prince were to be carried on board, and a high ransom was to be extorted
from the great Regent, who they thought would offer any sum to get back
the cherished bones of his ancestor.

"The march from the landing-place to the tomb occupied longer than had
been anticipated, and crowds of astonished and angry natives followed the
procession of armed men. The latter finally reached the desired spot, a
funny little semi-spherical mound of earth, with a few stone figures of
men and ponies roughly carved on either side, and guarded by two stone
slabs.

"The 'abbé,' who, among other things, was said to have been the promoter
of the scheme, pointed out the mound, and, rejoicing with Oppert and
Jenkins at having been so far successful, gave orders to the coolies to
proceed at once to dig. Spades and shovels had been brought for the
purpose, and the little mound was rapidly being levelled, while the
turbulent crowd of infuriated Coreans which had collected was getting
more and more menacing. These seemed to spring out by hundreds from every
side as by magic, and the body-snatchers were soon more than ten times
outnumbered. No greater insult or infamous act could there be to a Corean
mind than the violation of a grave. As spadeful after spadeful of earth
was removed by the shaking hands of the frightened coolies, shouts,
hisses, and oaths went up from the maddened crowd, but Oppert and the
French abbé, half scared as they were, still pined for the hidden
treasure, and encouraged the grave-diggers with promises of rewards as
well as with the invigorating butt-ends of their rifles. At last, after
digging a big hole in the earth, their spades came upon a huge slab of
stone, which seemed to be the top of the sarcophagus."

"I suppose that no oath was bad enough for the three leaders, then?" said