The village’s simple-minded boy, “a pure and innocent creature closer to the Lord than the saints,” is mowed down by goonlike American soldiers, one of them literally foaming at the mouth.

Some were Shaker oval boxes with lapped fingers tacked into place; some were dovetailed candle boxes; some were boxes bandsawn from solid blocks of wood; and some were jewelry boxes with egg-crated interiors.

As when two doves, or two wood-pigeons, or as when Strephon and Phyllis (for that comes nearest to the mark) are retired into some pleasant solitary grove, to enjoy the delightful conversation of Love, that bashful boy, who cannot speak in public, and is never a good companion to more than two at a time; here, while every object is serene, should hoarse thunder burst suddenly through the shattered clouds, and rumbling roll along the sky, the frightened maid starts from the mossy bank or verdant turf, the pale livery of death succeeds the red regimentals [i.e. blushes] in which Love had before drest her cheeks, fear shakes her whole frame, and her lover scarce supports her trembling tottering limbs.

THE plain of Chengtu is the only large expanse of level ground in the great province of Szechuan; it is also one of the richest, most fertile, and thickly populated areas in the whole of China.