The news ran throughout the town,
that is Hwan-lien-p'u's one little narrow street, a sad mixture of a
military trench and a West of England cobbled court. And instead of
going alone to my shady nook by that silvery stream, 1 was accompanied
by nine adult members of the unemployed band, three boys, and sundry
stark-naked urchins who seemed to be without home or habitation. One of
these specimens of fleeting friendship was one-eyed, and a diseased hip
rendered it difficult for him to keep pace with us; one was club-footed,
one hair-lipped fellow had only half a nose, and they were nearly all
goitrous. As I write now these people, curious but not uncouth, are
crouched around me on their haunches, after the fashion of the ape,
their more Darwinian-evolved companion and his shorthand notes being
admired by an open-mouthed crowd. Down below my horse is entertaining
the more hilarious of the party in his tantrums with the man who is
trying to wash him--
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote AX: The day before, whilst we were passing along the edge of a
cliff, we saw a deliberate suicide on the part of a pony. Getting away
from its companions, it first jumped against a tree, then turned its
head sharply on the side of a cliff, finally taking a leap into mid-air
over the precipice.
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