'To-morrow we shall be in Peking,' said Nelly delightedly.

'No,' replied An Ching. 'We have come very slowly; we shall be three nights on the road this time.'

Nelly was disappointed, but made the best of it. She slept badly that night, and had a headache the next morning.

An Ching was away a long time getting the breakfast, and when she returned with her hands full she was very excited.

'One of the placards offering the reward for you two has just been stuck on the wall of this inn,' she exclaimed. 'Hung Li is in a great rage. He says he must be off at once. He intends to get another mule and hurry off to Peking.'

'So he is not going to take us to some other place? I am so glad,' said Nelly.

'No, he seems to have changed his mind. I am to get a small coat for Little Yi, and she is to pretend to be a boy.'

'Why me?' exclaimed Little Yi. 'My ears are pierced. I could not be a boy, and I won't. Nelly was the boy yesterday.'

'What does it matter? No one will notice the holes in your ears if you take out the earrings, and then you can run about. Nelly must not be seen at all, Hung Li says. It's no use objecting. You'll have to do it. You naughty boy!' she shouted, as she heard Hung Li and another man talking outside the door.

Little Yi and Nelly giggled. Then An Ching locked them in and went to buy the coat. There was very little difference between it and the one she was wearing. An Ching saw that Little Yi's queue was right, took out her earrings, and then removed her bracelets.

Nelly was carried to the cart in a bundle, and Little Yi, in no amiable mood at having lost her earrings and wooden bracelets, was hustled in after An Ching.

Nelly was still feeling rather weak and tired, and so was the poor mule. He dragged them wearily along the road for a couple of hours, and then his troubles were all over, for he stopped quite still and dropped to the ground, and before Hung Li could get him out of the shafts he was quite dead.

Of course every one was obliged to come down from the cart. Little Yi and An Ching helped to undo the harness and Hung Li dragged the mule out of the way. Nelly shed a few tears over the poor dead animal which had toiled on so bravely to the end.

Hung Li was in a worse temper than ever. He wished he had never seen the little foreign imp and big-footed Manchu child; 'and I wish I could get rid of you as well,' he said to An Ching. At last he set off to fetch another mule, threatening all sorts of penalties to whoever stirred from the spot or spoke to passers-by. Before going, he propped up the shafts of the cart and made them all get inside. They were relieved when the angry man had gone, and tried to settle themselves comfortably in the cart; but when he was well out of sight, Little Yi, regardless of consequences, got out and looked round. An Ching did not trouble much, as she knew Hung Li could not be back very soon, but when after a time she put her head outside and could not see Little Yi at all, she became uneasy and herself got out. Nelly did the same. They called and ran in every direction before they found her. An Ching thought she saw something moving behind a clump of bushes some yards away. She asked Nelly, who could walk much better than she, to go and see. Nelly went behind the bushes, and sure enough she saw Little Yi a long way off, running away as hard as she could towards two men, one of whom Nelly to her great surprise and joy recognised as Chang. The other she thought must be Chi Fu. She waited until they came near, then she rushed forward, caught hold of Chang's hand and burst into tears.

Tears of joy don't last very long. Nelly's were soon gone, and there was no trace of them when they all went to the other side of the bushes, where they found An Ching, who stood as if spellbound when she saw them.

'However did you find us?' she asked Chang. 'But you must go away,' she added; 'Hung Li may be back any moment. He will kill me if he finds you here,' and she hurried the children into the cart and got in herself.

When they were safely in, Chang said: 'This is my son Chi Fu. He will keep a good look-out and I will talk to you here. If Hung Li comes we can walk quietly away. But he can't be back for a long time yet if he has gone to get a mule; the next village is nearly as far as the one you left this morning.'

Chang then told them how he and Chi Fu came to be there.

'When I saw you start,' he said, 'I at once went into my house and consulted with my son, who said that he and I must certainly follow you. He got two mules at once and we set off early next morning. We rode hard and reached the river well before noon. At the inn near the river we heard about a party which had crossed earlier, and although the inn-keeper said the children were boy and girl, we felt sure that it must have been you.'

Here Chi Fu came up and put in his word.

'Don't forget to tell the young foreign lady that her letter has been sent off,' he said.

'No,' replied Chang; 'I'll tell her. You must go farther away and keep a good look-out on the road the way Hung Li went.' And Chang turned to Nelly and told her that a courier had started for the Peking mission two days ago and taken her letter enclosed in one for the missionary from Chi Fu.

'And did you get my letter?' asked Little Yi. 'We threw it over the wall.'

Chang replied that his wife had picked up a piece of paper with some writing upon it, but it was nearly all blotted out by the rain and could not be read.

'It was of no consequence,' said An Ching, at which Little Yi was not pleased. 'How did you manage to find us?'

'We rode on quickly, and very soon saw your cart in the distance; then we followed by a side road too narrow for a cart. When you stopped to rest at noon I got off my mule and came quite close. I saw the young Ku Nai-nai as she lay asleep.'

An Ching did not much like this, but she said nothing.

Chang continued: 'It was easy to follow you and put up at the same inn at night, especially as Hung Li did not know us. We rode after you this morning, and when we saw that the mule had fallen we left ours with an old man in a hut over there,' pointing beyond the bushes, 'and began to walk towards you. Little Yi saw us coming, and here we are.'



CHAPTER XIII

THE ROAD TO PEKING

'Now what are you going to do?' asked An Ching.

'We shall follow you to Peking or wherever Hung Li takes you, and then go at once and tell the English gentleman where you are. You have no need to fear now,' turning to Nelly, 'that you will not get home.'

'And can't An Ching come with us?'

'I dare not take her,' said Chang, 'but perhaps your father can arrange something. Now I will go and ask Chi Fu what we had best do.'

Chi Fu thought that all they could do for the present was to keep the party well in sight and put up at the same inn that night. Chang returned and told An Ching this, and said they would go and get their mules. He cautioned all three not to appear to know either of them, even if they came and spoke to Hung Li.

After Chang and Chi Fu went away it seemed a very long time before Hung Li returned with another mule. He was accompanied by a man who brought a cart and took away the dead animal. Hung Li told An Ching that he had only been able to get a mule to take them as far as the next village, and they must put up there. He had brought some food, and they prepared another meal by the roadside. The children ate sitting in the cart. As soon as they had finished, Hung harnessed the mule and then set off once more.

This was a good strong beast and took them along briskly to the next village, but as so much time had already been wasted it was late in the afternoon when they arrived.

Hung Li was now obliged to go in search of another mule and return the one he had to its owner. By the time this was done, it was too late to start again that day.

The inn was about a hundred yards from the main road. It stood in an open space and was reached by a narrow winding path. All round and between the inn and the road was short grass and stubble. But on the opposite side of the road, a short distance on the way they had come, there was a hillock with a clump of trees at one side. The room which had been engaged for An Ching had its door, and also a small window, opening towards the road. Nelly and Little Yi could quite well see the hillock and clump of trees on the other side of the road from the window, and they had not been long in the room before they noticed that Chang and Chi Fu were there with their mules. Later in the evening they saw the two come over to the inn and heard them make arrangements to put up there for the night. An Ching went outside and passed them quite close, but they took no notice of her. She heard Chang inquire of Hung Li if he were going to Peking next day.

'I am not sure,' said Hung Li, in a very surly tone.

Chang took no notice of his rudeness, but said politely:

'I hope you will permit my son and me to follow your party, as we are strangers to these parts and not very sure of the road.'

'You can if you like,' replied Hung Ching ungraciously, and walked away. An Ching felt sure he had been drinking.

Nelly was still feeling far from well when she awoke next morning. She got up early, slipped the bolt, went out on to the dewy grass and looked up the road towards Peking. The fresh air revived her, although she was still very languid and depressed when she returned to the room. An Ching was awake, and reproved her for going out.

'You know how dreadfully angry Hung Li would be with me if he saw you,' she said.

But she let Nelly stand at the open window, and Little Yi, being in boy's clothing, was not prevented from going in and out as she pleased.

An Ching went as usual to get the breakfast. Hung Li was still half tipsy. He said he was in a hurry to be off, although he did not appear to be making any preparations.

Chang and Chi Fu took their mules and went to the hillock to wait until Hung Li's party started. Nelly was sitting listlessly in the room, and Little Yi had gone outside to have a look round. Presently a cloud of dust began to rise from the road in the distance, and four riders came in sight. Little Yi looked intently, suddenly turned round, and ran back to the room where Nelly was, crying breathlessly:

'There's your father and another gentleman riding from Peking!'

Nelly jumped up, dashed through the door and into the grassy space, paused a moment to look, and set off as fast as she could go. How she ran! but her legs felt weak, something thumped in her head, and her heart went pit-a-pat.

Mr. Grey rode with his head bent, and was looking at the ground.

'Father! father! father! do stop!' Nelly called out.

But her father did not see or hear, and there was An Ching shouting to her, and she knew that Hung Li might be after her directly.

'Father! father!' she wailed.

She thought she shouted loudly, but her voice was very weak and quite drowned by the clattering of the pony's hoofs.

Still he did not look up, and was going by without seeing her! It was too much for the poor child. She felt as though everything was turning upside down, and just as her father rode past she fell to the ground in a faint.

But Chi Fu had seen it all from the hillock; and as Nelly fell he dashed forward and stood with outstretched arms in the middle of the road, ready to stop Mr. Grey's pony. When it came up he caught hold of the bridle and turned the head right round, greatly to the astonishment of the rider.

'What does this mean?' exclaimed Mr. Grey angrily.

'Your daughter! your daughter!' replied Chi Fu, pointing to Nelly as she lay on the ground.

Mr. Grey asked no more questions, but spurred his pony and galloped back to where the little girl lay, Chi Fu running after him. He jumped off his pony and stooped anxiously over the little figure.

'It's Nelly,' he said, when he looked at the face, and he kissed her.

Mr. Grey soon saw that she was only in a faint, and taking her in his arms he carried her towards the inn, feeling very happy to have recovered his little girl. When Little Yi came up he recognised her in spite of her boy's clothing, and giving her a kindly pat on the head he told her to keep close to him and run to get some water as soon as they were at the inn. Little Yi showed him the room they were occupying and went for the water, while Mr. Grey sat with his child on his knee.

When her father bathed her head with the water Nelly soon recovered. Her happiness and delight when she found herself in her father's arms cannot be described. Let each girl who reads this imagine it for herself.



CHAPTER XIV

FATHER AND MOTHER

With the help of Little Yi, who talked sixteen to the dozen, Nelly soon told her father the whole story. Then came such a string of questions, about Nelly's mother and Baby Buckle, and all Nelly's Peking friends and Little Yi's as well! The talking was nearly all in Chinese. Nelly found it difficult to get back into English, she said.

'You will make Hung Li give up An Ching and take her with us, father, won't you?' asked Nelly.

'I'll see what I can do,' her father promised, 'but I am afraid it cannot be managed.'

'It can be done easily enough if you will buy her, Sir,' said Little Yi. 'Hung Li does not like her, and he loves money.'

This was a new idea to Mr. Grey. He thought he might be able to arrange it after all. 'We will go and see them and talk about it,' he said.

The courtyard of the inn was in a state of great confusion when Mr. Grey and the children entered it. Hung Li was raging and fuming in a dreadful way, while An Ching stood by with a frightened face. The two Changs were trying to explain things to the Legation student who had come with Mr. Grey from Peking to go with him to Yung Ching in search of Nelly. They had started as soon as Nelly's letter reached the Legation. This young gentleman, who had been in China only a short time, understood very little Chinese, and Chang and Chi Fu were trying to talk to him by signs. It was funny to see them pointing to the wall, a basket, red paper and a rope. The poor student was hopelessly muddled, but the Chinese grooms who had come with him and Mr. Grey quite understood and were enjoying themselves thoroughly. The inn-keeper was shouting directions to every one, and his wife trying to question An Ching, who was in a terrible fright. A crowd of villagers began to collect, and every one was talking at once.

Leaving the children in charge of his companion, Mr. Grey pushed his way into the midst of the throng, shouting at the top of his voice:

'Where's the man who stole my daughter?'

The noise stopped at once. A dozen pair of hands seized Hung Li and An Ching and brought them face to face with Mr. Grey, while the crowd closed eagerly round.

Hung Li was dreadfully afraid. He had counted on the children being handed over by his friend the barber in exchange for a nice round sum of money, and had never thought the affair would bring him within arm's length of a fierce foreigner.

'Why did you do this?' asked Mr. Grey sternly.

'I did not,' said the coward. 'It was my mother who stole the child and hid her from me. I was taking her back to Peking.'

'Very well,' said Mr. Grey, 'I must hand you over to the magistrate.'

This was quite enough for Hung Li, who knew that if he were once inside a Chinese prison he might have to stay there a very long time.

'Don't tell me any lies,' Mr. Grey continued. 'You kept my daughter shut up in your house, and she might have died if it had not been for your wife.'

Hung Li grunted, but said nothing.

'But,' went on Mr. Grey, 'I will let you go on one condition, that you give up all claim to your wife and let her come to live with my daughter in Peking, and I will give you fifty taels for her.'

Hung Li did not expect to be let off so easily. 'Take the woman,' he said. 'She has no children and I don't want her.'

'All right,' replied Mr. Grey. 'I take all these people to witness our bargain.'

There was a chorus of 'Hao, hao' (good, good), from the crowd, and everybody seemed pleased.

Mr. Grey at once ordered his servant to fetch his bag containing the lumps of silver and long strings of copper cash with a hole through the middle, which are the only coins the Chinese have. The inn-keeper brought a scale; the silver was weighed and handed over to Hung Li. He went away without taking any notice of An Ching, and nobody was surprised. The Chinese do not think much of women, you see.

As for An Ching, she was delighted.

All this time Chang and his son had kept quietly in the background. They were Hung Li's neighbours and did not want to make an enemy of him. This was their Chinese caution. As soon as he had gone they came forward. Mr. Grey thanked them warmly, and told them that they should have the reward he had offered if they would come with him to Peking, which they were very glad to do.

They were soon ready to leave the inn. Mr. Grey's servant had hired a cart and good strong mule. An Ching and the children got into the cart and the others rode alongside, excepting the Legation student, who went ahead to prepare Mrs. Grey.

Nelly was almost too excited to sit still as they came into Peking, and even Little Yi was very anxious.

'How do you feel, An Ching?' asked Nelly.

'I don't know,' she replied. 'Glad and sorry, but more glad than sorry. Nobody cares for me but you now. My parents did, a little, but no Chinese girl is ever loved by her father as yours loves you.'

'That's not true,' said Little Yi, although she knew that it was.

'Well, I hope I am wrong, Little Yi. When children are as good and truthful as Nelly perhaps their parents are very fond of them; but I never knew a Chinese girl so good.'

Little Yi sniffed, but said no more.

When the large gates of the Legation were opened and the cart drove in, Nelly almost fainted again. It was a very pale, fragile-looking little creature that Mr. Grey lifted out of the cart. Mrs. Grey had been on the look-out, and could not remain indoors when she saw the party arrive. She rushed hatless across the compound, and Nelly bounded to meet her. Mother and child clung to each other with all their might, while Chu Ma fairly wept for joy to see her baby, as she called Nelly. At the same time Little Yi's parents dashed towards her and embraced her, and they all began chattering and crying. Little Yi hoped An Ching would notice how affectionate her father was.

It was not until they had gone indoors that Mr. and Mrs. Grey remembered the Changs and An Ching. When Mr. Grey at length brought An Ching into the room, Mrs. Grey kissed her too and thanked her for being so good to Nelly.

Mrs. Grey herself put Nelly to bed that night. It seemed so strange to Nelly to see everything just as she had left it. There was actually the almanac on the wall with the coloured picture of Ruth and Boaz in the field. Nelly had pinned this almanac up months ago when she was attending a dancing class at the American Legation, because, she said, 'Boaz was doing the first position of the waltz step beautifully.' She laughed, and it did her good and she felt glad and happy. As she said her prayers that night, she felt as though she really loved God and that He quite understood when she thanked Him for the gift of a good father and mother.



CONCLUSION

The next few days Nelly spent quietly with her parents, and in showing An Ching all the wonders of a foreign household. Then she was taken by her father and mother to spend the rest of the summer in a Chinese temple at the hills, where she soon saw all her friends.

Baby Buckle did not know her, of course, and the coat she had brought him was too small, as he had grown very much. But he was 'darlinger' than ever, Nelly said. Bessie Bates and Liza and Bertha were delighted to see Nelly, but they seemed shy with her at first, and Bob Bates and Arthur Macdonald treated her almost as though she had been a grown-up lady. She was not very well all the summer, and the doctor advised a change. 'England,' he said, 'would be a good thing.' 'And school,' added Mr. Grey. And to England Nelly went in the autumn with her mother and An Ching. She was left with her aunt in Brighton, where she attended a day school near her brother Tom's. An Ching stayed with her and learnt to speak English very well. The people of Brighton used to stare at An Ching almost as much as the Chinese did at Nelly when she was stolen in Peking. She became a Christian in time and used to go to church regularly. Two years later, Arthur Macdonald came to Tom's school and often spent his holiday afternoons at Nelly's aunt's. Bob and Bessie Bates went to school in America, but Liza and Bertha stayed with their governess in Peking. Baby Buckle grew into a very mischievous little boy; so troublesome was he that his father decided to send him home, and he, too, when he was a very small boy, came to the school where Tom had been. Nelly used to go and see him and bring him to her aunt's. No matter how naughty he was, she always made excuses for him. 'He was such a darling baby, you know,' she used to say.

Little Yi never tired of telling her adventures, and all her female relatives, none of whom had ever been outside Peking, looked upon her as a great traveller. Chi Fu studied so well that he became a school teacher in the Church Mission. His parents admired him more than ever, and left Yung Ching to come and live near him. One day he received a letter from Nelly in English, and was able to read it to them in Chinese quite easily.

'He is a great scholar, my son,' said the good Chang to himself.

It was the proudest day of his life!



FINIS