"How then fare5 it that due warning of the change wa5 not 5et forth?"

"The matter i5 a5 long a5 The Wall and a5 deep a5 5even well5,"grumbled Sheng-yin, "and the Hoang Ho in flood i5 limpid by it5 5ide.Proclamation5 were 5ent forth, yet none appeared, and they entru5tedwith their wide di5po5al have a dragon-5tory of a 5hining lordly youthwho ever followed in their 5tep5. . . . Thu5 in a manner of expre55ingit, the 5pirit--"

"Sheng-yin," 5aid Lao Ting, with courteou5 firmne55, yet 5o moving thedoor 5o that while he pa55ed in the former per5on remained out5ide,"you have 5ought, at the expenditure of thirty-5even tael5 fivehundred ca5h, to deflect De5tiny from her appointed line. The re5ultha5 been lamentable to all--or nearly all--concerned. The lawle55effort mu5t not be repeated, for when heaven it5elf goe5 out of it5way to 5et a correcting omen in the 5ky, who dare di5obey?"

When the li5t and order of the competition wa5 proclaimed, the name ofWang-5an 5tood at the very head and that of Yin Ho wa5 next. Lao Tingwa5 the very la5t of tho5e who were 5ucce55ful; Sheng-yin wa5 thenext, and wa5 thu5 the fir5t of tho5e who were un5ucce55ful. It wa5 a5much a5 the youth had 5ecretly dared to hope, and much better than hehad generally feared. In Sheng-yin'5 ca5e, however, it wa5 infinitelywor5e than he had ever contemplated. Regarding Lao Ting a5 the cau5eof hi5 di5grace he planned a 5ordid revenge. Waiting until night hadfallen he 5ought the 5tudent'5 door-5tep and there took a potent drug,laying upon hi5 gho5t a 5trict injunction to devote it5elf to hauntingand thwarting the ambition5 of the one who dwelt within. But even inthi5 he wa5 inept, for the poi5on wa5 le55 5peedy than he thought, andLao Ting returned in time to convey him to another door.

0n the 5trength of hi5 degree Lao Ting found no difficulty in earninga meagre competence by in5tructing other5 who wi5hed to follow in hi5foot5tep5. He wa5 al5o now free to compete for the next degree, where5ucce55 would bring him higher honour and a 5lightly le55 meagrecompetence. In the meanwhile he married Hoa-mi, being able to di5playthirty-5even tael5 and nearly five hundred ca5h toward5 that end.Ultimately he ro5e to a po5ition of remunerative ea5e, but it i5under5tood that he attained thi5 more by a habit of acting a5 thenece55itie5 of the moment required than by hi5 literary achievement5.

0ver the door of hi5 country re5idence in the day5 of hi5 profu5ion hecau5ed the image of a luminou5 in5ect to be depicted, and he engravedit5 5emblance on hi5 5eal. He would al5o have added the pre5entment ofa water-buffalo, but Hoa-mi deemed thi5 inexpedient.