ions we dropped at least fifteen or twenty men in very few
minutes. Lying flat on the ground our angles soon grew fixed on to our
rifle-sights, and at one house-corner four hundred yards away, six
times I made the same shot and dropped a deserter. But this heavy
firing must have attracted attention, for lead began to pelt at us
from hidden places, and soon this little action became very warm. It
was a curious experience....

It was now three in the afternoon, and, excepting for this unexplained
movement of Chinese troops, we had not discovered any sign of our
relief. Our volleying was becoming nonsensical, for having picked up
numbers of Chinese Mauser cartridges, we amused ourselves firing away
almost all the ammunition we carried. This could not continue
indefinitely. So once more I drew my men together, and once again we
scurried away, changing our direction to due east towards the great
Ha-ta Gate. We were becoming callous, now that we knew there was small
possibility of our being cut off, and half a mile from home meant
nothing to us.

We had almost reached the Ha-ta great street, and were beginning to
feel that by some strange chance we had half the city to ourselves,
when a furious galloping gave us a timely signal, and made us shrink
into a native house, the doorway of which had been beaten in by
marauders. We were just in time, for no sooner had we disappeared than
a body of Manchu cavalry came rapidly past, flogging their ponies, and
shouting excitedly to one another as they passed. At their head were a
number of high officials, and our new recruit whispered in a hoarse
voice that an old man was no other than Jung Lu, the Manchu
Generalissimo, who had command of everything. But whether this was
actually so or not, there could be no doubt about the soldiery. They
were _ch'in ping_, or body-guard troops, in sky-blue tunics, and this
retirement was the most significant of all. There was now not a shadow
of doubt.

We waited patiently in some trepidation, until the sound of these
galloping hoofs had died away completely and then peering out and
finding the coast clear, we ran for it as hard as we could leg. Faster
and faster we spun along; we were not as safe as we thought, Three
minutes brought us back again on Customs Street, and, panting sorely
from this unaccustomed exertion, we looked around. Here there was now
not a single sound, not the sight of a single man.

For many minutes nothing again occurred, b