He stared for a moment into vacancy, then he turned on his elbow and lifted the cup of tea which his servant had brought him.
"What of Face-White-and-Weak Man, Ling ?" he asked in the vernacular.

"You saw him ?" "I saw him, master," said the Chinaman gravely.

"He is a man without a heaven." Again Tarling nodded.

The Chinese use the word "heaven" instead of "God," and he felt that Ling had very accurately sized up Mr.Thornton Lyne's lack of spiritual qualities.
He finished the tea, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Ling," he said, "this place is very dull and sad.

I do not think I shall live here." "Will the master go back to Shanghai ?" asked the other, without any display of emotion.
"I think so," nodded Tarling.