At this crisis of indecision he decided to do what he had so often done before—­consult the Bible.  This had been a habit of his father’s before him; in fact, his whole family had asked guidance on every venture they undertook, no matter how humble it might be, and the training of his childhood was not outgrown.  He accordingly took the Bible lying on his desk and opened it at random one evening.  There, truly enough, was an answer clear and unmistakable in the very first verse his eye lighted upon—­Acts xxvii. 31:  “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.”  It immediately decided him to remain in China, and he suffered no more from perplexity or indecision.

Robert Hart was indeed deeply religious.  Unlike so many men who have passed their lives in the East, he never absorbed any Eastern fatalism, nor did the lamp of his faith ever burn dimly because he mixed with men of other and older creeds.  The Christian ideal he always considered the highest in the world; but once, when trying to live up to it, he was brought to confusion, though not through any fault of his own.

One day, as he was leaving the gate of a certain mission where he had been to pay a call, a Chinese of the poorer classes, unkempt and dirty, came and threw an arm about his shoulders, saying, “I see you are also coming away from the mission, so we are brothers in Christ.  I will accompany you on your way.”

The I.G. afterwards confessed that his first feeling was one of irritation at the man’s familiarity—­which amounted almost to impertinence—­and his second, disgust at the grimy hand so near his collar.  To summarily shake it off was a natural instinct.  But, when he thought a moment, he clearly saw the absurdity of professing a creed of universal brotherhood and then, as soon as some one attempted brotherly familiarity, of repulsing him.  Therefore he suffered the man’s arm to remain as far as the corner of the big street, where he made a determined effort to get free, saying, “My way lies in this direction,” and attempting to slip off before his companion could see which point of the compass “this” was.

But the fellow-Christian was observant and consistent.  “Oh, I will come with you,” he said, in the tone of one doing a kindness, so the I.G. could do nothing but resign himself to his fate.  Baronet and coolie made a triumphal progress down Legation Street, much to the amusement of the sentries on guard, and by the time he reached his own door the former felt a few shamefaced doubts about the advisability of mission methods which inculcated the equality of man irrespective of colour, class, and cleanliness.

1899 saw the Germans take possession of Kiaochow, and the question of establishing a branch of the Chinese Customs there was discussed and settled, China finally obtaining the right to open her own Kiaochow Custom House, with a German staff of her own employees.