The New York herald., 1922-06-25
Chapter ".

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and complete discipline The
meals were served. the apartments
lept in exquisite order and the chill
trained in rinutie by an exaeting
mistress. who knew precisely what
she wanted Our days were left free
for the practice of small courtesies,
the exchange of pretty attentions
and the care of the ancestral altar.
From the ceremonies that took
-plaee before this altar at various
times my husbard kept himself. his
wife and children seduIously aloof.
1t was neither asked nor expected
that he would do otherwise. Just as
our attendance at the little mission
church was accepted without ques-
ton. At other times. however. had
ample opportunity to study the altar
and TO enjoy the beauty of it's mas
sive carvings. Its elaborate Incense
burners and candlestickS hs ex-
quisitely wrought embroideries. A
porcelain image of the Buddhistic
Goddess of Mercy in her character
of Son-Giver. set within a large
glass case. fascinated me by its re-
markable resemblance to certain
Catholic images. But the ancestral
tablets interested me more. and the
respect that l have always accorded
objects sacred to others was in this
instance mingled with profoundly
personal feelings; the interblended
characteristics of those men and
women SO many years dead and gone
lived on in the man who was my
husband: their life currents pulsed
warmly in the veins of my children:
perhaps some deep insight gained be-
yond the grave enabled them to know
how truly / acknowledged my debt
to them, how earnestly I hoped those
children might not prove unworthy
of their heritage
With the help of Chan-King's
coaching and my personal observa-
tions. / soon learned the gracious
routine of the house. AT 10 o'clock
every morning { presented myself at
the door of Madame Liang's apart
ment and sat with her for several
hours. often over tiffin. even till tea
time. if she signified a desire for my
company. IL the weather was fair.
we would walk in the garden. she
leaning lightly on my arm. her cane
tapping on the fiagstones. At times,
also. tea was served here. with the
small children joining US for hot milk
and sweet cakes
was several days in getting the
members of the household identified
in their proper relations, for there
were thirty persons gathered in that
big. low rooted. rambling compound
behind the high, enveloping wall.
They were nearly all women. and
two thirds of them were servants.
The quiet. soft hammered woman
relatives spent nearly all Of their
time in their own apartments.
Madame Iiane,ss s,ovprfuI DersOnaI-
itys silent and compelling. paled the
colors of nearly all the temperaments
around her. Her friend Madame
Chau was immensely comforting to
her. for she could not be persuaded
TO take anything very seriously.
Madame LANG laughed with her
more than with any one else. While
they busily embroidered they gos-
siped. and 1 listened to their musical
speech with its soft southern ac-
cents and Ginning. many toned ca
dences.
i used to think, as I sat in a deep
cushioned chair nursing the small
bow. that Madame LANG. IN her gor-
geous. heavily carved. black and
orange bed. inclosed on three sides
by panels of painted silk and draped
over the front with silk curtains held
back by tasseled brocaded bands. was
a link in the Chain of Everlasting
o.E.- chn hoa os.x,,e ;pt . 49,. hz,,,s.