In a few hours after the news of Von Ketteler’s murder a steady stream of men, women, and children, carrying bundles, buckets, and trunks, could have been seen pouring into the main gate of the British legation, all with anxious faces. Carts, too, loaded with provisions from the three foreign stores, were making the best use of the time in transferring all the available eatables and drinkables within the protection of the legation walls.
As the twenty-four hours granted us in which to hasten from the city expired at 4 p.m., all used their entire energy as well as that of the coolies and servants at their disposal, so that at the time specified, when the Chinese opened a terrifying fire upon us from all sides, provisions enough to last us several months were safely under shelter.
CHAPTER V
DIARIES OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS SON FROM JUNE 20 TO END OF SIEGE
HSII YUNG I
Beheaded for favoring moderation.
Member of Tsung-li-yamen
AT FOUR o’clock on the afternoon of June 20, 1900, all the foreign women and children, and nearly all of the civilians of Peking and vicinity, including the customs staff and the missionary body, had taken refuge in the British legation. It was surprising to every one to find that, in the time that had elapsed since the arrival of the British marines, May 31, no barricades had been erected, no trenches dug, nor any attention paid whatever to rendering the place better able to stand a siege.