ce, and Ping Wang stood up, the crowd
giving vent to harsh cries, which were meant for applause.

The fat man remained on his knees, and Ping Wang signed to Charlie to
take the position which he had just left. Charlie was put through the
same performance as Ping Wang, and when he rose up, Fred knelt down, and
went through the same ceremony.

When the portly Chinaman had got on his feet, he shouted to some one in
the crowd, and a man ran to him, carrying in his hand three pieces of
yellow cloth. These were presented to Ping Wang and the Pages. Ping Wang
did not don the yellow cloth, but placed it in his pocket, and Charlie
and Fred followed his example.

The crowd now separated, some men proceeding towards Kwang-ngan, and
others starting off to more distant villages. The Pages and Ping Wang
went with the former; but, as they walked slowly, they were soon left
behind, much to their satisfaction. Having looked round and satisfied
himself that the nearest men were more than a hundred yards ahead of
them, Charlie said to Ping Wang, in an undertone, 'What was the meaning
of it all?'

'Simply this,' Ping Wang answered with a smile, 'we have been sworn in
members of the Big Sword, or Boxer Society--a Society which exists for
the sole purpose of ferreting out and killing foreigners.'

Before Charlie and Fred had recovered from the surprise of this
announcement, the people in front started running quickly towards the
town.

'The town gates are about to be closed for the night,' Ping Wang
explained. 'We will stay out here until they are opened to-morrow. Let
us hide among these bushes, in case any more men should come along and
be suspicious of us for not hurrying.'

They pushed their way through the dwarf bushes until they came to a
small clearing. Then they sat down and waited silently until the last
townsman had hurried by.

'They have all gone,' Ping Wang declared a quarter of an hour after the
last man had passed, 'so now I will tell you all about the Boxers. After
we had exchanged greetings they told me that they were members of the
Big Sword or Big Fist Society, commonly known as Boxers, and asked me to
join them. I agreed to do so; if I had refused we should not be alive
now. Then they told me that the Empress Dowager, Tsi-Hsi, and most of
the mandarins were supporting them, and had approved of their plan to
destroy every European and native Christian in the land. I asked when
the rising was likely to take place,