'Father! father! father! do stop!' Nelly called out.
But her father did not see or hear, and there was An Ching shouting to her, and she knew that Hung Li might be after her directly.
'Father! father!' she wailed.
She thought she shouted loudly, but her voice was very weak and quite drowned by the clattering of the pony's hoofs.
Still he did not look up, and was going by without seeing her! It was too much for the poor child. She felt as though everything was turning upside down, and just as her father rode past she fell to the ground in a faint.
But Chi Fu had seen it all from the hillock; and as Nelly fell he dashed forward and stood with outstretched arms in the middle of the road, ready to stop Mr. Grey's pony. When it came up he caught hold of the bridle and turned the head right round, greatly to the astonishment of the rider.
'What does this mean?' exclaimed Mr. Grey angrily.
'Your daughter! your daughter!' replied Chi Fu, pointing to Nelly as she lay on the ground.
Mr. Grey asked no more questions, but spurred his pony and galloped back to where the little girl lay, Chi Fu running after him. He jumped off his pony and stooped anxiously over the little figure.