making preparations. Each individual person seemed vigorously to do his
best to induce us to turn back and follow callings of respectable
members of society. From Shanghai upwards we might have believed
ourselves watched by a secret society, which had for its motto, "Return,
oh, wanderer, return!" Hardly a person knew aught of the actual
conditions of the interior of the country in which he lived and labored,
and everyone tried to dissuade us from our project.

Coming ashore in good spirits, we called at the Consulate, at the back
of the city graveyard, and were smoking his cigars and giving his boy an
examination in elementary English, when the Consul came down. It was not
possible, however, for us to get much more information than we had read
up, and the Consul suggested that the most likely person to be of use to
us would be the missionary at the China Inland Mission. Thither we
repaired, following a sturdy employé of Britain, but we found that the
C.I.M. representative was not to be found--despite our repairing. So off
we trotted to the chief business house of the town, at the entrance to
which we were met by a Chinese, who bowed gravely, asked whether we had
eaten our rice, and told us, quietly but pointedly, that our passing up
the rough stone steps would be of no use, as the manager was out. A few
minutes later I stood reading the inscription on the gravestone near the
church, whilst my brave companion, The Other Man, endeavored fruitlessly
to pacify a fierce dog in the doorway of the Scottish Society's
missionary premises--but that missionary, too, was out!

What, then, was the little game? Were all the foreigners resident in
this town dodging us, afraid of us--or what?

"The latter, the blithering idiots!" yelled The Other Man. He was
infuriated. "Two Englishmen with English tongues in their heads, and