xperience with one the sound of Lu-a's
harsh voice and the sight of his flying heels brought convulsions of
merriment. "He's pounding rice! He's pounding rice!" shouted the wag of
the party, and his companions flung themselves upon the grass and rolled
about laughing themselves sick.

With his followers rendered helpless and his steed continuing stubborn,
Mackay saw the struggle was useless. He could not compete alone with
Lu-a's firmness, so he gave orders that the obstinate little obstructer
of their journey be trotted back to his pasture.

"And to think that any one of us might have carried the little rascal
over!" he cried as he watched the donkey meekly depart. His students
looked at the little beast with something like respect. Lu-a had beaten
the dauntless Kai Bok-su who had never before been beaten by anything.
He was indeed a marvelous donkey!

So the journey to the Kap-tsu-lan plain was made on foot. It was a very
wearisome one and often dangerous. The mountain paths were steep and
difficult and the travelers knew that often the head-hunters lurked
near. But the way was wonderfully beautiful nevertheless. Standing on a
mountain height one morning and looking away down over wooded hills and
valleys and the lake-like terraces of the rice-fields, Mackay repeated
to his students a line of the old hymn:

Every prospect pleases and only man is vile.

Around them the stately tree-fern lifted its lovely fronds and the
orchids dotted the green earth like a flock of gorgeous butterflies just
settled. Tropical birds of brilliant plumage flashed among the
trees. Beside them a great tree raised itself, fairly covered with
morning-glories, and over at their right a mountainside gleamed like
snow in the sunlight, clothed from top to bottom with white lilies.

But the way had its dangers as well as its beauties. They were passing
the mouth of a ravine when they were stopped by yells and screams of
terror coming from farther up the mountainside. In a few minutes a
Chinaman darted out of the woods toward them. His face was distorted
with terror and he could scarcely get breath to tell his horrible story.
He and his four companions had been chipping the camphor trees up in the
woods; suddenly the armed savages had leaped out upon them and he alone
of the five had escaped.

At last they left the dangerous mountain and came down into the
Kap-tsu-lan plain. On every side was rice-field after rice-field, with
the water pou