It appears that at the prefectural city of Ch'ü-chou eight Foreigners, belonging to the China Inland Mission, were still remaining, awaiting the arrival of three others from up country to depart together;…

Her hair had red highlights.

They toiled forward along a tiny path on the river’s lip. Suddenly it vanished. The bank was sheer red solid clay in front of them, sloping straight into the river.

For centuries, welldiggers had looked for groundwater and divined where to dig guided by instinct alone.