my post as peacemaker," he writes; "for which I
am naturally not well adapted. . . . I am quite in the dark as to how
my mission has been fulfilled, but it is really immaterial to me, for I
will not accept other work of such an anomalous character."

The "other work" that was being stored up for him was of quite
different nature. He might have called it "anomalous," but it was to
tax and bring out every resource in him.

China, that land of distance and mystery, was undergoing a period of
upheaval. A usurper had tried to seize the reins of government, and
the French and British ships had been attacked. The British sent a
force of reprisal, somewhat like that sent against the Boxer rebellion
in recent years. This was in 1860; and Gordon was sent out with the
rank of captain.

The first work of this expeditionary force was scarcely worthy of a
civilized country. They set fire to a summer palace and gardens of a
prince who had mistreated some English prisoners. It was a piece of
vandalism that went against the grain with Gordon.

"You can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the palaces we
burnt," he writes. "It made one's heart sore to destroy them. It was
wretchedly demoralizing work."

In the Spring of 1862, Gordon had become a major, and was ordered, with
a Lieutenant Carden, to explore the Great Wall of China. This was more
to his liking. The two men were congenial and well fitted by
temperament and experience for the task. They penetrated provinces in
the interior never before entered by a white man, and had a variety of
adventures, some amusing, others exciting.

During the winter it grew extremely cold, high up in the mountains. He
relates that eggs were frozen as hard as if they had been boiled. At
another time they are caught in a terrific dust storm, which he thus
describes:

"The sky was as dark as night; huge columns of dust came sweeping down,
and it blew a regular hurricane, the blue sky appearing now and then
through the breaks. The quantity of dust was indescribable. A canal,
about fifty miles long and eighteen feet wide, and seven deep, was
completely filled up."

From these more or less peaceful incidents, Gordon was presently called
to more exciting events. The great Tai-ping rebellion had been raging
for some months. It was the work of a Chinese schoolmaster, who said
that Heaven had sent him to rescue China. He chose for title "The
Heavenly King," and with some