ith a merry heart.

_The Lake of Gems_

Once upon a time, so very long ago that even the great-grandfathers of
our great-grandmothers had not been born, there lived in the city of
Kwen-lu a little Chinese boy named Pei-Hang.

His father and mother loved him dearly, and did all they could to
shield him from the power of the evil Genii, or spirits, of whom there
were a great many in China. Of course, there were some good Genii too,
but most of them were very much the reverse, and Pei-Hang's mother was
always taking precautions against them.

Now it is said that a wicked Geni will not come near a Chinese boy if
he has some red silk braided in with his pigtail, or if he wears a
silver chain round his neck.

And the most daring Geni has a great dread of old fishing-nets.

Pei-Hang's mother made him a little shirt out of an old fishing-net to
wear next to his skin, and she took care that his pigtail should be
plaited with the brightest red silk she could buy.

She was particular in having his head shaved in exactly the right way,
too, and to have a tuft left sticking up in the luckiest place.

With all these precautions Pei-Hang got safely over the troubles of
his babyhood, and grew from a little boy into a big one, and from a
boy to a tall and handsome youth; and he left off wearing his netted
shirt, although the silver chain still hung round his neck and there
was red silk in his pigtail.

"It is time that Pei-Hang saw a little more," said his father. "He
must go to Chang-ngan, and study under the wise men there, and find
out what the world is thinking about."

Chang-ngan was the old capital of China, a very great city indeed,
and Pin-Too, the master to whom Pei-Hang was sent was the wisest man
in it.

And there Pei-Hang soon learned what the world was thinking about, and
many things besides. And as soon as he was eighteen he took the red
silk out of his pigtail and the silver chain from his neck; for
grown-up people do not need charms to protect them from the
Genii--they can generally protect themselves.

When he was twenty, Pin-Too told him he could not teach him any more.

"It is time for you to go back to your parents, and comfort them in
their old age," he said.

He looked very sorry as he said it, for Pei-Hang had been his
favourite pupil.

"I will start to-morrow, Master," replied Pei-Hang, obediently. "I
will leave the city by the Golden Bridge."

"No, you must go by the Indigo Bridge, f