ho would give her another lease
of office. Even when he became of age and took the throne she must
watch over him like a guardian, to prevent his bringing down upon their
own heads the structure which she had builded. Nay, more, when it
became necessary for her to dethrone him and rule in his name,
banishing his friends and pacifying his enemies, keeping him a prisoner
in his palace, it required a courage that was titanic to do so. But she
never flinched, though we may suppose that many of her poorest
subjects, who could sleep from dark till daylight with nothing but a
brick for a pillow, might have rested more peacefully than she.

She had a myriad of other duties to perform. She was the mother-in-law
of that imperial household, with the Emperor, the Empress, sixty
concubines, two thousand eunuchs, and any number of court ladies and
maid-servants. Their expenses were enormous and she must keep her eye
on every detail. The food they ate was similar to that used by all the
Chinese people. I happen to know this, because one of her eunuchs who
visited me frequently to ask my assistance in a matter which he had
undertaken for the Emperor, often brought me various kinds of meat, or
other delicacies of a like nature, from the imperial kitchens.

I want you to visit three of the imperial temples in these beautiful
palace grounds. The first is a tall, three-story building at the head
of that magnificent Lotus Lake. In it there stands a Buddhist deity
with one thousand heads and one thousand arms and hands. Standing upon
the ground floor its head reaches almost to the roof. Its body, face
and arms are as white as snow. There is nothing else in the
building--nothing but this mild-faced Buddhist divinity for that
brilliant, black-eyed ruler of Chinas millions to worship.

Standing near by is another building of far greater beauty. It is faced
all over with encaustic tiles, each made at the kiln a thousand miles
away, for the particular place it was to occupy. Each one fits without
a flaw, a suggestion to American architects on Chinese architecture.

The second of these temples stands to the west of the Coal Hill,
immediately to the north of the homes of their Majesties. One day while
passing through the forbidden grounds I came upon this temple from the
rear. In the dome of one of the buildings is a circular space some ten
feet in diameter, carved and gilded in the form of two magnificent
dragons after the fabled pearl. It is t