this seemed a more appropriate moment to discuss it than any other since I had known Lien-shu.
He looked at me with surprise and then cast his eyes down and stared at his knees. He lit a cigarette and continued to smoke, without answering my question. Dreary and cheerless as Lien-shu's circumstances were, he was not allowed to live his life in peace.
Gradually there appeared in the tabloid papers anonymous attacks upon him, and gossip about him became more frequent among the teaching fraternity. Now, the gossip was not that of curiosity and amusement, as formerly, but that of malice and was intended to do him harm. I knew the reason: it was because he had recently published some articles. I paid no attention to the attacks and gossip. The people of the city of S hated most outspoken and indiscreet utterances and never failed to punish those who were guilty of such indiscretions. It had always been so; Lien-shu himself knew this. In the spring I heard that he had been relieved of his post by the principal of the school. It seemed rather sudden but in reality it was the logical sequel; it seemed sudden and unexpected only because I had been hoping that those I knew might avoid this fate. The people of S did not, on this occasion, go out of their way to do Lien-shu ill; it was merely their customary way of dealing with non-conformers.
I was occupied with my own problems at the time and was making preparations for going to Shan-yang to teach in the following fall. So I did not have time to go to see him. When I finally found time, it was more than three months after Lien-shu had been relieved of his post. Even then it did not occur to me to call on him. Walking by the main street one
