“Certee, lieutenant. Da no Chlistians--me Chlistian--me fight alle samee, rescue Chlistians at legations in Pekin.” And with a merry nod the Chinaman bobbed away. Gilbert could not help but gaze at him in wonder. “I don’t believe he’ll fight his own people, Christian or no Christian,” he mused. But for once the young lieutenant was mistaken. When it came to the test, the Chinese troops marching under the Union Jack fought as well as any Celestials in the war. When leaving the transport, Gilbert had lost sight of Nuggy Polk and Jerry Nickerson; and he felt that it might be many a day before he would again encounter the pair. “Perhaps we shall never meet again,” he thought. “I’ve got a hard campaign before me; and who knows but that I may lay down my life in the struggle? Somebody is bound to die, and this trip it may be my turn.” From the soldiers who were coming and going Gilbert learned that fighting in and around Tien-Tsin was of daily occurrence. “The Chinks are not beaten yet,” said one old marine. “We hold Taku, Tongku, a part of Tien-Tsin, and about fifteen miles of this Tongku-Pekin railway; and that is all we do hold.” “Is the railroad to Pekin in order still?” “Bless you! no, lieutenant. The Boxers tore up the rails long ago, and threw them into the river. And, worse than that, I’ve been told that they have cut up the roads, too, so that, if we march on Pekin, we’ll do lots of travelling through ditches filled with water and mud.” CHAPTER XIV A FIRST BATTLE ON CHINESE SOIL The distance from the Gulf of Pechili to Tien-Tsin by the Pei-Ho is all of seventy miles; for the river, broad and very shallow except during the annual high tides, winds its way along in serpent fashion through marshland and reeds, with here and there an embankment thrown up to resist the encroachments of the sea. Fortunately, the bottom of the river is nothing more dangerous than slimy mud, so that steamers getting stuck suffer little or nothing save the time and expense of getting afloat again. The native city and the foreign concessions lie on the southern bank of the Pei-Ho; while opposite are the railroad station, docks, and, just east of these, the arsenal. The distance from here to Tongku by railroad, a direct line, is but twenty-seven miles, with but one station of importance between, Chung-Liang-Cheng. To the west of the native quarter is the Grand Canal, on the opposite bank of which are located the cathedral and the private grounds and palace of the viceroy of Shantung, Earl Li Hung Chang.