Page:Frank Owen - The Scarlett Hill, 1941.djvu/272

RV 267 (AN LU-SHAN) He did so and it was long ere either of them was sufficiently calmed to proceed. She shuddered as she thought of what might have befallen her had it not been daylight with dozens of eunuchs near by.

"Next time," she reflected, "I will not be so impulsive." But she had no regrets.

"My father died when I was very young," An Lu-shan continued excitedly. "I can't even remember him. Soon thereafter my mother married a man named An. It was his name that I used as I grew up. My original name I have all but forgotten. My father was a petty official and we traveled much. I picked up a smattering of frontier dialects. It was well that I did, for once I was arrested and wrongly accused of stealing a sheep. Before I could be decapitated I had argued myself into freedom. Afterwards I drifted into the army. I thought if there was any killing to be done, mine would be the hand that prompted it."

"I heard a different story about your army entrance," Yang Kuei-fei told him.

"What was it?"

"That you were captured by an enemy and later sold as a slave to a Chinese officer in the Northern Garrison."

For a moment, he hesitated, then he said boldly, "Yes, that's true but I hate to admit that I was ever a slave or that I ever was defeated by an enemy."

Her eyes were large with wonder, as she said, "I'd be proud to let everyone know how high I had risen from such a humble beginning." RV 267 (267)