that was doubtful. Curious isolated encounters were taking place all
over the vast city of Peking; it was now everyone for himself, and
not even the devil taking care of the hindmost. It was no place for
innocents.

At last, by vigorous riding and driving, which caused a great clatter
and drew forth many leering faces from darkened doorways, we debouched
into that long main street down which I had shot so few days before in
such an agony of doubt. Hurrying homeward in the same direction, we
now met bands of our siege converts in groups of forty and fifty
strong. These men, who had come so near to starving during the siege,
were having their own revenge. They had sallied forth with such arms
as they could lay their hands on, and had been plundering all day
within easy reach of the Legations. They had done what they could, and
had gathered every manner of thing in which they stood most in need.
Each man had immense bundles tied to his back--it was the revenge for
all they had suffered. They had given no quarter either, and before
many more hours had gone by they would have made up for those long
weeks.... We soon left these groups behind, and with the whole
cavalcade now going at a hand-gallop, it dawned on our companions and
beasts which we had so curiously gathered during the day that we were
nearing our destination.

But here the roadway was absolutely deserted, and in the dusk I
realised that had we been farther from home we would almost certainly
be ambuscaded by some of the many ruffians Boxerism had unloosed on
the city. Here was a sort of neutral belt. At every turning I half
expected a volley to greet us; at every door-creak I thought there
would be some rush of armed men which would have been impossible for
us to meet without losing half the convoy. Yet these fancies were not