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Contents (93)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. MRS. SPRING FRAGRANCE
  3. I
  4. II
  5. III
  6. IV
  7. THE INFERIOR WOMAN
  8. I
  9. II
  10. III
  11. IV
  12. V
  13. VI
  14. THE WISDOM OF THE NEW
  15. I
  16. II
  17. III
  18. IV
  19. V
  20. VI
  21. VII
  22. “ITS WAVERING IMAGE”
  23. I
  24. II
  25. IT WAS A COOL, QUIET evening, after a hot day. A new moon was in the sky.
  26. III
  27. “CURSED BE HIS ANCESTORS,” BAYED Man You.
  28. IV
  29. THE GIFT OF LITTLE ME
  30. THE STORY OF ONE WHITE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A CHINESE
  31. I
  32. II
  33. HER CHINESE HUSBAND
  34. THE AMERICANIZING OF PAU TSU
  35. I
  36. II
  37. III
  38. IV
  39. IN THE LAND OF THE FREE
  40. I
  41. II
  42. III
  43. IV
  44. THE CHINESE LILY
  45. THE SMUGGLING OF TIE CO
  46. THE GOD OF RESTORATION
  47. THE THREE SOULS OF AH SO NAN
  48. I
  49. II
  50. III
  51. IV
  52. THE PRIZE CHINA BABY
  53. LIN JOHN
  54. TIAN SHAN’S KINDRED SPIRIT
  55. THE SING SONG WOMAN
  56. I
  57. II
  58. TALES OF CHINESE CHILDREN
  59. THE SILVER LEAVES
  60. THE PEACOCK LANTERN
  61. CHILDREN OF PEACE
  62. I
  63. II
  64. III
  65. IV
  66. V
  67. “HOW MANY MOONS, LIU VENTI, since our little ones went from us?” asked Pau Tsu.
  68. THE BANISHMENT OF MING AND MAI
  69. I
  70. II The Tiger’s Farewell
  71. THE STORY OF A LITTLE CHINESE SEABIRD
  72. WHAT ABOUT THE CAT?
  73. THE WILD MAN AND THE GENTLE BOY
  74. THE GARMENTS OF THE FAIRIES
  75. THE DREAMS THAT FAILED
  76. GLAD YEN
  77. THE DECEPTIVE MAT
  78. THE HEART’S DESIRE
  79. THE CANDY THAT IS NOT SWEET
  80. THE INFERIOR MAN
  81. THE MERRY BLIND-MAN
  82. MISUNDERSTOOD
  83. THE LITTLE FAT ONE
  84. A CHINESE BOY-GIRL
  85. I
  86. II
  87. PAT AND PAN
  88. I
  89. II
  90. III
  91. THE CROCODILE PAGODA
  92. A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  93. A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

Your stupid thorn,

PAU TSU

Mechanically Lin Fo folded the letter and thrust it within his breast pocket. A customer inquired of him the price of a lacquered tray. “I wish you good morning,” he replied, reaching for his hat. The customer and clerks gaped after him as he left the store.

Out in the street, as fate would have it, he met Adah Raymond. He would have turned aside had she not spoken to him.

“Whatever is the matter with you, Mr. Wan?” she inquired. “You don’t look yourself at all.”

“The density of my difficulties you cannot understand,” he replied, striding past her.

But Adah Raymond was persistent. She had worried lately over Pau Tsu.

“Something is wrong with your wife,” she declared.

Lin Fo wheeled around.

“Do you know where she is?” he asked with quick suspicion.

“Why, no!” exclaimed the girl in surprise.

“Well, she has left me.”

Adah Raymond stood incredulous for a moment, then with indignant eyes she turned upon the deserted husband.

“You deserve it!” she cried, “I have seen it for some time: your cruel, arbitrary treatment of the dearest, sweetest little soul in the world.”

“I beg your pardon, Miss Adah,” returned Lin Fo, “but I do not understand. Pau Tsu is heart of my heart. How then could I be cruel to her?”

“Oh, you stupid!” exclaimed the girl. “You’re a Chinaman, but you’re almost as stupid as an American. Your cruelty consisted in forcing Pau Tsu to be—what nature never intended her to be—an American woman; to adapt and adopt in a few months’ time all our ways and customs. I saw it long ago, but as Pau Tsu was too sweet and meek to see any faults in her man I had not the heart to open her eyes—or yours. Is it not true that she has left you for this reason?”

“Yes,” murmured Lin Fo. He was completely crushed. “And some other things.”

“What other things?”

“She—is—afraid—of—the—doctor.”

“She is!”—fiercely—“Shame upon you!”

Lin Fo began to walk on, but the girl kept by his side and continued:

“You wanted your wife to be an American woman while you remained a Chinaman. For all your clever adaptation of our American ways you are a thorough Chinaman. Do you think an American would dare treat his wife as you have treated yours?”

Wan Lin Fo made no response. He was wondering how he could ever have wished his gentle Pau Tsu to be like this angry woman. Now his Pau Tsu was gone. His anguish for the moment made him oblivious to the presence of his companion and the words she was saying. His silence softened the American girl. After all, men, even Chinamen, were nothing but big, clumsy boys, and she didn’t believe in kicking a man after he was down.

“But, cheer up, you’re sure to find her,” said she, suddenly changing her tone. “Probably her maid has friends in Chinatown who have taken them in.”

“If I find her,” said Lin Fo fervently, “I will not care if she never speaks an American word, and I will take her for a trip to China, so that our son may be born in the country that Heaven loves.”