The car lifted them all up the hill. Dense dull shrubs bordered the steep track. The houses seemed to lean against the hill. The harbour was unrolled at the foot of the mountain. A fringe of ships, like tentacles round a jellyfish, radiated from the shore. Kowloon, backed by crumpled hills, stretched out a corresponding fringe towards Hongkong. Edward’s ears cracked and clicked, affected by the change of level. He walked on the neat paths of the Peak. The Peak seemed as hot as the seashore. “Must be nearer the sun,” thought Edward confusedly. But no, it seemed that he was above the sun; he had left the sun behind floating on a thin delicate sea. It was sinking in the sea. All the islands were blue imitative suns, sinking in the sea. The whole sky was the colour of fire. Edward could almost hear the roaring of the fire in the sky. The sea was suddenly sheathed in shadow; mists like snakes writhed between the islands. The islands were no longer sinking in the sea; they were buoyed up by encircling mists. Why was it still so hot? The sea closed and flowed over the sun. The fire in the sky burned no more. Edward thought, “She must have gone to Peking.” At once it was cooler. “I will go to Peking tomorrow.” At once he began to enjoy the thought of China. A Chinese woman with a small gaunt face in a bright blue tunic and trousers neatly pressed, her sleek black hair in a spangled net, a neat white flower in her hair, tottered by on small compressed feet. He thought “Emily would have wanted to kiss that darling woman. Perhaps she would have kissed her. No, she would have stood and looked back at her, she would have jumped a little and all her body would have been electrified with pleasure. ‘Oh, look ... oh, look ... oh, look....’ The woman would have turned and laughed in delight.” He could not believe it when next day a schoolboy English clerk behind a counter told him the price of a journey to Peking. “Say it again, please,” said Edward. The boy said it again without referring to any book. He seemed to know the dreadful words by heart, just as a torturer knows by heart the levers that will hurt most. “That’s seventy dollars more than I have,” said Edward. “Hard luck,” said the boy, looking at him curiously. It seemed odd to him to admit such a thing. “You can go by boat to Tientsin. That would save you a few dollars.” “It wouldn’t save enough dollars for me,” said Edward. He stood on the doorstep of the office. “Well, I can’t stop here all day,” he thought. Several times he told himself briskly, “Well, well, well, I can’t stop here all day....”