The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-28


straight through and went their ways.
My wife rushed out from the chamber
into an clubhouse which was full Of
straw; here there were a number of
country women, who allowed her To
enter, but they had no room for me.
ran as quickly as | could toward some
straw which was piled in a heap in the
southern corner, climbed To the top of
the stack and covered myself com
pletely with the straw. ] thought |
.hculd be safe there. but in little while
there came soldier. who jumped up
and began poking about with n long
spear. | came forth from the straw and
offered him money to spare my life. He
searched about and discovered several
other refugees. who all escaped by like
wise rendering him silver After he had
withdrawn we all crept back into our
hiding place. Down In the middle of the
straw I noticed couple of long tables
which seemed to offer an excellent ref
uge for several persons. Unfortunately
for my idea part Of the adjoining wall
had collapsed and there was a wide
chink through which our movements
could be seen from without. | had not
noticed this. and had just lain down
when a soldier began prodding at me
with a spear: he succeeded in wounding
me and my companions in misery. The
lower part OF my back received nasty
cash. We all scrambled out as best we
could. and again l went to my wife's
new quarters. All the women there were
crouching on piles Of firewood: they
had smeared their faces and hair with
blood and mud and clnders so that they
looked more like demons than women,
zaH my al 70 I,N haF
voice
Il implored them to allow me to get
in amongst them. and they managed
| to find me a place right at the bottom
| Of the straw. with the women all lying
| on top of me. | was nearly stified. but
my wife procured a long hollow BAN
boo. which | placed in my mouth and
through ii inhaled a little fresh air
| from above \ soldier came to the
door. murdered two women whom he
had dragged thither, and then went on.
| THE day wore on; 1t grew dark. and
| the women got up. / then came out
of my hiding place. soaking with per-
spiration. and my wife and | went back
to the Hungs' house. where We found
not only Mrs. Hung and her husband
but also my brother and little Pen
g'rh. He said he had been forced by
some Manchus to load carts all day,
but they had been kind to little PEN
g'rh. They had given him n string Of
cash at the end Of his days work, be-
sides safe conduct iag The streets
were piled high with corpses and all the
bitches choked with blood. \ report
was current that a certain Col. Wang
Shao-yang. on good terms with the
Manchus. was providing relief for the
| no., nj !
intercesslon had saved many from be-
ing murdered. In spite of all our mis-
cry slept soundly that night: when
morning broke we had entered upon
our ninth day of tribulation.
Toward dawn we crept out and lay
a while at the back Of a grave mound.
| We were caked all over with mud and
| eXcrement and looked like anything
but human beings. A fire close by
| spread To the trees by the graveside.
and what with the roaring bf the
| flames and the bowling of the wind
we felt as II we were already in the
Internal regions. CHASTITY was the spec
tacle as the dawn broke and pallid
sun appeared. on all sides We beheld
gaunt heeting spectres of men and
women. our fellow countrymen, while
the ManChus. like so many Rakchas.
CHASED them up ana uOWn as II tneN
were already denzens OF the neither
most hell II We closed our eyes our
fevered brains conjured up visions of
tortures worse than those We had al
ready undergone. Suddenly I heard
the sound of rushing feet. Looking
up. was Mortified to see that my
brother had been seized by Manchu
soldier and was making desperate eff
forts to escape from his hold. At last
he broke away but the solder was
after him. For few GREATNESS mo-
ments | gazed in horror; in the end
my brother came lettering back. stark
naked and with dishevelled hair, in
the firm grasp of the Manchu. He
implored me to offer the man money
to save his life. had only one silver
ingot left. and this | offered to the
man. but he seized his sword furiously
and stabbed my brother in the neck.
He fell to earth, blood gushing from
his wounds. Poor little Pcng'rh (aged
years. seized the soldiers knees and
begged him with tears to spare his
uncles life. The soldier calmly wiped
his blade on Peng'rh's coat and then
stabbed my brother again, this time
In the head. and as II seemed to me-
morta.ly Then he caught me by the
hair and demanded money, belabor-
ing me the while with the blunt side
of his sword.
II told him that my money was all
gone. but offered To get him other arti-
ces. So he dragged me to the Hungs'