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Show a l l Our gr«ate§t experience start day w*§ fording a iurbulont riaer, which was so dry when 1 came this way earlier,'in the season that we drove through with no troubla. ft had a r o i i t i a itream by terry sowing from th® Valley, but ea fsrry couli stem th® tide . of this one at this time of year- Right there was a fin® bridge an Cel. Chow's R@adF and w® planned to 0*1* over i t and fraa tha bridg® t© watts tht carts being forded. Our carters set up such i hue ®ni €ry, i a s i s t i n g that th© mm who take eUsfege of th® teams at th® ford would charge a far higher fee if the carts went over without th® far alga passengers inside^ and they - our carters - only were managing a f f a i r s . 1MB was all aeassaee, we knew, for a larger "squeeze" i s always made Irm foreigners than natives, but we finally yielded. fhen people cannot understand each other, the most persistant o r a l l y wins. Be had four carts * one for ©aeh of us, ani one for our luggage. Be knew full well that we paid more sofptrs' than our men would have paid, for th® men haggled and delayed starting t i l l we gave i n . Doubtless th® men at the Fori had te refund a part af their receipts t© our factotums, who had brought thaa the business This percentage commission, or "squeese p i i g l s , " i s a regular i n s t i t u t i o n in that land. *w were directai re drive half a ail® up stream on th® bank, sad frsm there we farles. axl th® time drifting diagonally with the current, so we landed at the other short exactly opposite to the point where aa had f i r s t arrived i t th® river. Cur carters surrenferal th® car® of the mules te th® specialists whe nete i t thair b u s i n e s s ^ Znill th® f r i g h t e d , trembling animals. (Prebtbly eur drivers rod® ever in our b a ™ cart ) Men and mXaashiverei with th® sold. Tht men holiiag the bits prL.ad T^mZl fash ion h th® mules Baas* and tht carts float®!. Its, i t was a t h r t t l i n V . ™ I ! r m Z m ^ us, and aided ®n® mora to our l i s t s of t h r i l l s . thrilling txparianae for in w w l b l t ! , ^ / ^ / ^ I " t f t a f @ r t a b l @ * M " m a larger aud batter me than the en® i s which I sal stayed ciming sp. Me bmriei tht morning train and tmni it erewiei meat with us, though i t was tho inly em not f i l l e d , fa felt no i l l - w i l l g a i n s t the innocent sleeping babe occupying tfcespaee istendel for two adults, but objected to th© er-roganse of the father, ^ater they rent into the First, glass eoaah mi left this Seeond Glass compartment to us. It was very pleasant for us that an Amoriian soupla from Peking, whom we knew, were on b&ard. fith thm were an agreeable Chin**- wmf an educated Melhodist preacher who spok® excellent Snglish and wore "foreign" clothes, and his att r a c t i v e daughter. The fiarty had been to Taiyuan as guests of a Chinese freaersl, and had sailed upon Gov. Yen, who received them cordially. At four o'slotk Saturday afternoon WB reached Shilshiachuang. Trains from Hankow were quite off schedule, aal solsi©rs galore travelling mi thaa (as a new Revolution was on!J There was no shaase to get berths on the night train, so w® went to the French Hotel, eased by the Railway, where re had g©od rooms and food. *Va spent the night and waited t i l l Suniay aooa for th® "morning train" to torn® along, so we had "tiffin" at th© ^otel before leaving. How glad we ladies were of the two gentlemen to take command. Thsre was no plaee to s i t , aad searealy room to stand, when as bo&riad th® traia* Some English women,whom we 111 not know,kept their compartment leaked, though we souii see through the glass iocr that i t was not full- Soldiers anil their belongings filled every nook. Mr. C. had a bright idea. He advised us each to allow the Cosiustor to see that we had tickets* but to refuse to let him punch them t i l l he should secure seats for us, as our tickets ent i t l e d us t© seats. (The soldiers rarely have tickets, but they tak© th® best th® plaea? has to offer.} The g«h®m® worked. If the toniu^tor had had a ahanee to punch our t i c k e t s , he would have 1st us stand a l l th© way to feking. He took us into the diniag-sar aad shuffled people and things about t i l l he located our party at two tables. #© WOff Johnnies-on-the-spot f o r iimQr that night, and i i i not s t i r ifter dinner , but ;' |
