tacled and intelligent. I may say that the lady is almost
completely surrounded by the young man, but no one gives them more
than a passing glance. We do, because we are new-comers, but the
others are used to it. The British adviser to the Chinese Government
passes, a tall, distinguished, gray-haired man, talking with a burly
Englishman, hunter of big game, but now, according to rumor, a member
of the secret service. Concession-hunters and business men sit about
in groups, representatives of great commercial and banking firms from
all over the world. A minister from some legation drops in; there are
curio-buyers from Europe, with a sprinkling of tourists, and a
tired-looking, sallow group of anemic men and women who have just come
up from Manila on an army transport.

The approach to Peking is tremendously impressive. Lying in an arid
plain, the great, gray walls, with their magnificent towers, rise
dignified and majestic. Over the tops of the walls nothing is to be
seen. There are no skyscrapers within; no house is higher than the
surrounding, defending ramparts. Peking is divided into several areas,
each called a city, each city surrounded by its own walls. There is the
great, populous Chinese City, where only the Chinese dwell. The Tartar,
or Manchu, City has several subdivisions. It contains the legation
quarter, and all the foreign legations are clustered together in a
small, compact area, surrounded by a small wall for defensive purposes.
Beyond the legation quarter, on all sides, extends the Tartar City
itself. Foreigners also live in this part of Peking, and, as far as I
can see, always hold themselves in readiness to dash to the protection
of their legation if anything goes wrong. They tell one that it is quite
safe, that nothing can go wrong, that the Boxer troubles can never be
repeated; but all the same, they always appear to have a bag packed and
a ladder leaning against the compound walls in case of emergency. Which
gives life in Peking a delightful flavor of suspense and excitement.

Also within the Tartar City lies the Imperial City, inclosed by
towering red walls, and within that lies the Forbidden City, residence
of the rulers of China, containing the palaces, and the
dwelling-places of the mandarins. Now, except for certain parts of the
Forbidden City, such as the palace of the President, Li Yuan Hung, the
city is no longer forbidden. It is open to the public, and the public
may come and go at will;