It was true that the cold at night frequently prevented them from sleeping, but it acted as a tonic and braced them up.
"What did he mean about the villages attacking each other ?" Percy asked.
"I have heard," Jack replied, "that in some parts of China things are very much the same as they used to be in the highlands of Scotland.
There is no law or order.

The different villages are like clans, and wage war on each other.

Sometimes the government sends a number of troops, who put the thing down for a time, chop off a good many heads, and then march away, and the whole work begins again as soon as their backs are turned." That night the uneasy slumber of the lads was disturbed by a sudden firing; shouts and yells were heard, and the firing redoubled.

"The village is attacked," Jack said.

"I noticed that, like some other places we have come into lately, there is a strong earthen wall round it, with gates.