was a sweltering morning in The roads and paths were deep in mud after twelve hours of rain. And as I had to walk in to town from my cottage in the country, I put on my raggedest clothes: an old vest and shorts, a somewhat battered topee and a pair of muddy boots, A dirty canvas haversack stuffed with newspapers and slung from my shoulder completed my disreputable appearance.
As I walked along I meditated the pleasures of my profession that awaited me in town: the daily round of the Legations. Press conference with a Japanese military expert, interview of some celebrity and so forth. And I was just evolving a questionnaire that was 1o floor the Impoytant Person, when, in a narrow win path among the corn, I came to face with an ancient seller fried doughnuts. He was, if possible, even more disreputable-looking than myself. Out of a grimy face there gleamed at me a single eye, while one would never have guessed that his patched and many-hued jacket had once been blue.
Despite appearances he was very amiable and stopped to greet me in a strangely neighbour ly tone, almost as if we were on visit terms. "How much money?" he cried. "What d'you mean: how much money?" said 1 stopping and staring at him. "How much money do you get a month?" said he This seemed a surprising question for a humble seller of fritters to put to a fabulously wealthy foreign devil like myself. So I merely repeated my query: "What do you mean? I don't understand." "Why," said he, with a touch of impatience at my stupidity, and pointing to my haversack "How much wages do you get a month for delivering the newspaper to those foreign houses at Paomachang?" For a moment I was taken by surprise, then recovering myself I replied "Oh, for that. Oh, a month." "Haiya." he exclaimed. enviously, "You're a lucky fellow! What good pay for such an easy job!"
We parted after a few more cour-tosies, but now as I continued on my way and thought of the day's work before me, doubts began to assail me. Perhaps the fellow was right, and I had chosen the worse profession after all Slight Misunderstanding "No," said my hostess, as she lit a cigarette, "I'm not a bit home-sick. Guess 1 shouldn't mind, if I never saw the States again. Little Old Peiping is quite good enough for me. When we first arrived here, I never expectd to have such an easy time with the house, But Joseph is a perfect marvel. Manages the whole place himself. Takes it all off my hands. And is very strict with us all He hates unpunctuality at meals, specially dinner must have it at 3 o'clock sharp every evening. Likes to have the evening to himself after 9 o'clock.
Ah" "I murmured sympathetically, "Likes to get in a little reading before turning in, eh?"
"And then," she continued, "He's so particular about the rooms. Won't let the best sitting-room be used. unless we have guests. Says it's not the correct thing. And then those dreadful household accounts. How I used to loathe them. I suppose I've too artistic a temperament. But now 1 don't have to touch them. Joseph does them all himself. Yes, he really attract the Black Kt from home fence.
(d) Keres has provided for his, with a long and deep combination. inclination "would be for B QKit, Kt x B, P x Kt Black then has compensations for his separated P's.
Quite a natural move. There is also Q—Bl, 21 B
Mr. Vaughan Roberts duly warned his opponent.
(d) Not B x RQ Ka Q—QRéch, draw. x, Kteh. 13. B with at least a (e) A bil t better, look you, would be 9 1—observer"
White plays and mates in three moves
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.