ould go wrong if we left Peking for such a
long time, left China alone to her fate, as it were, for forty-eight
hours. But E---- and the others thought this was as good a time as any,
so in spite of our misgivings, we took advantage of what seemed like a
quiet moment and slipped off on our excursion, to get it over with.

When we returned on Monday afternoon, we found the whole place rocking
with excitement, boiling with rage and resentment, simply seething with
fury and indignation. The hotel was ablaze. The moment we pushed open
the big front door and entered--tired, dusty, and very shabby in our
khaki clothes--we were pounced upon and asked what we thought of it.
Thought of what? Well, _this_. Night before last--the 19th of October,
to be exact--the French had grabbed three hundred and thirty-three
acres in the heart of Tientsin. The attack, or charge, or party of
occupation, whatever you choose to call it, was led in person by the
French charge d'affaires, at the head of a band of French soldiers.
They seized and arrested all the Chinese soldiers on duty in the
district, put them in prison, and in the name of the Republic of
France annexed three hundred and thirty-three acres of Chinese soil to
the overseas dominion of the great republic!

Let me explain what this means. Tientsin is a large city, nearly as
large as Peking, with about a million inhabitants. It is only two hours
distant from Peking, by rail, and is the most important seaport of North
China,--the port of Peking. Until the railway was built, a few years
ago, the only way to reach Peking (other than by a long overland
journey) was to come to Tientsin by boat, and thence to Peking by cart
or chair. In spite of the new railway, Tientsin still retains its old
importance as the seaport for North China, and is a trade center of the
first rank. To seize three hundred and thirty-three acres in such an
important city as this, was an act of no small significance. The annexed
land, containing wharfage, streets, houses, shops, and the revenue from
such, makes a goodly haul. Really, from the French point of view, it was
a neat, thrifty stroke of business, or of diplomacy, or of international
politics, whatever you choose to call it.

But from the Chinese point of view it is different. How are they taking
it, the Chinese? How are they behaving? Well, in spite of the fact that
the East is East and the West is West, that the Chinese are nothing but
a yellow race and