9
She, seeing Him who was invisible, was not doing it for them, but for her Master, Christ. Mrs. Clift gave us the largest room in her apartment. It was the room where services had been held. Su Mei, the cook boy's wife, with her three little ones took one end of the room for her home. Our three children and myself had the other end. Ah Ng, the wash amah, slept with Mrs. Clift's amah. Ma Lien Ching, the cook, was still on warden duty and came back only when he went off duty. It was then that he would shoulder a kit bag full of provisions and necessities from our home and walk two-and a-half miles with it on his shoulder. This was sometimes after an all night duty. When he arrived exhausted and rolled the bag from his shoulders, we would say 'Here is Father Christmas' and he would smile as we unloaded the bag. Every time he left us I would tell him not to trouble about things. His life was worth more and each trip was a risk, but he became hardened to the noise and danger and came out and in and through the shelling and bombing unscathed. What a shout went up one day when he took the baby's chamber pot from the bag, and later what would we have done without it for it served for wash basin, bath and laundry tub for months to come. Ah Ng, the amah, took on the duties of cook. We all ate together around a central pot of rice. We were still able to buy salt fish and greens. Ma Lien Ching killed off our dozen hens and put them in our refrigerator and brought them to us one at a time. There was supposed to be some system of rationing, but it turned out to be that bread, and only one loaf of it at a time, could be given only to a European. The Chinese had rice. If I went to town for bread, it meant carrying the baby on my back for about 5 miles-or else leaving him behind to cry the house down if I didn't get back by feeding time. With congested stores and continuous bombing, I couldn't leave him behind because a trip to town might mean the entire day. There was nothing for it but to send Clyde. He went with Mrs. Clift and
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