The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-31

front of the desk waiting, Presently he looked
up, and fixing pair of gray eyes full on me,
said:
What do you want"
An appointment
Where have you beenl What do you know!
Are you acquainted with gunneryF
Il told him as briefly as possible. showed him
my credentials from the Royal Naval Reserve
and my warrant as a chief officer of the mercan-
tile marine. He nodded, and said: Very good,
and then wrote note to the officer commando
the Fifth regiment 'NingpOs, we used to cal
them. l went off about the town, and anchored
myself for the night in a sort of military hotel
IN the piazza were lot of officers of Gordons
fOrce some military. some naval, and there was
a good deal of chatting about the two arms of the
service l. being sailor. naturally sided with
the sailors, and said my say | noticed that the
captain of one of Gordonis gunboats was attentive
to my remarks. Presently he asked me some ques-
tons about what I was going to do, and told
him He mounted his pony and rode off at
hand gallop. In half an hour he came back and
handed me a commission as lieutenant on his
gUnboat, the FREELY So went on board next
morning, and remained on her for five months
when | left Gordons force and returned to the
commercial marine
s'And was that all you ever saw of Gerdonl
sob, no. But that was all l ever had to say
to him, or he to me. If l had joined the Ming
pos, no doubt should have been brought often
in contact with him. | often him at the
head of his expeditions to take stockades, and it
was queer to see him marching in front of his
men, tvi1ling in the fingers of mis- right hand a
short black stick. There We're queer yarns IN
the force about that stick. 1t was said to have
extraordinary powers He has been known to
creep to the palisades of a stockade, put one end
of the stick to his ear and the other to the bot
tom of the poles. He would listen intently, and
then he would come back and detail a captain
two lieutenants and hundred men to be at
certain part of the stockade at a certain hour
couple of guns drawn by Chinese soldiers,
but manned by European artillerlsts, ieutenants
H.. &c
He would suddenly announce to them that the
guns at that particular point had been with
drawn to another part of the steekade, and that
if breach were made it could be stormed with
title loss AS soon as the guns had made hole
infantry would go at it Gordon, ahead of
", as likely as not without his sword
a revolver and his little black
very humane, and was most care
cautions to lose as few lives as
4 to realize that his Europes
thing to HIM Wbfhat he
It it, and Oh
particular about the
}ortly after we took
his troops as gal
lex. -twirling between
or that it was lost
0tfering a large reward
Some man stole it,
getting a reward. l
5 great deal of talk
is, who commanded our
Ife an vas an American. and he
1t it was hollow and loaded with some
1semical arrangement that made ii remit sounds
with singular delicacy Others thought it was
filed with quicksilver, and others had still
stranger notions. But it had its effect and most
of Gord0T's officers had short black sticks; there
was one major of the Ningpos who had five gold
rings his stick, which made it quite fancy
article. I'm sorry, MIR. Tribune, that l cannot
tell you anything more about him, but the truth
is the truth, and l have given you straight
yarn"