determined upon, he will be condemned to the lowest place of torment
reserved for those who fail at the end of an otherwise pure existence,
and in this he will never have an opportunity of meeting the very much
higher placed Ah-Ping, and of restoring to him the thirty-thousand
taels as agreed upon.'

"At these ill-destined words, all power of rigidness departed from
Ah-Ping's limbs, and he sank down upon the forbidding earth by Quen's
side.

"'O most unfortunate one who is now speaking,' he exclaimed, when at
length his guarding spirit deemed it prudent to restore his power of
expressing himself in words, 'happy indeed would have been your lot
had you been content to traffic in ginseng and other commodities of
which you have actual knowledge. O amiable Quen, this matter must be
in some way arranged without causing you to deviate from the
entrancing paths of your habitual virtue. Could not the very
reasonable Liao be induced to look favourably upon the attractions of
some low-priced maiden, in which case this not really hard-stomached
person would be willing to advance the necessary amount, until such
time as it could be restored, at a very low and unremunerative rate of
interest?'

"'This person has observed every variety of practical humility in the
course of his life,' replied Quen with commendable dignity, 'yet he
now finds himself totally unable to overcome an inward repugnance to
the thought of perpetuating his honoured name and race through the
medium of any low-priced maiden. To this end has he decided.'

"Those who were well acquainted with Ah-Ping in matters of commerce