The rebels fled away to the east among scantily populated hills putting to death the almost defenceless officials of the dynasty against which they were rebelling. Hurry ing on along the eastern boundary of the province, the rebels by good luck rather than by good management evaded the large bodies of im. perial troops under the command of distinguished statesmen who were awaiting their arrival on the proper road which followed the course of the Siang river.
Equally accidental was the incident by which the rebels threw away the advantage which their sudden and unexpected march had given them. Coming along the ridge of hills which skirts the eastern side of the Siang, the first tower of the city to be observed was the lofty structure which crowns the highest ground in the city, that, namely, in the southeastern angle of the This storeyed building is exactly the sort of building which usually surmounts a city gate; but in this particular instance, it is an unpierced portion of the wall which has been adorned. The besiegers boldly marched up to what they supposed to be a gate to find themselves confronted with the highest portion of the city walls.
Sixty years later, a gentleman then in his 90th year told me the story of the things which he recalled of the days when he was but 30. At the very time the fruitless attempt was made the actual city gates (at no great distance) stood wide open. Indeed, a curious exhibition of worthless incredulity was being enacted; some countrypeople had run on in front of the rebels with the news of their approach. The angry magistrates seized the "spreaders of rumour" and were about to beat them for their crime, when the first cannon ball dropped near the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.