m with
satisfaction at the possibilities they contained for at least another
month of better food for them all; but it was dearly earned money. The
man had not been trained as a chairbearer, and so had not learned the
knack of manipulating the cross-bars, which rested on his shoulders, in
such a way as to make the heavy burden less distressing to him. The
result was that every time he returned from one of these expeditions,
he was so seriously knocked up that for several days he had to lie in
bed and refrain from all work.

Time went on, and the severe strain of his labour, and the poor quality
of the food upon which he had to live, and the constant wear and tear
of a constitution that never had been very strong, told upon the poor,
overworked father. Gradually he became a confirmed invalid, so that he
could not perform even the lightest work on his little farm. The
shadows of coming misfortune grew darker and blacker every day. Hope
began to abandon the hearts of husband and wife, and the sound of the
footsteps of cruel Fate could almost be heard, as they drew nearer and
nearer. Still these two heroic souls uttered no complaints, and there
were no signs of heartbreak, except occasionally when the wife's eyes
overflowed with tears, which she brushed hastily away lest her husband
should see them and be distressed.

One night the storm was blowing a north-east gale outside, and the wind
howled and moaned in such weird and doleful tones around the cottage,
that it seemed as though some troubled spirit had been let loose to
wail out a solemn requiem over a departing soul.

The Chinese believe that the air is filled with demons who have a
mortal hatred of human beings, and who are ever on the watch to compass
their destruction. These evil spirits gather round when disaster is
about to fall on a home. They stand with invisible forms and peer into
the darkened room, where some one lies dying, and they breathe out
their delight in unholy sounds that strike terror into the hearts of
the watchers.

In her anxiety about her husband the wife had not been able to sleep.
Her heart throbbed with an infinite pain, and suppressed sobs now and
again showed the anguish of her spirit. She began to realize, during
this dreadful night, that her husband was exceedingly ill and might
very probably die. The storm which raged outside, and the furious
blasts and the uncanny sounds in the air, had terrified her and made
her nervous.