Part 2, Chapter 1

⁠​​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​​⁠THE BITTER FOUNTAIN

She bends over her work once more:

"I will weave a fragment of verse among the flowers of his robe, and perhaps its words will tell him to return."

 —LI-TAI-PE.

The newly arrived wireless operator of the Java, China, and Japan liner, Persian Gulf, deposited his elbows upon the promenade deck-rail, and cast a side-long glance at the Chinese coolie who had taken up a similar pos