In fact,
the only two other garments besides these Chinese caps were the
distinguishing marks of the military. Coats they had, but they had been
discarded at the foot of the climb, rolled into one bundle, and tied
together with a piece of ribbon generally worn by the carrier to keep
his trousers tight. We were now in summer heat, and this military
quintet made a peculiar sight in dusty trousers, peak caps and straw
sandals, with the perspiration streaming freely down their naked backs
as they plodded upwards under a pitiless sun. Thus were they clad when I
met them; but catching sight of my distinguished person, mistaking me
for a "gwan," they immediately made a rush for the man carrying the
tunics, to clothe themselves for my presence with seemly respectability.
But a word from my boy put their minds at rest (my own military were far
in the rear). A couple of them then came forward to me sniggeringly,
satisfied that they were not to be reported to Peking or wherever their
commander-in-chief may have his residence--they probably had no more
idea than I had.
By the side of a roaring waterfall, in a spot which looked a very
fairyland in surroundings of reproductive green, we all sat down to
rest.
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