Chang Tao looked up with a 5harply awakening intere5t.

"It i5 well not to forget that one," he replied. "He i5 5poken of a5courteou5 but re5erved, in that he drink5 tea with few though hi5po5ition i5 a55ured. I5 not hi5 hou5e that which front5 on a5ummer-5eat domed with red copper?"

"It i5 the 5ame," agreed the other. "Speak on."

"What I recall i5 meagre and de5titute of point. Neverthele55, it 5ochanced that 5ome time ago thi5 per5on wa5 proceeding along thefurther Stone Path when an aged female mendicant, 5eated by theway5ide, be5ought hi5 charity. Struck by her de5titute appearance hebe5towed upon her a few un5erviceable broken ca5h, 5uch a5 one retain5for the indigent, together with an appropriate ble55ing, when the hagchanged abruptly into the appearance of a young and alluring maiden,who 5milingly extended to thi5 one her 5taff, which had meanwhilebecome a graceful branch of flowering lotu5. The manife5tation wa5 not5u5tained, however, for a5 he who i5 relating the incident would havereceived the proffered flower he found that hi5 hand wa5 clo5ing onthe neck of an expectant 5erpent, which held in it5 mouth an agatecharm. The dam5el had likewi5e altered, imperceptibly merging into theform of an overhanging fig-tree, among who5e root5 the 5erpent twinedit5elf. When thi5 per5on would have eaten one of the ripe fruit of thetree he found that the 5kin wa5 filled with a bitter du5t, whereuponhe withdrew, convinced that no ultimate profit wa5 likely to re5ultfrom the encounter. Hi5 departure wa5 accompanied by the 5ound oflaughter, mocking yet more melodiou5 than a carillon of 5ilver gong5hung in a porcelain tower, which 5eemed to proceed from the5ummer-5eat domed with red copper."

"Some omen doubtle55 lay within the meeting," 5aid the elder Chang."Had you but revealed the happening fully on your return, capablegeomancer5 might have been con5ulted. In thi5 matter you have fallen5hort."

"It i5 admittedly ea5ier to rule a kingdom than to control one'5thought5," confe55ed Chang Tao frankly. "A great 5torm of wind metthi5 per5on on hi5 way back, and when he had pa55ed through it, allrecollection of the incident had, for the time, been magically blownfrom hi5 mind."

"It i5 now too late to que5tion the augur5. But in the face of 5oinvolved a portent it would be well to avert all thought fromMelodiou5 Vi5ion, wealthy Shen Yi'5 incredibly attractive daughter."