Sir Edward Seymour was now the senior officer in Tientsin, and took over the command of the place. Affairs in Tientsin since the relief force had started, had not been altogether devoid of interest. The Commissioner of Customs had received a note from Sir Robert Hart to say that the Legations had been commanded to leave Pekin in twenty-four hours, and the letter was dated the 19th. This very naturally caused the greatest alarm about the persons of the Ministers and the Legation Guards; for after Seymour’s experiences, every one knew what the order meant. If the command had been obeyed it simply spelt disaster, for once outside the city walls an army of 30,000 men would have slain them to a man! Another item of interest had been the arrival of a further detachment of the Chinese regiment. A fine, well set up, smart body of men, who seemed to have about as much objection to slaying their brother Chinese, as had the rest of the Allies, who were by this time getting rather bitterly disposed. A few shells were fired into the settlement towards evening, and it was noticed that the rifling of one of the heaviest was getting worn, for his projectiles used to turn over and over, making a most weird noise as they did so. But even these idiosyncrasies were insufficiently alarming to drive away sleep from the weary men of Seymour’s column. CHAPTER VII PEI-YANG, SECOND SIEGE OF TIENTSIN The next day, June 27th, the Russian General decided that it was necessary to take the large eastern arsenal, about three and a half miles away, as it was known that it sheltered large bodies of the enemy, besides commanding the railway communication to Taku. Immediately the Commander-in-Chief heard of the project, he offered British assistance, but the Russian General replied that he felt able to take the place without aid, and so orders were given that the British would be granted a day’s rest, after the arduous operations of the last few days. This was welcome news, and officers and men changed all their apparel, and made themselves comfortable preparatory, as they thought, to having a good day’s sleep. At 11 a.m., however, the “general assembly,” was sounded, and orders were given that the utmost dispatch was necessary. In an incredibly short space of time, 500 of the naval brigade, two companies of the Wei-Hai-Wei regiment, and 50 American marines, under Major Waller, were under arms, and ready to proceed in any direction. It transpired that the Russians had been brought to a standstill by shell fire, while yet at extreme rifle range, and that their own fire had been rendered singularly ineffective by a very annoying mirage, which made it next to impossible to judge ranges at all accurately, or to discern any details at the point of attack.