Burman into
whose house Mhtoon Pah had introduced him, and it was only after the
wedding festivities that he became aware that he had supplanted the
friend of his bosom in the affections of the smiling Burmese girl.
Mhtoon Pah was away on a journey, and on his return rejoiced in the
subtle, flattering manner that he knew so well how to practise, and if
he felt rancour, he hid it under a smile.

Marriage took the Chinaman's attention from the shop, and Mhtoon Pah,
still a subordinate in the presence of his master, was arrogant and
filled with assurance in his dealings with others. Interested friends
warned the Chinaman, but he would not listen to them. He believed in
Mhtoon Pah and he had covered him with gifts.

"Was he not my friend, this monster of infamy?" he wailed, rocking
himself on his bed. "O that I had seen his false heart, and torn it,
smoking, from his ribs!"

Leh Shin was secure in his summer of prosperity, and when his son was
born he felt that there was no good thing left out of the pleasant ways
of life. In the curio shop in Paradise Street Mhtoon Pah waxed fat and
studied the table of returns, and in the garden of the house where Leh
Shin lived in his fool's paradise, the Chinaman loosed his hold upon the
reins of authority.

The first sign of the altered and averted faces of the gods was made
known to Leh Shin when his wife dwindled and pined and died.

"But that, O friend, was not the work of thine enemy," said Shiraz,
pulling at his beard reflectively. "Even in thine anger, seek to follow
the ways of justice."

"How do I know it?" replied Leh Shin. "He ever held an evil wish towards
me. Her death was slow, like unto the approach of disaster. I know not
whence it came, but my heart informs me that Mhtoon Pah designed it."

Quickly upon the death of his wife came the disappearance of his son.
The boy had been playing in the garden, and the garden had been searched
in vain for him. No trace of the child could be found, though Mangadone
was searched from end to end.

"Searched," cried the Chinaman, "as the pocket of a coat. No corner left
that was not peered into, no house that was not ransacked." The
Chinaman's voice quivered with passion, and his whole body shook and
trembled.

Life flowed back into its accustomed current, and nearly a year passed
before the next trouble came upon Leh Shin. Mhtoon Pah came back from a
prolonged journey that had necessitated his going to Hong-Kong, and he
ca