man!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"And that is the cage!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"And I was in the cage--do you understand?"

"Yes--no! Please, my lord--"

"Well?" cried the Tiger, impatiently.

"Please, my lord!--how did you get in?"

"How!--why in the usual way, of course!"

"Oh, dear me!--my head is beginning to whirl again! Please don't be
angry, my lord, but what is the usual way?"

At this the Tiger lost patience, and, jumping into the cage, cried:
"This way! Now do you understand how it was?"

"Perfectly!" grinned the Jackal, as he dexterously shut the door, "and
if you will permit me to say so, I think matters will remain as they
were!"

[N] From "Indian Fairy Tales," edited by Joseph Jacobs; used
by permission of the publishers, G. P. Putnam's Sons.

THE STORY OF THE WILLOW PATTERN PLATE

RETOLD BY M. ALSTON BUCKLEY

Once upon a time there lived in China a rich and haughty mandarin, who
had great riches in lands, and horses, and priceless jewels. This great
man had one lovely daughter with soft black eyes, and raven hair that
scarcely could be told in texture from the silken robes she wore. The
mandarin loved his daughter and showered dazzling jewels on her, and
bought rich robes, heavy with choicest needlework, that she might wear
them.

Now the mandarin had a faithful secretary, a young man named Chang,
whose every thought was given to the business of the man he served. But
as he went about the house with downcast eyes, Chang saw the daughter of
the mandarin trip lightly to her father's side to whisper in the ear of
her indulgent parent, or flash across the hall, or through the garden
where she fed her goldfish in the lake, and when her mother called her
name, Kong Lee, it seemed to him like sounds of liquid music. The
mandarin talked always of his secretary, and said that he was honest and
true and good, and told the truth and did his work as well as ever any
man could do it.

Kong Lee learned to think of him and love him.

But the mandarin had a friend, a rich old man, who wished to marry Kong
Lee, and take her far away to be the mistress of his castle. Kong Lee
refused to marry this old man, and to punish her, her father shut her up
in the top room of a lonely house that stood on the lake shore. From her
windows she could see the lake, and she could see the willow tree that
dipped its drooping branches in the smooth, still water and seemed to
hang its head and weep for her. And when the