As
soon as I learnt this--I was standing near the fellow--he somehow fell
over, sprawling to the floor over my walnut folding chair, which snapped
at the arm. It was my doing. The man said no more, picked up his loads,
and was the first to arrive at Yung-ch'ang, so that a little force was
not ineffective.
Indiscriminate use of force I do not advocate, however; I believe in the
reverse, as a matter of fact. I rarely hit a man; but there have been
occasions when, a man having refused to do what he has engaged to do, or
in cases of downright insolence, a little push or a slight cut with my
stick has brought about a capital feeling and gained for me immediate
respect.
Fang-ma-ch'ang, off the main road, was our sleeping-place. Travelers
rarely take this road. Gill took it, I believe, but Baber, Davies and
other took the main road. This short road was more fatiguing than the
main road would have been.
We again turned a dwelling-house upside down. People did not at first
wish to take me in, so I pushed past the quarrelsome man in the doorway,
took possession, and set to work to get what I wanted. Soon the people
calmed down and gave all they could. My bed I spread near the door, and
to catch a glimpse of me as I lay resting, the inhabitants, in much the
same manner as people at home visit and revisit the cage of jungle-bred
tigers at a menagerie, assembled and reassembled with considerable
confusion.
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