Litchfield enquirer., 1874-09-10
NO 2S'/4

have been Skept1c, II nc naQ peen AG- tie older, he would have been cynlc, If he had been older still, he would have been philosopher. As it was, he was little imp! A good-natured imp It was, too-an imp whose moral nature had never been awakened, ap imp up for holiday, and willing to try virtue as dl- version. Idont know that he had any spiritual nature; he was very superstitlous he carried about with him hideous little porcelain god, which he was in the habit of alternately reviling and propitiating. He was too intelligent for the commoner Chinese vices of stealing or gratuitous iy- ing. Whatever discipline he practiced was taught by his intellect.
 am inclined to think that his feelings were not altogether unimpressible, ,-al- though 1t was almost impossible to extract an expression from hin, ,-and conscien- tiously believe he became attached to those that were good to him. What he might have become under more favorable conditions than the bondsman of an over worked, under-paid, literary man, don't know; only know that the scant, ifregu- lar, impulsive kindnesses that l showed him were gratefully received. He was very loyal and patient-two qualities rare in the average American servant. He was | like Malvollo, ''sad and civiP' with me; | only once, and then under great prOv6ca- l tion, do l remember of his exhibiting any impatience. It was my habit, after | leaving the office at night, to take him with me to my rooms, as the bearer of any supplemental or happy after-thought III the editorial way, that might occur to me before the paper went to press. One night l had been scribbing away past the usual hour Of dismissing Wan Lee, and had be 1 oOD0n nnira 0i11iviOJsq of bTc 11Pornnaa in a chair near my door, when suddenly 1 be- came aware of voice saying, in plaintive accents, something that sounded like ''Chy Lee"
 faced around sternly.
 "What did you say?"
 "Me say 'Chy Lee.'''
 ''Well?" I said, impatiently.
 ''You sabe How do, John?'
 "Yes,"
 ''You sabe 80 long, John?'"
 "Yes."
 ''Well, 'Chy Lee alice same!''
 understood him quite plainly. It ap- peared that "Chy Lee' was a form of goodnight, and that Wan Lee was anx- ious to go home. But an instinct of mischief which l fear possessed i'll com mon with him, impelled me to act as if oblivious of the hint. | muttered some thing about not understanding him, and again bent over my work. in few min 1 utes heard his wooden shoes pattering pathetically over the floor. I looked mp. He was standing near the door.
 "You no sabe, 'Chy Lee? "
 "No," I said sternly.
 "You sabe muchee big foolee!--allee same!"
 And with this audacity upon his lips, he fled. The next morning, however, he was as meek and patient as before, and I did not rcall his otfense. As @ probable peace offering, he blacked all my boOts,- duty never required of him,-including Q pair of horsemen's jack-boots, on which he indulged his remorse for two hours.
 I have spoken of his honesty as being quality of his intellect rather than his principle, but l rcall about this time two exceptions to the rule. l was anxious to get some fresh eggs, as Q change to the heavy diet of mining town, and knowing | that Wan Lees cOuntrymen were great poultry raisers, applied to him. He furnished me with them regularly every morning, but refused to take any pay, saying that the man did not sell them-a remarkable instance of self-abnegatiOn, as eggs were then worth half dollar apiece. One morning, my neighbor, Forster, drop ped in upon me at breakfast, and took oc- casion to bewail his own i'll fortune, as his hens had lately stopped laying, or wand cred off in the bush. Wan Lee, who was present during our colloquy, preserved his characteristic taciturnity. When my neighbor had gone, he turned to mo with a slight chuckle: "Flostels hens--Wan Lees hens-allee same!" His other of fense was more serious and ambitious. It was a season of great irregularities ill the mails, and Wan Lee had heard me deplore the delay in the delivery of my letters and newspapers. On arriving at my office one day was amazed to find my table cover ed with letters, evidently just from tho post-office, but unfortunately not address ed to me- [ turned to Wan Lee, who was surveying them with a calm satisfaction, and demanded an explanation. To my horror he pointed to an empty mail bagin the corner, and said: ''postman he say mo lettee, John-no lettee, John.' Postman plentee lie! Postman no good. Me catchee lettee last night-allee same!, Luckily 1t was still early; I had hurried interview with the Postmaster, and Wan Lees bold attempt at robbing the U. S Mail was finally condOned, by the pur- chase of Q new mail bag, and the whole affair thus kept secret ...'... If my liking for my little Pagan page 1 had not been sufficient, my duty to. Hop l Sing was enough to cause me to take Wan Lee with me when returned to San Fran cisco, after my two years experience with ''The Northern Star do not think he contemplated the change with pleasure. l attributed his feelings to nervous dread of crowded public streets, when he had to go across town for me on an errand, he always made long circuit of the out skirts,-to his dislike for the discipline of l k1 oI A1DH yI,i o1, I proposed to send him, to his fondnesa for the free, vagrant life of the mines, to sheer willfulness! That 1t might have been a superstitious premonition did not occur to me until long after.
 1 Nevertheless 1t really seemed as if the opportunity I had long looked for and confidently expected had come-the op- portunity of placing Wan Lee under gently restraining influences, of subject ing him to a life and experience that would draw out of hlm what good my superficial care and ill-regulated kindness could not reach. Wan Lee was placed at the school of a Chinese MissiOnary-an intelligent and kind-hearted clergyman, who had shown great interest in tho boy, and who, better than all, had wonder full faith in him. A home was found for him in the family of widow, who had a bright and interesting daughter abouttwo years younger than Wan Lee. It was this bright, cheery, innocent and artless child that touched and reached a depth in the boys nature that hitherto had been unsuspected- awakened moral sus- ceptibility which had lain for years insen- sible alike to the teachings of society or the ethics of the theologian.
 These few brief months. bright with promise that we never saw fulfilled, must have been happy ones to Wan Lee He worshiped his little friend with something of the same superstition, but without any of the caprice that he bestowed upon his porcelain pagan god. It was his delight to walk behind her to school, carrying her book-a service always frought with danger l L l. A .R