's work with hot water:
not until they have done that can they obtain the quilts that are rented
for twenty cash each; others had already curled up for the afternoon
pipe of opium, while still others were busy preparing the evening meal
over the big semicircular range. In one pot bean-cake was being made, a
long, complicated process; in another, cakes were frying in oil; in
another, rice was boiling. One of my chair coolies seemed to be the
_chef par excellence_; brandishing a big iron ladle, he went from pot to
pot, stirring, tasting, seasoning, and generally lording it over two
others working under his orders. In full control of the whole was a
good-looking woman with bound feet, apparently the proprietor of the
inn; at least I saw no man to fill the post. Every one was
good-tempered and friendly, and I was glad to exchange the tiresome
seclusion of the town inns for the bustling scene in which I was
willingly included, tasting each dish, watching the men at their games,
making friends with the children.

The pouring rain of the night gave way to a soft drizzle at dawn, and we
were off before seven. As we ascended the valley we faced a solid green
wall flushed with masses of pink azaleas and cherry-red rhododendrons,
and broken by half a dozen streams which flung themselves over the lip
of the cliff to dash in feathery cascades from rock to rock below. Our
way led back and forth over rushing mountain streams. Riding was of
course out of the question, and I had long since left my chair-coolies
behind; but one of the Tachienlu men, a strong, active fellow with bits
of coral adorning his black queue, was very alert in looking out for me,
always waiting at a difficult place with a helping hand. We crossed the
Ma-An Shan Pass, about ten thousand feet high, by the middle of the
forenoon, having climbed more than five thousand feet since leaving Lu
Ting Ch'iao. Just before reaching the top we descended into a cup-like
hollow, a huge dimple lined with the rich greens and gay reds of the
rhododendron, and merry with the babble of many tiny waterfalls. I
exclaimed with delight at the vision of beauty, and even the coolies
grinned appreciatively. It would have been a place to dream away a day
had it not been as wet as a shower bath. Nearing the pass, we heard
weird sounds above us, not unlike the cries of rejoicing uttered by the
Ladakhis of Western Tibet when they have successfully surmounted a
difficult height, and I wondered