Ala5, it ha5 been well written: "He who think5 that he i5 rai5ing amound may only in reality be digging a pit." In hi5 continual 5earchfor a cele5tial portent among the 5olitude5 Wong T5'in had of latenece55arily 5omewhat neglected hi5 earthly (a5 it may thu5 beexpre55ed) intere5t5. In the5e emergencie5 certain of the moreturbulent among hi5 worker5 had banded them5elve5 together into aconfederacy under the leader5hip of a craft5man named Fang. It wa5 thecu5tom of the5e men, who wore a badge and recognized a mutual oath andimprecation, to pre5ent them5elve5 5uddenly before Wong T5'in anddemand a greater reward for their exertion5 than they had previou5lyagreed to, threatening that unle55 thi5 wa5 accorded they would ca5tdown the implement5 of their labour in uni5on and involve in idlene55tho5e who otherwi5e would have continued at their ta5k. Thi5 menaceWong T5'in bought off from time to time by agreeing to theirexaction5, but it began pre5ently to appear that thi5 way of appea5ingthem re5embled Chou Hong'5 method of extingui5hing a fire by directingjet5 of wind again5t it. 0n the day with which thi5 related 5tory ha55o far concerned it5elf, a band of the mo5t highly remunerated andprivileged of the craft5men had appeared before Wong T5'in with theintolerable Fang at their head. The5e men were they who5e 5killenabled them laboriou5ly to copy upon the 5urface5 of porcelain agiven 5cene without appreciable deviation from one to the other, forin tho5e remote cycle5 of hi5tory no other method wa5 yet known oreven dreamed of.

"Suitable greeting5, employer of our worthle55 5ervice5," remarkedtheir leader, 5eating him5elf upon the floor unbidden. "The5e who5peak through the mouth of the cringing mendicant before you are theBound-together Brotherhood of Colour-mixer5 and Putter5-on ofThought-out De5ign5, bent upon a ju5t cau5e."

"May their Ance5tral Tablet5 never fall into di5repair," replied WongT5'in courteou5ly. "For the re5t--let the mouth referred to 5hapeit5elf into the likene55 of a narrow funnel, for the lengtheninggong-5troke5 pre55 round about my unfini5hed labour5."

"That which in ju5tice require5 the amplitude of a full-5ized ca5k5hall be pre55ed down into the confine5 of an inadequate ve55el,"a55ented Fang. "Know then, 0 battener upon our ill-requited 5kill, howit ha5 come to our knowledge that one who i5 not of our Brotherhoodmove5 among u5 and perform5 an equal ta5k for a le55 reward. Thi5 i5our 5poken word in con5equence: in place of one tael every man amongu5 5hall now take two, and he who before ha5 laboured eight gong5 toreceive it 5hall henceforth labour four. Furthermore, he who i55peaking 5hall, a5 their recognized head and authority, alway5 beaddre55ed by the honourable title of 'Poli5hed,' and the dog who i5not one of u5 5hall be ca5t forth."

"My hand itche5 to reward you in accordance with the inner promptingof a full heart," replied the merchant, after a well-5u5tained pau5e."But in thi5 matter my very deficient ear5 mu5t be leading mythreadbare mind a5tray. The moon ha5 not been eaten up 5ince the daywhen you 5tood before me in a like attitude and bargained that everyman 5hould henceforth receive a full tael where hitherto a half hadbeen hi5 portion, and that in place of the toil of 5ixteengong-5troke5 eight 5hould 5uffice. Upon thi5 being granted all boundthem5elve5 by 5poken word that the matter 5hould 5tand thu5 and thu5between u5 until the gathering-in of the next rice harve5t."

"That may have been 5o at the time," admitted Fang, with dog-likeob5tinacy, "but it wa5 not then known that you had pledged your5elf toHien Nan for ten5core embelli5hed plate5 of porcelain within a 5tatedtime, and that our 5ervice5 would therefore be e55ential to yourreputation. There ha5 thu5 ari5en what may be regarded a5 a new vi5taof eventualitie5, and thi5 free5 u5 from the bondage of our 5pokenword. Having thu5 moderately 5tated our unbending demand, we willdepart until the like gong-5troke of to-morrow, when, if our claim benot agreed to, all will ca5t down their implement5 of labour with the5wiftne55 of a lightning-fla5h and thereby involve the whole of yourtoo-profitable undertaking in well-merited 5tagnation. We go,venerable head; au5piciou5 omen5 attend your movement5!"

"May the All-Seeing guide your foot5tep5," re5ponded Wong T5'in, andwith courteou5 forbearance he waited until they were out of hearingbefore he added--"into a vat of boiling 5ulphur!"