s new enterprise. Thus the prejudices
of the townspeople were not excited, the old priests cleared a hundred
dollars Mex., while the new tenants were at liberty to pursue their
venture to its most profitable limits. Mrs. Rivers managed the
housekeeping, assisted by a capable Chinese cook, and Rivers had a
sign painted, in English, bearing the words "Temple Hotel."
Fortunately it was summertime, so there were no expenses for
artificial heat, an item which would have taxed their small capital
beyond its limits.

Two weeks after the Temple Hotel swung out its sign, the first guest
arrived, the manager of the new company. He came to town reluctantly,
dreading the discomforts of a Chinese inn, and bringing with him his
food and bedding roll, intending to sleep in his cart in the
courtyard. Consequently he was greatly pleased and greatly surprised
to find a European hotel, and he stayed there ten days in perfect
comfort. Mrs. Rivers treated him royally--lost money on him, in fact,
but it was a good investment. At parting, the manager told Rivers
that his wife was a marvel, as indeed she was. Then he went down to
Shanghai and spread the news among his friends, and from that time on,
the success of the Temple Hotel was assured. True, Rivers still
continued to be a good fellow, that is, he continued to drink pretty
hard, but his guests overlooked it and his wife was used to it, and
the establishment continued to flourish. In a year or two the railroad
came along, and a period of great prosperity set in all round.

Like most foreigners, Rivers had a profound contempt for the Chinese.
They were inferior beings, made for servants and underlings, and to
serve the dominant race. He was at no pains to conceal this dislike,
and backed it up by blows and curses as occasion required. In this he
was not alone, however, nor in any way peculiar. Others of his race
feel the same contempt for the Chinese and manifest it by similar
demonstrations. Lying drunk under a walnut tree of the main courtyard,
Rivers had only to raise his eyes to his blue-coated, pig-tailed
coolies, to be immensely aware of his superiority. Kwong, his
number-one boy, used to survey him thus stretched upon the ground,
while Rivers, helpless, would explain to Kwong what deep and profound
contempt he felt for all those who had not his advantages--the great,
God-given advantage of a white skin. The lower down one is on the
social and moral plane, the more necessary to em