furniture,
the result is disastrous. One lady we met, who possesses such a house,
recognized the humor of the situation.

[Illustration: Entrance gate to compound of Chinese house]

[Illustration: Compound of Chinese house]

"I know," she explained; "it's just Eurasian."

We are undecided. If we take a house and settle down, we must give up
our nice, warm little rooms at the old Wagons-Lits, forgo all the
amusing gossip of the lobby, told in such frankness by the interesting
people who know things, or think they do. They say housekeeping is not
difficult here. You engage a "number-one boy," who engages the rest of
the servants, and any one of the servants who finds himself overworked
engages as many more servants as he may require; but that is not your
lookout. The compound is full of retainers, and the kitchen as well,
but you don't have to pay for them. They eat you out of house and
home, squeeze you at every possible point, but add an air of the
picturesque and of prosperity to the establishment. Housekeeping here
is a throw-back to the Middle Ages, with a baronial hall filled with
feudal retainers. And all for the price, except for the "squeeze," of
one servant in America!

X

HOW IT'S DONE IN CHINA

We have got to Peking at just the right moment--right for us, that is,
but one of the wrong moments for poor old China. These cycles of Cathay,
I may mention, are filled with such moments for China, and this is just
another of the long series, another of the occasions on which she is
plundered. Only here we are, by the greatest of luck, to see how it's
done. Could anything have been more fortunate? Wait; I'll tell you about
it. You will hardly believe it. We should not have been able to believe
it, either, if it had not taken place under our very noses.

Day before yesterday four of us went up to see the Ming tombs and the
Great Wall. Everything is so exciting in Peking that we could hardly
bear to absent ourselves from it even for two days; but, having come all
the way out to China, it seemed as if we really ought to see the Great
Wall. I won't describe our trip. You can read descriptions of the wall
in any book; all I can say is that it took two days to get there and
back, and that we set off on the expedition most reluctantly. E----'s
theory is that it's best to get all the sights crossed off as soon as
possible, so that we can enjoy ourselves with a clear mind. I had a
presentiment that something w