Opposite the eastern end of the British portion of the bund stood some tin-roofed barracks, surrounded by a wall, where a number of embryo officers and some hundreds of Chinese troops had established themselves. With them were a battery of Krupp guns, and it was doubtless their intention to open fire on the settlement at point-blank range as soon as they got their orders from the authorities. Luckily those orders had not arrived at the time that the first gun was fired, and in the interval, their calculations were upset by an attack on the position by the British marines. The representatives of this fine corps, supported by some British and German bluejackets, crossed the river and stormed the building. The Chinese, a great many of whom corresponded to our military cadets, called themselves the “Fight-to-the-death Boys”; they acted right well up to their boast, for very few escaped! The effect was decisive, and in half an hour after a desperate hand-to-hand fight, the enemy fled, numbers being killed as they ran; the building was burnt and the guns captured. On this day the fifty bluejackets, who, with a lieutenant and two midshipmen, had been sent to guard Tongshan on the 10th, arrived at Pei-ta-ho. Their little expedition had not been devoid of interest. Tongshan is the seat of the most important railway works in the north of China; it is situated on the branch line to Shan-Hai-Kwan, and was right in the path of the rising. As its fall would involve enormous pecuniary loss to the company, a guard had been asked for, and the above-named force had left Tientsin with that purpose. Their troubles commenced early, for at Lutai, a place half-way between Tong-Ku and their destination, the train stopped for water. Had it not been for the order to avoid showing themselves as much as possible, it is probable that they would never have left the place alive, for there was a large force of Imperial troops at the station with orders to open fire should any European force attempt to detrain. This incident should suffice to show how the Chinese government kept faith with the foreigners, because at that time it was distinctly understood that the allied forces and the Imperial troops were working together for the suppression of a common nuisance. The bluejackets reached Tongshan that evening, where they received an enthusiastic welcome from the small community who seemed rather unnecessarily alarmed. However that may have been, they could not do enough for the officers and men, who found excellent accommodation and a good meal awaiting them.