German officers at Tien-tsin. There are no foreign officers
now connected with the force, but there are two foreign educated
Chinese who receive 300 taels a month each. He further
said that all the men with us had killed Boxers and that he
was confident that they could rout 1,000 of them. An illustration
of the reputation of these troops occurred during my
visit in Paoting-fu a little later. A messenger breathlessly
reported that the Allied Villagers, who had banded themselves
together to resist the collection of indemnity, had captured a
city only ninety li southward and that they intended to march
on Paoting-fu itself. Three thousand of Yuan Shih Kai's
troops had been ordered to go to Peking to prepare for the
return of the Emperor and Empress Dowager, but the French
general at Paoting-fu had forbade them coming beyond a point
a hundred li south of Paoting-fu, so that they were then encamped
there awaiting further orders. The Prefect hastily wired
Viceroy Li Hung Chang in Peking asking him to order these
troops to retake the recaptured city, as the Imperial troops were
``needed here,'' a euphemism for saying that they were useless.
Li Hung Chang gave the desired order and the seasoned troops
of Yuan Shih Kai made short work of the Allied Villagers.


[19] A tael equals sixty-five cents at the present rate of exchange.


At any rate, those who escorted me through Shantung were
certainly good soldiers. They had splendid horses and took
good care of them, while several evenings they gave us as fine
exhibitions of sword drill as I ever saw. I was interested to