u-sas, one a
prefect, and the other a district magistrate. One part of his duty
consists of sending small demons to carry off the spirits of the
dying, of which spirits he afterward acts as ruler and judge. He is
supposed to exercise special care over the _k'u kuei_, or spirits
which have no descendants to worship and offer sacrifices to them,
and on the occasion of the Seventh Month Festival he is carried round
the city in his chair to maintain order among them, while the people
offer food to them, and burn paper money for their benefit. He is
also carried in procession at the Ch'ing Ming Festival, and on the
first day of the tenth month.

The Ch'eng-huang P'u-sa of the city of Yen Ch'eng is in the extremely
unfortunate predicament of having no skin to his face, which fact is
thus accounted for:

Once upon a time there lived at Yen Ch'eng an orphan boy who was
brought up by his uncle and aunt. He was just entering upon his teens
when his aunt lost a gold hairpin, and accused him of having stolen
it. The boy, whose conscience was clear in the matter, thought of a
plan by which his innocence might be proved.

"Let us go to-morrow to Ch'eng-huang P'u-sa's temple," he said, "and
I will there swear an oath before the god, so that he may manifest
my innocence."

They accordingly repaired to the temple, and the boy, solemnly
addressing the idol, said:

"If I have taken my aunt's gold pin, may my foot twist, and may I
fall as I go out of your temple door!"

Alas for the poor suppliant! As he stepped over the threshold his
foot twisted, and he fell to the ground. Of course, everybody was
firmly convinced of his guilt, and what could the poor boy say when
his own appeal to the god thus turned against him?

After such a proof of his depravity his aunt had no room in her house
for her orphan nephew, neither did he himself wish to stay with people
who suspected him of theft. So he left the home which had sheltered
him for years, and wandered out alone into the cold hard world. Many
a hardship did he encounter, but with rare pluck he persevered in
his studies, and at the age of twenty odd years became a mandarin.

In course of time our hero returned to Yen Ch'eng to visit his uncle
and aunt. While there he betook himself to the temple of the deity who
had dealt so hardly with him, and prayed for a revelation as to the
whereabouts of the lost hairpin. He slept that night in the temple,
and was rewarded by a vision in which