o be
allowed to go with her wherever she went--to let him work for her and the
"little missee," as he used to in the old days before she went away. "He
did not want any money--only let him have a little rice and curry, and a
mat to sleep on, and he would serve her as long as she needed him."

Virgie was moved to tears by this evidence of his faithfulness, and,
though she had not thought of such a thing before, it suddenly occurred to
her that it might be a wise proceeding on her part to grant his request.

She knew that he was entirely trustworthy; he was very capable in many
ways, and she was sure she should feel a sense of security and protection
with him that she could not experience to go alone into a strange place,
and have to depend entirely upon herself.

"I should like to have you, Chi," she said, thoughtfully, "but I am afraid
it would be hardly fair to you, for I haven't a great deal of money, and I
shall have to be very economical."

Chi Lu's little round black eyes flashed at this. "<i>He</i> takee monee too?"
he demanded, with contemptuous emphasis on the pronoun.

Virgie flushed. She could not bear, from another, the slightest reference
to the wrong she had suffered.

"How much monee?" the man hastened to add, as he saw that she was
troubled.

"I have a little over four thousand dollars," Virgie replied, thinking it
best to fully confide in him.

Her bills had been heavy in New York, and it had taken the most of one
thousand dollars out of the five thousand that Sir William had deposited
for her, to settle them.

Chi Lu gave a grunt of delight at the information.

"Good! missee live long. Chi Lu know how; he fix 'em," he said, with an
air of confidence that was reassuring and Virgie believed that he would
indeed make a better steward of her limited means than she could possibly
be with her inexperience, so she resolved to trust him, and told him that
he should go with her if he wished.

The next question to settle was regarding a place of residence, and she
finally decided, after talking the matter over with her servant, that she
would be less conspicuous in some large city, and as there was no place
she knew so well as San Francisco, she resolved to once more make her home
in that city.

These matters decided, Chi Lu went back to the mountains to dispose of his
cabin and settle up his affairs, and when he rejoined his young mistress,
they proceeded directly to San Francisco, where the Chinam