THE CHESHIRE CAT
It began to be very hot about the middle of May. The Ku family had put
their wadded clothes away and taken to cottons and thin silks. Nelly and
Little Yi were also supplied with some very plain unwadded cotton coats
and trousers at the same time. But in spite of this the little
foreigner, as the Chinese called her, began to feel the heat and
confinement of the small compound. She thought of her friends, who would
all be preparing to go to the hills with their parents, and the days
seemed very long. It was hard just to wait, with nothing at all
happening. One day was just like another. There were no Sundays, no
letters, no books, no lessons. The time was not even divided into weeks.
Nelly quite lost count of the date. She only knew it Chinese fashion, by
the number of new moons there had been since the Chinese New Year.
It appeared as though Hung Li never would go to Peking as he had said,
but he did start one day at the end of May, and An Ching told the
children that he intended to see the barber and arrange for them to be
handed over to their parents. He had business to do on the way to Peking
as well as in that city, so that he would be away some time, An Ching
said.
Nelly was very glad to see Hung Li start, and she leaped through the
round hole in the wall again and again, really and truly jumping for
joy. She made An Ching and Little Yi sing their very best and loudest,
until the small court resounded with the strains of 'Art thou weary,'
and Ku Nai-nai, who was rather deaf, and shouted a good deal when she
talked, heard the singing in her room, where she was sitting smoking on
the kang. Little Yi and An Ching soon tired of singing so hard this hot
day, but Nelly was too full of delight at the thought that Hung Li was
actually off to feel any fatigue. She was more like little Nelly Grey of
the British Legation than she had been since that unlucky day on which
she wandered from home. She kept up her spirits and energy for two or
three days, and then something happened.
One morning the two children and An Ching had been singing and Nelly
giving her English lessons as usual, when Ku Nai-nai came out, and in
her usual rough, loud, screaming voice when angry, demanded why they
were wasting time there instead of helping to get the mid-day meal
ready. An Ching had quite forgotten that the old woman-servant was not
well, and was shut up in her room out of the way. The children began to
follow An Ching; but Ku Nai-nai, who certainly appeared to have got out
of bed the wrong side that morning (only you can't get off a kang except
at one side), would not allow Nelly in the cook-house. 'No foreigners
shall meddle with _my_ food,' she said; whereat Nelly was very glad, for
she had only offered to go and help on An Ching's account.
So Ku Nai-nai hustled off An Ching and Little Yi, at the same time
telling Nelly to stay where she was. Nelly, left to herself, drew the
bench upon which she had been sitting quite near the wall, so as to be
in the shade. Presently she heard something scraping against the wall on
the other side, and it seemed as though there were voices quite close.
The Chinese being very fond or privacy, all the compound walls are built
very high and solid, and as the houses are only one storey high, no one
can see into his neighbour's premises. Nelly did not remember to have
heard any sounds coming from the next compound before; but noises there
were, sure enough, and the talking became more and more distinct. Nelly
got up from her seat to look at the wall. As she did so, she saw what
was evidently a Chinaman's head just above the top, and she heard him
quite distinctly tell some one below 'to hold the ladder tight.' Nelly
was just wondering what she should do, and was half inclined to run
through the hole into the next court, when the rest of the head came
into view, and she saw that it belonged to a plump, pleasant looking
Chinaman. It was very round, and Nelly was at once reminded of the
Cheshire cat in _Alice in Wonderland_. It and she looked at each other
for some seconds. Nelly was the first to speak.
'Oh!' she said.
'A fine day,' said the head.
'Rather hot,' replied Nelly.
'Was that you singing?' asked the head.
'Yes,' answered Nelly.
'I can sing that too,' said the head.
Nelly was too much astonished to reply.
Then the head rose a little higher, and showed a pair of shoulders and
arms. 'He does not look like the Cheshire cat now,' thought Nelly, 'but
a rather nice Chinaman.' He continued:
'How is it that you have large feet? You look like a foreigner. Don't be
afraid of me.'
Thus encouraged, Nelly replied:
'I am a foreigner, and of course I have large feet.'
'What are you doing here?' asked the man.
'I have been brought here,' replied Nelly vaguely, 'and I want to get
away, but Ku Nai-nai will be very angry if she knows I am talking to
you.'
'Then don't tell her,' said the man. 'I shan't. She is the woman who
speaks so loudly, I suppose. I'll bob down if she comes. Where do you
live?'
'Peking, the British Legation.'
And then Nelly told the man all about Little Yi and herself being
brought to Yung Ching by Hung Li and Ku Nai-nai. When she had finished
the man seemed to be considering for some time. At length he said:
'Perhaps I can help you to escape. You had better not say a word to any
one. Would you come with me and leave the Chinese girl?'
'Oh no,' replied Nelly. 'Little Yi does not mind being here nearly so
much as I do, but she does not want to stay, and I am afraid they would
never take her home without me. I wish An Ching could come with us.'
'Who is An Ching?'
'She is Hung Li's wife,' Nelly replied, 'and is very kind to me. Hung Li
and Ku Nai-nai don't care for her. They make fun of her and call her
stupid, but she isn't, although Little Yi can cook and help with the
work better than she can. Her feet are very small, so of course she
can't run about much. She is pretty, too. Her skin is almost white, and
she can embroider beautifully, and I want her to come and be my maid and
learn English. Mayn't I tell her about you? Little Yi might let it out,
but I don't think An Ching would.'
'No,' said the man. 'Tell no one yet. I will talk to my family about it,
but I don't think we can take An Ching. She belongs to Hung Li, but you
don't. I will come again to-morrow or the next day when you are alone.
Look here,' he continued, thrusting his right hand up his left sleeve
and producing some red paper, which he threw down; 'pick this up quickly
and hide it.'
Nelly did so at once, thrusting the precious paper into her sleeve.
'When you are alone,' he continued, 'tear off a bit of paper and throw
it over the wall. If any one comes, and you hear me on the ladder, begin
to talk loudly, and I shall keep away. Could you be here to-morrow
morning while the women are brushing their hair?'
'Oh yes,' replied Nelly, delighted. 'I could easily come. Little Yi
likes to watch the hairdressing, and I don't. I am often here alone
then.'
'Very well, expect me to-morrow morning. I will go now.'
'Stop,' said Nelly. 'How is it that you can sing that hymn? Are you sure
you can?'
The man smiled, and in a low voice began:
Lao-lu kun-fa fu chung tan ti
Hsin li chiao ku-nan
Yu i wei k'ai en-tien ch'ing ni
Te p'ing-an.
As he went on Nelly opened her eyes and mouth wider and wider, so
surprised was she.
'Why,' she exclaimed, when he stopped, 'I don't know it in Chinese,' and
she was too puzzled to say more.
'The hymn has been translated by a missionary,' the man said. 'I am a
Christian. See you again.'
And he bowed and bobbed down out of sight, leaving Nelly in the middle
of the court, too astonished to move.