'This being the state of mind of the populace, it will be understood how Poking' gasped when it was earned that Marshal Chang Tso-tin fand his entire staff had secretly Jand abruptly left the capital. It Nooked most decidedly as though Hthe town was abandoned to its fate. The suggestion that he was his way back to Mukden brought fon a state of gloom that has not be equalled since the October coup. But a very little thought brought the conviction that Chang Teo-lin could not possibly be returning to Mukden. It would mean surrender of the situation to Feng Yi-hsiang. Tt would mean leavin Marshal Tuan Chi-jui absolutely in the Iurch. A little more thought [brought the public to what is now jthe current conviction that there was a great deal of truth in the story of Feng's prospective coup, that Chang Tso-lin could not counter it from Peking without putting his own life in danger, that he left secretly to forestall any attempt on part to detain him and that going to doing up an army big enough to deal adequately with an_ impossible situation.
The feelings which these inspire are decidedly mixed. There la joy in the hope that Feng's Nemesis is about to overtake him anid that Pelcing will shortly be permanently rid of him. There is false terror. in the thought of wh he will do when he knows it, In the popular mind Feng has now assumed the character of a ruthless desperado. His reputation among foreigners, which he prized and capitalized so highly, is gone. He has nothing to lose by giving full play to whatever inclinations he may have.
That he is capable of looting and burning Peking, no Chinese doubts, or that in euch an event he would give orders to respect foreign residents. In spite of all these dismal appraisements of the situation, however, it is certain that both foreigners and Chinese hope. that Chang Tso-lin is coming back with sufficient strength to clear the atmosphere and that he will come quickly and have it over quickly.
Note—It will be understood by the reader, of course, that these opinions ud convictions as stated above involve no prognostications om the tenter's part. They are simply a report "of the public's opinions, beliefs and fears, detailed to show why Peking is suffering from "nerves" at the moment. The best informed observers in Peking would now hesitate to launch into catejocrical prophety—R. G.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.