"It is our turn now, thou vile rogue," said Chow, as he cut the cords that bound his master.

"This is well accomplished my brave Chow; but now let us leave the traitor and haste to the palace," said Nicholas.

"It is hopeless, O my master, for the outer palace is in flames, and surrounded by the rebels."

"Is it not a maxim that no effort is hopeless to the brave?"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ATTACK ON THE PALACE.--SUICIDE OF THE EMPEROR, THE PRINCESS WOUNDED.

Having dismissed the soldiers, the two boys mingled with the vast crowd that was surging toward the palace with deafening cheers for Li-Kong, who, by the treachery of the general, aided by those of his own troops who for weeks past had been pa.s.sing into the city under the pretence of being fugitive tradespeople, had now reached the very walls of the outer palace without opposition. Indeed, so great were the numbers of the rebel troops and the ma.s.s of people who joined on their way, that when they came in sight of the palace walls the imperial soldiers fled in dismay, and so well had the rebel chief, and his brother traitors near the person of the Emperor, organized the conspiracy, that it was not until the outer palace was in flames that Wey-t-song became aware that Li-Kong had even entered Pekin. Then, however, like another Sardanapalus, his energies became aroused, and he collected together some few hundreds of his body guard, and determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, and till morning he held out; for so well did his guards handle the bows, and so clumsily did the rebels use their matchlocks, that it was early morning before the latter could effect an entrance to the inner palace.

When, however, the broad light of morning came, what with the force of numbers, and their being enabled to use their matchlocks to greater advantage, they soon forced the gates and rushed into the great court _en ma.s.se_. Being among the first to enter, Nicholas and Chow beheld the Emperor, in the uniform of one of his own officers, exhorting his troops to die with him rather than to succ.u.mb to rebels. After a short fight, however, the coward guards threw down their arms, and shouted, "Long life to the heaven-bestowed Emperor Li-Kong." Indignant at their cowardice, Nicholas would have rushed among them, but for Chow, who whispered the danger of the princess.

For a minute the fraternization of the guards appeased the rebels--it was only for a minute--then they shouted for the head of the vile Wey-t-song, and one of the guards pointing to the inner palace, they ran in that direction like a herd of hungry wolves, killing all, men, women, or children, whom they met in their way; then they came to the ladies'

palace, and with hideous shouts of exultation, set it on fire; and the poor women, at least those who were not destroyed by the flames, ran from all quarters, but, alas! only to fall by the swords of the fiends, or, if escaping the latter, to perform, to them, the sacred duty of throwing themselves headlong into the ca.n.a.ls, that they might not survive the downfall of their imperial master.

More infuriated than the rebels, and with a wild hope of saving the Emperor and the princess, Nicholas ran through the burning palace, as if seeking death from the falling timbers; but, alas no clue could be found to those he sought. At length he thought of the imperial gardens, a place that the rebels, in their anxiety to plunder the palace, had forgotten.

"So, while Chow went in an opposite direction, he took the path leading to the mulberry grove, and there, upon a mound, he discovered the object of his search--both Emperor and princess; but, to his horror, the first dead, and hanging by his own girdle from the bough of a prune-tree, and the princess senseless, expiring from a deep wound in her side, from which the blood was flowing copiously. Shocked so that the blood in his veins seemed congealed, Nicholas cut down the dead Emperor with his sword, then stanched the wound of the princess with his silk girdle, ran to the lake, filled his cap with water, and sprinkled it in her face, when, joy! the pale face resumed the hue of life--still she was insensible, and he miserable, for he knew not what other means to adopt for her restoration. Then came the sound of approaching footsteps--it might be a rebel, and he clutched his sword, determined to die before the royal lady should be taken from him--but no, it was Chow, who, having lost himself for some time in the mazes of the garden, had reached the spot by mere accident; and no sooner did the faithful fellow perceive the tragic scene, than he fell upon his knees and wept.

"Truly the villains will speedily be here, and we shall be lost if we can not discover some hiding-place," said Nicholas.

"The G.o.ds must intend our escape from this den of thieves, for I have just crept out of yonder cavern," said Chow, pointing to a thick bush at some short distance from where they were standing.

Then, without more words, they bore the senseless girl to the spot indicated by Chow, and pushing aside the brushwood, entered a cavern lighted from the top by a small grating, and laid her upon the floor.

The stanching of the blood, the cold water, and the movement, revived her, when she exclaimed, "This terrible dream--where am I? who art thou, thou terrible man?"

"Fear not beautiful daughter of the Ming, for thou art in the hands of thy own servants, who have saved thee----"

"Saved me!" she said, with a vacant gaze at Nicholas; then, as if remembering some terrible occurrence, added, "From my royal father, who plunged his dagger in my side, that his daughter might escape the villain Li-Kong, but the Emperor, my parent, O n.o.ble youth?"

"Alas! unfortunate princess----"

"Enough--enough--I remember all--the holy Emperor has saved himself the disgrace of falling into the power of the traitor. But why then," she added, bitterly, "has the worthless life of a daughter of his own blood been saved?"

"To be the most valued jewel in the throne of her brother the Emperor Yong-Li," said Nicholas.

"By restoring my worthless life thou hast brought shame and disgrace upon the daughter of thy Emperor, for hath it not ever been the custom of the daughters of the Son of Heaven to kill themselves upon the downfall of their sovereign?"

"The princess is of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, who alone giveth and taketh life," replied Nicholas.

"Thou art right, n.o.ble youth, and the descendant of Tait-sou will bear her misfortunes more as becomes a Christian than a daughter of China,"

said the princess; adding, sorrowfully, "but the remains of my beloved parent----"

"Shall be saved from the profane hands of rebels if the princess will remain within this cavern," replied Nicholas; who, followed by Chow, returned to the mound, where for a minute he stood contemplating all that remained of the last Emperor of the Ming dynasty. "Alas! poor prince, that thy virtues should have been clouded with so many faults.

See, O Chow, how bitterly he felt the ingrat.i.tude of his petted and pampered guards," said Nicholas, reading some lines that the Emperor had written in his own blood upon the border of his robe, and which were:--"The heavens are in thy favor, O Li-Kong; yet, although my subjects have basely abandoned me, I beseech of thee, as their parent, to wreak thy vengeance on my body; but save, O save my deluded people."

"The rebels come this way," said Chow.

"Let us hide till they have pa.s.sed," said Nicholas, and s.n.a.t.c.hing up his cross-bow, he ascended the nearest tree, believing that Chow had done likewise.

The new comers were two officers of Li-Kong.

"It was in this direction, O Lee, near the mulberry grove, that the woman slave saw the princess fly," said one, looking about.

"So said the heaven-bestowed Li," replied the other; but perceiving the body of the deposed sovereign, rebel as he was, his inherited awe for the majesty of the Emperor caused him to throw himself upon the ground, saying, "This then, O my poor prince, is the end of thy glories! indeed thy punishment has been severe, may it lead thy successor to avoid thy faults."

"Get thee to thy feet, O Quang, for the Emperor who can forsake his people well merits that they should forsake him in his extremity; moreover, should the heaven-bestowed Li see thee, he will cause thy foolish head to be chopped from thy shoulders, for, like a hungry tiger, he cares but little whether his food be friends or enemies, so that he can satisfy his appet.i.te."

"Thy words are good," said Quang, rising to his feet; adding, "Yet the most ravenous beast becomes satisfied."

"True, O Quang, but when this morning the great Li for the first time sat upon the golden throne of state, it trembled and tottered."

"A sad omen, O Lee; surely his majesty should have chosen a fortunate day."

"Truly, according to the chief bonze, it is an omen, signifying that while the body of Wey-t-song remains whole, the heaven-bestowed Emperor is in danger, and it is this that has angered him; but see, he comes,"

and both fell to the earth before the rebel general, who approaching with his great officers, said, "Have you discovered the princess, you crawling slaves?"

"At the risk of their lives thy slaves must deliver their miserable intelligence to the fortunate and heaven-bestowed founder of the most magnificent of dynasties," said Quang.

"Let the slave open his lips."

"The great princess has escaped with the Christian woman Candida,"

replied the trembling Quang.

"Escaped!" exclaimed the tyrant; "then let it be proclaimed throughout the empire that he who can bring her unarmed to our feet, shall receive high promotion, and the weight of his mean body in gold;" but at that moment, for the first time, seeing the body of the Emperor, he exclaimed, "The great traitor to his people has been too fortunate in having been permitted to close a luxurious career with the honorable punishment of self-destruction; he should have been exhibited alive in a cage;" then reading the lines upon the dead sovereign's robe, "See thou, O Quang, that the miserable body be cut into a thousand pieces, and distributed far from the tombs of his royal ancestors," said this new-made sovereign, with less generosity than the second Emperor of the Tartar race, who some years after, while hunting, happening to see in the distance the monument which had been erected to the memory of the unfortunate Wey-t-song, quitted his horse, and falling upon the earth, said, with tears in his eyes, "O Prince! O Emperor! worthy of a better fate, you know that your destruction was not owing to us, your death lies not at our door, your own subjects brought it upon you, it was they that betrayed you; it is therefore upon them, and not on my ancestors, that heaven must send down vengeance."

As you may imagine, this arrested the attention of Nicholas, who became deeply interested, and, as he listened, it was with difficulty he could keep down his indignation. He had smiled as he heard of Lee's terror at the omen, groaned at the slaughter of the people, rejoiced at the escape of the Lady Candida, the more so as the soldiers believed that she had carried away the princess with her, which would at least throw them off the right track; then at the sight of the brutal Li he had instinctively placed an arrow on his bow, but the danger of the princess taught him prudence, and he did but nervously twitch the string; when, however, Li spoke of the dead Emperor his heart throbbed with indignation, and he was nigh losing his presence of mind; then when Li delivered the order for the mutilation of the body, every vein in the boy's forehead and neck seemed bursting with rage, which, when the tyrant struck the corpse with his foot, he could no longer suppress; no human power could keep it back, and just missing the tyrant's throat so narrowly that its feather brushed his necklace, an arrow pierced the bark of the tree against which he was standing.

"See with what vigilance the guards have sought for traitors, when this could so nearly reach the mark," said the brave rogue, coolly, but holding his shield in readiness for the next.

Unlike Li-Kong, whose courage was as remarkable as his crimes, the teeth of his officers chattered, and their knees knocked together with fear, as if the arrow had been a thunderbolt from their own G.o.ds; when, however, they recovered, they placed their shields before their faces and rushed to the direction from whence the arrow had flown, and would soon have discovered Nicholas but for a huge lion, who, finding the door of his cage open, rushed upon the group with such unmistakable intentions, that not only the officers, but Li-Kong, brave as he was, fled in terror to the palace, with the beast at their heels. You will little wonder at the extreme fright of the soldiers, when I tell you that this lion was the only animal of his kind in China, having been presented to the late Emperor by a foreign king, or they would probably have met the brute face to face.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE SECRET CAVERN.--THE PRINCESS SAVED BY THE BOYS.

"Thou hast had a narrow escape, O most prudent master," said Chow, coming forth when he saw the coast clear.