as, law and order were finally restored
and life resumed itself again on normal lines, although the Tartar
City, lying within the Chinese City, was a total wreck. What happened
in consequence to the despoiled and dispersed Manchu element is no
concern of ours.

Rivers put in his claim for an indemnity and got it. It was awarded
promptly, that is, with the delay of only a few months, and he at once
set out to build himself a fine hotel, in accordance with his highest
ambitions. The construction was entrusted to a native contractor, and
while the work progressed apace, he and his wife went down river to
Shanghai, and the children were sent north somewhere to a mission
school. During this enforced residence in Shanghai, in which city he
had been known some years ago as a pronounced beach-comber and
ne'er-do-weel, he was obliged to live practically without funds.
However, he was able to borrow on the strength of his indemnity, but
to do him justice, he limited his borrowings to the lowest terms, not
wishing to encroach upon his capital. In all this economy of living,
his wife assisted him greatly, for although supine and flexible there
was that quality of force about her which we have mentioned before.

As befitted a person who had lost his all in a Chinese uprising and
had been rewarded with a large sum of money in return, Rivers was
particularly bitter against the Chinese. His old contempt and hatred
flared up to large proportions, and he expressed his feelings openly
and freely, especially at those times when alcohol clouded his
judgment. Moreover, he was living in Shanghai now, where it was easy
to express his feelings in the classic way approved by foreigners, and
sanctioned by the customs and usages of the International Settlement.
He delighted to walk along the Bund, among crowds of burdened coolies
bending and panting under great sacks of rice, and to see them shrink
and swerve as he approached, fearing a blow of his stick. When he rode
in rickshaws, he habitually cheated the coolie of his proper fare,
secure in the knowledge that the Chinese had no redress, could appeal
to no one, and must accept a few coppers or none at all, at his
pleasure. If the coolie objected, Rivers still had the rights of it. A
crowd might collect, vociferating in their vile jargon, but it
mattered nothing. A word from Rivers to a passing European, to a
policeman, to any one whose word carries in the Settlement, was
sufficient. He had but