step-mother had suddenly died, and that everyone must go into mourning. And that was the end of the two Christmas concerts, the Christmas tree, and the feast. For the rules for mourning for a dead Emperor in China are quite strict. No one could marry for a month—that rule did not affect us, for the only wedding arranged for by anyone connected with the church, that of Mr. McAmmond's teacher, took place a few days before. No one was to be allowed to have his head shaved for a hundred days. Every Chinese boy and man allows just enough hair to grow on the top of his head to form his "pig-tail"; all the rest of his head is shaved clean. But imagine what a messy effect it is to have the head covered with a couple of months' growth around the long cue, as there is now. It is the Chinese way of going into black; for, of course, every man's hair is as black as pitch. Another rule was that no one could wear satin clothes for a hundred days, and the little red knobs on the top of the caps had to be changed to blue, which is the second degree mourning color in China, white being the first. So far the rules did not interfere with our Christmas entertainment. But now we come to the fatal order, "There must be no music and no celebrations for a month." Alas! for our Chinese boys and girls. Christmas fell within the month.
It is true that we might have got around the trouble by claiming that ours was a foreign church, and so did not fall within the common rules. This, I believe, was done in other places. But our church here is a large one, and we are constantly trying to make the members
