at dawn from whence he escaped to the railway-station, rapidly reaching
Tientsin entirely unobserved.

The morning was well-advanced before the detectives who nightly watched
his movements became suspicious. Then finding that his whereabouts were
unknown to the coachman dozing on the box of his carriage, they roughly
entered the house where he had passed the night only to find that the
bird had flown. Hasty telegrams were dispatched in every direction,
particularly to Tientsin--the great centre for political refugees--and
his summary arrest ordered. But fortune favoured him. A bare
quarter-of-an-hour before the police began their search he had embarked
with his family on a Japanese steamer lying in the Tientsin river and
could snap his fingers at Yuan Shih-kai.

Once in Japan he lost no time in assembling his revolutionary friends
and in a body they embarked for South China. As rapidly as possible he
reached Yunnan province from Hongkong, travelling by way of the French
Tonkin railway. Entering the province early in December he found
everything fairly ready for revolt, though there was a deficiency in
arms and munitions which had to be made good. Yuan Shih-kai, furious at
this evasion, had telegraphed to confidential agents in Yunnan to kill
him at sight, but fortunately he was warned and spared to perform his
important work. Had a fortnight of grace been vouchsafed him, he would
have probably made the most brilliant modern campaign that has been
witnessed in China, for he was an excellent soldier. Acting from the
natural fortress of Yunnan it was his plan to descend suddenly on the
Yangtsze Valley by way of Chungking and to capture the upper river in
one victorious march thus closing the vast province of Szechuan to the
Northern troops. But circumstances had made it imperative for him and
his friends to telegraph the Yunnan ultimatum a fortnight sooner than it
should have been dispatched, and the warning thus conveyed to the
Central Government largely crippled the Yunnan offensive.

The circumstances which had made instant action necessary were as
follows. As we have seen from the record of the previous risings, the
region of the Yangtsze river has superlative value in Chinese politics.
Offering as it does an easy road into the heart of the country and
touching more than half the Provinces, it is indeed a priceless means of
communication, and for this reason Yuan Shih-kai had been careful after
the crushing of the r