The meeting became stormier and stormier as it went on, S——­ says, until old C——­ argued that the only way to decide was to put everything to the vote.  Every vote put was promptly lost, and after an hour’s haggling they had got no farther than at the beginning!

The dramatic moment came when Baron Von K——­ got up and stated shortly that as he had a previous appointment with the Tsung-li Yamen at eleven o’clock, in spite of the ultimatum and a possible state of war—­in fact, in spite of everything—­it was his intention to keep his appointment, cost what it might.  The others urged him not to go, for they must have been feeling rather ashamed of themselves and their overvalued lives.  But K——­ insisted he would go; he had said so once, and did not intend to allow the Chinese Government to say he broke an appointment through fear.

S——­, who told me the whole story a few hours afterwards, said that he added that as soon as his own personal business was finished, he would attend to the general question of the Legations’ departure from Peking, if the diplomatic corps would give him authority.  As time was pressing they gave it to him promptly enough.  I remember everything that happened afterwards with a very extraordinary accuracy of detail, because I had just walked past the Spanish Legation when the Ministerial meeting broke up, and I had determined to follow any move in person so as to know what our fate was to be.

The German Minister turned into his Legation, and after a time he reappeared in his green and red official chair, with C——­, the dragonman, in a similar conveyance.  There were only two Chinese outriders with them, as Von K——­ had refused to take any of his guards.  I remember Von K——­ was smoking and leaning his arms on the front bar of his sedan, for all the world as if he were going on a picnic.  The little cortege soon turned a corner and was swallowed up.  I walked out some distance beyond our barricades with Baron R——­, of the Russian Legation, and we wondered how long he would take to come back.  We soon knew!  How terrible that was!  For not more than fifteen minutes passed before, crashing their Manchu riding-sticks terror-stricken on to their ponies’ hides, the two outriders appeared alone in a mad gallop and nearly rode us down.  Through the barricades they passed, yelling desperately.  It was impossible to understand what they were saying, but disaster was written in the air.

At this we started running after these two men, but when we reached the corner of the French Legation the people there had already understood, and said the German Minister had been shot down and was stone-dead.  Everybody was paralysed.