"This may or may not be so," Thomas the Nestorian said, uncertain
whether or not to credit the girl's surprising story; "but even
were it true, my daughter, how couldst thou right thyself? What
can a girl hope to do?"
The young princess drew up her small form proudly. "Do?" she
cried in brave tones; "I can do much, wise O-lo-pun, girl though
I am! Did not a girl save the divine books of Confucius, when the
great Emperor Chi-Hwang-ti did command the burning of all the
books in the empire? Did not a girl--though but a soothsayer's
daughter--raise the outlaw Liu Pang straight to the Yellow
Throne? And shall I, who am the daughter of emperors, fail to be
as able or as brave as they?"
The wise Nestorian was shrewd enough to see that here was a prize
that might be worth the fostering. By the assumption of mystic
knowledge, he learned from the bannerman of the Dragon Gate, the
truth of the girl's story, and so worked upon the good
bannerman's native superstition and awe of superior power as to
secure the custody of the young princess, and to place her in his
mission-house at Tung-Chow for teaching and guidance. Among the
early Christians, the Nestorians held peculiarly helpful and
elevating ideas of the worth and proper condition of woman.
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