l,
Europeans would come to the town from time to time and require a
night's lodging. Here was where Mrs. Rivers saw her chance and took
it. In her simple, wholly supine way, she realised that there were
nothing but Chinese inns in the place, and therefore it would be a
good opportunity to open a hotel for foreigners. Numbers of foreigners
would soon be arriving, thanks to Rivers' efforts, and as he was now
out of employment (having gone on a prolonged spree to celebrate his
success and been discharged in consequence), there still remained an
opportunity for helping foreigners in another way. Personally, he
would have preferred to open a gambling house, but the risks were too
great. At that time the town was not yet fully civilized or
Europeanised, and he realised that he would encounter considerable
opposition to this scheme from the Chinese--and he was without
sufficient influence or protection to oppose them. His wife,
therefore, insisted upon the hotel, and he saw her point. She did not
make it in behalf of her own welfare, or the welfare of possible
future children. She merely made it as an opportunity that a man of
his parts ought not to miss. He had made a few hundred dollars out of
his deal, and fortunately, had not spent all of it on his grand
carouse. There was enough left for the new enterprise.

So they took a temple. Buddhism being in a decadent state in China,
and the temples being in a still further state of decay, it was an
easy matter to arrange things with the priests. The temple selected
was a large, rambling affair, with many compounds and many rooms,
situated in the heart of the city, and near the newly opened offices
of the newly established firm, the nucleus of this coming trade centre
of China. A hundred dollars Mex. rented it for a year, and Mrs. Rivers
spent many days sweeping and cleaning it, while Rivers himself helped
occasionally, and hired several coolies to assist in the work as well.
The monks' houses were washed and whitewashed; clean, new mats spread
on the floors, cheap European cots installed, with wash basins, jugs
and chairs, and other accessories such as are not found in native
inns. The main part of the temple still remained open for worship,
with the dusty gods on the altars and the dingy hangings in place as
usual. The faithful, such as there were, still had access to it, and
the priests lived in one of the compounds, but all the other compounds
were given over to Rivers for hi