dowry was only two hundred thousand. Ah Chun
explained that his initial generosity had been to break the ice, and that
after that his daughters could not expect otherwise than to go more
cheaply.

Clara followed Maud, and thereafter, for a space of two years; there was
a continuous round of weddings in the bungalow. In the meantime Ah Chun
had not been idle. Investment after investment was called in. He sold
out his interests in a score of enterprises, and step by step, so as not
to cause a slump in the market, he disposed of his large holdings in real
estate. Toward the last he did precipitate a slump and sold at
sacrifice. What caused this haste were the squalls he saw already rising
above the horizon. By the time Lucille was married, echoes of bickerings
and jealousies were already rumbling in his ears. The air was thick with
schemes and counter-schemes to gain his favour and to prejudice him
against one or another or all but one of his sons-in-law. All of which
was not conducive to the peace and repose he had planned for his old age.

He hastened his efforts. For a long time he had been in correspondence
with the chief banks in Shanghai and Macao. Every steamer for several
years had carried away drafts drawn in favour of one, Chun Ah Chun, for
deposit in those Far Eastern banks. The drafts now became heavier. His
two youngest daughters were not yet married. He did not wait, but
dowered them with a hundred thousand each, which sums lay in the Bank of
Hawaii, drawing interest and awaiting their wedding day. Albert took
over the business of the firm of Ah Chun and Ah Yung, Harold, the eldest,
having elected to take a quarter of a million and go to England to live.
Charles, the youngest, took a hundred thousand, a legal guardian, and a
course in a Keeley institute. To Mamma Achun was given the bungalow, the
mountain House on Tantalus, and a new seaside residence in place of the
one Ah Chun sold to the government. Also, to Mamma Achun was given half
a million in money well invested.

Ah Chun was now ready to crack the nut of the problem. One fine morning
when the family was at breakfast--he had seen to it that all his sons-in-
law and their wives were present--he announced that he was returning to
his ancestral soil. In a neat little homily he explained that he had
made ample provision for his family, and he laid down various maxims that
he was sure, he said, would enable them to dwell together in pe