Commander Hughes saw that a new danger confronted the success of his undertaking; those in the mission as yet could not know of the close proximity of their friends, and might they not in their vigorous defense turn the muzzles of their Colt guns against them? The thought was fearful to contemplate. “Mr. Perry,” he ordered in a strained voice, “those guns,” pointing to the hill on the right from which long tongues of flame darted momentarily, “must be silenced. We dare not advance further under their murderous fire. Take a hundred men and flank them.” Phil gasped at the suddenness of the order, thanking his captain in his heart for his confidence in his ability to do what seemed to the lad impossible. “Langdon will show you the way,” Commander Hughes ordered quickly; “don’t expose your men to our own fire. I shall endeavor to get word to the mission. Mr. Monroe will remain with me.” As silently as possible Phil selected those to go with him, among them being his old friend O’Neil, leading them on a run back toward the ditch which had been crossed scarcely a quarter of an hour before; then he gathered the men about him to explain the dangerous work for which they had been chosen. “We shall get on the flank of the artillery, and when the order is given to advance we must gain a position from which we can charge directly upon the battery. The lives of all depend upon our success.” The men in silence accepted the conditions, and in another minute Langdon was leading the small band along the deep ditch in the shadow of the bordering trees. After traversing a few hundred yards the pilot paused at a road crossing the one they were on. “This is the road we took the other night,” Langdon whispered; “we shall follow it for a short distance and then we shall be on the flank and a little in rear of the Chinese position.” The command moved cautiously forward until the pilot stopped and the midshipman knew that the position desired had been reached. Deploying his men quietly, he bade them advance silently toward the pandemonium of the Chinese attackers ahead of them. While he moved forward up the gentle rise of the land he could see distinctly the bright flashes from the enemy’s guns, but his own men were as yet undiscovered and protected by the intervening crest of the low hill up which they were doggedly marching. He glanced fearfully to his left to see how Commander Hughes and his men were faring; that part of the battle-ground was in darkness; the Chinese seemed now too much absorbed in their desire to destroy the mission to give thought to the handful of sailors known to have crossed the bridge before it collapsed into the ditch below. Steadily the flanking party advanced toward the coveted position over the uneven ground, the men casting apprehensive glances to left and right, their rifles held ready for instant conflict.