"Certainly," I replied; and at that moment I seemed to have a vision of all the babies of this wide world that had died—black babies, brown babies, yellow babies, red babies (probably the colour of their skin was only the earth garb); I saw the whole throng, for grandmother had read to me from the Bible that of such was the kingdom of heaven.
"His tooth not bother him there?" she added.
"No," I returned, "there shall be no more pain there."
"He like it," she continued, almost smiling through her tears.
Then she grew very, very still, and a glow stole over her yellow face which made it beautiful.
I stepped nearer, put my arm around her, and kissed her on the cheek.
She looked at me in a startled way, then drawing a tiny handkerchief from her bosom, she carefully wiped the spot on her cheek where my lips had touched. The practice of kissing is unknown in China.
On the way home, when but a few yards from the house of Mrs. Yet, I met Professor Ballington again, and told him the story about the sick baby.
He asked me to go back with him, and take him in to see it, which I did. He looked scrutinisingly at the little hard pallet on which the baby lay; and what did that dear man do but go out to one of the great stores not far away, and buy the prettiest little cot, and the softest and best mattress that could be found in the market, and order them sent home without delay to that little yellow baby.