'I should not like to have a Chinese mother,' said Nelly. 'They don't love their little girls as English ladies do.'
Just then An Ching threw back the curtain and got in. There was really not enough room for three in the cart, and they were soon dreadfully cramped. An Ching told the children they had better try to sleep, and she let them put their heads on her lap. They were glad to do it, for they were very tired. Nelly dreamed about her father and mother and Baby Buckle. She thought she heard the baby calling her name. Indeed, she was sure she heard him crying, even after she was sitting up awake. She was about to rush out of the cart, which had stopped, when An Ching held her back and told her that what she had heard was a Chinese baby in the inn at which they had just arrived, and where they were to pass the night.
CHAPTER IV
ALONE AMONG THE CHINESE
The children were glad to climb down from the cart and breathe the pure, fresh, country air. No house was to be seen except the inn. All around were stubbly fields, with trees in the distance. The road along which they had come ran in front of the inn, and was almost hidden by grass. The inn itself was surrounded by a low wall. There were several buildings, a large one in the centre for the inn-keeper and his family, some sleeping-rooms, and sheds for the carts and mules. Ku Nai-nai, An Ching, and the children were shown into one of the sleeping-rooms. Then the girls were allowed to stroll about the yard. No one took any notice of Nelly. Ku Nai-nai explained that she was a southern child whom they had adopted. She forbade Nelly to speak any English, and would not allow either of the children to talk to the people of the inn. Little Yi, she said, was her grandchild.
After supper (bowls of rice only) the women went out and sat down on the side of the road and chattered. The children came too, and Nelly watched the sun set. It was the first time in her life that she had ever seen it go right down behind the earth and leave nothing but the fields in front of them, all quite flat. She asked Ku Nai-nai if they would be up in time to see it rise again in the morning. Ku Nai-nai told her that they intended to start very early, and she could come out and look if An Ching would come with her. An Ching said she would if she were not too sleepy. An Ching had never thought of wanting to see the sun rise. 'Foreigners had such funny ideas,' she said.
When the sun had quite set they went in to bed, all four on one kang, and slept well in spite of the fleas.
Next morning, before daybreak, Hung Li knocked at their door and asked for their bedding, so that he could put it in the carts. Nelly remembered the sun first thing, and as soon as she and Little Yi had put on some of their clothes, they made An Ching come out with her hair unbrushed. The children ran in front to the spot where they were the night before, but saw only a grey mist.