om Ch'u-tsing-fu (seven or eight days
away), and these, to the strength of a thousand, now came to the city,
and it was thought that the brigadier-general would be able to cope with
the trouble now that he had so many armed troops. Soldiers patrolled the
city walls (which, by the way, had to be built up so that the soldiers
might be able to get decent patrol), more were stationed on the premises
of the Europeans, and every defensive precaution was taken. The
officials were in daily communication by telegraph with the Viceroy, and
at first the riot was kept well in hand by Government authorities.

But the rebels had by this time got together no less than three thousand
men, and were holding three impregnable positions on the adjacent hills,
and had effectually cut off communication by the main road. Despite
their numbers, they were afraid to strike, however, and lucky it was for
the city that the leaders were not sufficiently trusted by their
followers, many of them pressed men--men who had joined the rebelling
ranks merely to save their own necks and their houses. At this time the
_pen-fu_ (a sort of mayor of the city) demanded that the missionaries
working among the Hua Miao, and two lady workers paying a visit to that
place, should return from Shih-men-K'an (70 li away), as he could not
protect them in the country. A special messenger was dispatched,
demanding instant departure, and in the dead of night--a bitter wintry
night, icy, dark, slippery, and cold--these ladies came under cover to
the city.

They reached the mission premises without molestation.

By this time a new _ch'en-tai_ (brigadier-general) had arrived from the
capital, having been sent as a man who could handle the situation
successfully. He was a Liu Ta Ren, who had previously held office in the
city, and whose cunning a Scotland Yard detective might envy.[P]

Rumors grew more and more serious; the mandarins went all round the
countryside endeavoring to pacify the people, and the foreigners could
do nothing but "sit tight" through these most trying days. The suspense
of being shut up in one's house during a time of trouble of this nature,
hearing every rumor which lying tongues create, and unable to get at the
facts, is far worse than being in the thick of things, although this
would have at once been fatal. But one needs to have lived in China
during such a time to understand the awful tension which riots
occasion.

The rioters were stationed as