“This is not a time for either you or me to be thinking of ourselves. You may be sure that Hui Fei will not be thinking so. And it may help you to realize that this situation is difficult for me, as it is for you. It is true that Hui Fei's only thought, now, under the stress of this sorrow, will be to submit to her father's every wish. But this stress will pass. There is only one course to take--” “But--” “Listen to me! And try to meet the thing like a man. We will wait until this sad business is over. We will at least try to give up thinking of ourselves. I will see that Hui Fei and her sister are cared for by friends.” “But all the time you'll be seeing her, and--” “I must still ask you to listen and try to think clearly. As soon as it seems wise I will lay the situation before Hui Fei. I will try to persuade her that her own life is, in the last analysis, more important than even her father's dying wish. I believe that she--would--be happier with a young man like yourself than with an--older man. It is possible that she can be led to see that her own happiness must be a factor in her choice. Have you the patience and the courage to wait for that?” He extended his hand. The boy looked at it, then up at the stern, but still kindly face; hesitated; then, with a quivering of the lip and an explosive--“Oh God!”--rushed away; walked very fast, almost ran, the length of the deck; made his way through the crowded waist and around the cook's well; and stood, his bare head thrown proudly back, in the prow, beside the quietly wondering _tai-kung_, staring toward the long curving sweep of the tree-shaded bund of Shanghai as it came gradually into view around the bend just below the city. CHAPTER XIV--THE WORLD OF FACT |THE yellow junk was now abreast the landing hulks of the great international shipping companies just below the city. Rocky left the bow and made his way to the after cabins without once lifting his somber gaze to the silent figures on the poop. Slowly--his eyes wild, his thoughts beyond control, bitterness in his heart--he moved along the dim corridor. A puff of wind found its way through an open window; a blue curtain swung out, discovering, through a doorway, Miss Carmichael, seated in a chair beneath the window. It was lighter in her cabin. She had laid aside the familiar middy blouse and skirt, and appeared to be sewing something on her petticoat. For an instant she looked up, her eyes meeting those of the pale youth who stood motionless in the corridor. The curtain swung back then; but as it swung the youth stepped through the doorway and stood within the room. “I don't know that I asked you in,” said she coolly. His eyes were intent on the amazing, glistening strings of pearls that were looped everywhere about her clothing.