The spur of the hill East of Chiu-lien-cheng, which guards the ravine along which the road ascends was held tenaciously. The narrow and precipitous gorge was entrenched along the base and slopes, and the crest was crowned with earthworks and empalements. Toward this point the left, having rallied, advanced once more. Steadily, and in more extended order, they moved across the plain with their backs to the river. Officers on horseback directed their movements as calmly as on parade, and men, now singly, now in groups, dropped into the river and forded to their comrades. In a few moments the line was moving toward the spur in the shape of a bow well strung, and a shield of rifles was cast about the foot of the hill. Here they remained and fought with the utmost bravery and stubbornness, suffering heavily, as one could see from the gaps in their formation. Twice the fighting line was reinforced, and all the time over their heads sang the shells from the howitzers, rending the earth about the trenches, and covering the hill sides with clouds of brown dust. Thus the minutes passed, and the shield drew closer and closer about the spur. But the resistance was desperate, though unaided by artillery, and it was clear that the position must be taken in reverse. The left centre was already well forward, and was rapidly approaching the foot of the ridge from which stands Conical Hill. The opposition here was feeble, for the enemy was retiring, and made only one effort to reinforce the trenches in the pass. Once across the flat, the left centre swarmed up the slope, a flag marking their progress. Away on the extreme right the Twelfth Division was pressing home the flanking attack, and the guns on the high ground north had been silenced by the batteries on Tiger Hill. [Illustration: A close View of the Yalu.] The position was taken. On the reverse slope East of Chiu-lien-cheng the Japanese were now in force. Their flag was climbing higher and higher up the hill until it waved proudly from the crest, and thunderous cheers echoed from the walls and towers of Wiju. The left was still advancing on Chiu-lien-cheng under cover of guns that searched even crevices in the hills beyond. In a moment more they reached the line of stone houses, and were moving toward the hills, while others tending to the East rushed the shoulder of the heights on the West of the pass. Upon this spur, sheltered from observation by the peak of the hill they stood in dense mass. Suddenly hurtling through the air came two shells. A spurt of brown earth sprang from their midst, and the mass breaking into fragments scattered down the hill. Sixteen inanimate forms showed where the shells had fallen short. It was an accident common enough in battle--one of the kind witnessed at Elandslaagte when our gunners shelled our own advance.