Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-09-16

trea cherry there was al around us We
had been potted Al. Killed and wounded
fron, unknown lutsrS III the midst Of
our CONCESSIONS We had found arms
rifles, swords, ammunition in ouanti
ties all tied With BOXERS eriblems in
our servants quarters and mG ny of our
pfoforctSn ana. save the mark. Chris
! ian Chinese houses 4 Ions. string Of
suspects guarded 10y hlupia ,kcts with
fixed hayonets, suuatting Chinese fash
ion, on their launches. pigttils tied to-
gether, awaited in an eXtcn pore lar
rack yard the coming Of Captain Bal
ley. X. ~, senior naval officer. or john
bul,, as he behaves and Is fundly cali
ed. the arbiter of their fate
The Chinese had been gathered in
during the day hy various pickets ana
patrols. Some had suspicious docu.
ments, others concealed arms. others
nothing at all but faces that spoke Of
an intimate acquaintance with devils
of the night. Some spoke fluent Eng.
lish, were well dressed and most tndg-
nant at being suspected of being "pi-
geon posts" telephone lines to warn
Chinese gunncrs of stray or high or
low shots). We dill not believe 1t then,
but now we know things we did not
dream of then
These were all tried by drumhead
court martial, but my story deals only
with the two Chinese who were espe-
cially guarded and were tied together,
hands behind back. at the end of the
line. Two red Chinese documents had
been found on them. They were in
structiOns they were carrying to or
from a Boxer chief. and. competent
Chinese scholar having translated them,
they were found to contain orders to
massacre all the males in Tien-tsin and
reserve worse fate for the women
and children.
They were evil looking devils. GER
tainly of the regular well fed and
clothed Chinese rufiian class. They
never opened their lips. but could see
that their keen, shifty almond eyes
never LETT Captain Baileys face for one
moment. They were the last dealt
with.
Take them TO the guardhouse, said
Captain Bailey. giving judgment from
his pony's saddle.
"These two rufiians here. the men
with the Boxers documents. will be
shot, dispatched at once, Major Luke"
"Fery good. sir" said the major. sa-
luting. "Now. sir, and where?"
,t.,l,t lac
ically replied Captain Bailey. There
had been other victims, and Others
came later,
"Come on" said marine. giving the
men push. They walked quietly and
steadily down an alleyway on to the
> bund at the rivers edge. The firing
party of eight marines was awaiting
them. All the off duty bluejackets anG
marines swarmed ont to see the show
"Es lost the number of is mess. al
right" said one young private passing
me.
The deadly Boxers. who swallow for
eign bullets and perform wondrou:
other feats in war. realized then, TO
the first time. what the conversatio
had meant. One turned a sickly shad,
OF light yellow and crouched down, a
far as possible. almost dragging hi
companion. to whom he was tied. will
him. The second. disdaining such {
show of fear. stood bolt upright ant
threw his head back. A sharp word:
Ready Representative" from the ser
geant.
Immediately the sharp. but not loud
crack of the smokeless rifles rang out
The men. all dsillusioned as to bulle
swallowing and the delightful projects
of the society they belonged to, tum
bled without groan. murmur or {
sign of blood or mark of bullet, an in
ert entangled helpless bundle.
"Dispatch them. If necessary. Major
Luke" sang out Captain Bailey.
Major Luke, his big army revolver IL
hand, glanced at them moment ant
answered.:
Not necessary, sir"
Some one In authority made sign, 6
couple of marines stepped forward
kick and shove-two helpless bundles
spIashed in the river.
Roxerdom had lost two enterprising
recruits No one felt awed or sick, but
satisfied.