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<h2> Chapter 7—A Trip to China </h2>
<p>“Come, little girl, I've got another dose for you. I fancy you won't take
it as well as you did the last, but you will like it better after a
while,” said Dr. Alec, about a week after the grand surprise.</p>
<p>Rose was sitting in her pretty room, where she would gladly have spent all
her time if it had been allowed; but she looked up with a smile, for she
had ceased to fear her uncle's remedies, and was always ready to try a new
one. The last had been a set of light gardening tools, with which she had
helped him put the flower-beds in order, learning all sorts of new and
pleasant things about the plants as she worked, for, though she had
studied botany at school, it seemed very dry stuff compared with Uncle
Alec's lively lesson.</p>
<p>“What is it now?” she asked, shutting her work-box without a murmur.</p>
<p>“Salt-water.”</p>
<p>“How must I take it?”</p>
<p>“Put on the new suit Miss Hemming sent home yesterday, and come down to
the beach; then I'll show you.”</p>
<p>“Yes, sir,” answered Rose obediently, adding to herself, with a shiver, as
he went off: “It is too early for bathing, so I know it is something to do
with a dreadful boat.”</p>
<p>Putting on the new suit of blue flannel, prettily trimmed with white, and
the little sailor-hat with long streamers, diverted her mind from the
approaching trial, till a shrill whistle reminded her that her uncle was
waiting. Away she ran through the garden, down the sandy path, out upon
the strip of beach that belonged to the house, and here she found Dr. Alec
busy with a slender red and white boat that lay rocking on the rising
tide.</p>
<p>“That is a dear little boat; and 'Bonnie Belle' is a pretty name,” she
said, trying not to show how nervous she felt.</p>
<p>“It is for you; so sit in the stern and learn to steer, till you are ready
to learn to row.”</p>
<p>“Do all boats wiggle about in that way?” she asked, lingering as if to tie
her hat more firmly.</p>
<p>“Oh, yes, pitch about like nutshells when the sea is a bit rough,”
answered her sailor uncle, never guessing her secret woe.</p>
<p>“Is it rough to-day?”</p>
<p>“Not very; it looks a trifle squally to the eastward, but we are all right
till the wind changes. Come.”</p>
<p>“Can you swim, uncle?” asked Rose, clutching at his arm as he took her
hand.</p>
<p>“Like a fish. Now then.”</p>
<p>“Oh, please hold me very tight till I get there! Why do you have the stern
so far away?” and, stifling several squeaks of alarm in her passage, Rose
crept to the distant seat, and sat there holding on with both hands and
looking as if she expected every wave to bring a sudden shipwreck.</p>
<p>Uncle Alec took no notice of her fear, but patiently instructed her in the
art of steering, till she was so absorbed in remembering which was
starboard and which larboard, that she forgot to say “OW!” every time a
big wave slapped against the boat.</p>
<p>“Now where shall we go?” she asked, as the wind blew freshly in her face,
and a few, long swift strokes sent them half across the little bay.</p>
<p>“Suppose we go to China?”</p>
<p>“Isn't that rather a long voyage?”</p>
<p>“Not as I go. Steer round the Point into the harbour, and I'll give you a
glimpse of China in twenty minutes or so.”</p>
<p>“I should like that!” and Rose sat wondering what he meant, while she
enjoyed the new sights all about her.</p>
<p>Behind them the green Aunt-hill sloped gently upward to the grove at the
top, and all along the seaward side stood familiar houses, stately, cosy,
or picturesque. As they rounded the Point, the great bay opened before
them full of shipping, and the city lay beyond, its spires rising above
the tall masts with their gay streamers.</p>
<p>“Are we going there?” she asked, for she had never seen this aspect of the
rich and busy old city before.</p>
<p>“Yes. Uncle Mac has a ship just in from Hong Kong, and I thought you would
like to go and see it.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I should. I love dearly to go poking about in the warehouses with
Uncle Mac; everything is so curious and new to me; and I'm specially
interested in China because you have been there.”</p>
<p>“I'll show you two genuine Chinamen who have just arrived. You will like
to welcome Whang Lo and Fun See, I'm sure.”</p>
<p>“Don't ask me to speak to them, uncle; I shall be sure to laugh at the odd
names and the pig-tails and the slanting eyes. Please let me just trot
round after you; I like that best.”</p>
<p>“Very well; now steer toward the wharf where the big ship with the queer
flag is. That's the 'Rajah,' and we will go aboard if we can.”</p>
<p>In among the ships they went, by the wharves where the water was green and
still, and queer barnacles grew on the slippery piles. Odd smells saluted
her nose, and odd sights met her eyes, but Rose liked it all, and played
she was really landing in Hong Kong when they glided up to the steps in
the shadow of the tall “Rajah.” Boxes and bales were rising out of the
hold and being carried into the warehouse by stout porters, who tugged and
bawled and clattered about with small trucks, or worked cranes with iron
claws that came down and clutched heavy weights, whisking them aloft to
where wide doors like mouths swallowed them up.</p>
<p>Dr. Alec took her aboard the ship, and she had the satisfaction of poking
her inquisitive little nose into every available corner, at the risk of
being crushed, lost, or drowned.</p>
<p>“Well, child, how would you like to take a voyage round the world with me
in a jolly old craft like this?” asked her uncle, as they rested a minute
in the captain's cabin.</p>
<p>“I should like to see the world, but not in such a small, untidy, smelly
place as this. We would go in a yacht all clean and comfortable; Charlie
says that is the proper way,” answered Rose, surveying the close quarters
with little favour.</p>
<p>“You are not a true Campbell if you don't like the smell of tar and
salt-water, nor Charlie either, with his luxurious yacht. Now come ashore
and chin-chin with the Celestials.”</p>
<p>After a delightful progress through the great warehouse, peeping and
picking as they went, they found Uncle Mac and the yellow gentlemen in his
private room, where samples, gifts, curiosities, and newly arrived
treasures of all sorts were piled up in pleasing pro-fusion and
con-fusion.</p>
<p>As soon as possible Rose retired to a corner, with a porcelain god on one
side, a green dragon on the other, and, what was still more embarrassing,
Fun See sat on a tea-chest in front, and stared at her with his beady
black eyes till she did not know where to look.</p>
<p>Mr. Whang Lo was an elderly gentleman in American costume, with his
pig-tail neatly wound round his head. He spoke English, and was talking
busily with Uncle Mac in the most commonplace way so Rose considered him a
failure. But Fun See was delightfully Chinese from his junk-like shoes to
the button on his pagoda hat; for he had got himself up in style, and was
a mass of silk jackets and slouchy trousers. He was short and fat, and
waddled comically; his eyes were very “slanting,” as Rose said; his queue
was long, so were his nails; his yellow face was plump and shiny, and he
was altogether a highly satisfactory Chinaman.</p>
<p>Uncle Alec told her that Fun See had come out to be educated and could
only speak a little pigeon English; so she must be kind to the poor
fellow, for he was only a lad, though he looked nearly as old as Mr. Whang
Lo. Rose said she would be kind; but had not the least idea how to
entertain the queer guest, who looked as if he had walked out of one of
the rice-paper landscapes on the wall, and sat nodding at her so like a
toy Mandarin that she could hardly keep sober.</p>
<p>In the midst of her polite perplexity, Uncle Mac saw the two young people
gazing wistfully at one another, and seemed to enjoy the joke of this
making acquaintance under difficulties. Taking a box from his table, he
gave it to Fun See, with an order that seemed to please him very much.</p>
<p>Descending from his perch, he fell to unpacking it with great neatness and
despatch, while Rose watched him, wondering what was going to happen.
Presently, out from the wrappings came a teapot, which caused her to clasp
her hands with delight, for it was made in the likeness of a plump little
Chinaman. His hat was the cover, his queue the handle, and his pipe the
nose. It stood upon feet in shoes turned up at the toes, and the smile on
the fat, sleepy face was so like that on Fun's when he displayed the
teapot, that Rose couldn't help laughing, which pleased him much.</p>
<p>Two pretty cups with covers, and a fine scarlet tray completed the set,
and made one long to have a “dish of tea,” even in Chinese style, without
cream or sugar.</p>
<p>When he had arranged them on a little table before her, Fun signified in
pantomime that they were hers, from her uncle. She returned her thanks in
the same way, whereupon he returned to his tea-chest, and, having no other
means of communication, they sat smiling and nodding at one another in an
absurd sort of way till a new idea seemed to strike Fun. Tumbling off his
seat, he waddled away as fast as his petticoats permitted, leaving Rose
hoping that he had not gone to get a roasted rat, a stewed puppy, or any
other foreign mess which civility would oblige her to eat.</p>
<p>While she waited for her funny new friend, she improved her mind in a way
that would have charmed Aunt Jane. The gentlemen were talking over all
sorts of things, and she listened attentively, storing up much of what she
heard, for she had an excellent memory, and longed to distinguish herself
by being able to produce some useful information when reproached with her
ignorance.</p>
<p>She was just trying to impress upon her mind that Amoy was two hundred and
eighty miles from Hong Kong, when Fun came scuffling back, bearing what
she thought was a small sword, till he unfurled an immense fan, and
presented it with a string of Chinese compliments, the meaning of which
would have amused her even more than the sound, if she could have
understood it.</p>
<p>She had never seen such an astonishing fan, and at once became absorbed in
examining it. Of course, there was no perspective whatever, which only
gave it a peculiar charm to Rose, for in one place a lovely lady, with
blue knitting-needles in her hair, sat directly upon the spire of a
stately pagoda. In another charming view a brook appeared to flow in at
the front door of a stout gentleman's house, and out at his chimney. In a
third a zig-zag wall went up into the sky like a flash of lightning, and a
bird with two tails was apparently brooding over a fisherman whose boat
was just going aground upon the moon.</p>
<p>It was altogether a fascinating thing, and she would have sat wafting it
to and fro all the afternoon, to Fun's great satisfaction, if Dr. Alec's
attention had not suddenly been called to her by a breeze from the big fan
that blew his hair into his eyes, and reminded him that they must go. So
the pretty china was repacked, Rose furled her fan, and with several
parcels of choice teas for the old ladies stowed away in Dr. Alec's
pockets, they took their leave, after Fun had saluted them with “the three
bendings and the nine knockings,” as they salute the Emperor, or “Son of
Heaven,” at home.</p>
<p>“I feel as if I had really been to China, and I'm sure I look so,” said
Rose, as they glided out of the shadow of the “Rajah.”</p>
<p>She certainly did, for Mr. Whang Lo had given her a Chinese umbrella;
Uncle Alec had got some lanterns to light up her balcony; the great fan
lay in her lap, and the tea-set reposed at her feet.</p>
<p>“This is not a bad way to study geography, is it?” asked her uncle, who
had observed her attention to the talk.</p>
<p>“It is a very pleasant way, and I really think I have learned more about
China to-day than in all the lessons I had at school, though I used to
rattle off the answers as fast as I could go. No one explained anything to
us, so all I remember is that tea and silk come from there, and the women
have little bits of feet. I saw Fun looking at mine, and he must have
thought them perfectly immense,” answered Rose, surveying her stout boots
with sudden contempt.</p>
<p>“We will have out the maps and the globe, and I'll show you some of my
journeys, telling stories as we go. That will be next best to doing it
actually.”</p>
<p>“You are so fond of travelling, I should think it would be very dull for
you here, uncle. Do you know, Aunt Plenty says she is sure you will be off
in a year or two.”</p>
<p>“Very likely.”</p>
<p>“Oh, me! what shall I do then?” sighed Rose, in a tone of despair that
made Uncle Alec's face brighten with a look of genuine pleasure as he said
significantly,</p>
<p>“Next time I go I shall take my little anchor with me. How will that
suit?”</p>
<p>“Really, uncle?”</p>
<p>“Really, niece.”</p>
<p>Rose gave a little bounce of rapture which caused the boat to “wiggle” in
a way that speedily quieted her down. But she sat beaming joyfully and
trying to think which of some hundred questions she would ask first, when
Dr. Alec said, pointing to a boat that was coming up behind them in great
style,</p>
<p>“How well those fellows row! Look at them, and take notes for your own use
by and by.”</p>
<p>The “Stormy Petrel” was manned by half a dozen jaunty looking sailors, who
made a fine display of blue shirts and shiny hats, with stars and anchors
in every direction.</p>
<p>“How beautifully they go, and they are only boys. Why, I do believe they
are our boys! Yes, I see Charlie laughing over his shoulder. Row, uncle,
row! Oh, please do, and not let them catch up with us!” cried Rose, in
such a state of excitement that the new umbrella nearly went overboard.</p>
<p>“All right, here we go!” and away they did go with a long steady sweep of
the oars that carried the “Bonnie Belle” through the water with a rush.</p>
<p>The lads pulled their prettiest, but Dr. Alec would have reached the Point
first, if Rose, in her flurry, had not retarded him by jerking the rudder
ropes in a most unseamanlike way, and just as she got right again her hat
blew off. That put an end to the race, and while they were still fishing
for the hat the other boat came alongside, with all the oars in the air,
and the jolly young tars ready for a frolic.</p>
<p>“Did you catch a crab, uncle?”</p>
<p>“No, a blue-fish,” he answered, as the dripping hat was landed on a seat
to dry.</p>
<p>“What have you been doing?”</p>
<p>“Seeing Fun.”</p>
<p>“Good for you, Rose! I know what you mean. We are going to have him up to
show us how to fly the big kite, for we can't get the hang of it. Isn't he
great fun, though?”</p>
<p>“No, little Fun.”</p>
<p>“Come, stop joking, and show us what you've got.”</p>
<p>“You'd better hoist that fan for a sail.”</p>
<p>“Lend Dandy your umbrella; he hates to burn his pretty nose.”</p>
<p>“I say, uncle, are you going to have a Feast of Lanterns?”</p>
<p>“No, I'm going to have a feast of bread and butter, for it's tea-time. If
that black cloud doesn't lie, we shall have a gust before long, so you had
better get home as soon as you can, or your mother will be anxious,
Archie.”</p>
<p>“Ay, ay, skipper. Good-night, Rose; come out often, and we'll teach you
all there is to know about rowing,” was Charlie's modest invitation.</p>
<p>Then the boats parted company, and across the water from the “Petrel's”
crew came a verse from one of the Nonsense songs in which the boys
delighted.</p>
<p>“Oh, Timballoo! how happy we are,<br/>
We live in a sieve and a crockery jar!<br/>
And all night long, in the starlight pale,<br/>
We sail away, with a pea-green sail,<br/>
And whistle and warble a moony song<br/>
To the echoing sound of a coppery gong.<br/>
Far and few, far and few<br/>
Are the lands where the Jumblies live;<br/>
Their heads are green, and their hands are blue,<br/>
And they went to sea in a sieve.”<br/></p>
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