During our jourmying through Fukien we came into. actual contact with bandits but once, although we By tHe Way "Down and Out" through Ban ignored and a few days before the stage was all set we gathered together our effects and did a quiet lit, The coup was pulled off a few days later, but not in all respects exactly asthe bandits had planned it. When they comedown out of the mountains they were met by a delegation from a high official and were flatteringly invited to enroll in the army and join 10 the new year's celebrations with their brothers the soldiers. They wallowed bait and hook, and march-parade ground amid it rejoicings, where they were to turn in their nondescript} that they might be equipped, with modern arms of military No sooner, however, had they. been disarmed than well placed and hidden machine guns began to pop, when the show was over all but a remnant of them had been effectually wiped out. I was never able to ascertain just how many of" them were "caught," but wi only about a hundred escaped regained the mountains, so judge that those shot down must have been in the neighbourhood of a thousand, Of course this sort of thing does!
good inthe end. It cannot be repeated more than twice at most, while those that escape retire to lick their wounds with bitter hatred in their hearts and proceed to take it out the long-suffering, unfortunate peasants. And, after all, as bandits go in Fukien, the mere blotting oat of one or two thousand is no great victory for the forces of law and order and makes little or no change in the whole situation.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.