"Ach! You do so vell zat to-morrow ve go to take var pictures. Zere vill soon be a great battle; ze Russians shall at last do goot business."
In the afternoon they went up to the railway-station to see if seats could be booked in next morning's train, Jack carrying the camera in case anything of interest should offer. The station was crowded. For many days troops had been passing towards the south; the platform was now thronged with soldiers, surgeons, nurses, camp-followers. Schwab was amazed, his German sense of discipline was shocked, to see colonels walking arm in arm with lieutenants; still more when he noticed a placard stuck up in the buffet, signed by General Sakharoff, threatening with dire punishment any officer who should presume to criticise his superiors or their conduct of the operations. He was disgusted also to observe, in a siding, a superb dining-room car in which a company of officers and ladies were eating and drinking with a light-hearted gaiety that ill matched the occasion, if the rumours of the stupendous battle approaching were well founded.
"You, Sin Foo," said Schwab, "I tell you zis; zat is not var. Zat is not ze vay ve Gairmans shall behave ourselves ven ve go to invade England; zen you vill see var zat is var. You understan'?"
Seeing little probability of obtaining a seat in the train, Schwab decided to return to the hotel and journey south on ponies.
As they left the station a number of Russian soldiers who had just marched in were lying dead-beat in a sort of trench parallel with a siding. A troop train was being slowly made up, doubtless to convey these and other men southward to the front. Schwab stood contemplating them for a moment. Then he turned to Jack.
"Boy, upfix ze camera; ve vill take schnapshot of zese men."
"Allo lightee, masta," replied Jack, wondering at the German's choice of a subject. He was to be enlightened on that point later.
It was late in the day by the time they reached the city. Passing along the principal street, they saw a crowd of natives hurrying down a side alley uttering piercing shouts. Jack noticed that two or three of them had buckets suspended from the ends of a long bamboo pole carried on the shoulder.
"My tinkey house hab catchee fia."
"A gonflagration in Moukden! Zat vill be ver' interesting to ze abonnenten of my baber. Ve vill take it on ze hop."