Upon finding himself comparatively free, Thompson's spirits rose, and he
chatted with his guards in a most affable manner. After giving him to
understand that if he made any attempt to escape they would strangle
him, he was allowed to untie his rope-collar and carry it wound about
his body, under his clothes. At night they stopped at the residence of a
military mandarin, who billeted them upon the keeper of a tavern, their
order running as follows:--
"You Teen, keeper of the house of entertainment for travellers
called 'The abode of ten thousand satisfied desires,' are directed
to afford lodging and food to two imperial soldiers named Yung and
Pang, and their prisoner Kwo-chau-ho-che, given on the ninth day of
the tenth moon, &c., &c. Respect this.
"(Signed) HAN,
"Second assistant governor."
Pang, who was a sort of corporal, read the chop or order, then observed
with the greatest complacency, "that the fleas of Teen's establishment
were larger and more fierce than any others in that part of China," upon
which Yung retorted that "they must be large and powerful, to be able to
bore through such a tough skin as Pang's," and with many other merry
observations the soldiers beguiled the journey until they arrived at
"The abode of ten thousand satisfied desires," which turned out to be a
dirty little inn, situated outside the walls, near the execution ground.
Yung purchased a small portion of opium, and procuring a pipe from Teen,
was soon in a state where all prisoners are free. Pang, who pretended to
be very much disgusted, thereupon enjoined his prisoner to keep an eye
upon his comrade, and retired to an up-stairs room, where he indulged in
a debauch of warm rice-spirit. Jerry mingled with the guests, and soon
found the place was a notorious lodging-house for thieves and low
characters.
As the soldiers were both fast asleep. Teen had them conveyed to a dirty
cell in an outbuilding; and knowing Jerry was their prisoner, directed
him to be accommodated with a mat in the same apartment. About ten
o'clock a woman brought them a bowl of rice, and a pot of tea, upon
which the prisoner supped, and by eleven o'clock all the night-lights of
the establishment were extinguished, except the one in the cell occupied
by the soldiers and their prisoner. Finding they were both too far gone
to resist, the sailor first secured their wrists and ankles, then laying
them side by side, lashed them together, in the same manner as he would
have done a hammock. After gagging them, he opened the door and walked
into the inn. The dogs, aroused by his entry, began to growl and bark,
upon which a watchman arose, and having rubbed his eyes proceeded to
open a door, imagining he had heard some one knocking for admittance:
seeing this the sailor quietly slipped through, and found himself in the
street.
After walking for some time he began to feel weary, but knowing that if
he did not get clear of the place by daylight some one might identify
him, or notice his unshaven head, he kept right on, every now and then
finding himself dozing as he walked. At daybreak he found he was
ascending a range of hills, upon the slopes of which he observed large
tea-plantations. Groups of girls crossed his path upon their way to
gather tea, and some of them passed jocular remarks, or invited him to
join them and assist in their labour. About seven o'clock he met a
travelling barber who, for a few sapecks, shaved, trimmed, and shampooed
him, that operation taking place by the roadside, and only attracting
the notice of two or three children who were on their way to school.
When Jerry had secured his guards, he had searched their persons, and
removed the purse he found upon Corporal Pang; justifying this act upon
the grounds that when he was arrested in Whey-chú, these same soldiers
had plundered him of all his money, therefore he was merely regaining
his own. Having paid the barber, he proceeded into the country, stopping
every now and then to refresh himself. By night he had travelled a good
distance; so imagining himself safe, he entered a tea-house, and having
supped, turned in with about forty other travellers, and enjoyed their
society in company with a host of agile tormentors. The room was a
spacious one, and at the upper end a fat-lamp was kept alight all night.
Jerry could not sleep, not being iron-clad like his companions, so he
sat up and took a survey of the place. It was amusing to watch the
features of the sleepers, who, unmindful of the ticklers, were snoring
in a great variety of keys. At times, however, when their tormentors
pulled rather too savagely, a solemn oath would issue from the sleepers'
lips; and upon one occasion a savage-looking Tartar, roused by the bite
of some patriarchal and artful Pulex, kicked the person who was sleeping
by his side. The gentleman thus assaulted was reclining with his face
towards his assailant, and as he received the kick in his waist, he was
completely doubled up by the blow. After remaining quiet for a few
moments, the fellow opened his eyes, and being a peaceful Chinaman, upon
finding the person who kicked him was a Tartar, quietly turned over, as
much as to say, "Now batter away if you will," but he declined to
remonstrate with the person who kicked him. Not that he acted in this
inoffensive manner from want of feelings or usually "when his brother
smote him upon the left cheek, offered him his right." Had it been a
Chinaman weaker than himself who thus assaulted him, he would have very
soon retaliated, but the Tartar's savage face and burly form rendered
him as quiet as a lamb.
Thompson was highly amused with the performance; so, picking up a straw,
he proceeded to tickle the Tartar. For a long time the man bore it,
probably the irritation not amounting to much; however, at last, upon
the sailor thrusting the straw up his nose, he lifted his foot and again
kicked the Chinaman, who thereupon assaulted the celestial next to him,
and he in return favoured his companion. A tremendous row ensued, upon
which the landlord and his assistants rushed into the room, and laid
about them with bamboos, until order was restored.
Long before daybreak they all cleared out, and the sailor, having
partaken of a light breakfast of rice and tea, made for the hills. After
going a short distance, he fell in with a party of tea-gatherers, who
invited him to join them. As he had no definite plan for the future, he
accepted their offer, and, receiving a basket, was soon toiling up the
hill-side. The business was one which required the labourers to be at
work by sunrise, as the kind of tea they were gathering is not picked
when the sun gets too far up. A light fog hung about the hills, and the
faces of most of the women were enveloped in wrappers, but as the day
broke they took off these cloths, and revealed some very pretty
countenances.
Upon their arrival at the plantation to which the party were bound, the
leader appointed the pickers and carriers: the former were expert young
girls, who had been trained to the business from childhood, while the
latter consisted of the "dull-heads," or men; and as the sailor was
supposed to be a poor Cantonese, who could know nothing about picking
tea, he was directed to hold the basket for a sprightly girl named
A-tae.
Now, it is usual for the girl who picks the finer kinds of tea to be
dressed in much better clothes than her basket-holder, and as A-tae was
a beauty, and tolerably well off, she was smartly attired; true, her
garments were not very costly, but they were new and jauntily worn. Her
dress consisted of two pieces, the usual loose blue trousers and
wide-sleeved jacket, her hair being braided in queues which descended to
her waist, while her head was protected from the sun by an immensely
wide bamboo hat.
When the overseer directed the sailor to bear her basket she had not
cast eyes upon the latter, having been listening to the silly story of a
companion, so, thinking it was the usual "dull-head," she waved him to
follow her, and turned into one of the rows; then dexterously grasping a
handful of leaves, she cried, "Come here!" and upon his placing the
sieve-like basket under her hands, showered the leaves into it with
marvellous rapidity. Having exhausted one bush, she was moving towards
another, when, catching sight of her attendant, she uttered a little
scream, and coquettishly turned away her head. Seeing her agitation, the
enamoured basket-holder inquired if she were unwell.
"No! I'm--Come here, you fright!"
The girl worked like lightning, ordering her holder about in a most
imperious manner. At last curiosity overcame her, and she demanded the
name of her slave.
"I have no name."
"No! How shall I call you, then?"
"Call me Sa" (ugly of the sort).
"Oh no! oh no; that would be cruel."
"Call me Cha-tee" (a mean fellow).
"No, no, for you are not mean."
"What will you name me, then?" said Jerry, looking as though he could
devour her. "What you call me shall be my name."
A-tae trembled, as she cast a timorous glance towards her basket-bearer,
and replied, "I call you Sho" (beautiful eyes), saying which she
laughed, and added, "but surely you will not take that name?"
"I'll call myself any thing you choose to name me."
"Then I give you this,--Yung-Yung" (good-humoured face).
"And what may I call you?"
"Me! Don't you know?" said the pretty girl, looking at Yung-Yung in a
manner which made his heart bump again.
"What! not know my name?"
"I do not. I am a wanderer and a stranger here."
"Poor fellow. Have you no friends?"
"None here. Will you be my friend?"
"You don't know my name, yet ask me to be your friend. Speak lower, and
look down while you talk, or the overseer will send some one else with
me to-morrow."
"_What_ is your name?"
"A-tae."
After casting his eyes about in order to ascertain if any of the pickers
were watching, he bent over the girl, who was very deeply engaged in
removing some fine shoots from the lower part of a plant, and when she
rose, as her cheek came quite close to his, he kissed it gently, and
said,
"A-tae, I love you."
The girl gave a nervous little laugh, then asked him what he meant.
"I want to marry you."
"Where do you come from, Yung-Yung-Sho, that you speak thus? Would I
could be given to one like you; but I shall be, like other girls, sent
off to slave for some man of my own class, or sold to a mandarin." (It
will be perceived that A-tae was, although a Chinese, an advocate for
woman's rights). "Oh, Yung-Yung-Sho do you think Buddha knows how badly
they treat us poor girls?"
"Can't you run away with me?" observed the now thoroughly "gone" sailor;
"slip off in the night, and go away to a country where the women are
thought as much of as the men."
"That's where Buddha is, Yung-Yung-Sho. _There_ we shall be men. I know
all about that, and have my Tieh papers at home. I'm not as stupid as
most girls. You are a benevolent man thus to listen to the nonsense of
little me. But why do those Yuen-chae (police runners) point this way?
Are you wanted? If so, flee. That way, that way; up among the rocks, and
hide in the caves."
Jerry had little time to say farewell, as he noticed the two soldiers,
accompanied by police runners, making towards him; so, after bestowing a
fervent kiss upon the lips of the astonished A-tae, he sprang over the
tea plants and sped away like the wind. The poor girl sunk upon the
ground, cried, and wrung her hands like one demented. Her companions
gathered round, and finding she was in trouble, prevailed upon her to go
home. Meanwhile the soldiers and their party chased the agile sailor,
running until they got out of breath; and when they last spied him he
was darting into a wood, which was set apart for the use of Buddhist
priests, and where they felt sure of bagging him during the course of
the day.
A-tae walked home like one in a dream, and was questioned by her mother,
who anxiously inquired if she had "seen a spirit," she looked so scared
and pale. She had seen one, the recollection of whom would never again
be absent from her mind. She was in love, had been spoken to by a being,
one of the opposite sex, who neither commanded nor treated her like an
inferior animal. Was it a dream? Was he not one of those genii who,
assuming the appearance of gods, use their fatal beauty to destroy all
whom they fall in with? What could he be?
Poor little girl! She was sorely tried; so taking a few sticks of
incense, she burnt them before the picture of the Kitchen god, in order
if possible to get _him_ on her side. But she didn't tell her mother
about Yung-Yung-Sho.
Towards the evening she became very ill; and by night her anxious
parents sent for a doctor, who, after writing a prescription, submitted
it to them.
"How much will it cost?" demanded the father.
"Two hundred cash," gravely replied the man of physic.
"Can't you do it a little cheaper? we are poor people."
"I don't think I can. Let me see. I can leave out the dried rats'
tails--they are costly--and the alligator's blood may be omitted. Well,
say one hundred cash."
The mother was a clever women, and didn't believe in the doctor's
nostrum's, so she demanded how much the gentlemen wanted for the
prescription.
"Fifty cash."
"Pay him and let him go, my lord," she observed to her husband, who
thereupon handed over the cash, and the doctor departed. When he was out
of sight the old woman nodded shrewdly towards her husband, as much as
to infer, "trust me for being smart," then having prostrated herself
before the picture of the Kitchen god, gravely burnt the prescription,
and pouring some warm tea upon the ashes, carried the drink to her
daughter, and compelled her to swallow it, saying soothingly, "You'll be
all right to-morrow."
"Oh, my heart, my heart," moaned the poor little girl.
"Oh, it is not your heart, A-tae, it's your brain that has become oiled
by the sun. You'll be all right now, as it will congeal again;" and
having delivered herself of this very Chinese opinion, the old lady
withdrew, leaving the poor child to combat a disease as old as the
hills, and for which there has never been but one cure since the world
began. Nothing but the possession of the loved one will satisfy the poor
souls, who, like A-tae, suffer from this awful affliction. No doctor can
cure them,--possibly the priest may,--but not the man of medicine.
When the girl's mother saw her husband the latter did not ask how fared
his darling A-tae. She was but a girl, and her death would not cause him
to shed a tear, but the mother made up her mind to one thing, as she
informed her help. "If that girl gets a little better, I'll take her to
Nan-woo," a very sanctified Buddhist bonze, who lived in a hole in a
rock situated in the Buddhist grove, distant about eight li from her
house. But A-tae became worse, so they bled her. This took away what
little strength she had left, and the gossips said she would soon salute
heaven. Upon the afternoon of the fifth day some of the women round her
bed were speaking about the hunt after the stranger who had been working
with A-tae upon the day she was taken sick, and after observing that "he
must have bewitched the child," they mentioned something which had a
wonderful effect upon the girl, and which caused her to rally from that
moment.
Jerry, having distanced his pursuers, determined to search for the caves
of which A-tae had spoken. There was little difficulty about the matter,
as the rocks were full of them; so having found one which he thought
would suit, he quietly stretched himself upon the floor and went to
sleep. As there was nothing to encourage the presence of the pulex
family, he slumbered without annoyance. After dreaming of A-tae, and
imagining they were about to united at the altar, with Mr. Shever acting
as best man, and Miss Pferdscreptern as bridesmaid, Mary Ann being
present in charge of a small family of Chinese children, one of whom
strongly resembled Captain Puffeigh, the bewildered sailor woke, and
upon rubbing his eyes, discovered that he was being watched by one of
the police runners, who, when he saw him open his eyes, gave a loud
alarm. Jerry got up, stretched his limbs, and then, walking to the
entrance, took a critical survey of his position. The cave was dug out
of the limestone rock and was approached by two paths, while in front
was a steep decline down which it was impossible to escape. Gazing to
the left he saw Corporal Pang, supported by a police runner armed with a
short sword, while approaching upon his right was private Yung,
similarly assisted. Thompson whistled.
Pang suddenly stopped, and called upon him to surrender.
Yung bawled to him to give up at once, or he'd kill him when he got hold
of him.
The undaunted sailor only whistled all the louder. Seeing he was quietly
awaiting their arrival, as if determined to give himself up, the
soldiers clambered up the hill until Yung who was nearest him, stopped
to breathe, upon which Thompson rushed at him, bowled him over like a
ninepin, floored his attendant with a blow in the chest and then darted
down the pathway and disappeared from sight; and Pang arrived at the top
of the hill to find his companion in arms _hors de combat_. Yung being
picked up by his comrade, and having acquainted him with the particulars
of the assault, they again set off in search of the troublesome western
devil. It was a smart chase, as the runners knew every inch of the
ground; and after having sighted him several times, but to lose him
again the next moment, one of them saw him disappear up a sort of
ravine, from which they were certain he could not escape.
"It is the retreat of Nan-woo, a very holy bonze, and he is as safe in
that hole as a rat is in a bottle," observed one of the police.
"He is a wizard, and will fly out if all other means fail him. Oh, I
know we shan't catch him," grumbled Yung.
"How can we fail, your excellency?" replied one of the attendants. "That
path leads to a high rock, in which is a small hole, where Nan-woo
entered fifty years ago. On each side of the path is a precipitous rock,
which no man can climb; therefore, your foreign devil, upon finding the
path leads to _nowhere_ will retrace his steps. Let us, therefore,
crouch down upon either side of the rocks at the entrance, place a cord
across the pathway, await his return, and when he arrives we will lift
the line, and trip him up."
"Capital, capital!" cried the soldiers. Thereupon the party divided, and
crouching down behind the gigantic boulders which lay beside the
entrance to the gulch, string in hand awaited the return of the sailor.
They calculated he would possibly have a little chat with the bonze,
then, finding there was no other outlet, would fall into their hands,
and be captured without difficulty. Every now and then some noise,
probably caused by rabbits, would make them start and clutch their line,
but after waiting a considerable time, hunger reminded them that they
had started upon the expedition without taking breakfast, and they
determined to proceed up the ravine, and boldly bring the "eccentric
one" to bay.
Having explored nearly the entire length of the place, they turned a
bend in the pathway, and found themselves before the retreat of Nan-woo;
but where was the sailor.
"I expect he is in there along with the bonze," whispered Yung.
"Bosh! How could he get in there? Why, it is five feet from the ground,
and the hole is too small."
"Ask the hermit if he has seen a man?" put in one of the runners.
Upon this Pang, who did not believe in Buddhism, and consequently had
little respect for its bonzes, advanced to the opening, and rapping his
sword handle against the screen, demanded if the old gentleman inside
had seen a fellow trying to climb up the rocks which surrounded his
cell.
Fumbling at the slab of limestone which formed the screen before the
entrance or pigeon-hole of his cell, repeating as he did so the words
"o-mi-tu-fuh, o-mi-tu-fuh," the old bonze at last succeeded in pushing
the panel into a hole, cut out for its reception in the side of the
rock, and then asked, the soldier what he wanted, upon which the latter
repeated his question.
The old bonze looked at his interrogator for some moments; at length
appearing to understand him, replied, "My son, since first I entered
this abode, these eyes have never beheld a man attempt to scale those
rocks--o-mi-tu-fuh, o-mi-tu fuh."
"Come along, Pang; he's cracked. Let us seek the fellow in some other
place; or, better still, we will return, or join the first party of
rebels we come across, as it will never do for us to go back to our
native town, and say we have lost him."
After a strict search they gave the matter up, and dismissing the police
runners, proceeded to the nearest rebel town, where they were received
with open arms by Ma-chow-wang, who commanded the insurgents in that
district.
When the sailor entered the ravine, he imagined it had another outlet,
but upon discovering the small oven-like opening in the rock at the end
(the same being open at the time), he, taking it for the entrance to a
burial vault, after running to give himself impetus, sprang up, clutched
the ledge with his hands, then forcing in his head and shoulders,
wriggled through, and dropped upon the floor.
Nan-woo was slumbering, but in his sleep repeating the words
"o-mi-tu-fuh;" upon which Jerry shook him, then prostrated himself, and,
to the best of his ability, repeated the same words to the astonished
bonze, who looked at him with horror, and quaveringly demanded who he
was.
"O-mi-tu-fuh; o-mi-tu-fuh!" ejaculated the prostrate sailor. However, at
length he got up, and, in his best Chinese, prayed the bonze would save
his life, and hide him from his enemies.
Nan-woo was a merciful old fellow; and as he had long desired an
assistant, or disciple, agreed to shelter the fugitive. Having
instructed him to hold his tongue, the old bonze took his position
behind the screen, and awaited the arrival of the soldiers; how he got
rid of them has been described.
When night came the old fellow lit a lamp, and Thompson had an
opportunity of seeing what his quarters were like. The cell was an
irregular apartment, cut out of the solid limestone rock. There was no
furniture, but an old mat, while a water jar, and an earthen chatty,
containing a few handsful of dry rice, were the only kitchen articles
the bonze possessed.
Jerry surveyed the latter for a few moments, then asked if that was what
he lived on? upon which the old man nodded, and taking a handful of
rice, threw a few grains into his mouth, then drank a sup of water.
"Well," exclaimed the sailor in his native language, "here's a go. I've
been and signed articles to a toad in a hole, and got to live in a box
office, on dry rice and water."
Their frugal meal having been partaken of, the old fellow chin-chinned
his disciple, and with the assurance that no man would dare come up the
gully at night (as he had declared it was haunted), the old gentleman
dropped down upon his knees, and o-mi-tu-fuh'd at such a rate, that
Jerry set it to music, and joined in a sort of chorus.
"I wonder what the deuce it means? I used to hear poor Jow a saying of
it. O-mi-tu-fuh (stretching himself, and yawning); don't I wish I had a
tooth full of grog."
When the sailor awoke the next morning he found the old bonze still at
it,--"o-mi-tu-fuh, o-mi-tu-fuh!" and he kept it up all day, repeating
the words in a mechanical sort of manner, which at times greatly
irritated his companion.
About ten o'clock a woman came, and asked what she should do to obtain
luck.
"Bring a dish of boiled rice and some tea, and place them in the road
before my cell, as an offering to the evil spirits. Do this daily for a
week."
When she had departed another arrived, and the sailor amused himself,
and improved his knowledge of the language by listening to their wants.
At last one came whose story caused the man to be all ears. It was
A-tae's mother, who thus detailed her daughter's symptoms.
"She has devils in her brain, who speak for her, and I fear she will
die."
Nan-woo, who had great faith in a youthful constitution, gave the
afflicted mother two slips of bamboo, upon one of which was written,
"Decline present benefit, and receive greater reward in future," while
the other ran as follows; "Ten thousand devils are not as tormenting as
a bad heart."
A-tae's mamma read these, and accepted them as the words of an oracle,
of course torturing their meaning to suit her daughter's case.
"When A-tae gets well, what shall she do?"
"Bring me every morning, for one month, a basket of fruit and some
young tea, then I will assure her perfect health."
Jerry gave a sigh of relief. "I'll see her again somehow," he thought.
It was a few days after this that the gossips were chatting around
A-tae's mat, and the following is what they said: "Oh, Mrs. So-and-so,
have you heard the news? You remember how two soldiers hunted the man
who frightened this poor child so? Well, they chased him to Nan-woo's
hermitage, and the bonze told them as soon as the thing saw him it burst
into a flame and vanished."
"Did you ever?" cried one gossip.
"Bless us!" said another.
And little A-tae winked behind their backs.
"Oh, splendid Yung-Yung-Sho, I shall see you again, my lord, my emperor,
my deity. I shall live if I can only look upon you now and then. We will
be like the Neih, who enjoy sublime love by merely glancing at each
other. O dazzling Sho! You shall be my god, and I will burn incense to
you day and night. My whole frame thrills with exquisite delight when I
hear your voice. My eyes light up like lamps at night when I view you,
Sho. Oh, my absorbing god, never look coldly upon A-tae. You will always
speak gently to me, will you not? Always be so kind and tender to your
little A-tae, who loves you from your queue to your shoes." Thus
apostrophized the happy girl, and it was no wonder old Nan-woo's charms
worked, for Cupid was directing them; and as musk overpowers every other
odour, so, beside love, all pleasures in this life are utterly dwarfed
and lost. 'Twas love nearly caused the death of A-tae, and the same
potent spell restored her to life and hope.
"Now, whether you like it or not, you shall visit Nan-woo next week,"
observed the girl's mother.
"I'll try," dutifully replied A-tae. "I'll go, mother, even if it kills
me. I'd rather die than displease my parents." Cunning little A-tae!