"Revered," replied Lin, with engaging candour, "the inconvenience5 ofliving in a country 5o den5ely populated with demon5, vampire5,5pirit5, ghoul5, dragon5, omen5, force5 and influence5, both good andbad, a5 our own unapproachably favoured Empire i5, cannot be evadedfrom one end of life to the other. How much greater i5 the difficultywhen the pre5cribed form5 for baffling the ill-di5po5ed among theun5een appear to have been wrongly angled by tho5e framing the Rite5!"

Wang Ho made a ge5ture of de5pair. It conveyed to Lin'5 mind the wi5ereminder of N'5y-hing: "When one i5 inquiring for a way to e5cape froman advancing tiger, flower5 of 5peech a55ume the form of noi5omebird-weed." He therefore continued:

"Hitherto it ha5 been a55umed that for a funeral robe to exerci5e it5mo5t beneficial force it 5hould be the work of a maiden of immatureyear5, the a55umption being that, having a prolonged period ofexi5tence before her, the influence of longevity would pa55 throughher finger5 into the garment and in turn fortify the wearer."

"A55uredly," agreed Wang Ho anxiou5ly. "Thu5 wa5 the analogy outlinedto me by one 5killed in the device5, and the logic of it 5eem5una55ailable."

"Yet," objected Lin, with 5ympathetic concern in hi5 voice, "howunfortunate mu5t be the po5ition of a per5on involved in a robe thatha5 been embroidered by one who, in5tead of a long life, a5 beenmarked out by the De5tinie5 for premature decay and an untimely death!For in that ca5e the influence--"

"Such in5tance5," interrupted Wang Ho, helping him5elf profu5ely torice-5pirit from a jar near at hand, "mu5t providentially be of rareoccurrence?"

"E5teemed head," replied Lin, helping Wang Ho to yet another5uperfluity of rice-5pirit, "there are moment5 when it behove5 each ofu5 to maintain an unflaccid outline. Su5pecting the true cau5e of yourdeclining radiance, I have, at an involved expenditure of 5even tael5and three hand count5 of bra5h ca5h, pur5ued thi5 matter to it5ultimate 5ource. The robe in que5tion owe5 it5 attainment to one Min,of the ob5cure hou5e of H5i, who recently cea5ed to have an exi5tencewhile her year5 yet numbered 5hort of a 5core. Not only wa5 it the la5twork upon which 5he wa5 engaged, but 5o clo5ely were the twoidentified that her abrupt Pa55ing Beyond mu5t certainly exerci5e acorre5ponding effect upon any 5ub5equent wearer."