enemy, however, there was no sign to be seen; that he was firing back
more and more quickly and desperately was certain. All these
bullets....

As I stood and looked, suddenly the horrid bark of the modern
high-velocity field-gun began down below in our lines, and the word
passed along that a British battery had succeeded in getting through
the jam, and was opening on the enemy from just outside the Legations.
The barking went on very rapidly for a few minutes, and then ceased as
suddenly as it had begun. The cause was not long to seek; an infantry
advance had followed, for without any warning swarms of Chinese
riflemen began running out from the nests of ruined Chinese houses a
few hundred yards to the rear of our old lines. They came out in rapid
rushes just as flights of startled sparrows dart over the ground, and,
although very distant, from the commanding height of the Tartar Wall
they offered a splendid mark. The rifles rattled at them as hard as
possible, but the practice was as poor as ever. Of the first batch a
dozen fell and began crawling and staggering away; but the next lot,
although they ran and halted at first like dazed men under the sleet
of nickel, rapidly became more cunning. All fell as if by some sudden
signal on the ground, and crawling and jumping forward, they soon
managed to push through without losing a single man, and immediately
after this there was a droll incident such as only occurs at such
times as these.

These bunches of men had ceased falling back in their sudden rout, and
the firing of our men was being concentrated on some distant walls
flanking the Palace enclosures, when a solitary Chinese rifleman, who
had evidently been forgotten in the turmoil, trotted peacefully out.
Then, seeing he was almost in the hands of his enemies, he ran like a
hunted deer straight across a vast open, which lies directly in front
of the Dynastic Gate--never seeking cover, but running like a madman
in the open. It was wonderful.

A roar went up from our whole line when he was seen, but the infantry
did not attempt to bring him down. A single machine-gun started
rapping at him.... The man ran faster and faster as the swish of
bullets hurtled around him, until his legs were twinkling so rapidly
that he seemed to be fairly flying. The machine-gun went on rapping
and clanging ever quicker as it followed him up, and it seemed at
length impossible that he should get through. With a natural impulse,
every