inaman, followed by Dr.
Tio-King, take advantage of it to come near us. Pan Chao knows I am on
the staff of the _Twentieth Century_, and he is apparently as desirous
of talking to me as I am of talking to him.

I am not mistaken. He is a true Parisian of the boulevard, in the
clothes of a Celestial. He has spent three years in the world where
people amuse themselves, and also in the world where they learn. The
only son of a rich merchant in Pekin, he has traveled under the wing of
this Tio-King, a doctor of some sort, who is really the most stupid of
baboons, and of whom his pupil makes a good deal of fun.

Dr. Tio-King, since he discovered Cornaro's little book on the quays of
the Seine, has been seeking to make his existence conform to the "art
of living long in perfect health." This credulous Chinaman of the
Chinese had become thoroughly absorbed in the study of the precepts so
magisterially laid down by the noble Venetian. And Pan Chao is always
chaffing him thereupon, though the good man takes no notice.

We were not long before we had a few specimens of his monomania, for
the doctor, like his pupil, spoke very good French.

"Before we begin," said Pan Chao, "tell me, doctor, how many
fundamental rules there are for finding the correct amounts of food and
drink?"

"Seven, my young friend," replied Tio-King with the greatest
seriousness. "The first is to take only just so much nourishment as to
enable you to perform the purely spiritual functions."

"And the second?"

"The second is to take only such an amount of nourishment as will not
cause you to feel any dullness, or heaviness, or bodily lassitude. The
third--"

"Ah! We will wait there, to-day, if you don't mind, doctor," replied
Pan Chao. "Here is a certain maintuy, which seems rather good, and--"

"Take care, my dear pupil! That is a sort of pudding made of hashed
meat mixed with fat and spices. I fear it may be heavy--"

"Then, doctor, I would advise you not to eat it. For my part, I will
follow these gentlemen."

And Pan Chao did--and rightly so, for the maintuy was delicious--while
Doctor Tio-King contented himself with the lightest dish on the bill of
fare. It appeared from what Major Noltitz said that these maintuys
fried in fat are even more savory. And why should they not be,
considering that they take the name of "zenbusis," which signifies
"women's kisses?"

When Caterna heard this flattering phrase, he expressed his regret that
zenbus