Perception and, clenching his teeth, he spitefully dashed it down on the
floor. "What rubbishy trash!" he cried. "I'll smash you to atoms and put
an end to the whole question!"

The jade, however, happened to be of extraordinary hardness, and did
not, after all, sustain the slightest injury from this single fall. When
Pao-yue realised that it had not broken, he forthwith turned himself
round to get the trinket with the idea of carrying out his design of
smashing it, but Tai-yue divined his intention, and soon started crying.
"What's the use of all this!" she demurred, "and why, pray, do you
batter that dumb thing about? Instead of smashing it, wouldn't it be
better for you to come and smash me!"

But in the middle of their dispute, Tzu Chuean, Hsueeh Yen and the other
maids promptly interfered and quieted them. Subsequently, however, they
saw how deliberately bent Pao-yue was upon breaking the jade, and they
vehemently rushed up to him to snatch it from his hands. But they failed
in their endeavours, and perceiving that he was getting more troublesome
than he had ever been before, they had no alternative but to go and call
Hsi Jen. Hsi Jen lost no time in running over and succeeded, at length,
in getting hold of the trinket.

"I'm smashing what belongs to me," remarked Pao-yue with a cynical smile,
"and what has that to do with you people?"

Hsi Jen noticed that his face had grown quite sallow from anger, that
his eyes had assumed a totally unusual expression, and that he had never
hitherto had such a fit of ill-temper and she hastened to take his hand
in hers and to smilingly expostulate with him. "If you've had a tiff
with your cousin," she said, "it isn't worth while flinging this down!