'DONALDINA CAMERON' (Con't) The Missionary Friend of Chinese Slave Girls. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We'll find her yet," Donaldina said, the candlelight splashing across her white head and twinkling dark eyes. "The Lord is with us. Now let's get on with it." For six long hours they fingered the walls for hidden springs, lighting candle after candle, but found nothing. "I think it's time to call off the search," Officer Kelly finally said. "Hate to do this, ma'am, but we just ain't having any luck finding the hiding place." "It's got to be here. She's locked in this maze of halls and rooms somewhere " "We'll go back to the station and send in the second shift. Maybe they'll have better luck." "I don't like to leave this one," Donaldina sighed. "Chiang spoke so sadly about her. And not more than 14 years old at that. What kind of life can she possibly have here? The girls I have helped are all good citizens now. Fine, upstanding women they are. And good Christians at that." "Yes, ma'am." "We'll go back down on the street and I'll wait while you go get the second crew. But first let me go up on the roof and check with the other girls. Perhaps they have seen something." The two officers, dusty and sweating, came out of the dark passageways, stretching and twisting. " 'Tis a terrible thing those Tongs do here. No respect for the ladies at all." "You can see why I try so hard to help, Officer Kelly," Donaldina smoothed her skirts down and ran her hand through her hair. "Now just be patient a few moments while I go up on the roof." It was with a deep, refreshing breath that Donaldina pushed upon the rooftop door and stepped into the sunshine. "Going to be a fine day after all," she said to herself. Then, catching sight of the two Chinese girls she had earlier sent onto the roof to watch for any sign of the captors, she hurried forward. One girl was peering over the side of the roof; the other saw Miss Cameron and ran towards her. "We see nothing but busy people," she said. "You sure?" "O, yes, Miss Cameron." "What do you think has happened to Kum Lee?" Donaldina asked. "We found nothing inside but many hallways." "Soon we know, I think, said the other girl, leaning against the edge of the roof. "Come look down there!" Miss Cameron and the second girl joined her at the cornice edge. Down below, in the alley, two slave owners were involved in excited conversation, casting anxious glances upward. Suddenly, on an adjacent roof, a trapdoor lifted cautiously. A man's head appeared, moved about, and then dropped down into the hiding place once more. "She's in the next building," the girls chanted eagerly. "Yes, and we must hurry and find the opening before she is removed by way of the rooftop. Alert the officers below. I must find the dividing walls between the two buildings." Her feet flew as she descended from the roof. Estimating where the secret panel would be that connected the two structures, she moved her fingers along the tongue-and-groove, searching for the spring. "Oh Dear God, if you are at all about, please help me locate the right spot." Nervously but with great care, she continued to touch the wall. A chill ran through her bones, and she shivered eagerly. "It's here! It's here!" Pushing forward on the weak spot in the panel, it shot back. Without hesitation, she stepped inside. There was nothing to be seen but a pile of empty rice bags and broken boxes under an old bunk. "Have I missed the location?" she said aloud, continuing to move the rags about. No, she thought. The girl must be here. Working rapidly now lest the Tong men appear ahead of the police, Donaldina lifted the last bag. There was the frightened girl, huddled in the corner, no bigger than a dog. "Come," she said, taking her by the hand. "Come." The frail Chinese girl could not understand the English words, but the intensity of Donaldina's speech was acknowledged. She crawled out from under the bunk and followed obediently. Scrambling down the stairs came some Tong men, who had seen Donaldina with their new possession. "Stop," they shouted. "She belongs to us!" "Quickly, my dear," the lady missionary said, all but dragging the young girl along. "Outside we will be safe." At the bottom of the stairs the two Chinese girls from the mission were now yelling in Chinese to the slave girl, and the hearty words of Officer Kelly could be heard. There was also a dog or two barking, and several Chinese bystanders were shouting something unintelligible. It was hard to tell whose side they were on. A patrol wagon arrived and Miss Cameron, the two mission girls, and Kum Lee were hustled inside. In short order they were joined by 6the shouting tong men, who were still insisting that the girl belonged to them. "Well, we'll see who she belongs to when we get to the station," Officer Kelly said, a wide grin crossing his massive face. "Glad to see you found her in time, Miss Cameron." "So am I." The noisy group arrived at the city jail and the officers gave a hasty report of the case. Donaldina appealed for temporary custody of the bewildered girl. Despite opposition from two attorneys serving the Tong men, the missionary was granted letters of guardianship, and Kum Lee was given a home in the Presbyterian Mission not twenty-four hours after arriving in San Francisco as a slave. With the aid of Donaldina Cameron the girl was saved from a life of slavery and introduced instead to the fundamentals and friendship of her Christian benefactor. Throughout her forty years at the San Francisco Mission, Miss Cameron rescued hundreds of Chinese girls, literally snatching them away from their owners. The security of the Mission was the only avenue of escape for the Chinese slave girl at that time. But the home was not merely a refuge. It was a Christian home, mothered by Donaldina. There was also a modern school, where English was taught by past graduates and Chinese was taught by a native woman from the Canton Mission. Domestic science was taught to the young women, and the girls themselves did all the work of the home. They grew into womanhood equipped with a fine moral background and with enough education to find a richer life in America. All who found shelter in the home were challenged with writs of habeas corpus by their owners. Legal contests were sometimes long and drawn out. But the Mission seldom lost a case. Of course, Miss Cameron was at times reprimanded by the court for her tactics, and on one occasion they demanded her humble apology for an apparent misdemeanor. As one newspaper reporter wrote of her during the early 1900s, "Clean and forceful in her mental processes, sure in her heart's purpose, fervent in her Christian spirit, strong in her self-effacement, and winsome in her natural attractions, this woman has equipment suited to meet the strange problems of her life work." Indeed she did. Asked one time why she labored among the Chinese, she declared: "I was born with a love for foreign races, and for the Chinese particularly. I am simply doing the work that I most enjoy, and there is no self-sacrifice in that." THE END..................................................................... ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert October 3, 2005 iggy29@rnetinc.net 'A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot.'