The sun., 1900-08-12

on the right side OF the body. On the breast
and the bacL huge dragon shines, while on
the large sleeves smaller ones are seen facing
each other, followed by clouds rushing TO de-
YOUR the sun.
Third-The lie poe OF cloud mantilla of
black silk II has no sleeves at all and fastens
upon the middle OF the breast. on both the
breast and the back Il stitched piece OF silk.
embroidered with a bird or some Quadruped
embennatc OF an official rank. Underneath
each square a couple Of dragons facing each
other try TO surround and devour the sun.
These dragons are embroidered with gold
threads OF a light and dark yellow tastefully
entwined.
Having thus paralyzed ell the evil influences
Of the foreign devils and reestablished harmony
between gods and men. the Boxers started on
the dawn OF Monday. May 7. up the sacred
mountains. full OF expectation and exulting
over the immense and unprecedented number
and enthusiasm OF the pilgrims. Their leader.
the King. or Kuowang. a notorious rebel from
the south Ulonan). headed the enormous pro-
cession. Inarticnlate words, possessing mystic
efficacy. were roared forth In unison from
thousands OF frantic throats and echoed and
reeohoed over mountains and valleys The
Buddhists. fewest In number shouted contin-
uously. twisting their fingers The Confucan-
lists and Taosts, forming the immense ma
jority. recited litanies. In which occur and
reoccur such words as "Fung-Shui. Tien-u'
theaven and earth); "Lojeu teou" tthe sun
sets): -Eul cheu pa stu" tthe tw wenty eighth
Chinese zodiacal constellation "Tsai he ing
tzeu II" lin the darkness) ~ hing: Kin. mu.
shoei. huo thu" five elements: metal. wood.
water fire and earth: -Shan ling" tchair Of
mountains pei ki. Nan k" North Pole. South
Pole,; -pe flung. Isl lang flung; Nan fung, cho
enn flung" north wind. south wind. east wind
west wndE 'Koa tn flung" tthe wind blows
hardc "Ku kung NJ pu Ia iao hia iu" I'VE shall
have some rain before long,; "Iun tsai man
leao T'ien" the sky Is very cloudy; "Hia IN"
III rnins) "Hia ia IN" it rains very fast: "Gni
han han tshe tias kiang uio mo hao" tsee
what beautiful rainbow, &C. To each verse
OF the litany the crowd answered alternately
with the two following refrains: "Iiia in henn
lao kin" I'VE are in great want OF rainG "Ngo
menn gnen king kiu iu" 1--WE pray for rain.
When the procession started at the foot Of
the mountain the sky was absolutely clear.
II was warm summer weather. The dry spell
had been unbroken for six months. But
the men began TO ascend. the gods, 1t seems
came forth TO welcome their worshippers. The
Boxers did not come empty handed. and the
gods were unwilling to be outdone In gener-
osty. They came laden with rain Before
noon the weather began to cool gradually, and
in the afternoon the Thermometer had fallen
to 3s degrees in Pekin, and was considerably
lower at Mao Feng Shan. Dense clouds rose
as II by magic from the horizon, and the Boxers
began to gambol for Joy. going wild with exul-
tation.
Unfortunately. the unwelcome foreigner
seems TO have crept among the Boxers and
broken the spell with his evil devices. No
sooner had the poisonous exhaations OF his
presence reached the gods than they fed In
fright. throwing down the vases in which they
had brought the rain. This simultaneous
outpouring OF the reservoirs Of wind and rain
resulted In a terrible storm, which swept over
the mountain and carried several hundreds
of the climbing worshppers over the steep
cliffs. A further fall in temperature was the
next result, and the miraculous rain turned to
snow from two TO three feet Deep bringing
death to many sceptics who. doubling the
power of the Boxers. had come up in summer
clothes.
Finally the solemn festival tta tsiao) in honor
Of the hell god was held. Incense and paper
were burned (shao Hang, shao tshenl: ailments
meat, libatons and sacrifices were mnde (chang
hung tai sen. tsi jou. tien tsiu), and incanta-
tions recited lGnien tsheu,. II was found that
the piles OF wood had been IN from heaven by
lightning, The Boxers took home part of the
wood protesting to be able to carry 1t around
and e1tingulsh it and rekinde II by the simple
power Of their magic words and promising to
hurl II az the foreigners with deadly effect.
They came down the mountain shouting the
popular cry Of fling Using" u.ong live the
dynasty. Mich Yang Down with the for
eisner)
China remained for several days speechless,
too awed TO discuss tho wondrous event so
confidently promised and obtained. But there
was one mind in China that grasped the situa-
ton. II was that Of the Empress Dowager.
When the weather began TO grow cool. on Mon
day. May 7, her womanly intuition fathomed
all the immehse consequences of that event
for her plans and the destinies Of the empire.
The rain had hardly begun to fall when she
gave unmistakeable signs of anxiety and was
heard to eIclaim; "tsin I oel leang nan" TO
midday she summoned Wang. a censor and a
native Of Chilli. who from the sixth rank was
promoted by special edict of the Empress to
the fourth rank and was made Governor OF
You are from Chihli" said the Empress,
and you ought to know. What's your real
to the Throne' Do they. appreciate the para
mountcy of the present issue against the for
eigners over their old and vain aspirationsp
Would y be possible for them to betray the
Wang informed the Empress that he had
joined that society for the express purpose of
holding II well attached to the cause of the
dynasty and he offered TO guarantee the LOYALTY
of the society in the present contingency He
informed the Empress that he and The boxers
The Empress nodded approvingly and sank
in deep meditations. Then she excaimed
The signal has been given and not by the
Throne. Who can stave them of now? What
n pity that such a great society has not secured
experienced leaders to prevent 1t from thwart-
ing my plans and from allowing itself to he
prematurely swayed by the cry Yang Kuei tzei'
death to the foreiRnersl In Chilli and shan
tung they will do great harm unless they allow
themselves TO be guided BY Responsible men"
snow began TO fall over the city. the Grand
Council and the Cabinet met in council in The
palace. The Empress. Prince Tuan, Prince
Ching. supposed to be a Progressive man
kany VI, Chao Sukiao and Tng Fuh Sian
rabid anti-foreigners. advised her to take steps
to turn the Boxers outbreak away from her
and on the foreigners. On the CONTRARY, Princa
Ii and Ynng lu, the Emperor's tutor. were Of
the opinion that this Boxer ardor should be
absolutely checked until all preparations were
with the regularity OF a watch. Now the plan
Of defence had not yet been fully worked out.
Ill Hung Chang had not yet completed his man
ipulation OF the southern anti-dynastic secret
societies In order to present united front TO
the foreigner, There were still some rs 0OO. ooO
taels made up OF laborious savings of revenues
and European loans to invest In arms an am
munition. On the contrary in November the
Powers could be easily played of one against
the other and defeated separately ono after