AND where was Pekoe?

IV.

He was busy with the merchandise, and was congratulating himself that he should make great

profits. When all alone, at once he thought of his promise to Pearl of the Sea to bring a chip of the Great Wall if he were anywhere near

away he chipped; the stone was softer, it began to crumble, two or three great pieces fell out, and it went on crumbling and crumbling until there was quite a hole in the wall.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Pigtail of my ancestor Whang! what a mess I have made!" ejaculated Pekoe.

And he was just turning away when another fall of stones and dust almost blinded him; he felt a hand upon the collar of his vest, and a loud voice said

"Stop, thief! Stop, thief! Stop, I say!"

"I'm not a thief, I'm honest, I never

cheat," said

Pekoe, struggling to get

it. But he

should not be
within many
miles of it, so he
thought; when
suddenly he gave
a start, for look-
ing up he saw the
enormous Wall
towering up within a
stone's throw of him.

Pekoe was bewil

dered, he put his forefinger on his forehead and became contemplative, He had never seen the Wall there before. How did it get there? Was it an illu

sion or was it the Wall. He went a little nearer. Yes, there, towering straight above him, was the Wall twenty-five feet high. There was no other wall of such a size. It must be the Wall.

"Yes-no-yes, it is-it isn't, it must be-it can't be-it's a mistake-and yet it's there, is it?" And he drew nearer and touched it.

Yes, it was a wall.

The Great Wall! And he took out a knife. And he began to chip and chip, but the wall was very hard. At length he managed to chip off a small piece, which he put into his pocket.

"I'll have a try in another place," said he, and

free, and thinking of the "Pou-hou" on his shop sign.

"Damaging the Imperial Wall is a capital offence," returned the voice. And Pekoe tremblingly looked up, and beheld the ugliest Tartar he had ever seen. Mantchoo, Mongol, and all sorts of Tartars seemed to be combined in this one in the ugliest manner; his eyes blazed, his teeth glittered, his lips and nose were thick, and his limbs were huge and misshapen.

"You will have your hands and feet cut off, and | then your head, and there will be an end of you. Perhaps you will be bastinadoed first, and the

executioners will have orders to torment you to the utmost. It is robbery in the first degree and treason besides. All your riches will be forfeited and your children sold for slaves."

Pekoe groaned, and wished that he were back with his daughters.

"and if you take fire it will save the trouble of beheading you."

"Oh, Pearl! Pearl of the Sea, what a penalty has thy wretched father incurred for thee," said the unfortunate merchant.

"Pearl!" repeated the commander,

fear could not help

wondering.

thought there would never be an end of

them. And they

is it that is called Pearl of

the Sea?" "My daughter," replied Pekoe. "Is she your only daughter ?"

"No; I have three daughters, the prettiest little girls in China," said Pekoe.

"Three daughters!"

shouted the commander, "and

I have not one!"

Then followed a silence, during which

several Tartars endeavoured to push Pekoe into the lantern, the great candle in which was flaming with a yellow glare although it was daylight. Pekoe resisted manfully, and the commander desired his followers to desist.

"I want a daughter," said the Tartar. "Give me Pearl, and I'll hush up the affair of the Wall so that it shall never reach the ears of the emperor at all."

Pekoe looked up at the Tartar, and he could not help shuddering. Pearl of the Sea would be frightened to death at the sight of so hideous a personage.

"Yes," said the Tartar, meditatively, "I am excessively ugly, but one can't help one's looks. Still, handsome is that handsome does, and I have no doubt but that Pearl of the Sea would become quite fond of me. She should have everything she wanted. But you shall go with me and listen to reason."

And he pushed Pekoe into the lantern, shut the door, and called out in a commanding voice

"March, Tartars, march and beat your drums,
The captive Pekoe with us comes."

Four Tartars took up the lantern, and Pekoe shrank into a corner as far from the great candle as he could get. Then there was a great crash, and a rumbling and a thundering, and Pekoe thought the whole of the Great Wall must be falling down. The daylight faded, and there was another crash and smash, and then Pekoe looking through a small hole in the lantern saw that they were in a lofty stone passage.

"Inside the Great Wall !" said Pekoe to himself. "What a situation to be in, with all my mer chandise outside! I am lost! I am ruined! I shall never see my daughters again."

"Put down the lantern, let the man get out,
And in our Great Wall dwelling look about,"

thundered forth the commander.

And Pekoe, half dead with fright, stepped out of the lantern and was ushered into a suite of apartments more magnificent than he had ever seen before-rare carvings, gold and silver tables, tortoise-shell cabinets inlaid with pearl and silver, great porcelain vases, and treasures of all sorts.

"Not a bad home for Pearl of the Sea," said the commander. "All these treasures shall be hers." "But it would be a prison," murmured Pekoe. "Not at all; there's an outlet into Tartary, and

she shall scour the country on the finest horses."

66 Alas! alas!" said Pekoe; "she would grieve herself

Innor of to death. No, I must submit to my

fate."

"I don't see that at all," replied the commander. "I am sure Pearl of the Sea would prefer living here to letting her father have his head, and hands,

and feet cut off."

"She is a good girl," murmured Pekoe, "but she must not

-she cannot-be sacrificed."

"Sacrificed! pooh! nonsense! don't talk in that foolish way," said the commander angrily. "You shall go home and give her her choice, and if she does not consent you must return here. I will send four of my Tartars, and if you attempt to play me false they shall cut off your head instead of waiting for the imperial executioner to do it."

"No;" returned Pekoe, "I will not play you false. But I will go home and bid my daughters farewell, and then I will return and be delivered up into the hands of the emperor; perhaps he may have pity upon me."

The commander whistled impatiently.

66

Vow," he said, "by the pigtail of thy ancestor Whang, to return or send me thy daughter."

"I vow," said Pekoe faintly. And then, in the custody of the four Tartars, Pekoe with his merchandise journeyed to the city of Pekin.

V.

THE three sisters were in the garden when Pekce and the Tartars arrived. They rose up joyfully and embraced their father, but he, instead of seeming delighted to see them, was greatly distressed, and the tears ran down his cheeks.

"Oh! my children," said Pekoe, "I am a doomed man! I come but to say 'Good-bye.' In chipping off a piece of the Great Wall for Pearl of the Sea I find that I committed treason and robbery in the first degree, and that I must be put to death for it."

Then Orange-Flower, Heart of Roses, and Pear! of the Sea wept bitterly, but Pearl of the Sea felt the worst as she remembered the words

"Who chips the Wall

Shall have a fall."

Then the third advanced

"He'll give her riches untold,
Gems, and the purest gold."

And the fourth Tartar said

"She will her father save

From a cruel death and early grave."

Then they all spoke together, saying

"Come with us, Pearl of the Sea,

And let your father go free."

"That I will," said Pearl of the Sea, springing up. "I'm not a bit afraid; the master of these Tartars is, I dare say, better than he looks, or he would not have trusted our father to come to say good-bye to us. I will go."

The Tartars gave a great shout.

"You shall not go," cried Pekoe, "I will return." But the Tartars replied

"That you cannot do, since the Flower of the city of Pekin has decreed otherwise. She will go with us; the lantern in which you journeyed hither will no longer open to you. It is ready for the little maiden."

Then two great Tartars seized

Pekoe and drew their

scimitars, threatening to
cut off his head
if he attempted
to prevent Pearl
from going with
them. And the
two other Tar-
tars led the way
to the lantern,
which was in
the lower court
of the house. It
opened at once,
and instead of
a great candle
Pearl of the
Sea saw a soft-
cushioned seat

and silken curtains. She kissed her sisters, and waved her hand to her father, saying

"Good-bye, good-bye, good fortune to all of us." The door of the lantern closed with a snap; the Tartars who held Pekoe gave him a push that sent him tumbling to the farther end of the room. Then they hastened to the lower court, shouldered the lantern, and were out of sight before Pekoe recovered his breath.

So all that Pekoe could do was to sit down and mourn that Pearl had been carried off by the Tartars. But he did not dare to complain to any one except his daughters, for he knew well enough that if it came to the ears of the Emperor that he had made a hole in the Great Wall, he would at once be led to execution, and his property confiscated.

VI.

IT did not seem above a quarter of an hour to Pearl of the Sea before she heard the Tartars hammering against the Wall. Presently there was a loud crash, and the door opened for her to step out, and she found herself in a very splendid room hung with lanterns of the strangest and most beautiful forms. Some were like fiery dragons or glittering serpents, others like birds of many-coloured plumage, others like baskets of flowers and vases, and others again of ordinary shape, but painted in the most costly manner. She passed into the next room, which was even more