magnificent
silver _pot de chambre_. She was here evidently very much at her ease,
the dear old lady. That little detail delighted me. The rest was
rather _banal_.

_Sans ceremonie_, I seated myself on the Imperial bed--it seemed to be
the most peaceful act of vandalism I could commit in repayment for
certain discomforts occasioned by this old lady's whims during eight
weeks of rifle-fire. And as my recollections went back to those
terrible days, I came down heavily as I could on this august couch. I
must confess that as a bed it was excellent; the old lady must have
slept well through it all, while she caused us our ceaseless vigil....

This solitude in the most secluded of spots in the whole Palace made
us more and more inquisitive, and soon K---- and myself were hard at
work, rummaging every likely hiding-place.

Our escort watched our antics and said nothing. It made an odd enough
little scene that, and I liked to think of its incongruity--we two
sets of men, who had not known of each other's existence an hour ago,
now absolutely alone in this retreat, from whence the siege had been
largely directed.

K---- continued rummaging, making an extraordinary amount of noise,
and exclaiming to himself now and again as he came across trifles
which interested him. Then I discovered a _compote_, or preserve made
of rose-leaves, which was so sweet and fragrant that we began promptly
eating. There were also Russian cigarettes, _au bonheur des dames_,
yet quite fit to smoke, and then just as we were becoming reasonably
content, K---- gave a tremendous oath and brought out something in his
hand. Then I knew that he was lost--that there would be speedy
complications; it was a Louis XV. painted watch--his greatest
weakness. Peking is full of these watches, some genuine enough and
many spurious. They were made the vogue centuries ago by the clever
Jesuit priests, when the first disciples of Loyola to come to China
were playing for kingly stakes in the capital of Cathay, and were not
ashamed to use any means which the ingenuity might discover to delight
the Manchu rulers of that day. Many of the most beautiful watches in
France, with amorous paintings of the most voluptuous kind decorating
the inside case, were brought to Peking and distributed among the high
and mighty. That set up a fashion for such pretty things; more and
more were brought, until Peking became a storehouse, stocked with this
specialty. Everyone even to-day ha