  When the surprise had a little subsided upon both sides, Chow looked around, listened anxiously for a moment, and then said, "This is a fortunate day; the surprise, the joy is great, but, alas! it will be short-lived, for the barbarians can neither forget nor forgive," and he related his adventure with the soldiers; when, taking him by the hand, the princess said, "Fear not, friend of my brother; the barbarians dare not enter the house of Ki; for the usurper, barbarian as he is, has bestowed honor upon the noble colao for his services to his late Emperor, and as a consolation for his misfortunes; and in the house of one upon whom Chun-ti has bestowed the honored title of 'Faithful to his Prince,' no person dares enter unasked." "Thy servant feared less for himself than for his beloved mother and the illustrious princess, whom he is commanded by the noble Nicholas to rescue from the degenerate soil of China, till it again owns its native princess," said Chow; adding, "From the hour that the vile guide betrayed the illustrious princess into the hands of the rogues, the noble Nicholas has left no stone unturned to discover thy fate." Then, repeating the history of their adventures to the time of his being taken prisoner by Li-Kong, he added, "So enraged was the villain mandarin, that, instead of killing me on the spot, he reserved me for a cruel death upon our reaching Pekin; then, however, being driven from the capital, he took me with him to Chen-si, where I was kept loaded with chains in a damp hole for many months, till indeed the great rebel was himself driven out of Chen-si, when, so ill that I could not walk, I was taken from the prison and conveyed to the house of the physician, who had been ordered to take charge of the sick and wounded, and unfortunately I remained senseless so long, that when I recovered, I discovered that not only had the great Woo-san-Kwei been the general who had punished Li, but that my beloved master had been with him. Bitterly regretting the misfortune that had caused me to miss him so narrowly, I resolved on seeking him in the capital; and so without money or food, but what I could beg on the road, I traveled, being compelled to rest many days upon my journey. "At length, however, I reached Pekin, when, to my great rage, not only did I find that the Tartar prince had seized the throne, but that my noble master had left the city in horror at the great treason of his illustrious parent Chin-Chi-Loong. Then, weary of a world which contained so much vileness and misfortune, I should have myself sought the yellow stream, had it not occurred to me, that it would be villainous to desert the beloved parent whom I had resolved to discover; but, moreover, my master had taught me that it was a great crime; and, trembling that I had ever contemplated such a thing, I rushed down to the canal and engaged myself as a Coolie, for I thought the employment would drive away my sorrow, and, perhaps, throw some lucky chance in my way, and so it happened; for one day, carrying some goods for a traveling merchant, the good man took a fancy to me, and offered to take me with him into the province of Fokien. The offer gave me joy, for I knew that if ever I found my master it would be near the sea, which he loves as if he were a fish, and so it chanced; for one day, after many months' traveling, we lodged at the town of Ho-a, when a few days afterward the Chinese inhabitants became very joyful, and the Tartar soldiers were greatly terrified at a report that the terrible Koshinga, whose name just about that time had become famous, would land. Well, the report proved true, for the sea chief appeared with a great fleet, and drove the Tartars inland; when, feeling weary of my servitude, and longing to fight against the usurping barbarians, I offered my services to one of the commanders, and no sooner had I put in force that virtuous resolution, than my fortunes began to mend, for in one of the ships I found the noble Nicholas. "Well, I will only tell the illustrious princess how that I kept by the side of the noble Nicholas in all battles that have been fought by the great Koshinga; but in the midst of our adventures and successes, both the noble Nicholas and his servant were unhappy, for they pined to learn the fate of the daughter of the Mings, whom the heavens had once entrusted to their care. At every town upon the coast, from every man who joined the fleet, did we endeavor to trace some clue, not omitting to offer great rewards; it was all, however, useless, till one day a Tartar prisoner was taken and brought to our ship, and as he had with him a copy of the Pekin Gazette, which contains the officers of the empire and the decrees of the Emperor, the noble Nicholas eagerly read it to find out the movements of the barbarians, when, much to his surprise, he saw that the noble Ki had been restored to his rank and fortunes, and, moreover, was permitted to reside unmolested at his native palace in Fokien. 'Thus, then, O Chow, we have a fortunate day; here is a clue to the princess—for should she have escaped the villain rebels, this old and faithful servant of her royal father will surely know,' said the noble Nicholas." "Truly the great Father of heaven hath directed, this even," said the princess. "Then, O my princess, the heart of thy servant leaped for joy; for he knew that the clue to the illustrious daughter of the Mings would lead to the discovery of his beloved mother, so upon his knees he begged his noble master to let him search the coast of Fokien, a request he would have granted, had not the whole fleet been ordered by the chief Koshinga to attack and drive the barbarian Hollanders from the great island of Formosa on that day. Then for nearly four moons was the fleet before the castle of Zealand, which protects the island; and so well did the barbarians fight, that we had no other hope but to starve them out; at length, however, they were joined by the numerous ships of the traitorous black dragon Yuen, and for the first time Koshinga was near being defeated, till at length destiny led him to fill seven of his ships with oil and inflammable materials, when, taking advantage of the first north-easterly wind, he set them on fire, and sent them among the ships of Yuen, the greater part of which being destroyed, the crews with the black dragon sought the shores in their boats. Thus having got rid of the fleet, the great Koshinga landed his troops, and after a great battle killed the greater portion of the pirates, made the remainder prisoners, and took possession of the country." "Truly this Koshinga is a great war dragon," said the princess. "And noble as he is brave; for although he punished the traitor pirates with death, as enemies to their true Emperor, he permitted the miserable Hollanders, who, being barbarians, could know no better, to pile up their household goods in one of their ships and depart." "Thou hast not said aught of the noble Nicholas during this terrible fight," said the princess. "Truly, O illustrious lady, he fought like the brave war tiger that he is, and performed the greatest act of the fight; for with his own hands he slew the villain Yuen." "Then great was his destiny, for he has rendered the whole empire grateful," exclaimed Ki. "They owe the noble Nicholas more gratitude than the rebel Li-Kong, of whose place of refuge, or fate, none have been able to imagine, since the taking of Chen-si by the great Woo-san-Kwei." "God is indeed great; thus may treason be for ever punished," said the princess. "But greater to thy servant was the capturing of the villain mandarin, who killed his venerable parent. I had struck the rogue down with my sword, and rejoicing that I had at last the opportunity of destroying so great a villain, was about to kill him, when he saved his life by uttering a few words." "Is it under heaven that thou couldst save the life of the slayer of thy parent?" exclaimed Chow's mother. "Truly, my noble mother, for those words were 'Thy mother and the princess.' Like magic they kept my sword suspended midway, and I said, 'What words are these, thou dog?' And the mean rogue said, 'If the noble captain will save the life of his slave, he shall be restored to his parent.' Need a son tell his mother that he promised when the rascal said, 'That it had been known for a long time to him that the princess was living in disguise in the house of the retired colao in Fokien, and that had Li-Kong been successful in defeating Koshinga, it was the rogue's intention to sail for the coast and seize the illustrious lady?" "Truly Heaven is merciful in having destroyed such a villain," said the princess. "Then," added Chow, "delighted with the discovery, my enmity to the rogue became lost in my anxiety to again see my parent; so I besought of the noble Nicholas to send me in search of those lost pearls of our existence, which he did with these words: 'Tell the illustrious princess that the Tartar rogues will seize her if she does not seek the protection of Koshinga, the friend of China and the Mings, of whose favor her adopted brother Nicholas will assure her.' Thus commissioned, I obtained one of the smallest junks of the fleet, had it repainted and disguised to resemble a trading vessel, set sail from the island, and landed this morning, when I so nearly fell into the hands of the rats of Tartars. Such is the history of thy servant, and such his mission. It is for the great wisdom of the princess alone, to consider whether the daughter of the Mings may long remain in safety and undiscovered beneath the dominion of the butchers of her race." "Heaven is beneficent and thy words wise, O Chow," said the princess. "Truly, daughter of my beloved master, thy safety would have been endangered had we been permitted to remain here, for since the villain mandarin knew thy secret, it is but reasonable to believe that it may be in the possession of another who may part with it for a high price to the Emperor Chun-ti. But since this cruel order has arrived, to destroy all the houses for ten miles inland, the princess can find no safer asylum than the country of the great patriot Koshinga," said the colao. Never could there have been a more fortunate time for them to leave the town; for, as all the inhabitants were hastening to obey the order of the Emperor, and were busy with their own affairs, they could escape the watchful eyes of the Tartars. So that very day they set about making preparations for their departure, and before twenty-four hours had passed, the whole party were on board Chow's ship and moving down the stream; indeed, not a moment before it was necessary, for scarcely had they got under way when a boat put off from the shore, filled with Tartar soldiers, the chief of whom commanded them to stop. "What would the Tartar dogs?" said Chow, standing upon the poop of the vessel. The reply, however, was an arrow, which but narrowly missed the breast of the brave fellow; who, however, taking no notice of the missile, said, very coolly, as the soldiers reached the side of the ship and demanded to be admitted on board, "What would the Tartar dogs on board a quiet trading vessel?" "The daughter of the miserable Ming," was the reply. "Then only two at a time, my brother," replied Chow, acquiescing in their request. And without waiting for further permission, the two soldiers climbed up the side and stood on the deck, only, however, to find themselves tightly clasped by armed men, who had been lying down in readiness for them. At the same time Chow, assisted by some of his crew, threw a heavy bar over the ship's side into the boat below, which falling across the bows and sinking her, sent the soldiers into the water struggling for their lives. "Oh, oh!" said Chow to the two prisoners, "you are the affectionate rogues who wanted a lock of my hair." "Surely the magnanimous hero would not murder two poor men who were doing their duty," was the reply. "Truly it is said that fortune comes to every dog in its turn, and I am the bow-wow now," said Chow to the Tartars, as he tied together the ends of the long head-tails, of which they were so proud that they wished all China to imitate them, and consequently now roared for fear of losing them. "Get you gone, you dogs!" said Chow; and the next moment the men were toppled over into the river, plunging, kicking, and at every plunge giving such reciprocal pulls at each other's tails that they became as belligerent as two cats in a similar predicament, and the more so, that the people upon the banks stood laughing heartily at their ridiculous gyrations. |
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