men who were willing to go and rescue them, but that no one seemed to
have any orders, and that everyone was swearing at the general
incompetence. Absolute confusion reigned within our lines; the
picquets broke away from their posts; the different nationalities
fraternised under the excitement of the hour and lost themselves; and
it would have been child's play to have rushed the whole Legation
area. We felt that clearly enough.

It was not until well past midnight, and after several heated
discussions, that a relief party was finally organised; but when they
got to the cathedral there was hardly anything to see, for the
butchery was nearly over and the ruin completed. Several hundred
native Roman Catholics had disappeared, only a few Boxers were seen
and shot and a few converts rescued.

How well I remember the scene when this second expedition returned,
excited and garrulous as only Frenchmen can be. The French Minister
led them in. He explained to us that the Boxers had already absolutely
demolished everything--that it was no use risking one's self so far
from one's own lines any more--that it was a terrible business, but
_que faire_.... The French Minister did not hurry away, but stood
there talking endlessly. It was at once dramatic and absurd. Sir R----
H----, in company with many others, stood listening, however, with an
awestruck expression on his face. He carried a somewhat formidable
armament--at least two large Colt revolvers strapped on to his thin
body, and possibly a third stowed away in his hip pocket. From
midnight to the small hours there was a constant stream of our most
distinguished personages coming and looking down this street and
wondering what would happen next. It was not a very valiant spectacle.