Yuan Shih K'ai, cutest of all Chinese in China, probably foresaw this, and it may have been a part of his wisdom to stay his hand and wait. He was waiting, but he hardly knew for what. He had hoped probably that the first serious reverse would have knocked spirit out of the men to such an extent that the Revolutionary Army would soon have become disorganised, that the leaders would in true Chinese fashion have been quarrelling among themselves, and that soon, without money and supplies, the Revolutionary Army would have come again to its senses. Meantime, people were saying that General Li, the Revolutionary leader, was a fool, that he should have marched out his men and fought a good fight. They could not see that Chinese had met Chinese, and that both were playing their own game. Yuan was looked upon as being the great man who could make no false moves; Li was merely a trained soldier, and what could he know? He may not have known much, but he knew enough. He knew, at any rate, how to play his own game, and each night at sundown he congratulated himself upon having held the capital city yet another day--for Wuchang was still the stronghold, {94} and it was from Wuchang, as has been said, that other places were taking the cue. At last Yuan saw this. He also saw that city after city, almost province after province, was falling into the Revolutionary line, and he conceived a plan to stop the whole sad business. He began then to parley. He wrote to General Li in most conciliatory terms.[1] {95} He promised a new Government on constitutional lines; he promised that the Manchu princedoms should be abolished; he promised free pardon to all offenders against law and order--he expressed himself ready to make any concession. But in his heart he realised that virtually he was in no position to dictate. He had to play the second fiddle, although trying to play thereon the notes of the first. [Illustration: ESCAPED FROM WUCHANG. Foreigners taking to the boats to cross to Hankow after being shut up in Wuchang for many awful days.] Li read his communique, smiled, joked about it with his second, tossed it to the floor, and declared that he would not concede a fraction. He did not concede. He replied that he would not then talk peace. Expressing his kindly felicitations, he urged upon Yuan Shih K'ai the necessity and wisdom of talking terms when the Revolutionary forces were marching upon Peking--and not before. He urged Yuan Shih K'ai to join the Revolutionary party, pointing out that this would immediately end the strife. Li Yuan Hung added that Yuan's previous history was such that no camp would fit him better, and, if he would come over, he would be made provisional President of the United States of China.