wn in horror.

Of the eleven vessels we had engaged from first to last, three were
sunk, four disabled, and three more so much damaged as to require
considerable repair subsequently before being again fit for service;
while out of a total of eleven hundred men who had started off so gaily
in the morning to play their part in this tragic play, our casualties
amounted to five hundred, so that not one half ever returned to swing in
their respective hammocks again.

"By Jove we have got a thrashing!" said Commander Nesbitt, ruefully,
next morning, when Dr Nettleby came to make his report as to the state
of the wounded we had and there was a general counting up of losses. "I
didn't think John Chinaman had it in him to make such a stand!"

"Neither did I," replied Captain Farmer, who was standing by on the
poop, looking over the taffrail at the spot made memorable by last
night's carnage, though the whilom muddy river appeared bright enough
now with the sun shining down on its rippling surface, and no trace of
the fight of yesterday visible save the masts of one and part of the
hull of another of the sunken gunboats in the distance, and the grim
forts staring down on them defiantly, apparently quite uninjured by the
pounding they had received. "They have certainly given us a licking,
but they'll have a very heavy reckoning to pay for their temporary
triumph by-and-by, Nesbitt, or I am very much mistaken! I suppose you
recollect the old proverb, _Hodie mihi, eras tibi_?"

"Can't say I do, sir," said the commander in answer, scratching his head
reflectively as he raised his cap for the purpose, with the object
apparently of quickening his memory by that means. "I'm afraid I've
forgotten all my Latin, sir, long since. What does it mean, eh?"

"`To-day it is my turn, to-morrow it may be yours,'" replied Captain
Farmer, looking as grim as the Taku Fort as he translated the sentence
for the other's benefit. "The Emperor of China had best bear this in
mind, for there'll be a pretty fine kick up, I tell you, when they come
to hear of this business in England!"

"You are right there, sir," agreed Commander Nesbitt. "There will be a
jolly row about it in the papers and in Parliament, I know! But it is
none of our fault; we have done nothing to be ashamed of, for we've done
our best!"

"Ay, though defeated we're not disgraced," said the captain, as he came
down the poop-ladder to go into his cabin. "It's a sad affair, th