Despite
their numbers, they were afraid to strike, however, and lucky it was for
the city that the leaders were not sufficiently trusted by their
followers, many of them pressed men--men who had joined the rebelling
ranks merely to save their own necks and their houses. At this time the
_pen-fu_ (a sort of mayor of the city) demanded that the missionaries
working among the Hua Miao, and two lady workers paying a visit to that
place, should return from Shih-men-K'an (70 li away), as he could not
protect them in the country. A special messenger was dispatched,
demanding instant departure, and in the dead of night--a bitter wintry
night, icy, dark, slippery, and cold--these ladies came under cover to
the city.
They reached the mission premises without molestation.
By this time a new _ch'en-tai_ (brigadier-general) had arrived from the
capital, having been sent as a man who could handle the situation
successfully. He was a Liu Ta Ren, who had previously held office in the
city, and whose cunning a Scotland Yard detective might envy.[P]
Rumors grew more and more serious; the mandarins went all round the
countryside endeavoring to pacify the people, and the foreigners could
do nothing but "sit tight" through these most trying days.
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