he conventional white flag of truce on the
parapet of the north bridge, where J----, the first man killed, had
fallen, and that the curious board was exciting everyone's
astonishment. Getting leave to absent myself, I ran into the British
Legation, and from a scaffolding not a hundred yards from the bridge I
saw the mysterious placard with my own eyes. Already binoculars and
telescopes had been busily adjusted, and all the sinologues mustered
in the British Legation had roughly written copies of the message in
their hands and were disputing as to the exact meaning. It was only
then that I realised what a strange medley of nationalities had been
collected together in this siege. Frenchmen, Russians, Germans,
Japanese, English, Americans, and many others were all arguing
together, until finally H----, the great administrator, was called
upon to decide. The legend ran:

"In accordance with the Imperial commands to protect the Ministers,
firing will cease immediately and a despatch will be delivered at the
Imperial canal-bridge."

A vast commotion was created, as you may judge, when this news
circulated among the refugee Ministers and all the heterogeneous crowd
who have been behaving so strangely since the serious business began.
Not one of us had relished the idea of being massacred after the
manner of the Indian Mutiny, but there are different ways of behaving
under such perils; some of those we had witnessed would not bear
relating.

In a very short time, indeed, a suitable reply had been written
briefly in Chinese on another board, but the finding of a messenger
was more difficult. We must send a proper man. A chinaman was at
length discovered, who, after having been invested with the customary
official hat and the long official coat, was persuaded to advance
towards the bridge bearing our message and piteously waving a white
flag to show that he likewise was a harbinger of peace. The man
progressed but slowly towards the Imperial bridge, and twice he gave
unmistakable signs of wishing to bolt; but urged on by cries and a
frantic waving, he at last reached the parapet on which leaned our
enemy's placard. Then depositing our own reply, his courage left him
completely, and he incontinently bolted for our lines as hard as he
could run, casting his dignity to the winds. In his haste he had set
his board all askew, and the enemy could not possibly have understood
it. But no arguments could induce our messenger to return