the
Cossack. Didn't all white men speak the same language? Mr. Price
endeavored to explain that Russian and English differ as much as do
Chinese and Mongol, but they only smiled and shook their heads.

In the morning I was so stiff from the kick which the gray stallion
had given me that I could get to his back only with the greatest
difficulty, but we reached Kalgan at eight o'clock. Unfortunately,
the Cossack had left his passport in the cart which was to follow
with his baggage, and the police at the gate would not let us pass.
Mr. Price was well known to them and offered to assume responsibility
for the Cossack in the name of the American Legation, but the
policemen, who were much disgruntled at being roused so early in the
morning, refused to let us enter.

Their attitude was so obviously absurd that we agreed to take
matters into our own hands. We strolled outside the house and
suddenly jumped on our horses. The sentries made a vain attempt to
catch our bridle reins and we rode down the street at a sharp, trot.
There was another police station in the center of the city which it
was impossible to avoid and as we approached it we saw a line of
soldiers drawn up across the road. Our friends at the gate had
telephoned ahead to have us stopped. Without hesitating we kept on,
riding straight at the gray-clad policemen. With wildly waving arms
they shouted at us to halt, but we paid not the slightest attention,
and they had to jump aside to avoid being run down. The spectacle
which these Chinese soldiers presented, as they tried to arrest us,
was so ridiculous that we roared with laughter. Imagine what would
happen on Fifth Avenue if you disregarded a traffic policeman's
signal to stop!

Although the officials knew that we could be found at Mr. Coltman's
house, we heard nothing further from the incident. It was so
obviously a matter of personal ill nature on the part of the captain
in charge of the gate police that they realized it was not a subject
for further discussion.

After the luxury of a bath and shave we proceeded to Peking. Charles
and Gup had rather a beastly time getting in. The car could not be
repaired sufficiently to carry on under its own power, and, through
a misunderstanding, the relief party only went as far as the pass
and waited there for their arrival. They eventually found it
necessary to hire three horses to tow them to the mission station
where the "hard luck" story ended.

CHAPTER IV