Year: 1873

llVeQ Man Lee ana his wife, IN Loo,
with life and each other contented. One
fair little girl, who was christened Wee
Fung by her wealthy old sponsor, the
merchant Woo Sung, the marital bond had
cemented.


On her they bestowed all the good of
the day that books could impart or pro
fessors convey: they taught her to sing
and they taught her to play; they taught
her to dance and they taught her croquet;
to her slightest desires they could never
say nay


In short, she had everything in the way
of a liberal education. Her feet were
compressed in the smallest of shoes; her
face was "a marvel OF delicate hues her
name was a toast which no one could re-
fuse, and she became with the local muse
the regular inspiration


And thus in learning and Wit she grew,
the belle and the beauty of FOo-C Chow Foo ;
until in her thirteenth year, when papa
Man Lee thought it prudent that he
should get her husband whenever he
could see the right kind of lover appear.


OF course she had suitors both young
and old; some for herself, and,some for the
gold which they supposed she would in
herit; and some brought rich presents to
forward their suit, Of jewels and satins,
confections and fruit, and splendid con
veyances bearing their loot; while others
came modestly trudging afoOt, with moth
ing to urge but their merit.


Along with the rest of the lOve-smitten
throng, was an amorous young fellow
whose name was All POng-a poor little
tailor's apprentice. What hope he could
possibly entertain against the rich gal
lants she had in her train, would seem a
most difficult task to eXplain-unless like
some others who fall deep in love, his very
audacity tended to prove that he was quite
compOs mentis.


But love is not easily turned aside, when
the prize to be gained is an opulent bride,
with a.figure Of faultIess perfection; and,
in spite of tie barriers that well might
appall a heart that loved less or loved not
at all, he gained the young lady's affec-
ton


Of course it will readily be inferred
what a terrible scene it was'tha occurred as
soon as the girls proud parents heard that
she was in love with tailor. The mother
did weep, and the father he swore that if
ever she spoke to the wretch any more he
would have her confined to her room, and
the door consigned to the charge of a
jailor.


And poor little Fung, who could see
nothing wrong in giving her heart to
the gallant young Pong, almost made her
self sick, crying all day long and bewail-
ing her innocent passion And when the
young man would have pleaded his suit
with her pa, he received a most shocking
salute from the vigorous toe of the Man
Lee boot, in most unmanly fashion.


But in spite of most vigilant Watchful-
ness, the lovers had many stolen caress,
and this was the promise he gave to her
He would hasten away to some far-distant
land, get rich, and come back, and de
to have her.


\ thousand leagues DER the great blue
sea Pong heard of the land of the great
Van Kee-a country Of marvellous riches ;
and thither, in one of the great steamships
her form in his heart and her name on
his lips-sailed the poor despised patcher
of brecches.


In the great Yam Kee land Pong tried a
new trade, and such was his skill and the
progress he made in the new way Of life
he had chosen, he soon became head OF
the firm, Pong 4 Lings, who washed the
communitys linen and things at SO much
per piece or per dozen.


The money came into the till very slow,
as Pong & Lings company had to wash
very low on account Of the great compe-
tition; but surely, though slowly, the little
pile" grew; his hope was still strong and
his courage still true to the one great alb
sorbing ambition.


Thus acting obscureIy his own little
part, mid scorn and contumely that cut
to his heart; enduring likewise. not few
icks at the hands Of the cruel and barba-
rous hordes who inhabit the land, with no
end of hard words, for the sake of the
precious spondulicks;


And cheerfully toiling from morning
till night, he needed not time, except as in
its flight it bore him still near his desires.
At last he sold OUT of the laundry con-
cern, and made preparations once more
to return to the land of his love and his
sires


His passage secure and his plans all
complete, Pong elbOwed his way through
the crowds on the street, toward the
steamer, equipped for the ocean-when
hark. sweet face from the region above,
fell soft on his ear, like the accents of
love, and thrilled him with tender emo
ton.


One glance at the window, one bound
on the chair, and almost before the fair
Fung was aware, she was locked in the
arms of her lover What rapturous glad
ness beamed out of their eyes, as they
wept with each other in joyful surprise
their troubles all happily Overt


And sad was the tale, and the picture
she drew Of the life they had led her at
oo-ChowFoo-full of infinite peril and
danger; and how she was kidnapped and
dragged to the ship, and thrust in the
hold of the great Van Kee ship, and borne
to the land of the stranger.


But little she dreampt, as she tretted
and pined in the horrible du -geon where
she was confined, with the great billows
laundering DER her, as she thought of the
loved ones they left far behind, and the
infamous life to which she was consigned,
of the joy that was waiting. before her


In the beautiful city Of Foo-C -Chow-Foo,
where flowers perennial of every hue,
their odors eternal are blending, live the
beautiful Fung and the faithful All Pong;
and a sweet little crerub chirps all the
day long, giving proof that their love is
unending.


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