Missee Lee by Ransome Arthur

Author:Ransome, Arthur [Ransome, Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781446478912
Publisher: Random House UK
Published: 2011-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

‘He who takes what isn’t his’n

When he’s caught shall go to prison.’”

“His’n,” said Miss Lee. “Possessive emphatic. … His own. … I see.”

“We don’t bother about Latin,” said Nancy. “But we’ve got a rhyme like that to put in the beginning of books. We write:

‘If this book should chance to roam

Box its ears and send it home.’”

“Why punish the book and not the thief?” said Miss Lee. “The one in the dictionary is better and Loger’s last line and the picture make it a warning even for uncultured persons.”

She thought for a moment, and went on. “Velly lucky you went to my father’s glave. Velly luck Loger lote in my book. I will tell you. I sent my amah to fetch my books. She told me people had been at my father’s glave. I sent men to kill. A fisherman saw you and he told Turtle Island men. They too were on their way to kill when I sat down to do some tlanslation and saw what Loger had litten in my dictionary. It was like a message flom my father’s glave to say ‘These persons are not thieves but students’. Quick, quick, I sent a message not to kill. Wu’s men from Turtle Island saw you go across to Tiger. So I sent orders to Chang to bling all plisoners to my yamen today. Chang thought I knew evellything. So he blought all, even his Lord Mayor … whom I knew nothing about. Chang meant to keep him and say nothing because of my father’s law.”

“Gosh,” said Roger. “Was that why he looked so mad when that message came? That whistling was signalling, wasn’t it?”

Miss Lee smiled proudly. “When I was in England I was a Girl Guide,” she said. She tapped with her fingers on the table, giving the call up sign in Morse. “No teleglaph in Chinese. So I made a signal code for Thlee Islands men. My father was velly pleased. We can talk from Dlagon Island to Tiger or Turtle and no one knows what is said, only the whistlers. Velly difficult because of Chinese language. I taught twelve men English letters so that they could whistle messages. …”

“How did you teach them?” asked Roger.

“Bamboo,” said Miss Lee. “Velly uncultured men.”

“Can we send a message somewhere to say we are all right?” asked Susan.

“No.” Miss Lee frowned. “Bling gunboats,” she said and shook her head. “You are English,” she said. “All English … except your Captain James Flint, Lord Mayor of San Flancisco. …” She looked hard at Nancy.

“But we were picked up at sea,” said Nancy. “We ought not to be prisoners at all.”

“That captain who picked you up was one of Chang’s men, a Tiger Island man. He knew my father’s law. He knew velly well he ought to leave you alone.”

“But what could he do?” said Nancy.

“Leave you dlown,” said Miss Lee. “But Chang is a velly gleedy man. Chang wants to get lich quick. And when your Captain Flint told him he was Amelican and Lord Mayor of San Flancisco Chang said to himself ‘Amelican is not English’.

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