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 has an example or two of this art, if they can afford it. I thought of these things as I saw K---- trifle with that watch and scrutinise it more and more closely. He looked at it for a last time longingly, and then, without a word, suddenly placed it in his pocket. That was cool. But at once the Russian officer started forward protesting; we were breaking our words; we had begun looting; he would be forced to arrest us. As he spoke, the man became so red and excited, that K----, who pretended at first merely to smile indulgently, became more and more alarmed, and finally replaced the watch without a word. But still he continued this curious search, and coming across other things, I noticed vaguely that he seemed to be placing them all together in little collections, so that he could easily get at them again....