A low murmur arose at the sight of her great beauty. Still little Slave’s eyes would not rise. It was not till all had left and she was alone with her husband that her eyes rose with one swift glance. But, alas, poor child, it was not to see the bridegroom of her dreams, but instead she saw a man old enough to be her father,—a man with the marks of a debauched and wicked life plainly written on his countenance,—a typical opium slave; in other words a man only in name, rather a brute in human form! As Slave caught sight of this man standing there, intoxicated with wine, and looking like a beast about to pounce upon its prey, the shock of disappointment was too great. Her face became deathly white, and with a piercing cry,—"My mother, oh my mother," she fell forward unconscious. We must leave our little friend to enter the darkness alone, only one of multitudes in this dark heathen land of China whose innocence and happiness are year by year sacrificed to the greed of gain and cruel marriage customs of their own land. We shall see later how the Light that can lighten the deepest darkness, came at last into little Slave’s life, giving peace and hope. *Part II. SLAVE’S FATHER.* Slave was gone! As really lost to her parents as if she were dead. When the truth concerning the man she now belonged to for life became known, her mother wept long and bitterly, but there was no redress; they had to bear as others had borne, who had been deceived by an unprincipled "go-between." Some months after Slave’s marriage, there came to fill her place two fine twin boys. Mrs. Wang’s day had dawned at last. The old grandmother could not do enough for her and the once despised and ill-treated drudge was waited on hand and foot by the other women, at the command of the old lady. For three whole years this state of things lasted, then one day the grandmother announced her intention of _making the two boys take the smallpox_. (Many of the Chinese believed that children must have the smallpox when young or they will not grow up strong). The mother’s heart sank as she thought of what the result _might_ be. She ventured to protest but was silenced by a shower of blows. The grandmother took both of the fine healthy boys to a neighbor’s house where they had smallpox, and kept them there a whole day to ensure them getting the disease. A week later both became ill. We must draw a veil over the horror of the days that followed the agony of the mother, the despair of the father, the rage of the grandmother when she saw the children would die, and the ill-concealed malice of the other women. A few days passed when a little body, wrapped in a piece of old matting, was carried by the father to the children’s pit outside the city. A little later this scene was repeated, and Mrs. Wang’s day of happiness ended.