He had run to his room
again, but could not resist keeping watch to see if Volmer was really
intending to "killee" me. He is afraid of the soldier, and
consequently hates him. Soon after he came, Volmer, who is a powerful
man, tied him down to his bed with a picket rope, and such yells of
fury and terror were never heard, and when I ran out to see what on
earth was the matter, the Chinaman's eyes were green, and he was
frothing at the mouth. For days after I was afraid that Hang would do
some mischief to the man.
It is the striker's duty always to attend to the fires throughout the
house, and this Volmer is doing very nicely. But when Faye went away
he told Hang to take good care of me--so he, also, fixes the fires,
and at the same time shows his dislike for Volmer, who will bring the
big wood in and make the fires as they should be. Just as soon as he
goes out, however, in marches Hang, with one or two small pieces of
wood on his silk sleeve, and then, with much noise, he turns the wood
in the stove upside down, and stirs things up generally, after which
he will put in the little sticks and let it all roar until I am quite
as stirred up as the fire. After he closes the dampers he will say to
me in his most amiable squeak, "Me flixee him--he vellee glood now."
This is all very nice as long as the house does not burn.
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