About noon
The Chinese tie whistles under pigeons ' wings , and when the birds fly they make a strange kind of humming or whistling noise . Nelly thought they must be the pigeons that often flew over the Legation compound , and belonged to a mandarin who lived not far away . The birds seemed to Nelly to hover about the carts for some time ; but at last they evidently remembered that it was the hour for them to feed , and they turned round and flew home . About noon the travellers reached the great , high wall that stands all round the city , and passed through the gate . When they were well on the road outside Peking , Hung Li stopped the carts and said every one was to get out for a time . But Nelly and Little Yi were only allowed to stretch their limbs for about five minutes , after which they were made to get into the cart again , and the curtain was pulled down as before . They were given a little food , and were quite glad to be alone , as they had not been able to speak to each other , without being overheard , since the day before .