Kuei-lien knew just how lengthy was the chase Edward and Nancy were leading. Stealthily she filled the boy with the hearsay she picked up, the whereabouts of the foreigners, how they had been seen roaming near the White Horse Temple or the Clear Spring Pagoda, not only men, but women and children, always seeking some far-away place where they spread a white cloth on the ground and sat down promiscuously to eat food from tins and bottles.
One afternoon, when Kuei-lien held their father amused and little inclined to disturb them with projects of his own, Edward drew Nancy aside and whispered his plans for the most daring raid yet projected. He intended nothing less than to scale the heights which overlooked the summer village of the foreigners.
"I shall need all my arrows," he said.
"You can't shoot them," Nancy scoffed.
"I can shoot at them, anyway."
"Well, don't ask me to carry the bow if it gets heavy."
Edward grunted amiably and led his sister through the sleeping house. An air of mystery came naturally to the occasion, for he knew the expedition they were starting on was not one to win the blessing of his father. Walking was hot so early in the afternoon, but the boy and girl trudged forward valiantly, two slim figures in blue jackets and trousers who startled an occasional wood-cutter, when they stopped to ask the way, making him wonder what part of the realms of Han produced such unusual faces.
"We can see them from there," said Edward, pointing to a ridge of furrowed rock.
"Can we ever get to it?" asked Nancy. "It seems days away."
"Tired already?"