It was such a pleasure to have our
own turn-out, too, and to be able to see the mountains and canons as
we came along, without having our heads bruised by an old ambulance.
Faye had to wait almost twelve years for a first lieutenancy, and now,
when at last he has been promoted, it has been the cause of our
leaving dear friends and a charming garrison, and losing dear yellow
Hang, also. The poor little man wept when he said good-by to me in
Helena. We had just arrived and were still on the walk in front of the
hotel, and of course all the small boys in the street gathered around
us. I felt very much like weeping, too, and am afraid I will feel even
more so when I get in my own home. Hang is going right on to China, to
visit his mother one year, and I presume that his people will consider
him a very rich man, with the twelve hundred dollars he has saved. He
has never cut his hair, and has never worn American clothes. Even in
the winter, when it has been freezing cold, he would shuffle along on
the snow with his Chinese shoes.
I shall miss the pretty silk coats about the house, and his swift,
almost noiseless going around. That Chinamen are not more generally
employed I cannot understand, for they make such exceptional servants.
They are wonderfully economical, and can easily do the work of two
maids, and if once you win their confidence and their affection they
are your slaves.
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