e, but
he was utterly unprincipled, and, as the sequel will show, he was as
ready to sell himself to the enemy as he was to fight for the
Imperialists. The immediate cause of his dismissal from the command of
the Ever-Victorious Army was that he went to the Chinese treasury
officer with a hundred men of his bodyguard and demanded money for
arrears of pay. That official being unable to comply, Burgevine struck
him and ordered his followers to seize 40,000 dollars. No sooner was he
dismissed, than he went to Pekin to plead his cause there, and got the
American ambassador to back him up, the latter of course being ignorant
of his real character. The authorities at Pekin yielded, and sent him
back to Shanghai to assume command, provided the local Governor had no
objection. A shrewd suspicion exists that this was but a diplomatic way
of getting out of a difficulty, as the authorities at Pekin must have
known that the Governor could not possibly consent to receive Burgevine
back after what he had done. This Governor was Li Hung Chang, a man of
considerable power, who could see that he had in Gordon a man of
ability; and though he did not at that time appreciate him as he
afterwards did, still the fascination of Gordon's character, that so
endeared him to many others, had already begun to work. Consequently
the Governor strongly opposed the return of Burgevine, and at the same
time took the opportunity of informing the Pekin authorities that
Gordon was gaining the confidence of his men, as well as of the
merchants and others at Shanghai. This for a time closed Burgevine's
career, though we shall hear of him again.

* * *

The city of Chanzu was relieved on April 5th, but it was not till the
end of that month that Gordon again took the field. His brief but
brilliant campaign had shown the weak points in his force; so he spent
some three weeks at headquarters in getting his little army better in
hand. Among other things, he put his men into a uniform of dark serge
with green turbans, so as to make the enemy suppose that they were
Europeans. At first this little reform was very unpopular, as most
reforms are, and the men were called by their countrymen "Imitation
Foreign Devils." When the Ever-Victorious Army regained its right to
its title, the men became proud of their uniform, and would not have
exchanged it for their old costume. Dr. Wilson in his interesting
account of this period tell