"It is unbelievable," he murmured.
It was indeed unbelievable. From this vantage-point it seemed as if half the city were in flames—the flames now seemed to extend for miles. Choking clouds of smoke were wafted up to him full of sparks. It became difficult to breathe; and it was clear that had it not been for the great moat and this massive wall, the foreign quarter would already have been in flames like the rest. With his head down and his heart thumping hard the boy ran on until he came upon a large crowd of foreigners.
"I seek my master," he explained, using his Chinese name.
"Over there," they waved to him.
He recognized his master from his great bulk. He was standing before a knot of armed native soldiers. As he came up he caught the master's last words.
... "So long as the gates are kept shut no harm can come. But if they are opened even though it be for a tenth of a minute, you as well as every one else will suffer and lose your lives."
In a chorus the guards rejoined:
"We understand, your Excellency. It is as you say."
Then they broke off. For immediately beneath them came a fiendish yelling from countless throats.
"Open the gates, open the gates."