Light a Candle: A Story of Chinese American Pioneers on Gold Mountain
through Main Street with their wagons full of winter supplies By the time she reached the little wooden schoolhouse in Church Square the fresh air and exercise had swept away her morning sleepiness She was eager for today's spelling test Also if she was honest she wanted everyone to see her new long sleeved dress Her mama had purchased the fabric to match the golds and auburns of the season Can you sew it just like the white girls dresses Emma had asked Ho yi her mama had replied in Cantonese the dialect of her native tongue Yes I can Now Emma walked confidently to her bench just as she had imagined she would As Ms. Lilley got the class started Emma and the other students waited impatiently to see the new children who had recently come to town Emma guessed their family was here to tap the pine trees for the turpentine business Or perhaps they came for the gold She doubted it though Now that the easy gold was gone many white miners had sold their claims to the Chinese and moved away 6
At a quarter past eight o'clock the new family tumbled in There was a girl named Mabel who looked about eleven the same age as Emma And there were her two younger brothers Fred and Sam who were barefoot Their papa had not yet worked long enough to get money for new shoes Mabel you can take a seat next to Emma right there Ms. Lilley pointed and Mabel shuffled her way to the back of the room her threadbare dress barely covering her ankles Emma scooted over to make space on the bench for her but Mabel only stood there and stared Fred and Sam squeeze in there beside Alice instructed Ms. Lilley Sam wrinkled his nose at having to sit beside a girl But they both sat down eventually Mabel however still stood in the aisle studying Emma She licked her lips and said I never met a China Mary before much less sat next to one She was a loud breather Emma could hear the wind passing through her nostrils Mabel you'll take a seat next to Emma We're all equals in the house of God said Ms. Lilley which was 7
true because the schoolroom was the same building as the church Mabel reluctantly sat down You sure could pass as one of us China Mary except for your black hair and slitty eyes She pushed on her temples with her pointer fingers pulling her eyes toward her ears My name is Emma not China Mary Emma corrected her Mabel nodded but couldn't tear her eyes away from the fabric of Emma's dress Where'd you get that dress I'll bet they don't dress like that in China She pushed away a frizzy brown curl poking her eye and straightened out her faded sleeves I was born here in La Porte Emma said her face beginning to grow hot And my mama made this dress for me 9 I'll have to ask Pa about that replied Mabel What does your pa know about me Emma wanted to say but Ms. Lilley shushed the class and said it was time for the spelling test
