Wi-to was pleased that we were so modest in our demands and showed no disposition to rob the palace of its most rare and precious objects of art. So when it came to a choice of our own gifts the eunuch declared that he would himself make the selection, acting as the confidential servant of his late master, whose generous nature he well knew.
“I will send the gifts to your rooms,” he said, “and the gifts for our royal prince’s friends shall be brought as well; and the packing-cases as soon as our artisans can prepare them.”
We thanked him, and he added, cordially:
“Do not let these preparations hasten your departure, I entreat you. It is good to have guests in the palace. If you go away there will be nothing for me to do but quarrel with Mai Lo.”
We had an appointment that afternoon to meet the girls in the willow pavilion; so when the hour arrived we sauntered away from the palace and lost ourselves in the shrubbery, afterward picking our way cautiously toward the remote corner where the pavilion stood.
The girls were all assembled and eagerly awaiting our coming, for we had promised to tell them more about our American women, in whom they were greatly interested, and to describe their dress and social privileges and methods of amusement. I suppose that to these poor secluded creatures, who experienced so little variety in their narrow lives, our stories sounded like fairy tales. Some inkling of woman’s position in our western civilization they had gleaned from their copies of Byron and Shakespeare, which, by the way, only Ko-Tua had the ability to read. But the books could not answer questions, and the pretty maids were full of questions today, some of which we were puzzled to answer.
During our several interviews our relations with the little Chinese beauties had become so friendly and free from constraint that they were no longer afraid of us and we sat around the wicker table like brothers and sisters.
As Joe was describing a bit of modern finery Mai Mou exclaimed:
“Ah! You can wear that when you become a widow, Ko-Tua.”
“A widow!” said I. “When will that be, Ko-Tua?”