Willy Brown was really not a naughty boy, but he could be very willful at times.  Irish by birth and accustomed to more liberty than the Italian teacher was wont to give his pupils in Hongkong, he did not always submit readily to the rather strict discipline of the school, but aside from this was an exemplary child.  In order to break him of his habit of being so stubborn his teacher often commanded or forbade him to do things which otherwise would never have been thought of a second time.  Just now the one desire of Willy’s heart was to see his father’s ship, and to him the climbing of the scaffolding seemed so wholly without danger that he looked upon the command which he had received as an act of tyranny, and resolved to disobey.  His conscience said to him, “It is a sin to disobey,” but he heeded not the small voice within him.  Before going up he sought out his favorite companion, a little twelve year old Chinaman.  The boys were of an age and were to receive their first communion at the same time—­facts which created a bond of sympathy between two children almost as totally unlike as it was possible for children to be.  The young Chinaman was a foundling.  His parents after the fashion of many of the Chinese had exposed him when but a few days old, thus consigning him to death, although their heathen religion forbids the practice, and if the Sisters of Mercy had not found and cared for him in the orphanage he would have perished.  There the boy was baptized and brought up in the Christian religion.  And when the years passed by, as Joseph—­this was the name given him at baptism—­showed decided talent, he was put in school, and finally given over to the missioners in the college, to be trained for the priesthood, if God called him to the work.

At the very time that Willy was seeking for Joseph, Joseph was seeking for Willy, and, when he heard the voice of his red-cheeked companion, his black slanting eyes danced and his yellow face flushed with pleasure.

“Hello, Peppo,” said Willy, addressing him by the nickname which old Brother Onufrio had given him.

“Come with me behind the camelia-bush where Father Somazzo cannot see us.”

“But why must he not see us?  You are not going to do anything wrong, are you?” asked the small Chinaman trembling.

“What?  Anything wrong?  I’ll play him a trick or two—­the tyrant—­and that will not be wrong, I say.  Is there anything wrong about my looking to see whether my father’s boat is here?  Come with me right now.”  Peppo hesitated.  “Come this minute or I’ll drag you along by your pig-tail the way naughty Freddy used to do before I took you in charge.”

Joseph went with his protector without more ado, but did not approve of the plan disclosed to him behind the camelia bush.

“Don’t do it, Willy.  It will be disobedience, and it’s against the fourth commandment.”

“The fourth commandment of God tells me to love my father, and for love of my father I want to climb up and look for his ship.  That cannot be against the fourth commandment,” said the sinful distorter.