  No one can gain any adequate idea of the magnitude of the Empire of China until he has journeyed up that great waterway, the Yang-tse-Kiang, and observed the millions upon millions of natives that throng both the river and its banks. For the first four hundred miles of its twisting, serpentine course, the Yang-tse seems to wind through one successive village, back of which the skilfully cultivated gardens and fields are visible. The people as a rule seem peaceful and plodding; but we soon discovered a deep-rooted antipathy for foreigners in their character which induced them to regard us with scowling countenances or mischievous jeers. Whenever we tied up at the river-bank they crowded around to mock us and make faces at us like a pack of unruly schoolboys, and we began to realize that we would be far from safe if we ventured among them unprotected. Our steamer was a wheezy little flat-bottomed affair, which in spite of its awkward appearance breasted the stream energetically and made fairly good time. It had been chartered especially for our party by Mai Lo, and was to carry us as far as Ichang, where we were to take mules and elephants to Kai-Nong. Mai Lo was now a vastly different personage from the humble and groveling attendant of Prince Kai whom we had first known. He boarded the steamer at Shanghai clothed in gorgeous Chinese raiment of embroidered silks and accompanied by a band of servitors from his own province, whom he had picked up in the city. He was as silent and undemonstrative as ever, but had assumed a new dignity of demeanor. His commands were obeyed by all around him as readily as if he had been an autocrat, or the Emperor himself, and whenever he spoke to any of our party, which was but seldom, there was a suspicion of a sneer in his harsh tones that was very annoying, although his words were so courteous that we could not well find fault with them. It mattered very little to Archie, Joe or myself that Mai Lo assumed these airs, but the doctor was uneasy and discontented, and more than once expressed regrets that we had been foolish enough to undertake such a risky adventure. Yet he continued to perform the duties he had undertaken in a brisk, businesslike manner. At least three or four times in every twenty-four hours the doctor and I entered the little room where the supposed body of the Prince had been placed in state, surrounded by flags and decorations, and moistened the bandages with the rum. We had brought with us three large demijohns of the liquor, which Doctor Gaylord had labelled “poison,” so that we might continue the farce until the end of our journey. Mai Lo, however, no longer guarded the corpse of his Prince in the same jealous manner as he had on board the Seagull. This might easily be accounted for by the fact that now there was no danger that could menace the dead. The Chinese have an intense reverence for a corpse, and would not molest one under any circumstances. “All the same,” said the doctor, gloomily, “I wish Mai Lo would take a little more interest in the remains of Prince Kai. His indifference makes me suspect that the crafty mandarin knows more than we give him credit for.” Our little party was accorded excellent treatment on this voyage, and we had little to complain of. Our South Sea Islanders had nothing to do, and received almost as much deference as ourselves from the Chinese aboard the steamboat, who looked upon Nux and Bryonia with unfeigned curiosity. Our blacks were as grave and dignified as judges, and conducted themselves in their customary admirable manner. I believe they had themselves been princes, or at least nobles, in the half-civilized island from whence they had come, and certainly their conduct under trying circumstances had always been such as to win my confidence. We were eight days getting to Ichang, for the boat tied up at the bank the greater part of each night, and resumed its journey at daybreak. The Chinese boatmen have a horror of traveling by night, except those of the pirate junks, who prefer the dark to cloak their movements. Sometimes, of course, it is necessary to travel at night, and in consequence every Chinese boat has an eye painted on each side of the bow so that the boat can see where it is going in the dark and avoid running aground or into the rocks. Ichang we found to be another important and densely populated city, and to my surprise there were several European travelers there. A regular line of steamers runs between Ichang and Shanghai. Doctor Gaylord met an old friend, a retired English officer, and seemed overjoyed to see him, for they held a long and animated conversation together that evening. Mai Lo put us up at the best hotel, but the proprietor objected to receiving the “remains” of Prince Kai, and so the casket was left on board the steamer until we were ready to start—the next morning but one after our arrival. This made it necessary for the doctor and me to make trips to the boat from the hotel, since we dared not neglect any of the useless but impressive duties we had assumed in caring for the dummy corpse. On the first of these excursions we were nearly mobbed by the natives; but fortunately our entire band was together and Nux and Bryonia cleared the way, using freely some stout lengths of bamboo. So the rabble did not press us too closely, and on our following trips to the boat they were careful not to interfere with us, although they jeered and mocked “the foreign pigs.” The attitude of the natives seemed to make the doctor very nervous; but the others of us did not mind their silly actions, as it was evident that we were feared as much as we were hated. It appeared that Mai Lo had arranged for his caravan in advance—probably by the Chinese Imperial Telegraph—so we were delayed only two days in Ichang. The evening before we started Doctor Gaylord was again engaged in earnest conversation with his tourist acquaintance, and when we left him to go to bed—for we were to start at daybreak next morning—they were still talking together. Joe aroused me next morning while it was still dark, and told me that I had barely time to dress and get my breakfast. When the meal was finished—and Chinese breakfasts do not consume much time—we all marched down to the river, from the banks of which the caravan was to start. There were three elephants and some twenty spindle-legged mules in the convoy, and our escort consisted of Chinese warriors carefully selected by Mai Lo. The casket of Prince Kai was to ride in state upon one of the elephants, and to be accompanied by the doctor and myself, as his assistant. The doctor was late and had not yet arrived, so I personally directed the removal of the casket from the cabin of the steamer and saw that it was carefully loaded upon the elephant and secured just in front of the howdah. The beast was profusely decorated with flags and streamers of gay colors. The Chinese do not use black as mourning, and this was their way of honoring the memory of the late Prince. Some of the flags were embroidered with the regulation Earth Dragon, but others bore the figure of the Sacred Ape, which was the especial emblem of the House of Kai. The doctor had not yet arrived by the time the elephant was loaded, and we began to be impatient. Mai Lo came to me to inquire why the noble physician was delayed, but I could not tell him. Messengers were sent back to the hotel, and in the meantime I watched two of the puffing, flat-bottomed little river steamers leave the bank a few rods away and begin a race down the river toward Shanghai. They had disappeared around the bend of the river a full half hour when a native touched my shoulder and stealthily handed me a soiled bit of crumpled paper. I found it was a note from the doctor, and to my astonishment it read as follows:
“So,” said a harsh voice beside me; “the noble physician has run away.” I turned with a start to face Mai Lo, who had insolently read the note over my shoulder. “So it seems,” I answered, blankly. “Run away!” exclaimed Joe and Archie, who were unable to comprehend this desertion. “Gone back to Shanghai,” I answered, handing them the paper. “Will you follow his example?” asked Mai Lo, calmly. “I must know at once, as we are ready to start.” We three boys, confronted by this trying emergency, glanced into one another’s eyes; but after exchanging this look I was prepared to answer Mai Lo. “We are going to Kai-Nong,” I said, with an air of unconcern. “Whenever you are ready, we will begin the journey.” |
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