our return we write him. Thereupon he cleans things
up, reclaims the valuables, rearranges everything. His wonderful Chinese
memory enables him to replace every smallest item exactly as it was. If
I happen to have left seven cents and an empty .38 cartridge on the
southwestern corner of the bureau, there they will be. It is difficult
to believe that affairs have been at all disturbed. Yet probably, if our
stay away has been of any length, everything in the house has been moved
or laid away.

Furthermore, Toy reads and writes English, and enjoys greatly sending us
wonderful and involved reports. One of them ended as follows: "The
weather is doing nicely, the place is safely well, and the dogs are
happy all the while." It brings to mind a peculiarly cheerful picture.

One of the familiar and persistent beliefs as to Chinese traits is that
they are a race of automatons. "Tell your Chinaman exactly what you want
done, and how you want it done," say your advisors, "for you will never
be able to change them once they get started." And then they will adduce
a great many amusing and true incidents to illustrate the point.

The facts of the case are undoubted, but the conclusions as to the
invariability of the Chinese mind are, in my opinion, somewhat
exaggerated.

It must be remembered that almost all Chinese customs and manners of
thought are the direct inverse of our own. When announcing or receiving
a piece of bad news, for example, it is with them considered polite to
laugh; while intense enjoyment is apt to be expressed by tears. The
antithesis can be extended almost indefinitely by the student of
Oriental manners. Contemplate, now, the condition of the young Chinese
but recently arrived. He is engaged by some family to do its housework;
and, as he is well paid and conscientious, he desires to do his best.
But in this he is not permitted to follow his education. Each, move he
makes in initiative is stopped and corrected. To his mind there seems no
earthly sense or logic in nine tenths of what we want; but he is willing
to do his best.

"Oh, well," says he to himself, "these people do things crazily; and no
well-regulated Chinese mind could possibly either anticipate how they
desire things done, or figure out why they want them that way. I give
it up! I'll just follow things out exactly as I am told"--and he does
so!

This condition of affairs used to be more common than it is now. Under
the present exclusion law no