Shrewdness, courage, loyalty, honesty and resourcefulness are this remarkable Chinese boy’s equipment. Of the poorest peasantry, he is early an orphan, and in shifting for himself he comes to be a groom in the household of one of the “foreign devils.” During the Boxer rebellion he remains with his master, partly from ignorance of what it is all about, partly from self-interest and an instinct of loyalty. He is sent on a dangerous mission to the allied army, bearing the message rolled up in his ear. Reaching the army after a perilous journey he is given a return message. This is too bulky for his ear, so in a moment of panic of discovery, he swallows it. Of this he calmly informs his master, when at last, spent and exhausted, he returns to him, adding, “and by your blessing I shall now die a natural death.”
“The book is throughout written, at least theoretically, from the native point of view, and has, in consequence, an unusual and fascinating quality.”
+ Ath p523 O 15 ’20 120w
“There are many dramatic adventures and a rich background of Chinese life.”
+ Booklist 17:74 N ’20
“A good picture of peasant childhood in China as well as a first-rate adventure story for boys.”
+ |Cleveland p107 D ’20 40w
“A highly interesting book, worth while both for its story element and for the faithful picture of the humble inner life of the great sleeping empire off in the yellow West.”
+ N Y Times p27 S 12 ’20 260w