We retired from the Chinese Treasury with rather indecent haste. L---- did not even look at the guard which turned out as we passed the entrance. When we had entered they had hurrahed him, and hoped that his health was good, in a chorus after their custom; and he had made a little speech in return, trusting that his children were also well! It was amusing if you happened to be able to appreciate that kind of wit. Most of my companions, however, did not. And yet with the clouds of dust which had settled on us and covered us from head to food with dirt it was impossible to look even dignified with success. And all my friends, who had been so cordial and admiring in the morning, how cold and distant they had become! They had not made anything--was not that a sufficient excuse for any behaviour? Somehow news of this expedition must have leaked out everywhere through the indiscretion of confident busybodies, until everybody knew about it, for we kept on meeting men riding across our road as if by chance, and asking what luck we had had. This made the companions I had gathered more furious than ever, and at the last moment, as we parted, I could not restrain myself. I rode up to one of the staff officers who had been the most officious and the most offensive, and begged him not to forget to remind the general that he had a duty to perform. An account must be telegraphed at once to Alexieff! That was the last word--the very last. VIII THE PALSY REMAINS September, 1900. * * * * * I have now ridden to every point of the compass in the city, and even beyond, and I have inspected everything with a critical eye. It is wonderful how things shape themselves. There are now some portions of the city that are reasonably peaceful even at night, and where even women can come forth and walk openly about; others that are quiet on the surface and yet throw up mad things at all hours; and lastly, there are those where riot and disorder still reign supreme. Some people estimate that half or even three quarters of the native population have fled, and that this accounts for the curious silence which now reigns, only to be broken by the noise of marauders or marching troops. Yet I do not believe that so many of the population have really fled; many people remain half hidden in quiet spots, where, packed dozens and dozens in a single house, they tremulously await the return to happier days. The Chinese, I sometimes think, of all peoples of this earth must have their historic sense enormously developed. Thousands of years of civil wars and countless endless sieges have placed them in the dilemma of to-day more often than it is possible to say. Only fifty years ago the Taipings made whole provinces suffer the way Peking has now suffered.... Such things must live in the blood of a people and never be quite forgotten....