case of Her Majesty's cap, would be red. I was
naturally delighted. In addition to the cap and full Court dress Her
Majesty had two ordinary dresses made for everyday wear, one lined with
sheepskin and the other lined with grey squirrel. Then she gave us four
other dresses of finer material, lined with black and white fox skin,
and all trimmed with gold braid and embroidered ribbons. In addition
there were two other dresses, one of a pale pink color, embroidered with
one hundred butterflies and the other of a reddish color embroidered
with green bamboo leaves. Several short jackets, also lined with fur,
were also included in Her Majesty's present, and several sleeveless
jackets went to complete the lot.

On coming out of the room, one of the Court ladies remarked that I was
very lucky to receive so many clothes from Her Majesty and said that
she had never received so many during the whole time she had been at
the Palace--nearly ten years. I could see she was jealous. The young
Empress, overhearing this conversation, joined us and told her that when
I arrived at the Palace I had nothing but foreign clothes and how was
I to manage if Her Majesty did not get me the proper dresses. This
incident was the beginning of another unpleasant time for me with the
ladies of the Court. At first I took no notice until one day one of the
girls attached to the Palace joined in the unkind remarks. She said that
before my arrival she had been Her Majesty's particular favorite, but
I gave her to understand that she had no right to discuss me in any
way whatsoever. The Young Empress, who was present, spoke to them about
their treatment of me and said that some fine day I would be telling
Her Majesty about it. This seemed to have a good effect for they never
troubled me much afterwards with their talk.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN--THE SUMMER PALACE

JUST about the end of the ninth moon Her Majesty began to tire of doing
nothing day after day, and said: "What is the use of waiting until the
first of the month to have the theatrical performance? Let us have a
performance to-morrow." So she gave instructions for the eunuchs to
prepare for the play, which should be staged without the assistance of
any outside actors. I might here mention that certain of the eunuchs
were specially trained as actors and used to study their parts every
day. Indeed, they were far cleverer than the professionals from outside.

Her Majesty gave the head eunuch the list o