Mr Lu disappeared very early the next morning and returned while I was eating an unpalatable breakfast of rice and some kind of stew which had been served to me with genuine apologies on the part of our host. There was little else, he said. The soldiers had eaten everything - and no one was paying him.
Mr Lu looked pleased with himself and soon took the opportunity to let me know that he had managed to secure passage for us on the next train leaving Wuchang. The train was chiefly a troop transport, but would take a certain number of box-cars. If I did not mind the discomfort of travelling with the men and horses, we could leave almost immediately.
I was glad to agree and we gathered up our luggage and went to meet the rest of our party on the far side of town where they had been camped, sleeping in the open, curled up against their steeds. They looked red-eyed and angry and were cursing at each other as they saddled up and prepared the baggage for the pack animals.
We made our way to the station in something of a hurry, for there was precious little time. Mr Lu said that a troop transport was more likely to leave on time - or even ahead of time if it was ready to go. The army could decide.
We got to the station and the train was still in - drawn by one of the largest locomotives I have ever seen. It belonged to no class I recognized, was painted a mixture of bright blue and orange, and was bellowing more fire and smoke than Siegfried's dragon.
We crowded into the boxcars, the doors were shut on us, and off we jerked, hanging on for dear life as the train gathered speed.
Later we were able to get one of the sliding-doors partly open and look out. We were in high mountain country, winding our way steadily upwards through some of the loveliest scenery I have ever seen in my life. Old, old mountains, clothed in verdant trees, the very image of those Chinese paintings which seem so formalized until you have seen the original of what the artist described. And then you realize that it is nature herself who is formalized in China, that the country has been populated so long that there is scarcely a blade of grass, growing in no matter what remote spot, which has not in some way received the influence of Man. And here, as in other parts of China, the wilderness is not made any less impressive by this imprint. If anything, it is made more impressive. Mr Lu shared my pleasure in the sight (though he took a somewhat condescending, proprietorial attitude towards me as I gasped and exclaimed and wandered).
'I expected to be delighted with China,' I told him. 'But I am more than delighted. I am overawed - and my faith in the beauties of nature is restored forever I'
Mr Lu said nothing, but a little later he took out his cigarette case and, offering me a fine Turkish, remarked that even nature at her most apparently invulnerable was still in danger from the works of mankind.
I had been thinking of Bastable and his description of the bomb which had blown him back into his own time, and I must admit that I gave Mr Lu a hard look, wondering if perhaps he knew more of Bastable than he had said, but he added nothing to this remark and I decided to accept it for one of generalized philosophy.
Accepting the cigarette, I nodded. 'That's true. I sincerely hope this civil strife does not destroy too much of your country," I said, leaning forward to give him a match. The train swayed as it took a bend and revealed to me a lush forest, full of the subtlest greens I had ever seen. 'For I have fallen in love with China.'
'Unfortunately,' said Mr Lu in a dry but good-humoured tone, 'you are not the only European to be so smitten. But must one always take steps to possess that which one loves, Mr Moorcock?'
I accepted his point. 'I do not approve of my government's Chinese policies,' I told him. 'But you will admit that there is more law and order in the territories controlled by Britain than in other parts of China. After all, the Chinese Question remains a vexed one…'
'There would be no Chinese Question, Mr Moorcock,' said Mr Lu with a ghost of a smile, 'without Europe and Japan. Who was it introduced massive importation of opium into our country? Who was responsible'for the devaluation of our currency? These were not internally created problems.'
'Probably not. And yet…'
'And yet I could be wrong. Who is to tell?'
'The Manchus cannot be said to be incorruptible,' I told him, and I smiled a smile which echoed his.
His own smile became a broad grin and he sat back against the wall, waving the hand which held the cigarette, granting me, as it were, the match. I think the gesture was made graciously rather than from any real agreement with the point of view I had presented.
The train travelled steadily through the rest of the day and into the night. We slept as best we could on the shuddering floor of the waggon, ever in danger of a horse breaking free and trampling us. It was almost dawn when the train came to a sudden screaming halt, causing the horses to buck about in fear, stamping and snorting, causing our men to leap to their feet, hands on their rifles.
The noise of the stop gave way to a peculiar and uncanny silence. In the distance we heard a few voices shouting back along the train and cautiously we slid the doors right back, peering into the murk to try to see what was happening.
'At least there's no gunfire,' said Mr Lu calmly. 'We are not under direct attack. Perhaps it is nothing more than a blockage on the line.'
But it was plain he was not convinced by his own suggestion. Together we clambered from the waggon and began to walk up the line towards the locomotive.
The big engine was still ejaculating huge clouds of white steam and through this steam moved dark figures. From the windows of the carriages there poked scores of heads as sleepy soldiers shouted inquiries or exchanged speculations about the reasons for our stopping.
Mr Lu singled out one of the more competent-looking officers and addressed a few short questions to him. The 'man replied, shrugging frequently, making dismissive gestures, pointing towards the north and up at the jagged mountain peaks above our heads.
The sun made its first tentative appearance as Mr Lu rejoined me.
'The line has been blown up,' he said. 'We are lucky that the driver acted with alacrity in stopping the train. There is no chance of continuing. The train will have to go back to the nearest town. We have the choice of going with it and enjoying the dubious security of travelling with these soldiers, or we can continue our journey on horseback.'
I made up my mind immediately, for I was slowly becoming impatient with the delays and diversions we had so far experienced. 'I should like to continue,' I told Mr Lu. 'It is time those horses were exercised!'
This was evidently the answer he had hoped for. With a quick smile he turned and began to stride back to our section of the train, calling out to his men to ready the horses and to load them, saying to me in an English aside:
'Personally I think we stand a much better chance on our own. This is territory at present controlled by the warlord General Liu Fang. His main interest is in wiping out the troops which have been sent against him. I do not think he will bother an ordinary caravan, particularly if we have a European gentleman travelling with us. Liu Fang hopes, I gather, to recruit allies from Europe. A plan which is almost certainly doomed to failure, but it will be of help to us.'
Accordingly, we were soon on horseback, heading down the long slope away from the stranded train. By noon we were deep into unpopulated country, following the course of a river along the floor of a valley. The valley was narrow and thickly wooded and at length we were forced to dismount and lead our horses through the moss-covered rocks. It had begun to tain quite heavily and the ground was slippery, slowing our progress even more. Moreover, it had become hard to see more than a few yards ahead of us. Owing to my lack of sleep and the hypnotic effect of the rain falling on the foliage above my head, I continued almost in a trance, hardly aware of my own tiredness. We exchanged few words and emerged from the forest and remounted when it was quite late in the afternoon, with only a few hours of daylight left. The river began to rise and we still followed it, from one valley into another, until we came upon some reasonably level ground where we decided to make camp and consult our maps to see what progress we had so far made.