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 rockso-mi-tu-fuh, o-mi-tu-fuh." "Come along, Păng; 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-chowwang, 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. "Oh, my tooth full! oh, my tooth full!" 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 man, 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 bonze 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 bonze 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. Oh my tooth full (stretching himself, and yawning); don't I wish I had a toothful 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. again somehow," he thought. "I'll see her It was a few days after this that the gossips were chatting around A-tae's mat, and what they said was this: "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 Nanwoo's hermitage, and the bonze told them that 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 Nanwoo'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! Little A-tae improved wonderfully in health, and within five days after her mother's visit to Nan-woo announced that she was ready to set out for the sacred grove. Her parent did not content herself with sending only some fruit and tea, but added sweetmeats and sundry delicacies, including a little rock-salt, which she packed in a neat bamboo basket, and gave her daughter, with many minute instructions as to her deportment. It was a lovely autumnal day; and as the girl bent her steps towards the hill she mechanically sang a very old Chinese ditty called "The life of a leaf," while her thoughts, wandering more fleetly on, were already with her beloved Yung-Yung-Sho. Strange to say, after the first few stanzas she altered the words in a manner which would have puzzled any Celestial who overheard her. The original song ran as follows: "Of the young bud, covered with down, Unfolding to the sun, a leaf appears, Tender as the cheek of an infant. At first thin, delicate, transparent, Developing quickly, veined like the hand of a maiden, From first to last always beautiful. After reclining in the light of the golden sun, And coquetting with the silver moon For many days, The early (eager, forward) frost kisses it gently, It blushes at the embrace; That was what she should have sung, but she altered it in this manner, for after uttering the words, "From first to last always beautiful," pouring her heart out in melody, she sang, I cannot forget the gentle embrace Soon again I shall behold the bright light of your eyes! Ah me! then pale and trembling And die of very happiness." As she sang this her eyes sparkled, and a smile illuminated her face. Was she not going to meet her true love, her own Yung-YungSho? Under those circumstances even a plain girl would have looked charming, and little A-tae appeared happy as a bird and bright as a diamond. The girl proceeded at a brisk rate until she came to the entrance of the ravine, upon which she stopped and tormented herself with surmises. He has fled. He was killed, for my mother did not mention him. I am devoured with affliction; I must go back," she thought, but after a while summoned courage, and walking up the pathway, found herself before the hole in the wall. "Ahem!" said a voice, which she knew did not belong to Nan-woo. A-tae blushed, cast down her eyes, and lifting the tribute basket placed it gently upon the ledge, but was too much agitated to speak. 66 Ahem!" repeated the person inside. "Sho," timidly whispered the girl, still looking at the ground; and ere she could raise her eyes the stone screen was pushed back, and "You beauty, how I have longed to see you!" whispered the happy fellow. Of course his Chinese was not perfect by a long way, but he managed to make her understand, and what he could not utter with his tongue he expressed with his eyes, his only drawback being his inability to kiss her often, as the operation was not only awkward, but absolutely dangerous. After a delicious half-hour, during which he told her that she was the most beautiful woman in the world at least twenty times, she asked for Nan-woo. "Oh, he's asleep." "Wake him. Good-bye. I'll come again to-morrow, my lord," said she, kissing her hand in imitation of her lover; then, assuming a demure expression of countenance, awaited the awakening of the bonze. After shaking the old gentleman until he began to fear he would dislocate his neck, the sailor succeeded in getting Nan-woo to open one eye, and to slowly utter "o-mi-tu-fuh," upon which the deputy bonze repeated the irritation until he got through a good many "'o-mi-tu-fuh's;" then he informed him that a person wanted him, and added in English, "If I ketch you a winkin' at her I'll stop your rice, so mind." Not that the bonze was likely to be guilty of such a breach of discipline, but the sailor was so love-stricken, that he would have quarrelled with A-tae's shadow from very jealousy. After receiving the offering, Nan-woo glanced at the girl, and observed, "Bring another tomorrow; go, you are better;" then squatting upon his mat recommenced his "o-mi-" refrain, assisted in the performance by his deputy, who growled out a deep bass, whistled, or sang a falsetto accompaniment as the whim took him. Not that it mattered to the bonze what he did, provided he kept within the cell, as after Jerry had been with him a week, except when spoken too, he took no more notice of his disciple than he would of a tame kitten. One of the police-runners was related to A-tae's family; and being a cool, calculating scamp, who did not believe in the supernatural, could not make out how it was that Jerry had left the ravine. Knowing he would receive a large reward if he captured him, he communicated his suspicions to A-tae's brother, a rowdy named Hew-chaou, upon which they determined to keep an eye upon the Buddhist grove, particularly about the ravine; and as winter 66 My lord Sho, for ten days, in fact, since the snow first fell, I have been watched by two men,-one is my brother Hew-chaou, and the other the police-runner who hunted you. Oh, do not expose yourself to these wolves. My brother is a bad man, and would sell your head for a sapeck, and the runner is a tiger.” "I don't fear them, A-tae, but I'm getting lonely and am half-starved. Will you leave this place and go with me?" "I can't," she sobbed. 'Why not?" "We should not get ten li before they would track us. Then what would become of you, my lord Sho?" They had walked up the ravine, and were now just outside the cell, when suddenly the head of the old bonze protruded from the hole, his eyes wide open with astonishment and terror. "O-mi- come in, you fool! o-mi-tu-fuh, you blind idiot, come in!" saying which he threw his arms about, and behaved in such a ridiculously frantic manner, that out of compassion Jerry kissed A-tae, and wriggled through the hole into the cell. Nan-woo was a very proper old man, and the sailor's proceedings quite scandalized him, but after a few hours he relapsed into his vegetable state, and things went on as before. One night in the depth of winter the deputy was awakened by the moans of the old fellow, and hastened to his assistance, but after having made him some tea, he retired again to his mat, imagining the malady allayed by the warm drink. However, when day broke he found his senior would soon repeat his last "o-mi," as he was going fast. Thinking the case required religious consolation, he did his best under the circumstances, and as, with all his faults, Thompson was not without some sort of religion, he managed to remember a prayer or two, which he repeated to the dying bonze, winding up by way of a hymn with "How doth the little busy bee," repeated slowly. Nan-woo looked at him with a stony expression of countenance, and about eleven A. M., after a faint struggle, with a halfuttered "o-mi-t-"upon his lips, the old bonze breathed his last, "saluting heaven" from the arms of his sorrowing companion. "Here's a fix. On a lee shore, skipper gone, and nothing but breakers all round. Well, poor old buffer, you saved my life and put up with me, and now you're gone, I'll bury you decently;" saying which he pushed the body through the hole, and having taken it out of the ravine succeeded in burying it in a snowdrift, where the mortal remains were found in the spring, and interred by a brother bonze. After the death of Nan-woo the sailor set to work and pulled down the rocks which had been piled up in front of the cell fifty years before, when the old bonze entered it, the occupation tending to keep his blood in circulation, and preventing him from thinking of his loneliness. He knew none of the old wo men who frequented the place in fine weather would be likely to visit him then, and it was not until his companion had been dead a week that A-tae again made her appearance. Before the snowy weather set in the girl had managed to bring him several articles of warm clothing, and a number of bundles of rice-straw, which he formed into a bed, so his situation was not quite so forlorn as might have been imagined, his great trouble being a fear of starvation; and when A-tae came pattering up the path he gave a cheer, and rushing out caught her in his embrace. "Please, Sho!-my lord-don't!" I'm so glad to see you; you can't tell how lonely I have been. The old man is dead, and, but for you, I would have left and risked capture." "Hist! Did you hear a noise?" "I fear my brother has followed me. He is very suspicious, and wanted my mother to prevent my coming, but I said I must, or I should never have any luck. Hist!-I hear it again; 'tis some one moving. Let us hide." "Who would hurt you?" "" 'My brother would kill me if he found me with you. I know his passionate nature." "Stay here until night falls, and then we 1 Very inappropriate at the death bed of a Buddhist bonze. will dress in the old bonze's clothes, and leave the place. In his winter hoods no one will be able to know who we are, and once at HangChow, there are a thousand chances to reach the sea, where I can ship in a junk, and take you as my wife." After much persuasion the girl agreed to remain with him, observing that death would be preferable to such misery as they had endured for the last few days. her brother suddenly sprung from behind a The words had hardly passed her lips before rock, and, drawing a short sword, plunged it into her body. With a cry like that of a wounded tiger, the sailor jumped at Hew-chaou, and seizing the sword, delivered cut after cut until the rowdy was covered with wounds. After a desperate struggle, during which both fought like demons, the Chinaman, in endeavouring to pick up a stone, received a blow upon the nape of the neck, which stretched him dead. Seeing this Thompson gently lifted up the body of A-tae, and carrying it into the cell, endeavoured to bring her back to life. When she became conscious he asked her where she was wounded, upon which she motioned to her side, and again closed her eyes as if in great pain. "Poor little thing-my curse on the brute who did it. How could any one with a heart do such a cruel deed?" he observed in English. Then added in her language,"Fear not, Å-tae, you will soon be well." The girl opened her eyes upon hearing his voice, and smiling faintly, begged him not to sorrow for her, she was so happy resting in his arms. Thompson gazed upon the loving face, but in spite of vain endeavours to restrain his emotion, his lips quivered, and big tears coursed down his cheeks. "Don't weep, Yung-Yung-Sho." "God--help-me. I deserve to lose you, as a punishment for my sins." "Speak my own language." A-tae, my heart is broken, and would I were in your place. I have not loved you as I should. I am not worthy of such love as yours, you pure lily." Upon hearing this the poor girl lifted her head, laid her cheek upon his, and kissing him gently, said, " Yung-Yung-Sho, I'm-sohappy!" then dropped upon his shoulder, and giving him a look of ineffable love, closed her eyes, and in a short time all her earthly troubles were over. When he found that she was dead he clasped her to his heart, and lavished the most endear ing epithets upon her-"Open your eyes once more! O darling A-tae! Look at me again! Your heart still beats." But the light of the beautiful eyes was dimmed for ever, and the loving little heart would never beat for him again. All day he held her in his arms, and when evening came he lit a lamp-which had been her present-and watched her body through the long winter night. At times, fancying she smiled at him, he would bend over her and listen-but to hear the beating of his own heart,-then he would gently kiss her lips, and resume his lonely watch. There, in the presence of a woman who had shown by her every action how tenderly and dearly she had loved him, the sailor looked back upon his past life, and contrasted the conduct of the girl before him with that of his former loves. "None of them were half as good as she," he thought, and he vowed henceforth to shun the society of the opposite sex. At daybreak he took her once more in his arms, and buried her in the snow near the entrance of the ravine, taking care to arch stones over her in such a manner that no wild animal could get at the body. The snow was falling fast when he did this, and in a short time the tumulus was completely hidden with a veil of spotless purity; then he returned to the hermitage, and having dressed in the winter suit of the bonze, left the ravine. As he passed the place where his lost love lay so silent, he knelt reverently and prayed that she might be in a happier state where she would never have a sorrow; then, with a heavy heart, he wandered forth, going he cared not whither. HOME, WOUNDED. [Sydney Dobell, born at Peckham Rye, London, 1824. Under the pseudonym of Sydney Yendys he gained a distinguished place amongst modern poets. His chief works are: The Roman; Balder, of which a critic in Fraser's Magazine said, "Genius is unmistakably present in every page;" and England in Time of War from which we quote. He also wrote in conjunction with the late Alexander Smith, Sonnets of the War, and he has published a pamphlet on the subject of Parliamentary Reform. Although suffering from the effects of a serious accident he met with amongst the ruins of Pozzuoli, he produced, in 1871, England's Day, which is regarded as one of his most powerful lyrics.] Wheel me into the sunshine, There must be leaves on the woodbine, Wheel me down to the meadow, I shall not dazzle or shiver, Stay wherever you will, By the mount or under the hill, Among the thicket hazels of the brake Ah, I remember how I loved to wake, Where, since the flit of bat, In ceaseless voice he sat, Trying the spring night over, like a tune, And while I listed long, Day rose, and still he sang, And all his stanchless song, As something falling unaware, Fell out of the tall trees he sang among, Fell ringing down the ringing morn, and rang- |