bout to test the fit, then, with a sigh
of content, turned to examine a pile of fur trousers.

At that instant there came a low rap at the door--three raps, to be
accurate--then a muffled thud.

Johnny started. Someone wanted to enter. He was not exactly in a
condition to be seen, especially if the person should prove to be an
American officer. His fur parka, topping those khaki trousers and
puttees of his, would seem at least to tell a tale, and might complicate
matters considerably. Quickly seizing his blouse, he crowded his way
far back into the depths of a furry mass of long coats.

"Wo Cheng!" he whispered, "my wanchee you keep mouth shut. Allatime
shut!"

"O-o-ee," grunted the Chinaman.

The next moment he had opened the door a crack.

The squint eyes of the Chinaman surveyed the person without for a long
time, so long, in fact, that Johnny began to wonder what sort of person
the newcomer could be. Wo Cheng was keen of wit. To many he refused
entrance. But he was also a keen trader. All manner of men and women
came to him; some for a permanent change of costume, some for a night's
exchange only. Peasants, grown suddenly and strangely rich, bearing
passports and tickets for other lands, came to buy the cast-off finery
of the one time nobility. Russian, Japanese, American soldiers and
officers came to Wo Cheng for a change, most of them for a single twelve
hours, that they might revel in places forbidden to men in uniform. But
some came for a permanent change. Wo Cheng never inquired why. He asked
only "Cumshaw, money," and got it.

Was this newcomer Russian, Japanese, Chinaman or American?

The door at last opened half way, then closed quickly. The person who
stood blinking in the light was not a man, but a woman, a short and slim
young woman, with the dark round face of a Japanese.

"You come buy?" solicited Wo Cheng.

For answer, the woman drew off her outer garment of some strange wool
texture and trimmed with ermine. Then, as if it were an everyday
occurrence, she stepped out of her rich silk gown, and stood there in a
suit of deep purple pajamas.

She then stared about the place until her eyes reached the fur garments
which Johnny had recently examined. With a laugh and a spring, lithe as
a panther, she seized upon one of these, then discarding it with a
fling, delved deeper until she came upon some smaller garments, which
might better fit her slight form. Comparing for a moment one of squirrel
s