re than that it should be
left to the mercy of a brutal robber like Li Tseching.

Wou's position was a delicate and difficult one. The old dynasty was at
an end. Those loyal to it were powerless. He had no means of his own
enabling him to contend against the great force of Li. He must surrender
or call in foreigners to his aid. In this dilemma he made overtures to
the Manchus, asking their aid to put down the rebellion and restore
tranquillity to the empire,--seemingly with the thought that they might
be dispensed with when no longer of use.

Not for a moment did the Manchu leaders hesitate to avail themselves of
the promising offer. The man who for years had stood resolutely in the
way of their invasion of China was now voluntarily stepping from their
path, and even offering them his aid to accomplish their cherished
project. The powerful fortresses which had defied their strength, the
Great Wall which in Wou's hands might have checked their progress, had
suddenly ceased to be obstacles to their advance, and throughout the
camps and towns of the Tartars an enthusiastic response was made to the
inspiriting cry of "On to Peking!"

Wou Sankwei did not wait for their coming. Li had sent a strong force to
meet him, with instructions either to negotiate or to fight. Wou chose
the latter, and delivered battle with such energy and success that more
than twenty thousand of the opposing force were laid in death upon the
field, no quarter being given to the flying host. News of this perilous
reverse roused Li to vigorous action. Knowing nothing of the approach
of a Tartar army, he imagined that he had only Wou with whom to deal,
and marched against him in person with sixty thousand men, the pick of
his victorious army.

This large force, perhaps three times the number that the loyal leader
could put in the field, reached Wou's station on the river Lanho before
the vanguard of the Manchus had appeared. It was obviously Wou's policy
to defer the action, but Li gave him no opportunity, making at once an
impetuous attack, his line being formed in the shape of a crescent, with
the design of overlapping the flanks of the foe. Skilled and experienced
as Wou was, the smallness of his force made him unable to avoid this
movement of his enemy, who, from a hill where he had taken his station
to overlook the battle, had the satisfaction of seeing the opposing army
completely surrounded by his numerous battalions. Wou and his men fought
w