himself called. He was very affable and made quite a long
call. In like manner the district magistrate of Fei-hsien sent
his secretary, personal flags and twenty soldiers twenty li to
meet us. They knelt as we approached and shouted in
unison--``We wish the great man peace!'' So as usual we
entered the town with pomp and circumstance, our own escort
added to the local one making a brave show.

And these were typical experiences. We could not prevent
them and to resent them would have made the official ``lose
face'' and so embittered him. At Pien-kiao, where a hundred
of Governor Yuan Shih Kai's troops were stationed, the whole
garrison turned out, meeting us a couple of miles from the city
and escorting us to our inn with blares of trumpets which
Dr. Johnson said were only sounded for high officials.
We were awakened at three o'clock the next morning by the
bellowing of calves and the braying of mules in the inn courtyard,
and as we had our longest day's journey ahead of us, we
rose, breakfasted at four by candle-light and were on the road
at a quarter of five. But in spite of the early hour, the whole
garrison again turned out and lined the road at ``present
arms'' as we passed.

Think of the mayor of an American city of fifty or a hundred
thousand habitants hastening to call in state on three
unknown travellers, who were simply stopping for luncheon at a
hotel, and sending a couple dozen policemen to escort them in
and out of town! The Shantung Chinese are a strong, proud,
independent people, and it must have cost them something to be
so effusive to foreigners. There was doubtless in it some real