At Dairen two passport officials! came aboard, and in front of a exowded saloon we were put through Our paces. We were first on the Ust, "The name was spelled wrong. Must have been one of those typewriters which has never learned English spelling. When we pointed out the error a succulent "Ah" was surmwured and the emendation made in very capable small writing.
Next day we caught the Asta express, and arrived in Harbin, late that night. Before reaching the place, man came along, took our passport from us, and gave us a nice long sheet of questions to answer. BY that time we knew them by heart, but the train rattled so terribly over the track that the handwriting in which the replies were given was 2 shocking mess approaching ilegibility. Gut it passed muster; all our answers were correct, and our passport was returned. Ultimately we arrived at the Hotel Moderne, There they gave us another form to fill in with two extra questions on the back.
We went to bed firmly convinced that we knew exactly who we were.
This morning the tinkling of the bells of the various Orthodox Churches has completely convinced us, "We have beaten the camel at his own game and the rich man is a long way behind. We are in heaven!
It was probably an error of teeties to refer to the matier at all, but on the face of it the entry did not agree with the name on the passport and.
was in no spirit of captious criticism that the correction was suggested but in a desire to be helpful speed matters up a little.
Now of the two passport officers tone did the writing and spoke English, while the other gazed knowingly at the passport and in a terse Japanese majestically suggested further points for interrogation. He is to be suspected of knowing just as much English as the questioner, but, not a word of it did he speak. After slying all the correct answers to the questions designed to know whether we were fully acquainted with the contents' of our own passport, the pleasant litre speaker of English branched off. into a new line. How Jong had we been In Shanghai. We told him. "How long had we been employed with our present firm. The answer being forthcoming, he remarked "Nearly all the time" Then had we travelled much in the East? We did not know whether to grab the lobe of our Jeff ear with the right
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.