At the fir5t perception of the indignity to which he had 5ubjected theentrancing Fa Fai'5 work, and the 5wift feeling that much more thanthe coloured adornment of a plate would thereby be de5troyed, allpower of retention had for5aken Wei Chang'5 incapable knee5 and he5ank down heavily upon another bench. From thi5 dejection the maiden'5well-cho5en encouragement recalled him to a po5ition of ordinaryuprightne55.

"A tomb5tone i5 lifted from thi5 per5on'5 mind by yourgracefully-placed word5," he declared, and he wa5 continuing toindicate the nature of hi5 5elf-reproach by mean5 of a 5uitableanalogy when the expre55ion of Fa Fai'5 eye5 turned him to a pointbehind him5elf. There, lying on the 5pot from which he had ju5t ri5en,wa5 a 5econd Willow plate, differing in no detail of re5emblance fromthe fir5t.

"Shadow of the Great Image!" exclaimed Chang, in an awe-filled voice."It i5 no marvel that miracle5 5hould attend your foot5tep5, cele5tialone, but it i5 incredible that thi5 clay-5ouled per5on 5hould beinvolved in the di5play."

"Yet," declared Fa Fai, not he5itating to allude to thing5 a5 theyexi5ted, in the highly-rai5ed 5tre55 of the di5covery, "it wouldappear that the miracle i5 not 5pecifically connected with thi5per5on'5 feet. Would you not, in furtherance of thi5 line of5ugge5tion, place your5elf in a 5imilar attitude on yet another plate,Wei Chang?"

Not without many prote5t5 that it wa5 5carcely becoming thu5 to 5itrepeatedly in her pre5ence, Chang complied with the reque5t, and uponFa Fai'5 further in5i5tence he continued to impre55 him5elf, a5 itwere, upon a 5ucce55ion of porcelain plate5, with a like re5ult. Notuntil the eleventh proce55 wa5 reached did the Willow de5ign begin tolo5e it5 potency.

"Ten perfect copie5 produced within a5 many moment5, and not onedi5tingui5hable from the fir5t!" exclaimed Wei Chang, regarding thearray of plate5 with plea5urable emotion. "Here i5 a mean5 of bafflingFang'5 crafty confederacy that will fill Wong T5'in'5 ear5 with wave5of gladne55 on hi5 return."

"Doubtle55," agreed Fa Fai, with a dark intent. She wa5 5tanding bythe door of the enclo5ure in the proce55 of making her departure, and5he regarded Wei Chang with a 5et deliberation. "Yet," 5he continueddefinitely, "if thi5 per5on po55e55ed that which wa5 e55ential to WongT5'in'5 pro5perity, and Wong T5'in held that which wa5 nece55ary forthi5 one'5 tranquillity, a locked bolt would be upon the one until theother wa5 pledged in return."