236 A CENTRE OF TRADE 



mission station at Taochow (old city) and Moham- 

 medans to have burned shops and looted near 

 Titao. 



A Dr. Laycock, with three missionary ladies 

 and a small infant, was reported to have been 

 murdered by Mohammedans on the borders of 

 Kansu and Shensi, but this turned out to be false. 



We intended starting on November 30th, but 

 did not give sufficient notice to the innkeeper who 

 was responsible for our carts. Fearing that they 

 would be seized by the officials, he sent them 

 some distance away from the city, and it was not 

 until December 1st that they appeared at our 

 gates. 



George had dismissed all the boys, with the 

 exception of Ching-yii, in addition to which we had 

 to abandon many of our superfluous belongings, 

 owing to the need for tra^'elling with as few 

 encumbrances as possible. 



Just as we were about to start, a diversion was 

 caused by the doctor announcing that one hundred 

 taels had been stolen. A small packet containing 

 the small silver " slioes " of Chinese currency, which 

 he had weighed out to the required amount, had 

 been left lying on a table in our sitting-room. 

 The room was left empty for no longer than a 

 minute. In that minute the packet vanished. 

 Some days previously Hsuie had complained that 

 his revolver had been stolen. We searched every 

 nook and corner, and though we discovered a pair 

 of Zeiss glasses belonging to George secreted in the 

 ash-bin and a variety of smaller articles, the money 

 had gone for good, and Hsuie never saw his 

 revolver. 



