"Well, if it isn't Amelia, our little tower of strength from Tientsin." "And Dr. Hansen." "Shades of Canton and Pearl River." "Rain and refugees and shooting all the way." "My, what a country." "Hello, Mrs. Blake." "Hello, Mrs. Jackson." "Come in, Mr. Pettis." "Haven't seen you since the gunboats rescued us from General Yen." "PETTIS:" "Yeah." "By the skin of our teeth, wasn't it?" "Close one, that, close one, that." "Step into the living room." "Everybody in China is here." "Literally everybody." "And no wonder." "No missionary in China would miss Dr. Strike's wedding." "No, indeed." "Step right in." "MAN:" "Where is the bride and groom?" "MRS. JACKSON:" "They're not here yet." "What?" "Oh, she's on her way from the ship with my husband." "Oh." "And Bob?" "Oh, Dr. Strike telephoned." "He'll be busy working among the refugees until the very last moment." "He didn't even have time to meet the boat." "Imagine that." "That's Robert Strike all over." "And you say he hasn't seen her in three years?" "No." "They're supposed to be childhood sweethearts." "I can hardly wait till I see them kiss." "Amelia." "Who is the bride, Mrs. Jackson?" "Megan Davis." "Finest old Puritan family in New England, my dear." "Her father's a big publisher." "Very old family." "I hope Dr. Strike isn't making a mistake." "No." "I hear she is young, attractive, full of energy." "She'll need it." "Yes." "Dedicating her life to the service of mankind in China." "Just what I did 50 years ago with my own bride, Mary." "Yes, it's glorious." "And yet, I pity her." "Pity her?" "I've spent 50 years in China, and there are times when I think we're just a lot of persistent ants trying to move a great mountain." "Bishop, how can you say that?" "After all that you've done?" "Yes, I do pity her." "When I think of what she has to face, I..." "Only last month I learned a terrible lesson." "I was telling the story of the Crucifixion to some Mongolian tribesmen." "Finally, I..." "I thought I had touched their hearts." "They crept closer to my little platform, their eyes burning with the wonder of their attention." "Mongolian bandits, mind you, listening spellbound." "But, alas, I had misinterpreted their interest in the story." "The next caravan of merchants that crossed the Gobi Desert was captured by them and crucified." "That, my friends, is China." "MR. J ACKSON:" "Miss Davis, please." "Come on." "Miss Davis!" "You've run down my rickshaw boy." "Yes." "That Chinaman in the car doesn't seem to care much." "It was his fault." "Aren't you going to send for an ambulance?" "Is he badly hurt?" "Aren't you going to do anything for that boy?" "He may be dying." "If so, he is very fortunate." "Life, even at its best, is hardly endurable." "How can you be so unfeeling?" "What kind of a man are you anyway?" "Oh, I'm so sorry." "Do you want a handkerchief?" "Madam, it's raining, and I'm afraid you are getting wet." "Miss Davis, I've gotten another rickshaw boy." "Come on, come on!" "MR. J ACKSON:" "You shouldn't have done that, Miss Davis." "Oh, I couldn't help it." "Everybody was so callous." "I know, but human life is the cheapest thing in China." "Oh, I do hope the bishop's going to like them." "It is a wonderful event..." "Yes?" "Oh, here comes the bride." "WOMAN:" "The bride." "Play "Here Comes the Bride." Here comes the bride." "MRS. J ACKSON:" "Megan Davis!" "My land, child." "It's been 11 years since I saw you last." "Let me look at you." "Shh!" "Folks, this is Miss Megan Davis." "Take a good look at her, because in half an hour, the poor thing will be Mrs. Robert Strike." "No, no, no, no, you can't get acquainted with her now." "She's gotta get ready for the slaughter." "Come on, Megan." "But I can't understand it." "The owner of the car looked so civilised." "I wonder who he was." "Some rich merchant taking refuge in a settlement." "But don't be fooled about his looking civilised." "They're all tricky, treacherous, and immoral." "I can't tell one from the other." "They're all Chinamen to me." "Who is it?" "He's here." "Who's here?" "The groom." "Bob?" "Downstairs." "Here, wait a minute, wait a minute." "Here's your hat." "Oh, yes." "MEGAN:" "Bob." "Megan." "Let me look at you, Bob." "Will you forgive me?" "I simply couldn't meet you at the boat." "Oh, I'd forgive you anything." "Well, that's good, because..." "Listen, Megan." "What's the matter, Bob?" "Well, listen, dear." "St. Andrews Orphanage is in terrible danger." "I've got to get a safe - conduct pass to get into the war zone and bring out the children." "What?" "Is there going to be a wedding?" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Jackson." "The wedding will have to be delayed." "But don't worry..." "Is the pass from the American consulate?" "No." "None of the foreign authorities can do anything." "I've got to get a pass from a Chinese general." "MRS. J ACKSON:" "That's what we call our gangsters here:" "Generals." "Which one, Bob?" "General Yen." "ALL:" "General Yen." "You don't mean the man that expelled missionaries from his province?" "Yes." "He's in Shanghai now under an assumed name." "I think I know where to find him." "I don't see how you can possibly ask that bandit for any favours after the way he treated you." "Well, I hate to, but he's the only man who can get me through the Nationalist lands." "I've got to go now before I lose track of him." "Where's Megan?" "I'm ready, Bob." "Megan, you can't go with me." "Of course I can." "Not now." "I'm not going to allow you to risk your life..." "If there are bandit generals to be tamed or children to be rescued, I'm in on it." "Why do you think I came to China?" "I wouldn't let her go, Bob." "If you ask me, I'm proud of her." "Come on, Megan." "God willing, we'll be back in two hours." "With a carload of orphans." "BISHOP:" "Oh, it's great to be young." "Oh, dear, my wedding is all spoiled." "If it isn't the war, it's the orphans." "The food's spoiled, and the flowers will be all spoiled." "Well, it's not your wedding." "Oh, you keep still." "Did you take your magnesia?" "No." "Is this the bandit's cave?" "Yes." "Now, you sit right here in the car." "If anyone speaks to you, just glare at them." "Bring the general with you." "Maybe he'd like to go with us." "Never mind that." "With your provinces in the deal and you commanding, they'll get what they lack now." "What is it?" "Money, money, money." "Keep your shirt on." "Keep your shirt on." "He handles the army in the provinces, but when it comes to money, he listens to me." "Dr. Strike." "I wonder what that bird wants." "Whoa, wait a minute." "You better see him." "He knows you're in Shanghai and he may make it hot for you." "Stall him off." "Get rid of him." "You're right." "Hello, Dr. Strike, my old friend." "I'm sorry to intrude like this, general, but it's a matter of the utmost importance." "Naturally, everything you do is important." "I want a safe - conduct pass to Chapei." "What on earth do you want to go there for?" "That's an inferno." "That's why I must go." "Our orphanage is between the lines." "The children are in danger." "We've got..." "Oh, orphans." "What are they anyway?" "People without ancestors." "Nobody." "Please sit down, doctor." "I will get you a glass of wine." "General, you don't understand..." "Later on, we'll be entertained by some singsong girls." "Say, doctor?" "Have you never been curious about singsong girls?" "General, will you please give me that pass?" "Look here, doctor." "I'm not supposed to be in Shanghai." "If my name is seen on a pass, it will do me great harm with the foreign authorities." "If you don't give me that pass, general, I'll tell the foreign authorities you're here." "Here's to your very good health, doctor." "General, I think the boys are about ready to talk turkey on those provinces now." "Why bother me with affairs of state when I have orphans to consider?" "Oh, hello, doc." "How's the missionary racket?" "Say, I heard you were thinking of getting married tonight." "Yes." "I postponed it to come here." "What?" "You mean to say that you left the prospect of a beautiful woman's loving arms for some nameless brats?" "I certainly hope she never finds that out." "Please, please, write that pass, general." "YEN:" "Able to read Chinese yet, doctor?" "STRIKE:" "Not yet, general." "They escaped the fire anyway." "But the place looks deserted." "Maybe they've gone." "Miss Reed wouldn't go." "Soldiers." "What do they want?" "Well, they're laughing, so it must be all right." "STRIKE:" "Stand back from the door, dear." "They're liable to shoot." "Where are the children?" "In the next room." "There are only six left." "The rest were taken away by friends." "Good." "We can take them all in one trip." "All right, Dr. Strike." "Bob, I don't trust that pass." "Do you think we ought to risk taking the children out now?" "They've taken our car." "STRIKE:" "Well, never mind." "We'll have to take a chance on foot." "No, doctor." "I'm responsible for these children." "They were placed in my care." "I can't risk their lives on foot." "But the fire's only a block away." "We can get rickshaws at the North Station." "Oh, please." "We ought to do what Bob says." "STRIKE:" "Megan." "Megan." "Megan, I think you better take this pass in case we get separated." "Come on, now." "Keep close together." "Straight ahead, Megan." "Megan, get back here." "Get back here." "Come on, let's get out of here." "Come on, baby." "STRIKE:" "Go straight ahead." "STRIKE:" "Megan, there's the North Station over there." "I cannot give you help, doctor." "Bob?" "Bob!" "MAH-Ll:" "Feeling better now?" "Do you feel better?" "I believe I do." "Then drink some tea." "I don't think I can." "Please try." "You mustn't be frightened." "No one will hurt you here." "Please." "Try drink some tea." "The general thinks it will do you good." "The general?" "I'm terribly sorry for you." "But you are all right now." "I'm charging myself personally to take care of you." "Haven't I seen you someplace before?" "You were kind enough to offer me a handkerchief." "Oh, yes." "How did I get here?" "My car arrived just as you were being roughly handled by the crowd." "And you rescued me?" "If you wish to put it that way." "Are we on a train?" "My troop train." "Oh." "I believe I'm well enough to get off at the next station." "I'm sorry." "Only military trains are running." "There is a civil war, you know." "Will I be able to let my friends know I'm safe?" "Everything will be arranged." "Please try to sleep now." "I will have you called when we arrive." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Yeah, uniforms, I know." "All you guys think of is uniforms." "Hello, Jones." "Hi, Yen." "You raise that money?" "Did I raise that money?" "See, I got a whole boxcar full of it." "I had to hock half your province to get it, but I got it." "Have you heard from General Feng?" "Not yet." "He's still got another day to make up his mind." "You may have to convince him with lead instead of silver." "Oh, keep your shirt on." "I had to sell half your ammunition to get that dough." "I'll tell you when to go." "I haven't steered you wrong yet, have I?" "How long will it take me to put my boat in commission?" "Boat?" "You ain't going anywhere until you get rid of this Feng deal." "What's the matter?" "Aren't you interested in this war anymore?" "Say, where are those invoices?" "Say, snap out of it, some of you guys." "Haven't got something new on the string, have you?" "I want to send a missionary back to Shanghai." "Well, send him back in a freight car." "My propaganda budget's about exhausted." "I'm going to send this lady back in my yacht." "Aha." "I had a hunch it was a female." "Who is she?" "Bride of a lamb. "Bride of a lamb"?" "Young lady who was going to marry Dr. Strike." "I found our famous safe - conduct pass in her pocket." "Say, this isn't anything to laugh at." "We gotta get rid of her pretty quick." "We've had enough trouble with that guy Strike." "I think you have underestimated the good doctor." "He seems to have excellent taste in some things." "Yeah, never mind that." "I'm not gonna wait to put any boat in commission." "She goes back to Shanghai tonight if I have to send her back in a freight car!" "Jones, Jones, Jones." "I'm afraid gallantry is not one of your vices." "Open the door." "MEGAN:" "Open the door." "MAH-LI Good morning." "Are you better?" "MEGAN:" "Where are we?" "What is this terrible place?" "This is General Yen's summer palace." "General Yen?" "The bandit?" "Good morning." "I hope you slept well." "Oh, I'm sorry." "YEN:" "It was terribly stupid of me to disturb your morning like this." "But there is a famine in my province, and I have no rice to feed my prisoners." "I assure you it won't happen in the future." "They are taking the rest of them down the road, out of earshot." "A cigarette?" "I have both Turkish and Virginia tobacco." "I've never heard anything so cold-blooded in all my life." "But isn't it better to shoot them quickly than let them starve to death slowly?" "Don't go, please." "Please sit down and have your breakfast." "Why did you drug me on the train?" "I don't remember a thing." "You were in great pain, and sleep makes a long journey very short." "You didn't have to bring me here." "Why don't you send me back to Shanghai?" "I intend to, but it isn't safe to send you back by rail." "Please sit down." "I don't believe you." "You're lying." "I'm sorry, but you are making a mistake." "Dr. Strike told me all about you." "You yellow swine, if you think that..." "I advise you to send me back to Shanghai just as soon as you can." "You will always find me your most humble servant." "Did you see this?" "What are you laughing at?" "Ten to one she goes back to Shanghai in a freight car." "You lose." "She's not going back at all." "Are you nuts?" "Do you want that guy Strike to turn your province upside down?" "Haven't you seen the Shanghai newspapers?" "They think she's dead." "I think I'll shave." "Say, wait a minute, wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "Listen." "I've never interfered in your private affairs before." "But don't forget, this is a white woman." "That's all right." "I have no prejudice against her colour." "Well, it's no skin off my nose." "Come in." "Good evening, Miss Davis." "General Yen..." "Sends his compliments and humbly requests the honourable presence of Miss Megan Davis for dinner for the third time." "And for the third and last time, Miss Megan Davis says no." "Mah-Li." "Were you able to send that note to Dr. Strike?" "Yes." "Do you think you could send another?" "I want to make sure he gets it." "Maybe." "This is all I have left." "Can you do it with that?" "Maybe." "Here." "Mah-Li, I'll never forget this." "Speak English." "What did she say?" "She said, " No, for the third and last time."" "Well..." "I often envy the common soldier." "His wants are so few." "Even a common soldier would've knocked." "I did." "I almost broke the door down, but you didn't hear me." "You were evidently absorbed in the sublime effects of the spring moon upon my people." "What do you want?" "In my province, this is called a cherry-blossom moon." "It's a time when young and old, rich and poor, sick and sound pay their homage to the god of love." "You think you can wear me down, don't you?" "But you can't." "Do you hear me?" "You can't." "Oh, please let me go." "I can't stand this any longer." "Please send me back to my friends." "But I have told you:" "The country's in state of war." "If anything should happen to you," "I have to answer to Dr. Strike." "How long will it be?" "I don't know." "Maybe a week, maybe a month." "Maybe even longer." "But I will do everything I can to make your visit pleasant." "If you would only relax and let me improve our acquaintance." "It's pretty hard to become acquainted with a man who ruthlessly slaughters helpless prisoners in one move, and in the next shows such a tender reverence for the beauty of the moon." "You have the true missionary spirit." "Really, Miss Davis, there are times when I would like to laugh at you." "But there are also times when I find you admirable." "There are also moments when I..." "Perhaps I shouldn't speak of them." "I might astound you." "Perhaps you believe us incapable of such moments." "Yes, I'm sure you do." "Have you ever read our poetry, Miss Davis?" "Do you understand our music?" "Have you ever seen our paintings of women walking among fruit trees?" "Where the fruit trees look like women, and the women look like fruit trees." "There has never been a people more purely artist, and therefore, more purely lover, than the Chinese." "I think we ought to end this discussion." "Certainly, if you find it objectionable." "But I wish you didn't." "If you should change your mind, if you would follow our custom of accepting third invitations, we are having dinner at 8." "MEGAN:" "Yes?" "I will give you more suitable gifts later." "Why?" "That was Captain Li." "Oh, that's all right, Mah-Li." "You don't have to bribe me." "Then you won't tell the general?" "It's nothing to me." "If you want to do something for me, help me get out of here." "Escape?" "Isn't there some way you could persuade him to send me back to my friends?" "He would only think I was jealous." "But it would be easy for you to do it yourself after dinner." "Please come." "You could help me so much with Mr. Jones." "Jones?" "An American?" "Yes." "The general's financial advisor." "What kind of a man is he?" "Oh, he's very smart." "I'm afraid of him." "Could I meet him?" "Yes, if you come down to dinner." "This dress of mine looks terrible." "Oh, I can arrange that." "Do you like this one?" "I like that one." "I have noticed you were in need of powder and paint." "Yes, perhaps I am." "I will see you at dinner." "Thank you." "YEN:" "Oh, Miss Davis, I'm so glad you changed your mind." "This is Mr. Jones, my financial advisor." "Hello." "How's the missionary racket?" "And this is Captain Li, my aide." "Please." "You're a newcomer in China, I take it?" "Yes, I landed four days ago." "You're learning an awful lot about China in four days." "I certainly have." "No." "No champagne?" "That's Pol Roger, 1906." "I wonder if I could have a glass of water." "Water?" "You'll catch your death of typhoid." "Your health, Miss Davis." "And the same to you, Mrs. Yen." "Oh, that chair is for my wife... who does not exist." "As yet." "JONES:" "You see, Mah-Li isn't his wife." "She isn't even allowed to sit on the same level with us." "She may seem kind of lonely tonight, but I've seen her with plenty of company." "Excuse me." "I was greatly relieved tonight when I heard there was another American in this strange place." "Well, thank you for the compliment." "But I guess I'm what's known in the dime novels as a renegade, and a darn good one at that." "I don't think I'd be much of a relief to anybody." "What's that?" "Oh, I was just trying to find out the duties of a financial advisor." "He's the secretary of my treasury." "Yeah, I'm the big squeeze." "And if I do say it myself, I can milk more money out of this province than any man alive." "Do you advise the general on other matters too?" "Sure I do." "But he never takes it, except when it comes to money." "Then he's all ears." "Aren't you, general?" "Well, as they say in your country, "Money talks."" "JONES:" "Money talks in any country." "Wait till you hear how that boxcar full of money I've got out there is gonna talk." "Six million dollars Mex can make a lot of noise in any language." "I thought you asked me not to mention that, Jones." "We're all friends here." "Besides, Mah-Li knows anyway." "I didn't tell her." "You're not the only man around this ranch who tells her things." "JONES:" "We play dealer's choice, Miss Davis." "Stud, jackpot, spit-in-the- ocean, roodles." "Anything you like." "I'm sorry, I haven't any money." "I'll be glad to carry you." "It's only a friendly little game." "No, thanks." "I think I'll watch." "JONES:" "How about you, general?" "Pass." "Two bucks." "And $10 more." "Not me." "I thought you said you passed." "I'll raise you $10." "And $10 more." "He loves to steal a pot." "Don't pay any attention to Jones." "He has a bad liver." "Oh, don't try to kid me, general." "Don't I know you better than you do yourself?" "Him and me, thick as thieves." "Don't you tell me everything you know?" "Do I?" "And if you don't, don't I know how to find it out anyway?" "I don't know." "Do you?" "Sure I do." "All I have to do is give $50 to the general's bodyguard." "You give too much." "Sometimes I give more than that." "Yes, sir." "Five hundred dollars Mex to Captain Li and you can get the low-down on whatever happens around here." "How many cards, please?" "Two." "And how does Captain Li know?" "You better ask Captain Li about that." "How pretty." "Do you know good jade when you see it?" "Valuable as diamonds, jade like that." "You like them?" "Look at them closely." "Yes, they're lovely." "I want you to keep them." "They're yours." "They're yours." "Put them on and wear them." "Oh, I couldn't think of it, really." "I don't want them." "But you must take them." "I assure you, they are mine to give." "Please take them." "It was cruel of you both to humiliate her that way." "It was disgusting." "Nice girl, Mah-Li." "Raised in a mission school, she tells me." "She's charming, and I'm quite sure she's good." "Hah!" "That's an idea." "Now you're talking." "What about this one?" "JONES:" "Come on, gigolo." "Don't forget your rings, Miss Davis." "How could you employ a man like that?" "Jones has everything I want of the Western mind." "I don't follow you." "It's very simple." "As long as I can make my interests his interests, he is not going to betray me." "But your Dr. Strike, he is unreliable as a friend." "And also as a lover." "He will betray you every time for his god." "The subtlety of you Orientals is very much overestimated." "I can't get the connection." "East or West, men seldom deviate very far from their main passion in life." "You might as well know once and for all that Bob Strike has everything I want, or ever will want, in a man." "Put it on the table." "MAH-Ll:" "Come in." "Here are your rings, Mah-Li." "But the general gave them to you." "Well, I'm giving them back to you, general or no general." "Miss Davis?" "Will you send them to my parents when you get back to Shanghai?" "They live in Xuzhou, and they're very poor." "I will write the address." "Why don't you take them yourself?" "That's impossible." "Impossible?" "What's the general going to do with you?" "You've got a chill, Mah-Li." "You go right straight to bed." "I'll order some hot tea." "No." "Don't bother." "See?" "I have my hot-water bottle." "That'll keep me warm long enough." "They aren't going to take me far." "Goodbye, Miss Davis." "Look here, Mah-Li." "I've wanted to tell you from the first that if I could ever help you in any way, I would." "That's what I came to China for, to help people." "You are very kind, but I'm waiting for the guards to take me away." "Guards?" "What guards?" "Where are they taking you?" "Not far." "Oh, no, they won't." "You stay right here, Mah-Li." "I'll go and see the general." "What's the idea, Miss Davis?" "Isn't it long past your bedtime?" "Is that any of your business, Mr. Jones?" "Now, you don't fool me even a little bit, young lady." "Mah-Li's been spilling grief, and you're all steamed up with Christian charity." "Then it's true?" "Sure it's true, but you keep out of it." "Besides, the general's gone to bed." "If you think I'm going to let that child be..." "Now, Miss Davis, maybe you think I acted pretty rotten tonight, but I know what I'm talking about." "Mah-Li's not your kind." "She's just a conniving, little dame who deserves every bit that's coming to her." "Including murder, I suppose." "Now, you let the general be the judge of that." "He runs his own show out here, with about 50 centuries of authority back of him." "You missionaries come out here and expect to convert 500 million people overnight." "Why, changing a leopard's spots is duck soup compared to changing China." "You know, you're lucky to be alive out here yourself." "Now, you go back to your room, go to bed and behave." "Not until I've seen the general." "I'd like to see the general." "Please, Miss Davis." "Have a little common sense." "You have no right to go to his room in that getup." "Besides, I know the general is a nice fellow." "He's well-educated, has lovely manners." "But don't forget he's a Chinaman." "If you're through, Mr. Jones, I'll do as I please." "All right, young lady." "It's no skin off my nose." "Well, Miss Davis." "What have I done to deserve the honour of your visit at this hour?" "You've ordered the murder of Mah-Li." "Well, couldn't we speak of something more pleasant?" "Here I have some excellent brandy." "It's supposed to be over 1,000 years old." "Would you like to try it?" "You're murdering her just to satisfy a cruel, jealous revenge." "May I?" "Mah-Li has been betraying military secrets to my enemies." "Can't you silence her in some other way?" "Yes." "In the old days, in the days of the Manchus..." "I could have had her tongue cut out." "But now, since you missionaries have taught her to read and write, she's a constant menace as long as she's alive." "I feel sorry for you, General Yen." "A powerful man like you afraid of a poor little slave." "The only way to get loyalty is to compel it." "Take Captain Li, for example." "He's the only son of a very powerful family which claims to support my rule." "All right, I believe them." "But as evidence of their good faith," "I made them place him in my hands as a hostage." "Now, if they would betray me, the life of Captain Li enables me to save my own face." "That's the way we get loyalty in China." "That's why China is 2,000 years behind the times." "Don't you see...?" "Why are you so interested in Mah-Li?" "I'm just as much interested in you." "Oh." "I am deeply flattered." "But not deeply moved." "Can't you forgive her?" "She's only a child." "You can always do so much more with mercy than you can with murder." "Why don't you give her another chance?" "Oh, I know you feel that she has deceived you and sold information to your enemies, perhaps even been unfaithful to you." "All that's dreadful." "And if it's true, you have a certain justification in wanting to crush her." "But I want you to think of all those things and then forgive her." "I don't know how you feel about Mah-Li." "I mean, whether you love her as..." "Well, as a lover." "But that's of no importance." "I want you to see the beauty of giving love where it isn't merited." "Any man can give love where he's sure it's returned." "That isn't love at all." "But to give love with no thought of merit, no thought of return, no thought of gratitude even." "That's ordinarily the privilege of God." "And now it's your privilege." "Oh, general, with all you have within you, your superior brain, your culture, how can you be so blind to spiritual greatness?" "Do this thing I ask you." "Do it for me." "Do it even blindly if you must, and I promise you, I'm so sure of it," "I promise you that for the first time in your life you'll know what real happiness is." "You'll know that I..." "I have one of my own." "That's what you said to me that day." "You must be sincere, Miss Davis." "I don't believe a word you say." "But when you ask me like that, I forget I am General Yen." "Then you won't have her killed?" "But I ask myself, what do you get out of it?" "You've hardly known her more than a few days, and still you act as if she were of your own flesh and blood." "She is." "We're all of one flesh and blood." "Really?" "Do you mean that?" "Of course I do." "Words." "Nothing but words." "You came in here to preach." "Not my words." "The one who first spoke them gave up his life for them." "What are you willing to give up for them?" "What do you mean?" "Surely your pleasure wouldn't be complete without some sacrifice on your part." "Sacrifice?" "Yes." "You are so interested to save the life of Mah-Li." "Are you willing to be a hostage for her future loyalty?" "Like Captain Li?" "I expect nothing from you." "Nothing but words and phrases you learned in Sunday school." "You don't believe in them any more than I do." "You were wrong when you said I resent missionaries." "I despise them." "There should be another Great Wall to keep your kind out." "You've already got a Great Wall around you." "And it isn't built of mud and stones." "It's made of ridiculous pride and inhuman cruelty." "You won't allow one single human feeling to reach you." "You want me to be hostage for Mah-Li?" "All right." "I'm not afraid of you." "I'll answer for her loyalty." "JONES:" "Say, what the sam hill is going on here?" "Come here, Mah-Li." "I'm going to spare your life." "Are you off your nut?" "Get up." "Thank her." "I'm going to place you in her hands." "She agrees to answer for your future loyalty." "But you know and I know, the moment my back is turned, you're going to throw a knife into it." "Miss Davis, I swear I'll never betray your trust." "I swear by my father's head and by the bones of my ancestors." "And by the holy book in the mission school." "I believe you, Mah-Li." "What are you up to now?" "I am going to convert a missionary." "Here's your slipper, Mah-Li." "You're so kind." "Now, I want you to promise not to see Captain Li again as long as we remain here." "Anything you say, Miss Davis." "Will you take me to the temple today?" "What, again?" "I want to have prayer of forgiveness read." "See?" "I've written it while waiting for you." "I'm so proud of you, Mah-Li." "I knew you were a good girl." "Certainly I'll take you to the temple." "Come on." "Here." "I couldn't sleep." "I had to get up." "We gotta get this money train out of here." "I got a hunch, and I always follow my hunches." "Between war and women, the general's got me about nuts." "Come on, open up there." "Hello, Mr. Jones." "I want you to take train away from here." "Bayside Station." "Money no safe here." "Money no safe here, now." "Yes, sir." "Hide train, other place." "Chop-chop." "Tonight?" "What's that?" "No train due here now." "I say, ever since this American girl came here, you've been off your nut." "You wouldn't get rid of Mah-Li when I told you to." "Well, now try and find her." "Here, take a look at this if you want to see something." "There it is, the whole works." "Position of the money car, right down to what you had for breakfast." "Where did you get this?" "Where do I get everything else around this dump?" "I paid a lot of money for it." "You wanted to see me, general?" "Yes." "Come in, please." "Must've been important to have me dragged down like this." "I'll say it's important." "Where's Mah-Li?" "Isn't she in her room?" "No, she isn't in her room and she isn't anywhere else." "What?" "You'll never see her again around this ranch." "Thanks to you, she skipped out." "I don't believe it." "JONES:" "You'll believe it when we all pay for it with our necks." "Did you ever see this before, Miss Davis?" "Why, yes." "That looks like the prayer Mah-Li had read at the temple." "Prayer?" "Prayer, my eye." "That thing read in the temple?" "Why, there's enough dynamite in that to blow Yen's province into the Yellow Sea." "There you are." "Tie that." "I told you, you were crazy to listen to these screwy missionaries." "That will be enough." "Everything is going to be all right." "All right?" "Do you realise that your money's all gone?" "Money that I ground out of this province by the sweat of my brow?" "Now, the general and I and Captain Li were the only ones with that information." "Now, how did Mah-Li get it?" "I'm to blame, general." "That paper must've been in the shoe that I carried from Captain Li to Mah-Li." "Oh, perfect." "There you are." "How long do you suppose your troops will remain loyal now?" "With all that dough, Feng will buy them out right under your very nose." "You can say goodbye to this little empire of yours in about two days' time." "That will be all, Miss Davis." "You will remain in your room until you hear from me." "That's a pretty fancy price to pay for what you're counting on." "Oh, calm yourself." "Conquest of a province or the conquest of a woman." "What's the difference?" "Oh, yeah?" "There's one thing we should be grateful for." "What's that?" "We finally got some skin off your nose." "Oh..." "Come in." "Well, Miss Davis." "You certainly gummed up the prettiest setup I ever saw." "I had visions of making General Yen the biggest thing in China." "But you sure queered that beautifully." "I hate your insides, Miss Davis." "But you're an American." "We got to stick together now." "Where's the general?" "The general's all washed up." "His army's deserting him as if he had the leprosy." "Darned if I'm not even out of cigars too." "Yes, sir." "He could've been the biggest thing in China." "One thing you've got to say for him." "He sure can take it on the chin." "Darned if I don't believe he isn't glad this thing happened to him." "Oh, come on, now." "Don't you get to worrying." "I'll get you out of this somehow." "I've been in tougher spots than this before now." "You go on, get your things together." "Wait here till I come back for you." "Here, here, what's this?" "You tell the general she's busy now and can't see him." "JONES:" "Here, wait a minute." "You don't have to see him." "Here, wait a minute." "Now, I'm warning you." "Your sportsmanship is magnificent." "Won't you sit down." "Please." "You're just in time to help me select my portrait." "Did you ever see a book like this?" "It's a painter's catalogue." "The idea is to select the features that most resembles one." "For example, ear number three... and nose number six... and the chin number 27 equal General Yen." "How do you like this nose?" "Do you think it resembles mine?" "Perhaps you wonder why I don't sit for the picture myself." "You see, a Chinese is never painted... until he has joined his ancestors." "May I offer you some champagne?" "May I?" "In the days of our greatest civilisation, we drank to excess." "In fact, one of my ancestors, a very famous poet, was drowned in an attempt to catch the moon in the Yellow River." "Oh." "This portrait is of his wife, who was made very unhappy by his death." "She left a very famous collection of swords." "I have them in my bedroom." "May I show them to you?" "Oh, please." "Why do you torture me?" "I am afraid you misunderstood my purpose in sending for you." "I'm not altogether a fool." "You didn't think I meant the conventional thing, did you?" "Didn't you?" "Do you think General Yen could accept anything that the heart did not freely give?" "Oh, no." "That opportunity has been open to me ever since you came here." "It was your life you put up as a forfeit for Mah-Li's loyalty." "My life?" "Yes." "What else did you think it meant?" "Oh, I see." "You are afraid of death as you are afraid of life." "You want me to send you back to your Dr. Strike?" "He speaks the same meaningless words as you do." "He has everything you want." "You would like to be able to boast to him that the great General Yen, whom everybody feared, was destroyed because he was fool enough to hope." "Well, why don't you go?" "Go on to him." "You've taught me a terrible lesson." "Yes." "But to be able to do good works, one has to have wisdom." "You depended too much on your beauty." "And also on the fact that you are so young." "Young and pale as a lotus blossom which blooms at night." "Oh, torture." "Real torture is to be despised by someone you love." "Bargain or no bargain." "Province or no province." "Do you know what I expected to do tonight?" "I was coming to your room to kill you." "And then follow you to some celestial garden, where there is no General Yen or no Megan Davis, just you and I." "I..." "I had to come back." "I couldn't leave." "I'll never leave you." "Silk." "China gave the world silk." "We ought to be in Shanghai in an hour." "I'll bet your week in China seemed like a lifetime." "Maybe it is, at that." "You know, Yen once told me..." "Yen's dead, ain't he?" "Great guy." "I don't think you'll marry Strike." "I got a hunch you're going back to America." "Yen once told me you could crowd a lifetime into an hour." "Yeah, into a drink." "Great guy." "Great gambler." "Told me he couldn't lose." "The joke was certainly on him." "He lost his province, his army, his life." "Maybe not." "Maybe the joke's on us." "Maybe you will marry Strike, at that." "Yen was crazy." "He said we never really die." "We only change." "He was nuts about cherry trees." "Well, maybe he's a cherry tree now." "Maybe he's the wind that's pushing that sail." "Maybe he's the wind that's playing around in your hair." "It's all a lot of hooey." "I'm drunk." "Just the same, I hope when I cool off, the guy that changes me sends me where Yen is." "And I'll bet I'll find you there too."