"In the house of a mandarin."

"And who was your master?"

"The mandarin, mistress."

"Do mandarins in China teach their servants to speak English?"

"Some mandarins do, your grace."

"Do not say 'your grace,' Sky-High, but simply mistress. Ladies have no
titles in America. Where is the city in which you lived?"

"In Manchuria, on the coast, on the Crystal Sea."

The kitten came running into the kitchen, and at once leaped on to the
end of Sky-High's pigtail.

The boy gave his pigtail a sudden whisk.

"Pie-cat?" asked he.

"No, no!" said Mrs. Van Buren in horror. "We have no pie-cats in this
country. Was there an English teacher in your house?"

Little Sky-High was winding his pigtail about his neck for safety. He
saw Lucy giggling, and a laugh came into his own eyes.

"_Pardonne_, mistress. We had an English trader at the hong--at the