CHAPTER XLIII.
CHOW DISCOVERS HIS MOTHER AND THE PRINCESS.--RESCUES THEM FROM THETARTARS AND RELATES HIS ADVENTURES.
When the surprise had a little subsided upon both sides, Chow lookedaround, listened anxiously for a moment, and then said, "This is afortunate day; the surprise, the joy is great, but, alas! it will beshort-lived, for the barbarians can neither forget nor forgive," and herelated his adventure with the soldiers; when, taking him by the hand,the princess said, "Fear not, friend of my brother; the barbarians darenot enter the house of Ki; for the usurper, barbarian as he is, hasbestowed honor upon the noble colao for his services to his lateEmperor, and as a consolation for his misfortunes; and in the house ofone upon whom Chun-ti has bestowed the honored title of 'Faithful to hisPrince,' no person dares enter unasked."
"Thy servant feared less for himself than for his beloved mother and theillustrious princess, whom he is commanded by the noble Nicholas torescue from the degenerate soil of China, till it again owns its nativeprincess," said Chow; adding, "From the hour that the vile guidebetrayed the illustrious princess into the hands of the rogues, thenoble Nicholas has left no stone unturned to discover thy fate." Then,repeating the history of their adventures to the time of his being takenprisoner by Li-Kong, he added, "So enraged was the villain mandarin,that, instead of killing me on the spot, he reserved me for a crueldeath upon our reaching Pekin; then, however, being driven from thecapital, he took me with him to Chen-si, where I was kept loaded withchains in a damp hole for many months, till indeed the great rebel washimself driven out of Chen-si, when, so ill that I could not walk, I wastaken from the prison and conveyed to the house of the physician, whohad been ordered to take charge of the sick and wounded, andunfortunately I remained senseless so long, that when I recovered, Idiscovered that not only had the great Woo-san-Kwei been the general whohad punished Li, but that my beloved master had been with him. Bitterlyregretting the misfortune that had caused me to miss him so narrowly, Iresolved on seeking him in the capital; and so without money or food,but what I could beg on the road, I traveled, being compelled to restmany days upon my journey.
"At length, however, I reached Pekin, when, to my great rage, not onlydid I find that the Tartar prince had seized the throne, but that mynoble master had left the city in horror at the great treason of hisillustrious parent Chin-Chi-Loong. Then, weary of a world whichcontained so much vileness and misfortune, I should have myself soughtthe yellow stream, had it not occurred to me, that it would bevillainous to desert the beloved parent whom I had resolved to discover;but, moreover, my master had taught me that it was a great crime; and,trembling that I had ever contemplated such a thing, I rushed down tothe canal and engaged myself as a Coolie, for I thought the employmentwould drive away my sorrow, and, perhaps, throw some lucky chance in myway, and so it happened; for one day, carrying some goods for atraveling merchant, the good man took a fancy to me, and offered to takeme with him into the province of Fokien. The offer gave me joy, for Iknew that if ever I found my master it would be near the sea, which heloves as if he were a fish, and so it chanced; for one day, after manymonths' traveling, we lodged at the town of Ho-a, when a few daysafterward the Chinese inhabitants became very joyful, and the Tartarsoldiers were greatly terrified at a report that the terrible Koshinga,whose name just about that time had become famous, would land. Well, thereport proved true, for the sea chief appeared with a great fleet, anddrove the Tartars inland; when, feeling weary of my servitude, andlonging to fight against the usurping barbarians, I offered my servicesto one of the commanders, and no sooner had I put in force that virtuousresolution, than my fortunes began to mend, for in one of the ships Ifound the noble Nicholas.
"Well, I will only tell the illustrious princess how that I kept by theside of the noble Nicholas in all battles that have been fought by thegreat Koshinga; but in the midst of our adventures and successes, boththe noble Nicholas and his servant were unhappy, for they pined to learnthe fate of the daughter of the Mings, whom the heavens had onceentrusted to their care. At every town upon the coast, from every manwho joined the fleet, did we endeavor to trace some clue, not omittingto offer great rewards; it was all, however, useless, till one day aTartar prisoner was taken and brought to our ship, and as he had withhim a copy of the _Pekin Gazette_, which contains the officers of theempire and the decrees of the Emperor, the noble Nicholas eagerly readit to find out the movements of the barbarians, when, much to hissurprise, he saw that the noble Ki had been restored to his rank andfortunes, and, moreover, was permitted to reside unmolested at hisnative palace in Fokien. 'Thus, then, O Chow, we have a fortunate day;here is a clue to the princess--for should she have escaped the villainrebels, this old and faithful servant of her royal father will surelyknow,' said the noble Nicholas."
"Truly the great Father of heaven hath directed, this even," said theprincess.
"Then, O my princess, the heart of thy servant leaped for joy; for heknew that the clue to the illustrious daughter of the Mings would leadto the discovery of his beloved mother, so upon his knees he begged hisnoble master to let him search the coast of Fokien, a request he wouldhave granted, had not the whole fleet been ordered by the chief Koshingato attack and drive the barbarian Hollanders from the great island ofFormosa on that day. Then for nearly four moons was the fleet beforethe castle of Zealand, which protects the island; and so well did thebarbarians fight, that we had no other hope but to starve them out; atlength, however, they were joined by the numerous ships of thetraitorous black dragon Yuen, and for the first time Koshinga was nearbeing defeated, till at length destiny led him to fill seven of hisships with oil and inflammable materials, when, taking advantage of thefirst north-easterly wind, he set them on fire, and sent them among theships of Yuen, the greater part of which being destroyed, the crews withthe black dragon sought the shores in their boats. Thus having got ridof the fleet, the great Koshinga landed his troops, and after a greatbattle killed the greater portion of the pirates, made the remainderprisoners, and took possession of the country."
"Truly this Koshinga is a great war dragon," said the princess.
"And noble as he is brave; for although he punished the traitor pirateswith death, as enemies to their true Emperor, he permitted the miserableHollanders, who, being barbarians, could know no better, to pile uptheir household goods in one of their ships and depart."
"Thou hast not said aught of the noble Nicholas during this terriblefight," said the princess.
"Truly, O illustrious lady, he fought like the brave war tiger that heis, and performed the greatest act of the fight; for with his own handshe slew the villain Yuen."
"Then great was his destiny, for he has rendered the whole empiregrateful," exclaimed Ki.
"They owe the noble Nicholas more gratitude than the rebel Li-Kong, ofwhose place of refuge, or fate, none have been able to imagine, sincethe taking of Chen-si by the great Woo-san-Kwei."
"God is indeed great; thus may treason be for ever punished," said theprincess.
"But greater to thy servant was the capturing of the villain mandarin,who killed his venerable parent. I had struck the rogue down with mysword, and rejoicing that I had at last the opportunity of destroying sogreat a villain, was about to kill him, when he saved his life byuttering a few words."
"Is it under heaven that thou couldst save the life of the slayer of thyparent?" exclaimed Chow's mother.
"Truly, my noble mother, for those words were 'Thy mother and theprincess.' Like magic they kept my sword suspended midway, and I said,'What words are these, thou dog?' And the mean rogue said, 'If the noblecaptain will save the life of his slave, he shall be restored to hisparent.' Need a son tell his mother that he promised when the rascalsaid, 'That it had been known for a long time to him that the princesswas living in disguise in the house of the retired colao in Fokien, andthat had Li-Kong been successful in defeating Koshinga, it was therogue's intention to sail for the coast and seize the illustrious lady?"
"Truly Heaven i
s merciful in having destroyed such a villain," said theprincess.
"Then," added Chow, "delighted with the discovery, my enmity to therogue became lost in my anxiety to again see my parent; so I besought ofthe noble Nicholas to send me in search of those lost pearls of ourexistence, which he did with these words: 'Tell the illustrious princessthat the Tartar rogues will seize her if she does not seek theprotection of Koshinga, the friend of China and the Mings, of whosefavor her adopted brother Nicholas will assure her.' Thus commissioned,I obtained one of the smallest junks of the fleet, had it repainted anddisguised to resemble a trading vessel, set sail from the island, andlanded this morning, when I so nearly fell into the hands of the rats ofTartars. Such is the history of thy servant, and such his mission. It isfor the great wisdom of the princess alone, to consider whether thedaughter of the Mings may long remain in safety and undiscovered beneaththe dominion of the butchers of her race."
"Heaven is beneficent and thy words wise, O Chow," said the princess.
"Truly, daughter of my beloved master, thy safety would have beenendangered had we been permitted to remain here, for since the villainmandarin knew thy secret, it is but reasonable to believe that it may bein the possession of another who may part with it for a high price tothe Emperor Chun-ti. But since this cruel order has arrived, to destroyall the houses for ten miles inland, the princess can find no saferasylum than the country of the great patriot Koshinga," said the colao.
Never could there have been a more fortunate time for them to leave thetown; for, as all the inhabitants were hastening to obey the order ofthe Emperor, and were busy with their own affairs, they could escape thewatchful eyes of the Tartars. So that very day they set about makingpreparations for their departure, and before twenty-four hours hadpassed, the whole party were on board Chow's ship and moving down thestream; indeed, not a moment before it was necessary, for scarcely hadthey got under way when a boat put off from the shore, filled withTartar soldiers, the chief of whom commanded them to stop.
"What would the Tartar dogs?" said Chow, standing upon the poop of thevessel. The reply, however, was an arrow, which but narrowly missed thebreast of the brave fellow; who, however, taking no notice of themissile, said, very coolly, as the soldiers reached the side of the shipand demanded to be admitted on board, "What would the Tartar dogs onboard a quiet trading vessel?"
"The daughter of the miserable Ming," was the reply.
"Then only two at a time, my brother," replied Chow, acquiescing intheir request. And without waiting for further permission, the twosoldiers climbed up the side and stood on the deck, only, however, tofind themselves tightly clasped by armed men, who had been lying down inreadiness for them. At the same time Chow, assisted by some of his crew,threw a heavy bar over the ship's side into the boat below, whichfalling across the bows and sinking her, sent the soldiers into thewater struggling for their lives.
"Oh, oh!" said Chow to the two prisoners, "you are the affectionaterogues who wanted a lock of my hair."
"Surely the magnanimous hero would not murder two poor men who weredoing their duty," was the reply.
"Truly it is said that fortune comes to every dog in its turn, and I amthe bow-wow now," said Chow to the Tartars, as he tied together the endsof the long head-tails, of which they were so proud that they wished allChina to imitate them, and consequently now roared for fear of losingthem.
"Get you gone, you dogs!" said Chow; and the next moment the men weretoppled over into the river, plunging, kicking, and at every plungegiving such reciprocal pulls at each other's tails that they became asbelligerent as two cats in a similar predicament, and the more so, thatthe people upon the banks stood laughing heartily at their ridiculousgyrations.