The charm of the Middle kingdom . 97 CHAPTER VII On the 21st of August, 1917, a telegramcame into Moukden out of the clearest tropicalsky I have ever yet known. The skies ofChina are a joy forever. During the summerthe blue vault shrinks away until it becomesthe veriest azure mist, like a ceiling seen inSt. Peters. In winter it forms a canopy ofcobalt blue, so near that you fancy you couldtouch it if only you were a little higher up,like the farther hills whose peaks seem to keepthe sky from enveloping the earth. At nightit seems magically near. But my telegramdropped out of a midday sky with
The charm of the Middle kingdom . 97 CHAPTER VII On the 21st of August, 1917, a telegramcame into Moukden out of the clearest tropicalsky I have ever yet known. The skies ofChina are a joy forever. During the summerthe blue vault shrinks away until it becomesthe veriest azure mist, like a ceiling seen inSt. Peters. In winter it forms a canopy ofcobalt blue, so near that you fancy you couldtouch it if only you were a little higher up,like the farther hills whose peaks seem to keepthe sky from enveloping the earth. At nightit seems magically near. But my telegramdropped out of a midday sky with the sunflaring away toward the zenith and the blueforced down until it formed an azure tintedribbon along the rim of the hills. The telegram was brief and to the was transferred to Tientsin. And being aneophyte and not accustomed to dallying withauthority, that very evening found me south-ward bound. For the last time I saw Mouk-den, or as the Chinese call it Feng Tien, Windof Heaven, lying there in the windless warmth 98. JlASV Hri(,KKl, JlMNTSlN
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