d her bridegroom
must each take one and sip the wine, the cups being joined together by a
scarlet thread. When this ceremony is over, she follows her bridegroom
to a room, still led by the sash, and when he enters he stands upon the
_kang_ and by walking around it demonstrates his position as head of the
new home.

Meanwhile the chair-bearers are clamouring for her dress, as another
young woman is waiting for the same gown and chair, and delay may cause
trouble. The bride is assisted on to the _kang_ by the women, her
husband having departed to make merry with his friends, and the ragged
opium smokers who carried her there leave, one wearing the crown of
tinsel on his head, laughing and joking at much which they have seen and
heard. From the moment that she is seated upon the _kang_, the bride
becomes the centre of attraction to an insulting crowd. Her shoes are
stolen, but knowing that this is likely she has provided herself with
additional pairs. For hours she sits there and hears the remarks made.
One will whisper that she is married to an irresponsible idiot, others
will tell her that he is blind or dumb, and knowing how often the
middlemen deceive, she waits with dread the moment when she will see for
herself more than she was able to do on arrival. At last the room is
cleared, and she has to face the final ordeal when she is left alone
with a totally unknown man. Even the hours of darkness are not
respected, and every youngster in the village has the right to enter the
courtyard at any hour of the night, tear down the paper windows, and
heap shame upon her head.

Christianity and the influence of the foreigner has done much to
revolutionise the wedding customs, but all this and more was endured by
Ai Do, and she found herself withal the wife of a depraved and vicious
man.

It was indeed a deliverance when the Hwochow girls' school reopened and
Ai Do was invited to teach in place of her elder sister, whose family
claims had increased so as to prevent her holding the post as formerly.
School was opened in a small courtyard which adjoined our own, and
twenty girls entered as pupils. Ai Do had all the characteristics of a
natural leader, and she easily controlled the girls and was much beloved
by them, for she had a kind disposition and the hidden sorrows of her
life had made her both strong and tender.

I think that her life in school was a time of unmixed happiness to her,
but the holidays had to be faced and c