Small boats loaded with various goods sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored, the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were soon covered with all kinds of beautiful things they tried to sell. It was difficult not to be attracted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen, but I decided not to buy anything until I had got off.

I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed (纠缠) by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one, but I could not deny the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles (小玻璃球). The man tried his best to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop, he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.

The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked authentic. At the base of the gold cap, the words ‘made in the U.S.A.’ had been neatly carved. The man said that the pen was worth￡50, but as a special favour, he would let me have it for￡30. I shook my head and held up five fingers showing that I was willing to pay￡5. Gesticulating (打手势) wildly, the man acted as if he found my offer extremely unfair, but he finally reduced the price to￡10. Shrugging my shoulders, I began to walk away when, a moment later, he ran after me and pushed the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair, he readily accepted the￡5 I gave him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain.

After I got home, my daughter Lily found the pen in my luggage by accident.

No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink.

Willie' s aunt sent him for a birthday present a little writing book. There was a place in the book for a pencil. Willie thought a great deal of this little book, and always kept it in his pocket.

One day, his mother was very busy, and he called his dog, and said, “Come, Caper, let us have a play." When Willie' s mother missed him, she went to the door and looked out, and could not see him anywhere； but she knew that Caper was with him, and thought they would come back before long. She waited an hour, and still they did not come. When she came to the gate by the road, she met Mr. Lee, Willie's father, and told him how long Willie had been gone. Mr. Lee thought he must have gone to sleep under the trees. So they went to all the trees under which Willie was in the habit of playing, but he was not here to be found. By this time the sun had gone down the news that Willie was lost soon spread over the neighborhood, and all the men and women turned out to hunt. They hunted all night. The next morning the neighbors were gathered round, and all were trying to think what to do next, when Caper came bounding into the room.

There was a string tied round his neck, and a bit of paper tied to it. Mr. Lee, took the paper, and saw that it was a letter from Willie, He read it aloud. It said, "0, father! Come to me. I am in the big hole in the pasture (牧场)."

Everybody ran at once to the far corner of the pasture； and there was Willie, alive and well in the shaft (通风井). Oh, how glad he was when his father caught him in his arms, and lifted him out!

Now I will tell you how Willie came to be in the shaft and the whole story. He and Caper went to the pasture field, and came to the edge of the shaft and sat down. In bending over to see how deep it was, he lost his balance and fell in.