Chap. XVII. 



MIDNIGHT DISTURBANCE. 



291 



they came. The whole scene brought vividly to my 

 mind Bailie Nicol Jarvie's fight with the red-hot 

 poker, so admirably described by Sir Walter Scott. 



Had I been an uninterested spectator, I might 

 have enjoyed a hearty laugh at the scene before me ; 

 but I was in the midst of a strange country and 

 hostile people, and, being the weaker party, I felt 

 really alarmed. The only weapon in my possession 

 was a small pocket-pistol, one of those which are 

 loaded by unscrewing the barrel. Thinking that if 

 matters came to the worst this might be of some use, 

 either in frightening our assailants or in saving my 

 life, I went back to my bed-room and got it out. 

 When I examined it I found that the wet had 

 rusted the barrel, and it would not unscrew ; it was 

 therefore of no use. 



The noise still continued, and if possible got 

 louder. I determined, therefore, to present a bold 

 front, and walked straight in amongst the com- 

 batants, clearing a space between my servant and the 

 others, and asked the reason of the disturbance. My 

 chair-bearers and coolie, who had always treated me 

 with every respect, immediately fell back in the rear, 

 grumbling at the same time about some cash which 

 they had not received. On inquiring into the busi- 

 ness, I found that Sing-Hoo, Chinaman-like, not con- 

 tent with what he got from me, had been trying to 

 squeeze the chair-bearers and coolie out of 300 cash 

 — about a shilling of our money. He denied the 

 accusation most stoutly, but I had no doubt in my 

 own mind that what the men said was true ; besides 



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