"Propaganda? Yes, we do that too. But it is terribly hard, Miss Davis, to fix anything new in the minds of people who haven't had a new idea for five thousand years." "I suppose it is." The spring air had an enervating softness. Megan leaned her head against a side of the window and looked up at rifts of blue that opened occasionally in the misty sky. Mr. Shultz leaned against the wall looking up at Megan. "Isn't Captain Li one of the Communist party?" she asked. "We think he is. We think he has been betraying the General all along." "Then why keep him?" "Sort of hostage, I guess. His family are very powerful, they are supposed to be friends of the General, but you never can tell. And then he can't do much harm here." Megan was about to say, "And Mah-li?" but she did not. Though she found Mr. Shultz quite bearable when he was not being an obvious and direct influence on the General, she did not wish to discuss Mah-li with him. She felt bound by a mysterious loyalty to Mah-li and the General. Mr. Shultz, the General had said, was bound by reason and interest. It did not seem fitting that she should discuss either of them with him. "Well, don't worry about me," she said. "I'll take good care to keep out of harm all day!" "Right-o," said Mr. Shultz, "and don't you worry any. I've got it all fixed to get you back to Shanghai if anything happens suddenly. And if it don't, I've still got it fixed to get you back in a few days. I don't like your being here with these people. The General is a good scout, but after all, he is Chinese, and his reputation with women is none too good. As for Mah-li, she isn't the sort a lady like you should associate with." Megan laughed. "So you have ideas of decorum too!" "Sure I have," said Mr. Shultz rather indignantly. He straightened up and put on his cap. "Well, I have to hustle on now," he said, "but I'll be back by dark. So long, Miss Davis." "So long, Mr. Shultz." [Illustration: Chapter XIX headpiece] CHAPTER XIX He had scarcely gone when Megan heard a timid knock on her door. She called but as no one came in she went to open it herself. Mah-li stood outside wearing her little fur-collared coat and carrying a blue embroidered bag in her hands. She stood quite stiffly, holding her bag and looking at Megan with such a strained, empty smile of politeness that Megan put her arm comfortingly about her shoulders and drew her into the room. Mah-li shrank from her a little, and when Megan closed the door behind her and turned to her again she did not renew her gesture but invited Mah-li by a wave of the hand to sit down by the table. "I am so glad you came," she said. "I have been hoping all morning you would, but I did not know how to get any word to you." Mah-li sat on the edge of her chair and her eyes fixed themselves on a corner of the room. "Yes," she said, "I came to say good-by to you. I am leaving in a few moments."