he was
right, but I had often heard from the officials that one cannot be
good to a eunuch, as he would do all he could to injure you without any
reason whatsoever.

I noticed that day they all seemed to be more careful in doing their
work. I was told that when once Her Majesty got angry, she would never
finish. On the contrary, she talked to me very nicely, just as if there
had been no troubles at all. She was not difficult to wait upon, only
one had to watch her moods. I thought how fascinating she was, and I had
already forgotten that she had been angry. She seemed to have guessed
what I was thinking, and said: "I can make people hate me worse than
poison, and can also make them love me. I have that power." I thought
she was right there.

CHAPTER TWELVE--THE EMPRESS AND MRS. CONGER

ON the twenty-sixth day of the fifth moon, during the morning audience,
Prince Ching told Her Majesty that Mrs. Conger, the wife of the American
Minister to Peking, had asked for a private audience, and would Her
Majesty please mention a day. She told him not to give any answer until
the next day, just to give her time to think it over. I was sitting
behind the large screen, listening, but the other Court ladies made
too much noise, so Her Majesty ordered them not to say a word during
audience. I was very glad myself, because I could listen to some of the
interesting conversations between the Empress Dowager and her Ministers.
After the audience, Her Majesty ordered her lunch to be served on the
top of the hill at Pai Yuen Dien (Spreading Cloud Pavilion). She said
that she preferred to walk, so we followed her very slowly. To get to
this place we had to mount two hundred and seventy-two steps, besides
ten minutes' climbing over rough stones. She did not seem to mind
the climbing part at all. It was the funniest thing to see two little
eunuchs on either side, to support her arms, trying to keep pace with
her. I noticed that she was very much preoccupied, and did not speak
to any of us. When we arrived at our destination we were very tired and
quite exhausted. Her Majesty, who was a good walker herself, laughed at
us. She was always very much pleased when she excelled in games of skill
or endurance. She said: "You see I am old, and can walk much faster than
you young people. You are all no use. What is the matter with you?" Her
Majesty was very fond of receiving compliments. I had been there long
enough to know and had learned to say