the person in question to the most unbearable tortures, and then cause
him to lose his head publicly as an outrager of the settled state of
things and an enemy of those who loved tranquillity. Not doubting that
Li Keen would endeavour to gain an advantage by treachery if the
chance presented itself, Ling determined to go forth to meet him, and
without delay settle the entire disturbance in one well-chosen and
fatally-destructive encounter. To this end, rather than disturb the
placid mind of Mian, to whom the thought of the engagement would be
weighted with many disquieting fears, he gave out that he was going
upon an expedition to surprise and capture certain fish of a very
delicate flavour, and attended by only two persons, he set forth in
the early part of the day.

Some hours later, owing to an ill-considered remark on the part of the
deaf attendant, to whom the matter had been explained in an imperfect
light, Mian became possessed of the true facts of the case, and
immediately all the pleasure of existence went from her. She despaired
of ever again beholding Ling in an ordinary state, and mournfully
reproached herself for the bitter words which had risen to her lips
when the circumstance of his condition and the arrangement with Chang-
ch'un first became known to her. After spending an interval in a
polished lament at the manner in which things were inevitably tending,
the thought occurred to Mian whether by any means in her power she
could influence the course and settled method of affairs. In this
situation the memory of the person Wang, and the fact that on several
occasions he had made himself objectionable when Ling had proposed to
place himself in such a position that he incurred some very remote
chance of death by drowning or by fire, recurred to her. Subduing the
natural and pure-minded repulsion which she invariably experienced at
the mere thought of so debased an individual, she sought for him, and