was just as contented all day long as she
had always been.

But Nelly, poor child, was no longer the merry little hopping and
skipping creature she had been in Peking. She never had a fit of the
giggles now, and she was thin and pale; still, she was not absolutely
miserable, for she felt sure she was going to leave Yung Ching soon,
especially after she overheard a conversation which took place in Ku
Nai-nai's room one night after she and Little Yi were in bed.

Hung Li began by telling Ku Nai-nai he had been cheated out of some
money by a man with whom he had done business that day; and he added:

'It is time these children went home now. I must have more money. I
shall go and see the barber when next I go to Peking, and arrange with
him to give them up to their parents.'

'How do you mean to do it?' asked Ku Nai-nai. 'If the barber goes to the
Ying-Kua-Fu (British Legation) he will certainly be arrested, and then
he is sure to tell about us.'

'Do you think I shall let him go to the Legation?' replied Hung Li,
scornfully. 'No,' he went on; 'I shall write a letter to the foreign
girl's father, asking him to send some one alone with the money to the
Chien Men (centre gate). I will be there to meet the messenger, and the
barber will be outside with the children in some retired place. I shall
take the messenger to see the children, and then he will hand over the
money. The barber can slip away afterwards.'

'Yes,' grunted Ku Nai-nai, 'and what's to prevent the child telling her
father where to find us in Yung Ching?'

'And what if she does?' replied Hung Li. 'No one has seen the children.
The mandarin of this district is my friend, and I can make it all right.
You don't suppose I want to adopt the children? You (turning to An
Ching) would like to keep that pale-faced little foreign imp, I suppose,
but you shan't do it.'

An Ching did not reply, but next day, when Nelly told her that she had
been awake and heard the talking in the next room, she said:

'No one cares for me here, and I am of no use in the world. If I can get
away I shall try to come to you in Peking.'

'Oh, do,' said Nelly, delighted. 'How can it be managed?'

'I don't know. We must think it all out. I am not as stupid as Hung Li
thinks,' replied An Ching. 'If I were sure that your father and mother
would take me as a servant, I'd manage it.'

'I am certain they will when they hear how kind you have been to me,'
said Nelly. 'You shall come as m