CHAPTER III
SOMETHING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF CHINA
Gilbert Pennington had been in many close quarters before, and these had taught him the valuable lesson of being on his guard at all times.
Consequently, when the two rebels faced him, they found him with pistol drawn, and, before either of the enemy could fire, the young lieutenant blazed away. He shot to kill, knowing only too well that his life hung in the balance; and the rebel with the pistol went down, with a bullet in his breast, seriously, if not mortally, wounded. The Filipino's weapon went off as he fell, but the bullet spent itself in the air above the little jungle.
Meanwhile, however, the second rebel was not idle; and, though Gilbert leaped to one side to avoid being made a target of, he received a ball from the gun in his shoulder,—a flesh wound, painful, but of not much consequence.
The shot in the magazine rifle was evidently the
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