CHAPTER XVII
MAJOR GOODRICH ASSISTS
During the week following Aunt Minerva's departure, the two girls had abusy life, taking charge of the unaccustomed tasks of housekeeping.
But with all their absorbing occupations, the three were waiting ontiptoe of expectation for a reply from Major Goodrich. And even CaptainBrett could scarcely conceal his impatience as the days went by and noanswer came.
At last one morning the mail-box contained a letter postmarked fromPennsylvania, and Marcia carried it upstairs two steps at a time.
It was from the major. He wrote:
Is there any way you can think of to furnish me with an idea of what the Chinese for that expression, "maker of melodies," _sounds_ like? The only way that occurs to me is to see whether, by any faint chance, Lee Ching could write it in that Romanized Colloquial, used by the missionaries. That might give me an idea. It's a hundred chances to one, he doesn't know it. If so, just spell it out for me yourself in English--the nearest you can get to it.
The reason I want to know it is this: there was a young fellow in Hong-Kong at the British military station, a military aide of promise, who had a magnificent singing voice. Every one went wild over him there. He was the life of the garrison and in social circles as well. Many an evening we spent listening to one of his impromptu recitals. But what makes me suspect that he may be the one we're after is that he foolishly went and married the daughter of a Chinese mandarin from one of the Hong-Kong yamens. He had been the means of rendering the father some very important service, and met the daughter quite by accident. The whole affair was a rather remarkable story, but I haven't time to detail it all to you now.
I saw the girl just once--afterward. She was a fascinating little creature, with the golden butterfly pins in her black hair, and her rich silk robe hung with jewels, and her tiny bound feet. But the young fellow's family back in England was furious about it. Eventually, he cut loose from them entirely. Then he and his wife drifted away from the Hong-Kong region up to Amoy, and finally dropped out of sight. I imagine he adopted the Chinese customs and habits and got to live at last very much like a native. I've never heard of him since, but I've a notion he could be hunted up if he's still alive. His name was Carringford--Jack Carringford, we used to call him.
The point, however, is that the Chinese called him by a name of their own, signifying "eminent singer," or something of that sort--very much the same kind of expression as that used on the bracelet. And after a while we all got to calling him by it--or some abbreviation of it--pretty regularly. I can't recall just what it was now, for I haven't thought of it in years. But I believe I'd recognize it if I saw it written out in Colloquial or any other English version! Get me that, and I'll soon put you on the right track!
Mightn't the little girl possibly be the daughter of Carringford?
"No, she _mightn't_!" interrupted Marcia, indignantly, at this point."Does Cecily Marlowe look like a Chinese mandarin's daughter'sdaughter?" And certainly, with her golden curls and big blue eyes andthe English roses in her cheeks, they had to admit that she did not!
"And besides that," added Janet, "her name isn't _Carringford_!"
"That doesn't always signify," remarked the captain. "It looks to melike a rather clear case if we find that the Chinese name agrees withthe major's recollection of it. I'd go down to the ship to-day, but LeeChing is on shore leave, and won't be back till to-morrow. I'll see himthen, and find out whether he knows anything about this RomanizedColloquial. I rather doubt it myself. It's not much used outside of themissions, I understand."
"What _is_ 'Romanized Colloquial,' anyway?" demanded Marcia. "It soundsvery mysterious!"
"No, it isn't a bit mysterious," answered Captain Brett. "In order tounderstand about it, however, you must know this fact about the Chineselanguage. The _written_ character is the same--_means_ the same--allover the kingdom. But it isn't _pronounced_ the same in any of thedifferent provinces. In fact, the spoken dialects are like entirelydifferent languages. It seems that the dialect of the Fu-kien provincehas been reduced to a written form by the missionaries and calledRomanized Colloquial. It has been in use for a good many years, but itisn't especially recognized by official or diplomatic circles. But agood many of the Chinese boys who attend the mission-schools learn itthere. It's just possible that Lee Ching may have done so, as he camefrom that region. We can only wait and see. If he doesn't know it, he_may_ be able to write out the Chinese equivalent in some form ofEnglish script."
The next day the captain went down to the _Empress of Oran_ and returnedwith a beaming face and a sheet of paper written on by Lee Ching.
"He knew it all right!" he announced. "Learned it as a boy in themission-school at _Chiang-chiu_. Here's what he wrote." And he held thesheet of paper for the girls to see. "He's put the Chinese characters atone side. They have to be read from top to bottom, you know. Next tothem is the Romanized Colloquial, and alongside of that the Englishtranslation. Quite a pretty piece of work that!"
"Gracious!" cried Marcia, frowning over the queer jargon. "I can't makea thing out of it--or at least I couldn't if he hadn't put the Englishright alongside of the others. Oh, this must be the name!--'chok-gak elang'-'maker of melodies.' Did you _ever_ hear of such heathenishsounds? Well, now we'll see what Major Goodrich has to say to that.Father, will you send it right off to him?"
"At once!" announced the captain. "I'm just about as anxious as youfolks, now, to get this mystery explained."
But the singular thing was that somehow the girls could not bringthemselves to tell Cecily much about these latest developments. Theythought it would make her feel strange and anxious to realize that therewas a possibility of her being in any way related to a Chinesemandarin's daughter.
"And besides," remarked Janet, suddenly, when they were discussing it,"that's perfectly impossible, anyway, because her mother was English,and Cecily has lived with her all these years. So this talk aboutmandarin's daughters and things is perfectly ridiculous!"
"That's so!" echoed Marcia, in relief. "I didn't think of it at first.But, anyway, let's not tell Cecily about it till we know more. I do wishAunt Minerva were here! I haven't written her about all this becausethere's so much to explain. I'd rather wait and tell her when she getsback. She said she was only going to be gone a little while, and hereit's nearly two weeks!"
In three days an answer arrived from the major, and, as luck would haveit, Cecily herself brought the letter upstairs with her as she came in.
"The postman was just going to drop it in your box," she explained, "andI asked him to let me take it to you, and save you the trouble of comingdown for it." And she held it out to the captain.
"Aha!" he cried, as he caught sight of the writing. "_Now_ we'll hearsome news! Why--what's the matter?" He had just glimpsed Marcia andJanet frantically signaling to him behind Cecily's back. "Don't youwant me to open it?"
"Oh, not now," explained Marcia, as nonchalantly as she could. "I wantCecily to come out to the kitchen and help us make some fudge. Laterwill do." And she dragged the wondering Cecily down the hall, while thecaptain stared after them muttering, "Well! of all the--"
Cecily stayed rather late that afternoon. And for the first time in alltheir acquaintance, the girls were not sorry to have her go, so wildwith anxiety were they to hear the major's letter. No sooner had thedoor closed upon her than they rushed back to the captain.
"What does he say?" they clamored.
The Girl Next Door Page 17