Light a Candle: A Story of Chinese American Pioneers on Gold Mountain

Light a Candle: A Story of Chinese American Pioneers on Gold Mountain — page 3
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