Until then the natives had
been well disposed towards them, but two emissaries of the Boxers,
describing themselves as merchants, spread evil reports concerning
them. They declared that the missionaries had poisoned the wells, and
when the people went to examine them they found that the water had
turned red. The men who accused the missionaries had, before bringing
this charge against them, secretly coloured the water. Other false
accusations, artfully supported by what appeared to be conclusive
evidence, were made against them, and naturally aroused the anger of
the people, whose demeanour became unmistakably threatening.

On July 5 the sad news of the murder of two lady missionaries at
Hsiao-i reached Mrs. Ogren and her husband, and a mandarin, who had
secretly remained friendly towards them, urged them to escape from the
city as soon as possible, and for their travelling expenses the
secretary of the yamen brought them, in the middle of the night, Tls.
10 (L15). Mr. Ogren gave a receipt for the money, and prepared for
their flight, but it was not until July 13 that they were able to start.

Early in the morning, before day-break, a mule-litter was brought to
the back door of the mission garden. Quickly and silently Mr. and Mrs.
Ogren, with their little nine months' old boy, mounted, and started on
their perilous journey to Han-kow.

They arrived uninjured at the Yellow River, where, however, they found
a famine-stricken crowd, armed with clubs, eager to kill them. The
starving natives had been told, and believed, that the scarcity of food
was due to the foreigners' presence in China, and their hostile
attitude can scarcely be wondered at. However, the guard which had
been sent to protect the missionaries succeeded in keeping off the
people, who had to content themselves with yelling and spitting at the
fugitives. Hiring a boat, for which they had to pay Tls. 50, the
Ogrens and their guard started down river for T'ung-kuan. The current
of this river is exceedingly swift, and the missionaries expected every
moment that their boat would be wrecked. No mishap occurred, however,
and after travelling seventeen miles the party made a halt. It was
necessary to do so, as at this place they were to be handed over to a
new guard. Here, too, they found it would be impossible to proceed on
their journey without more money, and a messenger was despatched to the
mandarin at Yung-ning, asking for a further loan. Unt