The Yellow and White Agony. 351 



to the stove pipe being full of soot, I determined to have it 

 remedied at once, and, covering up the dough, I made the boy take 

 down the stove pipe, clear out all the soot, and clean up the stove 

 again, before proceeding with the bread making. When his turn 

 came to make the bread, I went into the kitchen to watch him and 

 see that all went well ; everything was imitated exactly, when he 

 suddenly stopped kneading, and said : " Ten minutes now," and, 

 covering up the dough, disappeared to fetch bucket and broom 

 for the cleaning of the stove pipe, which, of course, did not want 

 doing again. 



One gets accustomed to the funny way in which they invariably 

 open a house door, only by an inch or two, when one calls, and 

 stick out their heads and ask who you want and who you are. If 

 they are uncertain as to whether their mistress is at home or not, 

 they as often as not shut the door in one's face, leaving one on the 

 doorstep while they go and inquire. I tried to correct this in Gee, 

 but the result was not much better, he would throw the door wide 

 open, and stand in the hall and shout for me to know if I were at 

 home, and if I would see Mrs. So-and-so. Sometimes when their 

 mistresses are out they don't think it worth while to answer the 

 door at all, in which case one shoves one's cards under the crack 

 of the door, lodges them on the handle, or puts them under the 

 doormat. On Sunday afternoon every household is emptied of its 

 Chinamen, for they all expect half a day off, and, leaving as soon as 

 the mid-day meal is cleared away, often refuse to come back and 

 get the supper, and do not appear again until Monday morning. 

 Visitors on a Sunday afternoon expect the ladies of the house to 

 prepare the afternoon tea and supper, and to answer the door. 

 As long as everyone understands this arrangement it is all right, 

 but when strangers from the East or the Old Country arrive, such 

 ways of roughing it in an otherwise civilised town, is apt to 

 astonish them. 



On one occasion, having let nurse have a holiday as well as the 

 Chinaman, I was expecting a friend who had promised to come 

 over and help me with the baby. There was a peal of the door- 



