and, when the bamboo ladder had been
lowered over the wall, went off at a run.

Charlie, Fred, and their friends found the time pass very slowly. They
could hear that the English were fighting their way steadily through the
town, and every minute their anxiety to see their gallant countrymen
increased. Presently a loud British cheer told them that the other gate
had been captured. The firing now became less frequent, and in about ten
minutes it ceased entirely.

The excitement in the mission enclosure was now intense. The surviving
women and children came out of the basement where they had been
prisoners for more than three weeks, and climbed up on the platforms to
get the first view of their deliverers. The native Christians, who had
borne the hardships of the siege uncomplainingly, chatted and laughed
gaily. The sick and wounded lay in the little hospital with their eyes
fixed on the door.

'They're coming!' Charlie shouted a few minutes later, and the good news
thrilled both Englishmen and Chinamen.

The tramp of drilled men came nearer and nearer, and soon from out of
the street, almost facing the mission buildings, marched a British naval
officer. He gave a swift glance along the wall, and seeing the men and
women peering through the sandbags, he saluted them with his sword. They
answered him with a cheer, and instantly some fifty smiling, sun-burnt
tars burst into a loud 'Hip, hip, hoorah!'

With the smartness characteristic of our navy the men were formed up in
a line with their backs to the mission wall. The officer in command gave
one look at them, and then almost ran up the ladder which Barton had
lowered.

'It is!' Charlie exclaimed, delightedly, as the officer reached the top
of the ladder. 'It's our old friend Williams.'

'So it is,' Fred declared, as he recognised the officer of the revenue
cutter, who had captured the coper in which his brother and Ping Wang
were unwilling passengers.

Williams heard his name mentioned as he vaulted over the wall on to the
platform, and the next moment he recognised his friends.

'Well, this is a delightful surprise!' he exclaimed, as he grasped
Charlie's hand.

'It's still more delightful for us,' Fred declared.

'You've had a very rough time, I fear,' said Williams, when he had
shaken hands with his three friends. 'You look almost like skeletons,
every man of you. However, you shall soon have a good feed.'

'Shall we open the gate?' Barton asked, when he