"Alas! it was Boon who deserved to live, and not I. I am not grateful for a life that is little better than a curse to me. God sees that I speak the truth. Woe still hovers over me. It is the doom of guilt committed in some former lifetime. I am an outcast here, and in this world I have no part, while every day only lengthens out my life of sorrow." Here the poor girl broke off, laid her head on the table, and wept, as I never saw a human being weep, great tears of agony and remorse. As soon as Choy left me, I hurried home and wrote down her narrative word for word, as nearly as I could; but I encountered then, as always, the almost insuperable difficulty of finding a fit clothing for the fervid Eastern imagery in our colder and more precise English. [Illustration: RUNGEAH, THE CAMBODIAN PROSELYTE.] We became better friends. I maintained a constant oversight of her, and persuaded her gradually out of her griefs. She learned in time to take pleasure in her English studies, and found comfort in the love of our Father in heaven. Without repining at her lot, hard as it was, or boasting of her knowledge, but with a loving, humble heart, she read and blessed the language that brought her nearer to a compassionate Saviour. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 9: The Sanskrit name of Ceylon.] [Footnote 10: Blessed.] [Footnote 11: Highest heaven.] [Footnote 12: A famous singer.] [Footnote 13: The goddess of motion.] [Footnote 14: December.] [Footnote 15: Flower of excellence.] [Footnote 16: Duke.] [Footnote 17: Surfeit.] [Footnote 18: Delight.] [Footnote 19: Sacred infant.] [Footnote 20: I remember.] [Footnote 21: I love much.] [Footnote 22: Pitiful Buddha.] [Footnote 23: Gate of earth.] [Footnote 24: Mother of death, or female executioner.] [Footnote 25: Dear.] [Footnote 26: Sheriffs.] [Footnote 27: The rite of burning the body after death is held in great veneration by the Buddhists, as they believe that by this process its material parts are restored to the higher elements. Whereas burial, or the abandonment of the body to dogs and vultures, inspires a peculiar horror; since, according to their belief, the body must then return to the earth and pass through countless forms of the lower orders of creation, before it can again be fitted for the occupation of a human soul.] [Footnote 28: Choy's life was spared at the intercession of Sir Robert J.H. Schombergk, her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Bangkok.] CHAPTER XVI. MAY-PEÂH, THE LAOTIAN SLAVE-GIRL. On the evening of the 10th of August, 1866, I found myself suddenly and unexpectedly, and almost without being aware of it, involved in a conflict with the king, who thenceforth regarded me with distrust and suspicion, because I declined to affix my own signature to a certain letter which he had required me to write for him.