Ch'i Hsia, should have been included in the upper class. Yet it's
because every one places such reliance on the fine reputation of their
father and mother that they exalt them. Now, do tell me, is this
sufficient to anger one or not?"

"It won't do to be angry with them!" Hsiao Hung observed. "The proverb
says: 'You may erect a shed a thousand _li_ long, but there is no
entertainment from which the guests will not disperse!' And who is it
that will tarry here for a whole lifetime? In another three years or
five years every single one of us will have gone her own way; and who
will, when that time comes, worry her mind about any one else?"

These allusions had the unexpected effect of touching Chia Hui to the
heart; and in spite of herself the very balls of her eyes got red. But
so uneasy did she feel at crying for no reason that she had to exert
herself to force a smile. "What you say is true," she ventured. "And
yet, Pao-yue even yesterday explained how the rooms should be arranged by
and bye; and how the clothes should be made, just as if he was bound to
hang on to dear life for several hundreds of years."

Hsiao Hung, at these words, gave a couple of sardonic smiles. But when
about to pass some remark, she perceived a youthful servant-girl, who
had not as yet let her hair grow, walk in, holding in her hands several
patterns and two sheets of paper. "You are asked," she said, "to trace
these two designs!"

As she spoke, she threw them at Hsiao Hung, and twisting herself round,
she immediately scampered away.

"Whose are they, after all?" Hsiao Hung inquired, addressing herself