re wounded. Charlie was thrown to the ground, but, much
to his surprise, he found on getting up that he was not hurt.

The sailors now advanced quickly, and the Chinese gunners being
apparently unable to alter their range, the shells passed harmlessly
over their heads.

The attacking party soon got to within three hundred yards from the
town, and the Boxers lining the wall, having so far received no hurt,
became reckless. A few of them fired their rifles, but three hundred
yards is a long range for most Chinamen, and not one of them succeeded
in doing any damage. Nevertheless, Williams considered that the time had
arrived to give the Boxers a warning. He gave the order to his men to
lie down and fire a volley. It was a splendid one, and the terror which
it caused among the Boxers was almost comical. The uninjured men hid
themselves instantly, and not a single threat, or shout of defiance was
heard from them as the sailors sprang to their feet and ran a hundred
yards nearer to the wall.

They lay there unmolested for three or four minutes until the 'advance'
was again sounded. As they rushed forward, the Boxers opened fire upon
them with rifles and bows and arrows, and three men fell. But their
comrades, breaking into a loud cheer, continued their advance, and
arrived at the wall with but few casualties on the way. They had brought
from Su-ching twelve long bamboo ladders, and these were speedily placed
against the wall at a few yards distance from each other. The Japanese
also had provided themselves with ladders.

At the signal from their officers, the men climbed nimbly up the
ladders, and all along the south wall the fight became fierce. Many of
the attacking party were shot before they reached the topmost rung, but
their fall simply added to the determination of their comrades, and in a
few minutes nearly a score of them had scaled the wall, and were engaged
in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with the Boxers.

Charlie, Fred, and Ping Wang were not among the first dozen to enter the
town, as the sailors who had fixed the ladder by which they wished to
ascend declared that it was their right to be the first to mount it.

When the Chinamen found that they were unable to drive out the men who
had entered the town, and that others were scrambling over the wall to
their assistance, they turned and fled, closely pursued by the sailors.
Within twenty minutes the whole English force held the village. Before
long, Fred,