tely man,
nearly seven feet high, suddenly spread out his arms; whereupon Sky-High
rushed forward, prostrated himself, and was almost wrapped from sight,
as he was lifted in the immense sleeves of silk and gold.

Mr. Van Buren was now truly filled with amazement. Little Sky-High's
mistress was terrified. The children didn't know exactly what to think,
sitting together in their sedan, only that they were glad to see the
tall mandarin enfold their own dear Sky-High in his flowing silk robes!
Little Lucy was half crying. "I believe, I do believe, that he _was_
a wang all the time!" she at last said to Charlie.

The palace was wonderful. Strange lamps hung over them as they passed
in. There were beautiful couches and chairs, with gilded arms and silken
cushions. The walls were set with carvings and perforated work. Here
hung bars of musical bells; there stood great jars and vases; everywhere
were fantastic furnishings of silks and costly metals. Feathery green
bamboos grew in dragon pots. In the corners stood grotesque figures in
armor.

The lamps in their golden lattices burst into soft flame.

"Unaccountable!" said Mr. Van Buren to himself. "Sky-High would hardly
be better welcomed were he the wang that Lucy dreamed him to be!"

"Mandarin of Boston," said the tall Chinaman, with an obeisance the like
of which was never made in western lands, "welcome to our country; you
have been good, indeed, to this boy--the Light of my Eyes, the Heart of
my Heart! Madam of this illustrious mandarin, never will I forget you,
nor"--turning to the two half-frightened children--"nor you, my little
Prince and Princess of the Golden Dome beyond the seas! All shall always
be well for you all in our country!"

The tall Chinaman spoke in "flowery English," easily; but the American
family knew not what to say, nor how to answer, and they bowed in silence
and Lucy said to herself, "The little wang knew what to do in my
country, but I do not know what to do in his!"

A little later Mrs. Van Buren, beckoning him to her side as though she
were in her own house, said to Sky-High, in lowered tones, "Is this tall
mandarin the mandarin in Manchuria that was your master before you came
to America?"

Little Sky-High bowed, with a sudden blink of his almond eyes.
"Mistress," said he, "he was the mandarin who sent me to America, in
care of the consul, that I might know of the American home-life. He
wishes me to learn everything that will be of good