To the Peiping Railway Station from the gigantic piles of pink masonry which are the towering gates of the Forbidden City, all traffic was cut off. Troops with fixed bayonets lined the road. At strategic intervals the Shui-hui (volunteer fire companies) were drawn up with their hoses ready. They might have been preparations for a riot, a great parade or a state funeral. A funeral in a sense it was. All night long gangs of coolies in ragged padded cotton clothing passed down that roadway dragging creaking carts and wheelbarrows piled high with boxes...
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