day made his men fire
on 150 of Gordon's soldiers, and treated it as a joke when Gordon was
angry. At the beginning of the campaign Gordon had promised his men
that they should have their pay regularly instead of plundering the
places they took. His own pay, and more, had gone to do this and to
help the poor. And now Li Hung Chang, the Governor, said he could not
pay the men; and no one but Gordon seemed to mind when Ching broke his
promise to prisoners who had been promised safety, and slew them
brutally.

Disgusted with this want of honour and truth in the men with whom he
had to work, Gordon made up his mind to throw up his command.

Just then, however, Burgevine, the adventurer, who had once led the
Emperor's army, again became very powerful. He gathered together a
number of men as reckless as himself, and joined the rebels. The
rebels made him a Wang, or King, and he offered so much money to those
who would serve under him that crowds of Gordon's grumbling soldiers
deserted and joined Burgevine.

Burgevine and his followers were a grand reinforcement for the rebel
army, and things began to look serious.

Gordon could not bear that the rebels should be allowed unchecked to
swarm over China and plunder and slay innocent people. Instead of
resigning he once more led the Ever-Victorious Army, and led it to
victory.

Soochow, "The City of Pagodas," was besieged. There were twice as many
soldiers in the town as there were besiegers, and amongst them were
Burgevine and his men. In front of the city Gordon placed his guns,
and after a short bombardment that did much damage to the walls, he
ordered his troops to advance. A terrific fire from the enemy drove
them back. Again Gordon's guns bombarded the city, and were pushed
forward as far as possible. Then again the besiegers rushed in, but
found that the creek round the city was too wide for the bridge they
carried with them. But the officers plunged fearlessly into the water
and dashed across. Their men followed them, the Tae-Pings fled, and
stockade after stockade was taken. Gordon himself, with a mere handful
of men, took three stockades and a stone fort.

In this siege, as in many other fights, Gordon had himself to lead his
army. If an officer shrank back before the savage enemy, Gordon would
take him gently by the arm and lead him into the thickest of the
battle. He himself went unarmed, and would lead his troops onwards
with the little cane h