[3] The remainder of the chapter is from Mrs. Headland's note-book.
XVII
The Chinese Ladies—Their Ills
My home is girdled by a limpid stream,
And there in summer days life's movements pause,
Save where some swallow flits from beam to beam,
And the wild sea-gull near and nearer draws.
The good wife rules a paper board for chess;
The children beat a fish-hook out of wire;
My ailments call for physic more or less,
What else should this poor frame of mine require?
—"Tu Fu," Translated.
XVII
THE CHINESE LADIES—THEIR ILLS[4]
[4] Taken from Mrs. Headland's note-book.
One day a eunuch dashed into the back gate of our compound in Peking, rode up to the door of the library, dismounted from his horse, and handed a letter in a red envelope to the house servant who met him on the steps.