Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1899-10-12
ALMOND BLOSSOMS
FRIENDLY JOSS
By Genie Clark
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HE world bushes pink some sea-
sons of the year, all in almond bios
SONS 1t is in February, and that in
the part of the world that Sum Sees
mother came from.
Therefore, when little Miss Sum See
was born they called her Almond Bios
som, with true Chinese symbolism.
The fact that she was born in Pell
street, New York city, was nothing
against her name. Only she never
would remind you of an almond bios
som. Rather of yellow crocus, or, say,
a black-eyed Susan.
When Sum Lee was eight years old
she lost her mother, and they took
her away where Sum Lee could not fol-
low. That was how she came to ask
Hip Sing how to reach her.
''Hush." said Hip Sing, bending over
his shoe mending, that is not for you
to ask. She has sped away to the Land
of Silver Shadows, Perpetual Sunbe&ms
and where it overfows with tea
This sounded benefcent, but was I'M
satisfactory from Typographical point
of view.
Have they taken her to the joss
house," asked Sum Lee, quietly.
We'll, not exactly" answered HIP
Sing, but there sits He who knows
Miss Sum had stayed late to talk
TO the man who soles shoes, and she
looked at him ref1ectively under her
1hreadlike brows.
'-Yes?" she said, calmly.
Sum See folded her small, tea-colored
claws and leaned against the wall of
the house. The two queues, braided
Enthusiastically with blue and white cord,
looked very funny, standing out from
her little round head in an inquiring
state of mind.
where the shadows are of pink and
the darkness is of silver has your moth
~er gone-peace to her." said Hip, dis
missing the subject.
That would be a very nice place
to 60, 1 think" urged Almond Blossom,
'deprecatingly-
Not in haste; not in haste" an
swered the aged man, with a thrust of
his awl into the leather before him.
How do they go?" asked Sum.
did you not see the red chariot and
hear the screaming of the fiutes?"
Yes, Miss Sum had seen as much,
and had seen the red and white bits
of paper showed back from their fine
hack, too. And she had ridden with
Papa Lee Lat half of the toilsome way
and then fallen asleep and known no
more.
Sum See got up quietly and ran away
when she had asked all she could about
her mother. and in the morning she
went to the joss house alone with an
offering of two very grimy little wooden
birds and dish of papier mache ducks
that See had brought her one day.
She climbed the dusty stairs labori-
ously, and the door was open into the
main room of the joss house (Which is
the Chinese temple), and she entered
undismayed to consult the man who
presides there.
She found him in, seated upon his
cross legs and smiling very kindly at
her.
How do you do?" said Sum See in
English.
The joss smiled harder than ever,
which was natural, as he was made
all of wood and painted dark brown.
The odor of slowly dying punk and
sandal wood appealed to Almond Bios
som with sense of mystical solemnity.
The brass urns, with the sandal dust,
she put her finger into, Illustrating in
the soft, filmy sweet-smelling stuff.
Her mother had come here for prayers
often; that Sum See knew, but she
had never been allowed to come along,
and now she looked about interestedly.
Above her shone the long line of glanc-
ing. spearlike emblems that the priests
carried in the dragon parade She
could handle them without protest, for
there sat the smiling parsonage with
a look of soft approval.
He said nothing, but then silence is
golden. unused Almond Blossom,
twinkling her black eyes around the
vast room and smiling back toward the
good image.
She touched the stiff vanished bro
cades, the polished pewter urns. the
red huttering papers with the gilt rib
bon flowing from their sides, fine las
hair on a white child. And then Miss
Sum sat down.
She was so interested in the prayer
over the place where they burned the
offerings that she did not notice the
4Chinaman who came in, looked around
fhe room to see if there were any at
the shrine, and who then went out
and shut the door and locked it.
II was the close of the great offering
week. and the shrineroom that Almond
blossom was in was not to be opened
for several days.
Almond Blossom had crawled into the
prayer kiln after a kitten, and she came
ont dusty and dismayed not to have
found it, for ii had scrambled out of
the smoke hole and got hastily to the
roof Ct the house in dash.