-known portion of those present that the select portion should be allowed to continue in their self-assumed mission, and should prove their right to the claim of public spirit by going over to the fleet in a neighborly, friendly way and making the best ternis they could with the barbarians. It was with extreme reluctance that this proposal was finally agreed to by the twelve, and the account of their expedition, the marvellous incidents that attended it, and, last but not least, the discovery of the extraordi- nary cause of the city's immunity from a further dose of shot, can best be given in the graphic words of a newspaper man who volunteered to accompany the party. " We embarked in a ferry-boat at the foot of East Seventh Street," 70 A DREAM OF CONqVEST, he said, " at about six o'clock in the evening, though it was quite dark before we finally got away. How well I remember it ! — a hot, sultry night, without a breath of air, and a duplicate set of stars seemingly fixed beneath the water, so bright were the reflections. At first each of us tried to keep up the spirits of the others, as we sat huddled together on the deck. Then some one — I don't remember who — began a song, — not a jovial college song, but a sad weird song, and one suited gener- ally to the occasion ; after this, beciiuse human nature is human nature, and reacts naturally from one extreme to the other, some one told a story, and from that we all fell to talking of the extraordinary mission we were on, the extraordinary fact of a Chinese fleet being in our waters at all, and what blank fools these Chinese were not to reflect on the terrible retribution that would come upon them later. We all agreed, however, that we were in a very awkward predicament; being pillaged, so to speak, by a burglar who in the end would pay dearly for his crime, but who in the mean time was making things decidedly un- comfortable about the house. Such was the general verdict, and it was impressed upon my memory because at the moment of its expression there was a frightful explosion, caused by the paddle-wheel striking a torpedo. For all decided that it must have been a torpedo, and proba- bly one of those set for the Chinese, which had either got loose from its moorings or had been detached by that fleet itself. Nevertheless, it didn't do much harm, since it only knocked out a couple of blades from the paddle-wheel. " The curious feature about the trip was, however, that the further we left the city behind us, and consequently the nearer we approached the enemy, the more intense became the sadness with which we had started out. Opposite Governor's Island our conversation turned to the subject of a future life, and we actually discussed it until we entered the Nar- rows. On passing through them we shortly reached a point from which the waters of the outer harbor began to spread out quite wide, and at last we succeeded in distinguishing the dark hulls of the enemy's ships, all grouped together in one black mass ahead of us. I have no lan- guage to portray our sadness at this sight. The tide was running swiftly, and we were dropping down on the fleet more rapidly tlian we imagined. Indeed, we must have got within half a mile of it before any one reflected that our intentions might be misunderstood. The prominent gentlemen of New York owe their prominence rather to their status in commercial affairs than to their experience of war, and understand better the cutting off of coupons than of heads : con- sequently, the possibility of our being taken for the advance guard of some desperate assaulting .party never struck any one. At last some one did venture the suggestion, and, in view of its plausibility, we stopped and blew the whistle. "Not a sound from the fleet. There they lay calmly at anchor, their spars faintly limned against the starry sky, and their huge bodies, painted gray, rising now more like huge octopuses out of the water. Then we advanced anew, but w^ith greater caution and increased sad- ness, and blew the whistle again. Were they waiting for us to get quite close ? were they then going to annihilate us at one fell swoop ? A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 71 Assuredly, our presence by this time ought to be known. One would think that they would challenge us, — would blow a whistle in response to ours, to ask our intentions, as it were. But not a sound. Our sad- ness grew actually appalling; there was something mysterious about this silence,- too, something uncanny and suspicious : it fairly made the flesh of our several bodies creep. I really think, if each of us had not been ashamed to show his feelings before the others, we should all have proposed turning around instanter, much as the Western trapper did when he found the 'bar's track gettin' too plagued fresh.' We had now arrived within three hundred yards of the largest vessel, and there was the same deep quiet. Were these phantom ships ? Were they creatures of our imagination, after all ? The ordinary tokens of life that could be looked for in a fleet on such an occasion were com- pletely lacking ; and then, oh, horror of horrors ! at the very instant when it might be necessary to beat a retreat, the cursed paddle-wheel gave out, and we drifted without steerage- way directly upon them. " Until now we had no idea that we were so close to them, and be- fore we could realize it we felt our accursed tub grating and pounding against the iron sides of the largest vessel. I, for one, — and I know the others joined me, — threw myself flat down on the deck to avoid the discharge that must come now. But not a shot, not the cry of a sentinel, and for sound only the thumping and grating of our ferry- boat, as the tide pressed her down against those iron walls. " ' They're deserted,' at last cried the captain ; ' I know they're de- serted. Follow me.' And, carrying the gang-plank to the top of the upper deck over the cabin, he rested one end of it on the bulwarks of the steamer, strode intrepidly across, and we followed him cautiously half-way. Then I shall never forget — no, not till the last hour of my allotted time arrives — the sight I beheld. The vessel was the largest in the squadron, evidently the flag-ship, and with more deck-room than iron-clads usually possess. Instead of these decks being deserted, how- ever, they were actually thronged with people, just as if the crews from all the other ships had congregated here ; but the strangest fact was that of this crowd not a soul was moving. Even where we were we must have been distinguishable, but not an eye was raised to meet us, nor a cutlass drawn. There they all stood as if cut in stone or congealed in various attitudes of rapt attention. It was as if some huge momentous catastrophe had interrupted them in the midst of the bombardment and had suddenly petrified them. Here were the appliances about the guns for loading them, and fresh cartridges just as they had been left on deck. Among these stood the crew, like stone images, dressed in silks or the variegated attires of their different ranks, down to the humblest sailor, all looking towards a common centre, and with a fixity of gaze that could hardly have been surpassed had they been posing for a photo- graph. " It was our captain who first recovered himself. * Who'll follow me?' he cried; but no one did. What a brave man we thought him I Indeed, taking everything into consideration, I deem that captain the most courageous man I ever beheld. As for us, we stood on the plank just where we were, midway between the ferry-boat and the steamer, 72 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. looking down on him. We could see him push through the crew, dis- turbing their long flowing robes as he swept by, occasionally upsetting the equilibrium of one after another of the figures as he jostled by them ; but, though pushed to one side, the figures would quickly fall back into their original positions. At last we saw him make his way through the ring of the inner circle and lean over the common centre of attraction. Here he stopped; but what was he waiting for? He did not return. Instead of explaining, he did not even answer, though we all called his name, and we called it again and again. We could see him leaning over further and further. Good heavens ! he appeared to be assuming an attitude like all the rest. Had the same nefarious spell begun to operate on him ? Then, curiosity rising superior to fear, one of the rest of us followed the captain down into the ship, with identically the same result. Neither would he return nor answer when we called. Next another of us went to look after the last, and so on, one after another, till I remained alone. Finally, curiosity or the same fatal spell also beginning to take effect on me, I went myself, drawn I know not by what invisible agency. T advanced through these figures ; as I passed them I saw that they were not of stone at all, but only still and motionless as if engaged in some religious rite of extra solemnity. As I moved by I touched them ; their muscles were firm and their flesh felt warm. I even got to where my companions w^ere, and, looking down, this is what I saw: a china basin serving as a cockpit, sur- rounded by a ring of lanterns, and in this basin a couple of small black beetles fighting. Then it was all explained to me. I had read in some book of travels on this extraordinary people, that, if they are engaged in battle, and by any chance a lesser strife occurs in their midst, it is considered in the light of an augury, and their own combat must be postponed till the result of the latter be determined. They must stand perfectly motionless, pay no attention to the enemy, and must suffer themselves even to be slaughtered without resistance. Thus, in the Tai-Ping Rebellion, at Wasso, in the upper provinces of the empire, a party of five hundred suffered themselves to be massacred to a man by the enemy as they stood entranced over a com- bat of — what do you think ? — a couple of ants. A fight between two beetles, however, is considered an especial augury ; and the beetles in the present case were ordinary ship-roaches, that had probably been disturbed from their retreats in the seams of the deck by the violence of the cannonade. " We had evidently come, however, towards the close of the duel, for even as T gazed the larger beetle had seized the smaller in his claws ; giving it one last shake, a faint struggle ensued, and, a thrill passing over each, they both rolled over on their backs stone-dead. "At this instant a gong sounded with a terrible clash, the people suddenly came back to life, and, while a detachment surrounded us with their drawn cutlasses, the rest of the crew flew back to their guns, and the long-interrupted bombardment was on the eve of being resumed. "Great heavens I I thought, is the fate of a city of fifleen hundred thousand souls to hang on such a circumstance? How A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 73 raany lives had the pugnacity of those two little creatures thus far saved ? " This was my principal reflection, and so engrossing was it that I failed to notice that a large and not ill-favored man had in the mean time puslied through the drawn cutlasses of our detainers, and was bowing before us, and brushing, witli the folds of his gorgeous blue tunic, the seat of a cane-bottomed chair w^iich he dragged forward. After this I heard myself addressed in faultless English by a small, narrow-chested young man, who seemed to understand that we were envoys from the city. Even yet, however, I scarcely know^ what would have been our fate, had it not been for the amused astonishment of the big man in the blue tunic at our hats. He would examine them, take them off our heads, and then place them on his own with the utmost complacency. Finally, when our mission was fully explained to him, we were taken down below into his cabin, where a sumptuous repast w^as set out for us. Nevertheless, despite the hospitality of the recep- tion, — a hospitality that is really extraordinary when you reflect on the way we had arrived, — the terms we offered were absolutely refused. Wang-Chi-Poo raised his demands higher than those originally made, and even put in an extra sum for the steamer destroyed by the fire-sliips. His ultimatum was this : a ransom of one hundred and fifty dollars per head, instead of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, for the in- habitants of every seaboard city, and one hundred and fifty million dollars to be paid by New York before to-morrow night ; that Wash- ington should agree to the extension of tlie Burlingame Treaty without further delay; and that a certain lady, whose name he gave, should be returned to the fleet. In addition to this, that twelve of New York's most distinguished citizens, perhaps we the very envoys ourselves, should be given up as pledges for the fulfilment of these terms. Then we, the envoys, decided that it was about time to retire, and, as the vessel which had brought us was quite unequal to stemming the tide, we very ignominiously had to accept Wang-Chi-Poo's offer to get out the steam-launch for our safe return. In so great a hurry, indeed, were we to get away, and so fearful lest the permission to go might be rescinded, that we failed, until the last moment, to notice a melan- choly object in a large bamboo cage chained to one of its bars by his foot ; and, though he appealed to us piteously in our own language and begged us to take him back with us to the city, w^e pretended not to see him. I must confess, however, that our regret at leaving him was somewhat mitigated by the fact that this same gentleman had got ahead of several of us before in transactions in Wall Street.'^ CHAPTER XXin. . It is still night, and the lamps in a luxurious room are beginning to burn low. Silken portieres are drawn across the doors of the apart- ment, and on a sofa, soft and velvety, reclines a woman, deep sunken in its cushions, — a woman not exactly beautiful, but not altogether plain. A changed woman she looks, — not precisely aged, but one who has 74 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. gone through some long and terrible ordeal, — a woman who has at last '' collapsed." She is breathing heavily ; she has reached the ultimate term of endurance. The windows of the apartment are open, to catch any lingering breath of air ; for, though the trees in the Park opposite have not as yet put on their summer livery, the night is oppressively hot, — intensely hot, one of those hot nights which are occasionally thrown into the fickle, womanly-like month of April, as a faint indication of the summer soon to burst, like the blast from a furnace, over the land. A strange hush, too, has fallen over the city, broken occasionally by the cidl of a sentinel, or the plaintive cry of a child from the thronged humanity bivouacking in the Park. AH is otherwise still, — strangely still, — and the woman on the sofa is strangely still, too. At last she turns weariedly, and, pressing her hand to her brow, thinks, — tries to think calmly, with the half-distinct foreboding that evil is yet to come ; and indeed tlie very silence that prevails on every side is the hush rather of anticipation than of relief. As regards the manner of Mrs. McFlusterer's safe return to her home, suffice it to say that after the lull in the bombardment she had been conducted thither by Mr. Puncherry, who, after leaving her, re- turned to his own house. Far removed as her residence was from the centre of the city, it had not entirely escaped injury, as the occasional cracks in the mirrors or windows would go to prove. One of the chimneys, too, had come down with a crash, and all the servants had decamped, with the excep- tion of the old housekeeper, whom alone Mrs. McFlusterer had found to receive her. Though it was now nearly two o'clock in the morning, the domestics had not yet returned. Mrs. McFlusterer, when we left her, had just put her hand up to her brow. She was tossing restlessly on the sofa, and she returned to consciousness from the semi-conscious state with the uncomfortable feeling that there was some one either in the room with her or near the room, — some one who did not belong there, and had no part or parcel with the surroundings ; some one who had entered surreptitiously, who had perhaps crept through one of the windows, and whose coming now made her very flesh creep. She arose with a sudden start : she called ; no answer ; then she looked about her. The room was half darkened, and the dim light there was gave no indication of any presence. She looked at the portieres : one of them was stirring. She screamed violently. A man with a long white beard, narrow-chested and small, suddenly came out from behind it. " Daughter of the West, it is I." And, removing his beard with a sudden jerk, Taonsu stood before her in European attire. " Ah," he exclaimed, *^ thou thoughtst, fair lady, to escape us. See, by this card, which thou didst leave on the cabin-table, I have tracked thee, and I hav« come to take thee back." " Never will I return !" exclaimed the lady, with a shudder. "Then thy husband dies by the most excruciating tortures, and the bombardment is rasumed. Thus has Wang-Chi-Poo, my master, spoken." A DREAM OF CONQUEST, 75 Mrs. McFlusterer wrung her hands : until now she had forgotten all about her husband. He added fresh difficulty to the dilemma. What should she do ? She could not allow him to be slain. Oh, was ever a woman placed in so terrible a predicament? " Thou hast but a short time to decide^ O daughter.^' Then she turned upon him suddenly : *^ Why dost thou pursue me thus? why dost thou so zealously do thy master's bidding?" His answer came : " Because I love thee, fair one." *'Thou lovest me? But why then dost thou come in another's behalf? Why not in thine own ?" " Because, fair lady, according to the ways of China, those we love we never seek to wed ourselves, but rather try to marry them to our friends." This extraordinary announcement struck Mrs. McFlusterer with such astonishment that she could only gasp ; there was a tinge of irony, too, pervading the assertion, but whether this was intentional or not she was unable to decide, nor did the face of the speaker give any indica- tion to assist her. " Make up thy mind, fair lady," he resumed, " whether thy hus- band is to suffer, and thy city to be destroyed. I have just brought back the envoys from the fleet, and thy return was one of the stipulated conditions." " Give me until to-morrow,— only till to-morrow," she cried, falling on her knees. " That is already granted, fair one, but by that time must thy de- 'cision be made." Thereupon Taonsu retired, put on his white beard, and, as he walked down to the East River in the neighborhood of the docks, he would have readily passed for an ordinary pedestrian,, so perfect was the disguise of his beard and his European clothes. Now, the harbor had been comparatively deserted lately, for, though large numbers of torpedoes had been destroyed by the burning oil, there were yet sufficient loose ones floating about to make the waters far from agreeable as a resort : consequently, no one interfered with Taonsu as he rowed out in a small boat he had kft in the deep shadow of a wharf. It was some twenty minutes later that .he gained the steam-launch, unnoticed as when he had left it. CHAPTER XXIV. Poor Mrs. McFlusterer was having a hard time of it. It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back, and any resolution she might Jiave had not to give herself up as a willing sacrific"e was to be broken yet. Up to this time she could scarcely have imagined this proposal of Taonsu's to be serious, and the morning sunlight was beginning to dispel the shadows of the past night. The state of aifairs could not be so terrible, after all. The city authorities would never permit such a sacrifice, and they must be ap- 76 A DREAM OF COXqUEST. pealed to in order to relieve her. Tlie liberation of her husband must be insei-ted as a special condition in any pending treaty. She would go down immediately to the Chamber of Commerce and to the City Ilall. Her spirits were reviving, and she toyed with her egg-shell and her spoon with more of her old manner. As she glanced out of the window, too, she could see the children of the bivouackers playing opposite to her, and tlie very leaves seemed to have sprouted through the night ; all, everything on every side of her, seorned lighted with ho]ie, and tlie })eople, by their joyful expression of countenance, appeared to feel that the siege was soon to be raised. Yes, she must go down to the City Hall at once ; and she rose from her seat with the intention of getting her cloak and bonnet. But what is this ? A body of troops passing by ? Yes. No, for they do not pass. On the contrary, the tramp of their footsteps ceases just opposite her house ; how odd ! After a moment's delay, steps are heard on the stoop, and the bell rings loudly. Mrs. McFlusterer had stood just where she had risen, with her hand pressed to the folds of her dress as she swept them back from the breakfast-table. Under ordinary circumstances her curiosity would have carried her to the window, but there was something in the very echo of these footsteps, something in the very ring of the bell, that riveted her to the floor. She hears the old housekeeper descending the stairs on her way to the front door ; she hears a smothered discussion in the. hall ; and the next instant a conclave of twelve gentlemen, headed by Mr. Puncherry, solemnly enter the apartment. They were all eminently respectable 'gentlemen, and most of them she had previously met in society ; but there was an expression of deep sadness on their faces that completely altered them. At first they said nothing to her, but stood regarding her pityingly through their glasses. Mrs. McFlusterer could support their silence no longer. " What is it, gentlemen ? tell me what it is," she cried. " I know you come with something terrible to announce. Has my husband been sacrificed ?" Instead of replying, they all nudged one another, as if each wanted to force the other into the duty of spokesman. Mr. Puncherry, being nudged the hardest, was almost physically forced to a prominence of position from which he was unable to retreat. " If s very awkward, it's very awkward indeed, madam," said that gentleman, with his face very red, and rubbing his hat the wrong way with the cuff of his sleeve. "The fact of the matter is," he continued, in a fit of sudden in- spiration to escape the disagreeable task of explaining matters himself, " these gentlemen stopped at my house and asked me to bring them over and introduce them." Then, calling out each gentleman's name in turn, Mr. Puncherry bowed himself cleverly out of the situation into which he had been so cruelly thrust. "The fact of the matter is rather, madam," said the gentleman A DREAM OF CONQUEST. 77 whose name had been the fii-st called, " that we were yesterday deputed as a committee of twelve to take in hand the difficult task of getting rid of the enemy. For that purpose we heroically visited the fleet last evening, and were almost blown up on the way." The old gentleman stopped somewhat abruptly, for Mrs. McFlusterer stood looking at him 60 fixedly that her gaze made him uncomfortable. He took out his handkerciiief and sponged the top of his bald bead, then, as if thereby receiving stimulation, he went into a lono^-winded account of their ex- pedition, stating the terms Wang-Chi-Poo had finally consented to accept, and last, but not least, describing the ])itiable appeal of Mr. McFlusterer as he sat in his bamboo cage tied by the foot. " This ultimatum," continued the old gentleman, " we presented to the city authorities, and they have just sent us to ask of you a very great favor, — or, let me say, to state to you what a heroic sacrifice they would con- sider it if, in the interest of your native city and the country at large, you would consent to sail back with the fleet to China. It wouldn't be so disagreeable if you only look at it in the proper spirit ; and before very long Mr. Puncherry's ship-yards will have turned out an Ameri- can squadron which will sail over and bring you back. It is very awkward, but you see if you dun't return by to-night they resume the bombardment, and your husband will be immediately sacrificed." Then the speaker stopped and looked at her inquiringly. " Madam, we await your answer." Mrs. McFlusterer stood there like Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt ; she was quite as rigid and quite as blanched. So her city threw her off! and, flinging herself on the sofa, she burst into a wild par- oxysm of weeping. And yet as she wept the great sacrifice she was asked to make appealed to her by its very magnitude : was ever a woman asked to make such a sacrifice as this ? By one of those ex- traordinary instances of clairvoyance, too, her husband was revealed to her just as he was in his bamboo cage. He seemed to be imploring her, as he piteously told her of tlie fate that hung for him on her decision. Above all, the terrors of the bombardment recurred to her, and again she saw the frightened women, the dying children, and the crashing walls. " Gentlemen," she said, abruptly rising and facing the deputation, " the men of America having failed to provide for the defence of tlieir women, it remains for a woman to make the sacrifice. I go, — yes, I will go." Then the deputation withdrew and left her to herself. The news of Mrs. McFlusterer's decision spread like wildfire. It became the sensation of a much-excited town ; crowds of those that yet remained of the city's population came to gaze at her windows, and she found that the publicity she had always courted was gained ; not that she cared for it now,— on the contrary : but the principal con- dition of success seems to be that when we gain what we have been struggling for all our lives, we gain it in such a manner, at such a time, or hampered with such conditions, as to make it valueless. Even in the strained situation of affairs, committees were formed to wait on her, and bands of music came and played funeral dirges, appro- 78 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. priate to the occasion, as they paraded up and down in front of her house. Yet there was a large faction of the opinion that she ought not to be allowed to go under any circumstances. These, however, were mostly the impotent ones who possessed neither banks of deposit nor bank-accounts. Now, in spite of his previous protestations to the contrary, Wang- Chi-Poo, on learning of Mrs. McFlusterer's decision, had finally agreed to receive a lump sum down in lieu of the various instalments he had originally demanded : this had already been sent out to the Chinese. Then, too, commissioners appointed by telegraph from Washington had just signed a treaty for the free admission of the Mongolian race ; con- sequently, there now remained only the exchange of Mr. McFlusterer for his wife, which was to take place midway between the fleet and the shore at six o'clock in the afternoon. How that day dragged for Mrs. McFlusterer ! When once we have decided on some heroic act, it is the small and trivial details that irritate. It was five o'clock when the deputation called for her, and this had been joined by a band of the fairest w^omen New York yet con- tained. They were dressed in white tunics of the coarsest stuff, and walked before her carriage slowly, wringing their hands and tearing their hair. Now, New York, when it sets itself to do anything, does it remarkably well ; and in response to the popular craze for proces- sions the children of the various hospitals and charitable associations with which the lady had been connected were provided, at the city's expense, with clean pocket-handkerchiefs, and were marshalled in line. After the school-children came the various city guilds; and, as there had been no time to get the legislators from Albany, the Board of Aldermen closed the procession. So great was the concourse of people whom her martyrdom drew forth that, on arriving at the wharf where she was to embark, it was with difficulty she could pass through their ranks ; nor even here would the band of fair women leave her, but, accompanying her on the ferry-boat which had been engaged to take her out, they sailed down the bay with her, making the sad waves sadder by their wailing and their gestures of woe. Punctually to the hour, the steam-launch brought Mr. McFlusterer out from the fleet to the common point of meeting, and for a brief ten minutes husband and wife remained clasped in each other's arms. Then, just as she was getting into the steam- launch to take his vacated place, he weakened, and, jumping back after her, vowed that he'd remain by her side tlirough thick and thin and go with her to China or to the devil himself. Thus the deputation of twelve respectable gentlemen and the band of disconsolate fair ones re- turned to the city without the ^' Razor ;" and the several forts along the Narrows, which had been so useless for war, appeared to fire minute- guns as they passed, and there was a weird sadness over all things. Then these discharges grew more frequent; even the foreign fleet seemed to be taking part in the demonstration. By the time the deputation had got back to the city, however, shells were bursting over their heads, and walls were tumbling again. Was A DREAM OF CONQUEST. ■ 79 AYang-Chi-Poo enraged at the " Razor's" return ? It would seem so, for the bombardment had been renewed, and was increasing in severity. Indeed, the former attack paled into insignificance before the new. Deeming that trouble was over, the people had moved back into their houses, and were therefore taken completely by surprise. Such a scene of horror was probably never witnessed before. Here were women in their frantic terror throwing their own children out of windows, and men and boys stretching their arms on high in mute appeal to the Deity. One of the shells exploding in Gilmore's Garden, temporarily oc- cupied by Barnum^s Circus, caused in some miraculous manner the beasts to escape, and these suddenly stampeding made confusion worse confounded, as they tore down the streets, trampling all before them ; huge elephants trumpeting their alarm, uprooting lamp-posts with their trunks, and lasliing their tails ; hippopotami with their tusks tearing and rending everything they met ; affrighted giraffes craning their long necks upward and thrusting their heads into second-story windows, as they daslied by. Such a terrible sight I never saw. After this all grew confused. I have an indistinct recollection 0/ going down the bay with the deputation that conducted Mrs. McFlusterer, and on my return of lending my assistance in the capture of these escaped animals ; after that of throwing myself, completely exhausted, upon my bed, regardless of wliat might ensue, and of trying to sleep through the bombardment. At first I seemed to succeed fairly well, but was disturbed at last by the gradually increasing noise of heavy ordnance, of the crash of falling masonry growing louder and nearer, and particularly by a great light shining in my eyes. The main pipe of the Standard Oil Company, crossing the East River, had been burst open by the frantic inhabitants, and the oil ignited as it flowed over the waters of the harbor. By this flaming light I seemed to see for an instant Wang-Chi-Poo standing, not on the deck of his ship, but on the lofty Brooklyn Bridge, survey- ing, like Macaulay's New Zealander, the desolation about him. Then the glare grows more intense and the booming of the cannonade nearer and more terribly distinct. Adjacent walls are falling, — ay, the very walls of my own house. I spring from my bed, and stare about me in bewildered astonish- ment. Instead of its being night, the glorious rays of an April sun are shining in my eyes ; the walls of my room are standing, but the reports of heavy ordnance still continue. I fly to my window, — but what is this ? No panic-stricken people, no troops of enraged elephants and bizarre giraffes, no deputations of fantastically-draped females wringing their hands and tearing their hair. On the contrary, the same prosaic people are passing up and down on their every-day affairs as are wont to pass every morning of the year. Can it all have been a dream? No, for the cannonading, instead of growing fainter, rather gets louder. I fly to the door, and my land- lady hands me a note. " Have they gone ?" I ask. "Bless your soul, sir, of course they've gone. Here Fve been knocking for the last fifteen minutes. You couldn^t expect them to wait the answer that long." 80 A DREAM OF CONQUEST. " I mean the Chinese." "The Chinese, sir? Laws-a-massy ! what's got inter you, sir?" And the old lady started back alarmed. Indeed, I might well have terrified any one, especially so staid and eminently respectable a party as Mrs. Archer was, as I pounced out upon her. She had dropped the note in her fright, and I could hear her steps pattering down the stairs as she hastily descended. As I picked up the letter I recognized the handwriting, and particu- larly the coat of arms, as Mrs. McFlusterer\s. Doubtless she had sent it from the fleet, I thought, as a last farewell. I opened it hurriedly, and this is what I read : " Mr. and Mrs. McFlusterer request the pleasure," etc., etc. Then all was clear. I had simply been dreaming, and I could account for every incident in my nightmare, however distorted. A term in Congress ; a trip at the close of the last sassion to the " Queen of the Antilles," where I was strongly impressed with the evils of Chinese immigration, and the inevitable ruin to a newer civilization when inoculated wit^ the moral and physical diseases of the East; the meeting while on that beautiful isle with a courtly and not uninteresting specimen of the Chinese race, who was travelling with his secretary ; and, lastly, on my return the accounts that met me of the Samoan trouble, — these several incidents, coupled with an extensive reading of what has been published concerning our defence- less coasts, and a voyage under water with my friend Mr. Smith, who is actually my shirt-maker, in the trial trip of his boat, supplied warp and woof of this hideous dream-tissue, everything as distinct and clear as I have tried to make it ; the details as to marine warfare, steel plates, explosives, etc., when I came to compare them with fact, being in perfect accordance therewith, and my own personality, as so frequently occurs in dreams, now gliding into one of my characters, and now into another. Nevertheless, dream that it was, there is a vein of common sense running through it like a silver thread, and it is this : If we wish to preserve in peace the wealth and prosperity our energies have produced, we ought to devote some small portion to defending ourselves against those attacks which our very wealth and well-being invite. So much at least common sense dictates : guarding against reckless expenditures whose results may become useless in the next ten years, let us at least spend sufficient to keep our proper place in the march of improvement; for so only can .the just demands of a great power be enforced when it becomes necessary to enforce them. Si vis pacem, para helium. THE END. 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