to meet this army on its way to the capital, but they were soon conquered, and their arms fell into the hands of the invaders. Thus it was evident that the king was not able to cope with this enemy composed of his own subjects. The Japanese looked upon Korea as an independent nation, but the deplorable state of affairs caused her no little anxiety. Many of the Japanese living in Seoul had fled to Chemulpo and gone onto the men-of-war which had already arrived in that port. China was not living up to her agreement with Japan in regard to Korea's independence, but was secretly lending her aid to the disturbances in the country. At this time one of the Koreans who had fled to Japan for protection was deluded by a fellow-countryman and induced to go to Shanghai, where he was shot down in cold blood by the one who had deluded him thence. The slayer of the man, with the dead body, was returned to Korea by a Chinese gunboat. Here the body of the dead man was dismembered and sent to all parts of the country as a warning to traitors, all of which was condoned and abetted by the Chinese. Soon after this the Tong Haks defeated the entire army of the king, which had been sent against them. By this time the king and his government were convinced that they were unable to cope with them, and so fell back on their old policy of calling on China for help. China replied at once by sending 1,500 troops to Chemulpo under escort of three gunboats. The Tong Haks, hearing of the coming of the Chinese troops, retired, and in a short while all was quiet again in the south, where they had been the strongest.
