132 STRANGE STORIES FROM
afterwards your elder brother here was bom, and in another six months the mandarin died. Your elder brother being his heir, he received this appointment, which he is now resigning. I have often thought of my native place, and have not un frequently sent people to inquire about my husband, giving them the full particulars as to name and clan ; but I could never hear anj^hing of him. How should I know that he had gone to Honan ? " Then, addressing Mr. Chang, she continued, " That was rather a mistake of yours, adopting your own brother." " He never told me anj^hing about Shantung," repHed Mr. Chang ; "I suppose he was too young to remember the story." For, in point of age, the elder of the brothers was forty-one ; Ch'eng, the younger, being only sixteen ; and Na, twenty years of age. Mr. Chang was very glad to get two young brothers ; and when he heard the tale of their separation, proposed that they should all go back to their father. Mrs. Chang was afraid her husband would not care to receive her back again ; but her eldest son said, " We will cast our lot together ; all or none. How can there be a country where fathers are not valued ? " They then sold their house and packed up, and were soon on the way to Honan. When they arrived, Ch'eng went in first to tell his father, whose third wife had died since Na left, and who now was a desolate old widower, left alone with only his own shadow. He was overjoyed to see Ch'eng again, and, looking fondly at his son, burst into a flood of tears. Ch'eng told him his mother and brothers
means an unhappy one. Their master has nominally the power of life and death over them, but no Chinaman would ever dream of availing himself of this dangerous prerogative. They are generally well fed, and fairly well clothed, being rarely beaten, for fear they should run away, and either be lost altogether or entail much expense to secure their capture. The girls do not have their feet compressed ; hence tiiey are infinitely more useful than small-footed women ; and, on reaching a marriageable age, their masters are bound to provide them with husbands. They live on terms of easy familiarity with the whole household ; and, ignorant of the meaning and value of liberty, seem quite contented with a lot which places them beyond the reach of hunger and cold. Slaves take the surnames of their masters, and the children of slaves are likewise slaves. Manumission is not uncommon ; and Chinese history furnishes more than one example of a quondam slave attaining to the highest offices of State.
