Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/243

Rh law and order, despatched him to deal with the mob below, and decided to await eventualities where I was. Exhaustion on the part of the men, combined with the sudden appearance upon the scene of the yamen-runner in official uniform, produced a salutary effect, and before long my own men, followed by the yamen-runner with a number of strangers in tow, came slowly and rather shamefacedly up the hill. With the arrival a little later of Joe, I soon got a general idea of what had occurred. On the track a string of primitive bullock-carts, consisting of two solid wooden wheels upon the axle of which a rough wooden framework was superimposed, were slowly wending their way. These unwieldy conveyances completely blocked the way, and by no means short of actual force, it appeared, could their owners be made to understand that my party wished to pass by. Result: force was resorted to, my men pushing their way past, and thereby upsetting one of the carts, which crashed down the precipice into a chasm several hundreds