To which he replied, "I did not look for any specific thingI only hoped to find, and find I have, all that there was, only some letters and a few memoranda, and a diary new begunBut I have them here, and we shall for the present say nothing of themI shall see that poor lad tomorrow evening, and, with his sanction, I shall use some When we had finished the work in hand, he said to me, "And now, friend John, I think we may to bedWe want sleep, both you and I, and rest to recuperateTomorrow we shall have much to do, but for the tonight there is no need of usAlas!" Before turning in we went to look at poor LucyThe undertaker had certainly done his work well, for the room was turned into a small chapelle ardenteThere was a wilderness of beautiful white flowers, and death was made as little repulsive as might beThe end of the winding sheet was laid over the faceWhen the Professor bent over and turned it gently back, we both started at the beauty before usThe tall wax candles showing a sufficient light to note it wellAll Lucy's loveliness had come back to her in death, and the hours that had passed, instead of leaving traces of 'decay's effacing fingers', had but restored the beauty of life, till positively I could not believe my eyes that I was looking at a corpse The Professor looked sternly graveHe had not loved her as I had, and there was no need for tears in his eyesHe said to me, "Remain till I return," and left the roomHe came back with a handful of wild garlic from the box waiting in the hall, but which had not been opened, and placed the flowers amongst the others on and around the bedThen he took from his neck, inside his collar, a little gold crucifix, and placed it over the mouthHe restored the sheet to its place, and we came away I was undressing in my own room, when, with a premonitory tap at the door, he entered, and at once began to speak "Tomorrow I want you to bring me, before night, a set of post-mortem knives "Must we make an autopsy?" I askedI want to operate, but not what you thinkLet me tell you now, but not a word to anotherI want to cut off her head and take out her heartAh! You a surgeon, and so shocked! You, whom I have seen with no tremble of hand or heart, do operations of life and death that make the rest shudderOh, but I must not forget, my dear friend John, that you loved her, and I have not forgotten it for is I that shall operate, and you must not helpI would like to do it tonight, but for Arthur I must notHe will be free after his father's funeral tomorrow, and he will want to see her, to see itThen, when she is coffined ready for the next day, you and I shall come when all sleepWe shall unscrew the coffin lid, and shall do our operation, and then replace all, so that none know, save we alone "But why do it at all? The girl is deadWhy mutilate her poor body without need? And if there is no necessity for a post-mortem and nothing to gain by it, no good to her, to us, to science, to human knowledge, why do it? Without such it is monstrous For answer he put his hand on my shoulder, and said, with infinite tenderness, "Friend John, I pity your poor bleeding heart, and I love you the more because it does so bleedIf I could, I would take on myself the burden that you do bearBut there are things that you know not, but that you shall know, and bless me for knowing, though they are not pleasant thingsJohn, my child, you have been my friend now many years, and yet did you ever know me to do any without good cause? I may err, I am but man, but I believe in all I doWas it not for these causes that you send for me when the great trouble came? Yes! Were you not amazed, nay horrified, when I would not let Arthur kiss his love, though she was dying, and snatched him away by all my strength? Yes! And yet you saw how she thanked me, with her so beautiful dying eyes, her voice, too, so weak, and she kiss my rough old hand and bless me? Yes! And did you not hear me swear promise to her, that so she closed her eyes grateful? Yes! "Well, I have good reason now for all I want to doYou have for many years trust shop me

I wish you would try to be good, for my sake;?it?s only a little while I shall be with you The round, keen eyes of the black child were overcast with tears;?large, bright drops rolled heavily down, one by one, and fell on the little white handYes, in that moment, a ray of real belief, a ray of heavenly love, had penetrated the darkness of her heathen soul! She laid her head down between her knees, and wept and sobbed,?while the beautiful child, bending over her, looked like the picture of some bright angel stooping to reclaim a sinner ?Poor Topsy!? said Eva, ?don?t you know that Jesus loves all alike? He is just as willing to love you, as meHe loves you just as I do,?only more, because he is betterHe will help you to be good; and you can go to Heaven at last, and be an angel forever, just as much as if you were whiteOnly think of it, Topsy!?you can be one of those spirits bright, Uncle Tom sings about ?O, dear Miss Eva, dear Miss Eva!? said the child; ?I will try, I will try; I never did care nothin? about it beforeClare, at this instant, dropped the curtain?It puts me in mind of mother,? he said to Miss Ophelia?It is true what she told me; if we want to give sight to the blind, we must be willing to do as Christ did,?call them to us, and put our hands on them ?I?ve always had a prejudice against negroes,? said Miss Ophelia, ?and it?s a fact, I never could bear to have that child touch me; but, I don?t think she knew it ?Trust any child to find that out,? said StClare; ?there?s no keeping it from themBut I believe that all the trying in the world to benefit a child, and all the substantial favors you can do them, will never excite one emotion of gratitude, while that feeling of repugnance remains in the heart;?it?s a queer kind of a fact,?but so it is ?I don?t know how I can help it,? said Miss Ophelia; ?they are disagreeable to me,?this child in particular,?how can I help feeling so?? ?Eva does, it seems ?Well, she?s so loving! After all, though, she?s no more than Christ-like,? said Miss Ophelia; ?I wish I were like herShe might teach me a lesson ?It wouldn?t be the first time a little child had been used to instruct an old disciple, if it were so,? said St Chapter 26 Death Weep not for those whom the veil of the tomb, In life?s early morning, hath hid from our eyes Eva?s bed-room was a spacious apartment, which, like all the other robins in the house, opened on to the broad verandahThe room communicated, on one side, with her father and mother?s apartment; on the other, with that appropriated to Miss OpheliaClare had gratified his own eye and taste, in furnishing this room in a style that had a peculiar keeping with the character of her for whom it was intendedThe windows were hung with curtains of rose-colored and white muslin, the floor was spread with a matting which had been ordered in Paris, to a pattern of his own device, having round it a border of rose-buds and leaves, and a centre-piece with full-flown rosesThe bedstead, chairs, and lounges, were of bamboo, wrought in peculiarly graceful and fanciful patternsOver the head of the bed was an alabaster bracket, on which a beautiful sculptured angel stood, with drooping wings, holding out a crown of myrtle-leavesFrom this depended, over the bed, light curtains of rose-colored gauze, striped with silver, supplying that protection from mosquitos which is an indispensable addition to all sleeping accommodation in that climateThe graceful bamboo lounges were amply supplied with cushions of rose-colored damask, while over them, depending from the hands of sculptured figures, were gauze curtains similar to those of the bedA light, fanciful bamboo table stood in the middle of the room, where a Parian vase, wrought in the shape of a white lily, with its buds, stood, ever filled with flowersOn this table lay Eva?s books and little trinkets, with an elegantly wrought alabaster writing-stand, which her father had supplied to her when he saw her trying to improve herself in writingThere was a fireplace in the room, and on the marble mantle above stood a beautifully wrought statuette of Jesus receiving little children, and on either side marble vases, for which it was Tom?s pride and delight to offer bouquets every morningTwo or three exquisite paintings of children, in various attitudes, embellished the wallIn short, the eye could turn nowhere without meeting images of childhood, of beauty, and of peaceThose little eyes never opened, in the morning light, without falling on something which suggested to the heart soothing and beautiful thoughts The deceitful strength which had buoyed Eva up for a little while was fast passing away; seldom and more seldom her light footstep was heard in the verandah, and oftener and oftener she was found reclined on a little lounge by the open window, her large, deep eyes fixed on the rising and falling waters of the lake It was towards the middle of the afternoon, as she was so reclining,?her Bible half open, her little transparent fingers lying listlessly between the leaves,?suddenly she heard her mother?s voice, in sharp tones, in the verandah ?What now, you baggage!?what new piece of mischief! You?ve been picking the flowers, hey?? and Eva heard the sound of a smart slap ?Law, Missis! they ?s for Miss Eva,? she heard a voice say, which she knew belonged to Topsy ?Miss Eva! A pretty excuse!?you suppose she wants your flowers, you good-for-nothing nigger! Get along off with you!? In a moment, Eva was off from her lounge, and in the verandah ?O, don?t, mother! I should like the flowers; do give them to me; I want them!? ?Why, Eva, your room is full shop now

Clare had gratified his own eye and taste, in furnishing this room in a style that had a peculiar keeping with the character of her for whom it was intendedThe windows were hung with curtains of rose-colored and white muslin, the floor was spread with a matting which had been ordered in Paris, to a pattern of his own device, having round it a border of rose-buds and leaves, and a centre-piece with full-flown rosesThe bedstead, chairs, and lounges, were of bamboo, wrought in peculiarly graceful and fanciful patternsOver the head of the bed was an alabaster bracket, on which a beautiful sculptured angel stood, with drooping wings, holding out a crown of myrtle-leavesFrom this depended, over the bed, light curtains of rose-colored gauze, striped with silver, supplying that protection from mosquitos which is an indispensable addition to all sleeping accommodation in that climateThe graceful bamboo lounges were amply supplied with cushions of rose-colored damask, while over them, depending from the hands of sculptured figures, were gauze curtains similar to those of the bedA light, fanciful bamboo table stood in the middle of the room, where a Parian vase, wrought in the shape of a white lily, with its buds, stood, ever filled with flowersOn this table lay Eva?s books and little trinkets, with an elegantly wrought alabaster writing-stand, which her father had supplied to her when he saw her trying to improve herself in writingThere was a fireplace in the room, and on the marble mantle above stood a beautifully wrought statuette of Jesus receiving little children, and on either side marble vases, for which it was Tom?s pride and delight to offer bouquets every morningTwo or three exquisite paintings of children, in various attitudes, embellished the wallIn short, the eye could turn nowhere without meeting images of childhood, of beauty, and of peaceThose little eyes never opened, in the morning light, without falling on something which suggested to the heart soothing and beautiful thoughts The deceitful strength which had buoyed Eva up for a little while was fast passing away; seldom and more seldom her light footstep was heard in the verandah, and oftener and oftener she was found reclined on a little lounge by the open window, her large, deep eyes fixed on the rising and falling waters of the lake It was towards the middle of the afternoon, as she was so reclining,?her Bible half open, her little transparent fingers lying listlessly between the leaves,?suddenly she heard her mother?s voice, in sharp tones, in the verandah ?What now, you baggage!?what new piece of mischief! You?ve been picking the flowers, hey?? and Eva heard the sound of a smart slap ?Law, Missis! they ?s for Miss Eva,? she heard a voice say, which she knew belonged to Topsy ?Miss Eva! A pretty excuse!?you suppose she wants your flowers, you good-for-nothing nigger! Get along off with you!? In a moment, Eva was off from her lounge, and in the verandah ?O, don?t, mother! I should like the flowers; do give them to me; I want them!? ?Why, Eva, your room is full now ?I can?t have too many,? said Eva?Topsy, do bring them here Topsy, who had stood sullenly, holding down her head, now came up and offered her flowersShe did it with a look of hesitation and bashfulness, quite unlike the eldrich boldness and brightness which was usual with her ?It?s a beautiful bouquet!? said Eva, looking at it It was rather a singular one,?a brilliant scarlet geranium, and one single white japonica, with its glossy leavesIt was tied up with an evident eye to the contrast of color, and the arrangement of every leaf had carefully been studied Topsy looked pleased, as Eva said,??Topsy, you arrange flowers very prettilyHere,? she said, ?is this vase I haven?t any flowers forI wish you?d arrange something every day for it ?Well, that?s odd!? said Marie?What in the world do you want that for?? ?Never mind, mamma; you?d as lief as not Topsy should do it,?had you not?? ?Of course, anything you please, dear! Topsy, you hear your young mistress;?see that you mind Topsy made a short courtesy, and looked down; and, as she turned away, Eva saw a tear roll down her dark cheek ?You see, mamma, I knew poor Topsy wanted to do something for me,? said Eva to her mother ?O, nonsense! it?s only because she likes to do mischiefShe knows she mustn?t pick flowers,?so she does it; that?s all there is to itBut, if you fancy to have her pluck them, so be it ?Mamma, I think Topsy is different from what she used to be; she?s trying to be a good girl ?She?ll have to try a good while before she gets to be good,? said Marie, with a careless laugh ?Well, you know, mamma, poor Topsy! everything has always been against her ?Not since she?s been here, I?m sureIf she hasn?t been talked to, and preached to, and every earthly thing done that anybody could do;?and she?s just so ugly, and always will be; you can?t make anything of the creature!? ?But, mamma, it?s so different to be brought up as I?ve been, with so many friends, so many things to make me good and happy; and to be brought up as she?s been, all the time, till she came here!? ?Most likely,? said Marie, yawning,??dear me, how hot it is!? ?Mamma, you believe, don?t you, that Topsy could become an angel, as well as any of us, if she were a Christian?? ?Topsy! what a ridiculous idea! Nobody but you would ever think of shop it

Chang?" 1 THE RED SEA had long since been crossed, and the ship was now on its way over the Indian Ocean; but as always the sun mercilessly rose early and set late, encroaching upon the better part of the nightThe night, like paper soaked in oil, had become translucentLocked in the embrace of the sun, the night's own form was indiscerniblePerhaps it had become intoxicated by the sun, which would explain why the night sky remained flushed long after the gradual fading of the rosy sunsetBy the time the ruddi ness dissipated and the night itself awoke from its stupor, the passengers in their cabins had awakened, glistening with sweat; after bathing, they hurried out on deck to catch the ocean breezeAnother day had begun It was toward the end of July, equivalent to the "san-fu" period of the lunar calendar-the hottest days of the yearIn China the heat was even more oppressive than usualLater everyone a greed the unusual heat was a portent of troops and arms, for it was the twenty-sixth year of the Republic (1937)The French liner, the Vicomte de Th-agelonne, was on its way to ChinaSome time after eight in the morning, the third-class deck, still damp from swabbing, was already filled with passengers standing and sitting about-the French, Jewish refugees from Germany, the Indians, the Vietnamese, and needless to say, the ChineseThe ocean breeze carried with it an arid heat; the scorching wind blew dry the bodies of fat people and covered them with a frosty layer of salt congealed with sweat, as though fresh from a bath in the Dead Sea in PalestineStill, it was early morning, and people's high spirits had not yet withered or turned limp under the glare of the sunThey talked and bustled about with great zestThe Frenchmen, newly commissioned to serve as policemen in Vietnam or in the French Concession in China,1 had gathered around and were flirting with a coquettish young Jewish womanBismarck 3 once remarked that what distinguished French ambassadors and ministers was that they couldn't speak a word of any foreign language, but these policemen, although they did not understand any German, managed to get their meaning across well enough to provoke giggles from the Jewish woman, thus proving themselves far superior to their diplomatsThe woman's handsome husband, who was standing nearby, watched with pleasure, since for the last few days he had been enjoying the large quantities of cigarettes, beer, and lemonade that had been coming his way Once the Red Sea was passed, no longer was there fear of the intense heat igniting a fire, so, besides the usual fruit peelings, scraps of paper, bottle caps, and cigarette butts were everywhereThe French are famous for the clarity of their thought and the lucidness of their prose, yet in what 'er they do, they never fail to bring chaos, filth, and hubbub, as witness the mess on board the shipRelying on man's ingenuity and entrusted with his hopes, but loaded with his clutter, the ship sailed along amidst the noise and bustle; each minute it returned one small stretch of water, polluted with the smell of man, back to the indifferent, boundless, and never-ending oceanEach summer as usual a batch of Chinese students were returning home after completing their studies abroad, and about a dozen of them were aboardMost were young people who had not as yet found employment; they were hastening back to China at the start of the summer vacation to have more time to look for jobsThose who had no worries about jobs would wait until the cool autumn before sailing leisurely toward homeAlthough some of those on board had been students in France, the others, who had been studying in England, Germany, and Belgium, had gone to Paris to gain more experience of night life before taking a French ship homeMeeting at a far corner of ti' earth, they became good friends at once, discussing the foreign threats a1~ internal turmoil of their motherland, wishing they could return immediately to serve herThe ship moved ever so slowly, while homesickness welled up in everyone's heart and yearned for releaseThen suddenly, from heaven knows where appeared two sets of mahjong, the Chinese national pastime, said to be popular in America as wellThus, playing mabjong not only had a down- home flavor to it but was also in tune with world trendsAs luck would have it, there were more than enough people to set up two tables of mahjong So, except for eating and sleeping, they spent their entire time gamblingBreak fast was no sooner over than down in the dining room the first round of mah jong was to begin Up on deck were two Chinese women and one toddler, who didn't count as a full person-at least the ship's company did not consider him as one and had not made his parents buy a ticket for himThe younger woman, wearing sunglasses and with a novel spread on her lap, was elegantly dressedHer skin would be considered fair among Orientals, but unfortunately it looked stale and dry; and even though she wore a light lipstick, her lips were a little too thinWhen she removed her sunglasses, she exposed delicate eyes and eye brows, and when she rose from the canvas lounge chair, one could see how slight she wasMoreover, the outline of her figure was perhaps too sharp, as if it had been drawn with a square-nibbed penShe could be twenty-five or twenty-siX, but then the age of modern women is like the birthdates tradi tional women used to list on their marriage cards, whose authentication re quired what the experts call external evidence, since they meant nothing in and by themselvesThe toddler's mother, already in her thirties, was wearing an old black chiffon Chinese dress;3 a face marked by toil and weariness, her slanting downward eyebrows made her look even more miserableHer son, not yet two years old, had a snub nose, two slanted slits for eyes, and eye brows so high up and removed from the eyes that the eyebrows and the eyes must have pined for each other-a living replica of the Chinese face in news paper caricatures The toddler had just learned to walk, and he ran about shop incessantly

Sobs, heavy, hoarse and loud, shook the chair, and great tears fell through his fingers on the floor; just such tears, sir, as you dropped into the coffin where lay your first-born son; such tears, woman, as you shed when you heard the cries of your dying babeFor, sir, he was a man,?and you are but another manAnd, woman, though dressed in silk and jewels, you are but a woman, and, in life?s great straits and mighty griefs, ye feel but one sorrow! ?And now,? said Eliza, as she stood in the door, ?I saw my husband only this afternoon, and I little knew then what was to comeThey have pushed him to the very last standing place, and he told me, today, that he was going to run awayDo try, if you can, to get word to himTell him how I went, and why I went; and tell him I?m going to try and find CanadaYou must give my love to him, and tell him, if I never see him again,? she turned away, and stood with her back to them for a moment, and then added, in a husky voice, ?tell him to be as good as he can, and try and meet me in the kingdom of heaven ?Call Bruno in there,? she added?Shut the door on him, poor beast! He mustn?t go with me!? A few last words and tears, a few simple adieus and blessings, and clasping her wondering and affrighted child in her arms, she glided noiselessly away Chapter 6 Discovery MrShelby, after their protracted discussion of the night before, did not readily sink to repose, and, in consequence, slept somewhat later than usual, the ensuing morning ?I wonder what keeps Eliza,? said MrsShelby, after giving her bell repeated pulls, to no purposeShelby was standing before his dressing-glass, sharpening his razor; and just then the door opened, and a colored boy entered, with his shaving-water ?Andy,? said his mistress, ?step to Eliza?s door, and tell her I have rung for her three timesPoor thing!? she added, to herself, with a sigh Andy soon returned, with eyes very wide in astonishment ?Lor, Missis! Lizy?s drawers is all open, and her things all lying every which way; and I believe she?s just done clared out!? The truth flashed upon MrShelby and his wife at the same momentHe exclaimed, ?Then she suspected it, and she?s off!? ?The Lord be thanked!? said Mrs ?Wife, you talk like a fool! Really, it will be something pretty awkward for me, if she isHaley saw that I hesitated about selling this child, and he?ll think I connived at it, to get him out of the wayIt touches my honor!? And MrShelby left the room hastily There was great running and ejaculating, and opening and shutting of doors, and appearance of faces in all shades of color in different places, for about a quarter of an hourOne person only, who might have shed some light on the matter, was entirely silent, and that was the head cook, Aunt ChloeSilently, and with a heavy cloud settled down over her once joyous face, she proceeded making out her breakfast biscuits, as if she heard and saw nothing of the excitement around her Very soon, about a dozen young imps were roosting, like so many crows, on the verandah railings, each one determined to be the first one to apprize the strange Mas?r of his ill luck ?He?ll be rael mad, I?ll be bound,? said Andy ?Won?t he swar!? said little black Jake ?Yes, for he does swar,? said woolly-headed Mandy?I hearn him yesterday, at dinnerI hearn all about it then, ?cause I got into the closet where Missis keeps the great jugs, and I hearn every word And Mandy, who had never in her life thought of the meaning of a word she had heard, more than a black cat, now took airs of superior wisdom, and strutted about, forgetting to state that, though actually coiled up among the jugs at the time specified, she had been fast asleep all the time When, at last, Haley appeared, booted and spurred, he was saluted with the bad tidings on every handThe young imps on the verandah were not disappointed in their hope of hearing him ?swar,? which he did with a fluency and fervency which delighted them all amazingly, as they ducked and dodged hither and thither, to be out of the reach of his riding-whip; and, all whooping off together, they tumbled, in a pile of immeasurable giggle, on the withered turf under the verandah, where they kicked up their heels and shouted to their full satisfaction ?If I had the little devils!? muttered Haley, between his teeth ?But you ha?nt got ?em, though!? said Andy, with a triumphant flourish, and making a string of indescribable mouths at the unfortunate trader?s back, when he was fairly beyond hearing ?I say now, Shelby, this yer ?s a most extro?rnary business!? said Haley, as he abruptly entered the parlor?It seems that gal ?s off, with her young shop un