36 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



gray stallion had given me that I could get to his back 

 only with the greatest difficulty, but we reached Kalgan 

 at eight o'clock. Unfortunately, the Cossack had left 

 his passport in the cart which was to follow with his 

 baggage, and the police at the gate would not let us 

 pass. Mr. Price was well known to them and offered 

 to assume responsibility for the Cossack in the name 

 of the American Legation, but the policemen, who 

 were much disgruntled at being roused so early in the 

 morning, refused to let us enter. 



Their attitude was so obviously absurd that we agreed 

 to take matters into our own hands. We strolled out- 

 side the house and suddenly jumped on our horses. 

 The sentries made a vain attempt to catch our bridle 

 reins and we rode down the street at a sharp trot. 

 There was another police station in the center of the 

 city which it was impossible to avoid and as we ap- 

 proached it we saw a line of soldiers drawn up across 

 the road. Our friends a? the gate had telephoned ahead 

 to have us stopped. Without hesitating we kept on, 

 riding straight at the gray-clad policemen. With 

 wildly waving arms they shouted at us to halt, but we 

 paid not the slightest attention, and they had to jump 

 aside to avoid being run down. The spectacle which 

 these Chinese soldiers presented, as they tried to arrest 

 us, was so ridiculous that we roared with laughter. 

 Imagine what would happen on Fifth Avenue if you 

 disregarded a traffic policeman's signal to stop! 



Although the officials knew that we could be found 

 at Mr. Coltman's house, we heard nothing further from 



