"Caterina said America was all full of savages," sobbed Rea,—"savages and wild beasts, such as lions and wolves."
"That girl was a fool," exclaimed Jim. "It was a good thing, Mr. George, you told me not to bring her over."
"I should say so," replied Mr. Connor. "The idea of her trying to frighten these children in that way. It was abominable."
"She did nothing of the kind," cried Jusy, his face very red. "She was talking to her cousin; and she thought we were asleep; and Rea and I listened; and I told Rea it was good enough for us to get so frightened because we had listened. But I did not believe it so much as Rea did."
The Chinamen were all bowing and bending, and smiling in the gladness of their hearts. Mr. Connor was a good master to them; and they knew it would be to him great pleasure to have these little children in the house.
While driving by he spoke to several of them by name, and they replied. Jusy and Rea listened and looked.
"What are their heads made of, Uncle George?" whispered Rea. "Will they break if they hit them?"
At first, Mr. Connor could not understand what she meant; then in a moment he shouted with laughter.
Chinamen have their heads shorn of all hair, except one little lock at the top; this is braided in a tight braid, like a whiplash, and hangs down their backs, sometimes almost to the very ground. The longer this queer little braid is, the prouder the Chinaman feels. All the rest of his head is bare and shining smooth. They looked to Rea like the heads of porcelain baby dolls she had had; and that those would break, she knew by sad experience.
How pleased Rea and Jusy were with their beautiful rooms, and with everything in their Uncle George's house, there are no words to tell. They would have been very unreasonable and ungrateful children, if they had not been; for Mr. Connor had not forgotten one thing which could add to their comfort or happiness: books, toys, everything he could think of, or anybody could suggest to him, he had bought. And when he led little Rea into her bedroom, there stood a sweet-faced young Mexican girl, to be her nurse.