the Thursday night special weekly express [eft Hankow pros pily on time at 10 o'clock Thars-day evening, June 25th Nothreat bit lover and say what should be dons! The electrician on the train wa for going alad, alt the passony to be oaked to lic flat on the floor whirl the train rushed through the danger zone, The passengers were) divided, nearly ell. the foreigners urging a forward policy, and of the Chinese urging 'a stratogi2 retreat before darkness stiowid fal Nearly every one forgot that a: the back of the train thers w two armoured com, filed witl rifts ard ates cause of its being the day eat Festival hat availed it the train crew from being ready for action at the ap: pointed time, Tree, the chief of the dining car service had invited all the sleeping car porters and tome of the other train hands out toa feast in honour of the day and, Ihecause of his too bountiful supply of Fifth Moon cakes, together with work andi local ice-cream and beer, Reatso upset then as to. rather disastrous breakdown effective service on the sleeping} cars the first night out, recent graduates of the Hunan: Yale College of Medicin: sha had their hands full with ten or more of the over-fed crew, finding it possible, however, to set most of their ills right fof Epsom. Sults—aind 'Aside from unusual sultriness and 'a resulting degree of discomfort in the compartments that was unrelieved by the feeble breath of ale generated by the small electric fans, the night passed willoat event and by 10.50 on Fr roving' the train reached Yrncheny. a Iaien city in the south of Hervans at least. the station clock sail it was 10.30 when we reached hor, Tit thix was abe of the andi a station cockle rusked advanced tha hands of the fifteen minutes as T looked on, bringing the train in right on the dot, according to the timetable really be the warri that their raids on eave the impression bandit BANDITS AHEAD, Something of a look of anxiety in the station master's face Ind me! to inquire whether all was well and whether we start off at 1110, as ad He_ chock his head and said he didn't know, when we could get Bad' away news was in from the line ahead Between Yencheng and Hiuchow, a distance of 65 kilometres, bandits] were awanning on the line and he hesitated to let the express start ahead. The trouble, he suid, wax just north of a station named Lintying, not usually an express trait He hiad sent a scout engitr> it whether there and if it came without word of da should be allowed to proc After wailing an hour, then another half hour, we started of] and reached Lin the station master was a the news that had come to hin, He had persuaded the railway norton i hey. one to send a troup of mounted
ack with no word of da should soon start on, An Tater a freight train came in from the north, saying through " zo of rifle that the danger from stray could not be ignored. So the station master tried to get Hsuchow station on the me, but wit out avail. 'The wires must ha been cut of mounted police did not return. 'The name Linying was too ruck ike that of Lincheng, wher" the bandit episode of 1923 had occurred and on account of which China had been obliged to pay such heavy' seumaa to foreigners who had been inconvenienced. The decision was} too heavy for him to make.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.