gallop, and I know of no more
ridiculous sight than a Chinaman bouncing along a road on the summit of a
veritable mountain of bedding with his arms waving and streamers flying in
every direction. He is assisted in keeping his balance by broad brass
stirrups in which he usually hooks his heels and guides his horse by means
of a rawhide bridle decorated with dozens of bangles which make a
comforting jingle whenever he moves.

On the sixth day out when approaching the city of Chu-hsuing Fu we took a
short cut through the fields leaving the caravan to follow the main road.
The trail brought us to a river about forty feet wide spanned by a bridge
made from two narrow planks, with a wide median fissure. We led our horses
across without trouble and Heller started to follow. He had reached the
center of the bridge when his horse shied at the hole, jumped to one side,
hung suspended on his belly for a moment, and toppled off into the water.

The performance had all happened behind Heller's back and when he turned
about in time to see his horse diving into the river, he stood looking down
at him with a most ludicrous expression of surprise and disgust, while the
animal climbed out and began to graze as quietly as though nothing had
happened.

Chu-hsuing was interesting as being the home of Miss Cordelia Morgan, a
niece of Senator Morgan of Virginia. We found her to be a most charming and
determined young woman who had established a mission station in the city
under considerable difficulties. The mandarin and other officials by no
means wished to have a foreign lady, alone and unattended, settle down
among them and become a responsibility which might cause them endless
trouble, and although she had rented a house before she arrived, the owner
refused to allow her to move in.

She could get no assistance from the mandarin and was forced to live for
two months in a dirty Chinese inn, swarming with vermin, until they
realized that she was determined not to be driven away. She eventually
obtained a house and while she considers herself comfortable, I doubt if
others would care to share her life unless they had an equal amount of
determination and enthusiasm.

At that time she had not placed her work under the charge of a mission
board and was carrying it on independently. Until our arrival she had seen
but one white person in a year and a half, was living entirely upon Chinese
food, and had tasted no butter or milk in months.