About half-past six o'clock, to our great relief we heard the approaching sound of the gong, denoting the coming of the officers, and witnessed from our verandah the immediate dispersion with whips of the rabble. No one was spared, the sight of the numerous soldiers in attendance on the Mandarins caused a rush towards every outlet from the Square, and even to the river, where several were drowned, not a boatman offering them the least assistance. Wide open flew the Factory gates, and in an instant their imprisoned occupants appeared with looks of relief indescribable. The Mandarins passed the night on the ground, chairs were procured for them, official lanterns were lighted, and, conscious of the entire safety which we now enjoyed, and without being disturbed by the hourly beating on gongs of the different watches of the night, we all turned in. The next day everything reassumed its normal state of comfort and safety. The 'victim' had been strangled at the public execution ground, to which he was taken from the Square. Approaching the Mandarins in the morning to thank them for their timely assistance (rather a 'cool' thing to do, as some one remarked, seeing we had taken the law in our own hands and had driven away the officer of justice the day before!), they received us very courteously, and assured us we had 'nothing to fear!' This was the most serious of many provocations inflicted by foreigners upon the authorities. We treated their 'chops,' their prohibitions, warnings, and threats, as a rule, very cavalierly. We often spoke of their forbearance and wondered at the aid and protection they extended to us; in fact, they considered us more as unruly children, people who had never had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with 'Taou-Le,' or 'reason.'