Then another and another appeared – A rat-queued horde, . . . sliding toward me, in a glitter of keen knives

Then another and another appeared – A rat-queued horde, . . . sliding toward me, in a glitter of keen knives
Then another and another appeared – A rat-queued horde, . . . sliding toward me, in a glitter of keen knives

Then another and another appeared – A rat-queued horde, . . . sliding toward me, in a glitter of keen knives

Date1912
Artist (American painter, 1881–1947)
Illustration Citation"The Burden of the Line: A Story of the United States Navy," by Robert Dunn, in The Century Magazine, February 1912.
MediumOil on board
Dimensions29 1/2 × 19 in. (74.9 × 48.3 cm)
frame: 34 1/2 × 23 7/8 in. (87.6 × 60.6 cm)
Credit LineGayle and Alene Hoskins Endowment Fund, 2006
Object number2006-3
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextClifford Ashley created this illustration for a story about a United States ship sent up the Yangtse River shortly after the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 to protect American interests. On board the American officers face the violent aftermath of local resentments over foreign interference. During the voyage a band of pirates boards the ship in an attempt to take it over. Ashley conveys the tension of battle by the confusion of bodies and the diagonal thrust of the Chinese pirates coming up and over the side of the warship.
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