upon a raised bank of uninviting earth, and waved his hands from side to
side as his internal emotions urged him.

"'Quen-Ki-Tong!' exclaimed Ah-Ping, not fully convinced that the fact
was as he stated it in spite of the image clearly impressed upon his
imagination; 'to what unpropitious occurrence is so unlooked-for an
exhibition due? Are those who traffic in gold-leaf demanding a high and
prohibitive price for that commodity, or has some evil and vindicative
spirit taken up its abode within the completed portion of the Temple,
and by its offensive but nevertheless diverting remarks and actions
removed all semblance of gravity from the countenances of those who
daily come to admire the construction?'

"'O thrice unfortunate Ah-Ping,' replied Quen when he observed the
distinguishing marks of the person before him, 'scarcely can this
greatly overwhelmed one raise his eyes to your open and intelligent
countenance; for through him you are on the point of experiencing a very
severe financial blow, and it is, indeed, on your account more than on
his own that he is now indulging in these outward signs of a grief too
far down to be expressed in spoken words.' And at the memory of his
former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side with
untiring assiduousness.

"'Strange indeed to this person's ears are your words,' said Ah-Ping,
outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he would
have regarded Quen's display of emotion with an easier stomach if his
own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner chamber.
'The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any pretence
been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper concerning the
repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at Peking. How, then, can
Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of Quen-Ki-Tong?'

"'Ah-Ping,' said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, 'do not
permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
a person's mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is no
unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to reverse
his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and consistent
existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping himself has
a