Our little cavalcade was clattering along midst these strange
surroundings, when my attention was attracted by the similarity of the
occupation which now appeared to be engaging numbers of people on the
side streets. The occupation was plainly a doubtful one, since as soon
as we were seen everyone fled indoors. All had been standing scraping
away at the door-posts with any instruments which came handy; and one
could hear this scratching and screeching distinctly in the distance
as one approached. It was extraordinary. Determined to solve this new
mystery, on an inspiration I suddenly drove my old pony full tilt up
an alleyway before the rest of my men had come in view, and, dashing
quickly forward, secured one old man before he could escape. Once
again I understood: all these people had been scraping off little
diamond-shaped pieces of red paper pasted on their door-posts; and on
these papers were written a number of characters, which proclaimed the
adherence of all the inmates to the tenets of the Boxers. In their
few weeks' reign, this Chinese sansculottism had succeeded in imposing
its will on all. Everyone was implicated; the whole city had been in
their hands; it had been an enormous plot....

Inside the house I had singled out, we found only old women and young
boys--the rest had all fled. Spread on the ground were pieces of white
cloth on which flags were being rudely fashioned--Japanese, English,
French and some others. They were changing their colours, all these
people, as fast as they could--that is what they were doing; and
farther on, as we came to more remote quarters, we found these
protecting insignia already flying boldly from every house. Everybody
wished to be friends. But my men exhorted me to proceed quickly and to
escape from these districts, which, they alleged, were still full of
Boxers and disbanded soldiery; and yielding to their entreaties, we
again dashed onwards quicker and quicker. For half an hour and more we