n was fast drawing
to a close, the only places of any importance remaining in the hands of
the rebels being Nankin and Chanchufu. The former Gordon left to the
Imperialists, who felt confident of victory, and were very jealous of
the successful young soldier. Indeed, it is evident that they could
easily have taken Chanchufu also, but they apparently were in no hurry
to close the campaign. Many of them were mere mercenaries, who did not
want to remove the _raison-d'etre_ for their existence as an army.
Strong suspicion exists that an incident which occurred soon after
Gordon reached Chanchufu, and when he was making preparations for the
attack, was really an attempt on his life. He and Major Tapp, a clever
artillery officer, were engaged in the construction of a battery, when
suddenly one of the picquets fired a volley at the battery, and the
rebels, not knowing the cause, fired also. Gordon and his party were
thus between two fires, and Major Tapp and several others were killed.

The first assault on Chanchufu was made by the Imperialists, and
defeated. Gordon was then asked to co-operate in another assault, which
he did; but not being supported by the Imperialists, he also failed.
After this a combined assault was made, and again it failed. Seeing
that the place was too strongly defended for an ordinary assault,
Gordon taught the Imperialists how to approach it by means of trenches.
Another assault was made by the Imperialists, who were on the point of
being driven back again, when Gordon came to their rescue, and the
stronghold was taken. When the rebel commander was captured he said
that, except for the aid of Gordon and his men, he could have defied
all the Futai hosts to take the city from him. The garrison was 20,000
strong; the place was skilfully fortified; and the rebels, thinking
that they would receive no quarter, fought with great desperation and
recklessness of life.

With the capture of Chanchufu ends the list of Gordon's fights in
China. His next care was to break up the Ever-Victorious Army. He knew
this to be very important, for he felt that they would be a standing
danger to the country. With men like Burgevine about, who were not
wanting in skill, and were as unprincipled as they were daring, it was
impossible to say what might happen if the command of such an army fell
into bad hands. The Chinese Government behaved very generously, giving
each wounded officer L900, and others on a similar scale. In