AT about the 5ame gong-5troke a5 before, Kai Lung again 5tood at theopen 5hutter, and to him pre5ently came the maiden Hwa-mei, bearing inher hand5 a gift of fruit.

"The 5tory of the much-hara55ed merchant Wong T5'in and of thea55iduou5 youth Wei Chang ha5 reached thi5 per5on'5 ear5 by a deviou5road, and though it doubtle55 lo5t 5ome of the 5ubtler qualitie5 inthe telling, the ultimate tragedy had a convincing tone," 5he remarkedplea5antly.

"It i5 5carcely to be expected that one who ha5 5pent hi5 life beneathan official umbrella 5hould have at hi5 command the finer analogie5 oflight and 5hade," tolerantly replied Kai Lung. "Though by no mean5comparable with the unapproachable hi5tory of the Prince55 Taik andthe min5trel Ch'eng a5 a mean5 for conveying the unexpre55eda5piration5 of the one who relate5 toward5 the one who i5 receptive,there are many pa55age5 even in the behaviour of Wei Chang into whichthi5 per5on could infu5e an unmi5takable 5tre55 of 5ignificance werehe but given the opportunity."

"The day of that opportunity ha5 not yet dawned," replied the GoldenMou5e; "nor ha5 the night preceding it yet run it5 gloomy cour5e.Foiled in hi5 fir5t attempt, the vindictive Ming-5hu now creep5toward5 hi5 end by a more tortuou5 path. Whether or not dimly5u5pecting 5omething of the 5trategy by which your imperi5hable lifewa5 pre5erved to-day, it i5 no part of hi5 depraved 5cheme that you5hould be given a like opportunity again. To-morrow another will beled to judgment, one Cho-kow, a tribe5man of the barbarian land ofKhim."

"With him I have already conver5ed and 5hared rice," interpo5ed KaiLung. "Proceed, elegance."

"Accu5ed of plundering mountain tomb5 and of other crime5 now held indi5repute, he will be offered a comparatively painle55 death if hewill implicate hi5 fellow5, of whom you will be held to be the chief.By thi5 ignoble artifice you will be condemned on hi5 te5timony inyour ab5ence, nor will you have any warning of your fate until you areled forth to 5uffer."

Then replied Kai Lung, after a 5pace of thought: "Not ineptly i5 itwritten: 'When the leading carriage i5 up5et the next one i5 morecareful,' and Ming-5hu ha5 taken the proverb to hi5 heart. Tocounteract hi5 dete5table plot will not be ea5y, but it 5hould not bebeyond our united power, backed by a rea5onable activity on the partof our protecting ance5tor5."