rn in until he felt better. Sam Yen gladly accepted the offer
of his kindly disposed countryman, and Ah Moy hurriedly left for his own
laundry to get, he said, a very superior polishing iron, promising to
return in a few moments. When he found himself on Pennsylvania Avenue
near Four-and-a-half Street he entered the tea, spice, and curio
emporium of Quong Lee.

"Quong Lee was not only a shrewd merchant, but a skilful chemist as
well, and was regarded with deep reverence and esteem by his fellows.
The eminent man, had he been a trifle taller, would have readily been
taken for the great Li Hung Chang, spectacles and all; and it was owing
as much to this wonderful resemblance as to his wisdom and learning that
Chinatown groveled at his feet. He received Ah Moy effusively when the
latter, breathless and excited, burst into the stuffy little room at the
rear of the shop.

"'Welcome, thrice welcome, oh, Beautiful One,' said Quong Lee (not in
English, but in the liquid dialect of the Shansi region). 'It fills my
heart with joy to see you. Why have you thus deserted the lifelong
friend of your father?'

"Ah Moy smiled sardonically, for he had parted from Quong Lee but at
sunrise that morning, after a warm discussion over some of the nicer
points of the game, and the old man's query appealed very strongly to
his by no means undeveloped sense of humor.

"'Most excellent and revered sage,' replied Ah Moy dryly, 'pardon the
unheard-of negligence, and generously deign to overlook the
thoughtlessness of your sorrowing servant--do that; and, Quong Lee, you
must help me! Quickly! Quickly! I want a poison such as you can easily
distil. A mixture so deadly that the slightest contact with it is fatal!
Give me that, I pray you, and let me go. Hurry! Hurry! I am in haste!'

"'You ask much of me, Ah Moy, after your harsh, ill-timed words of the
morning,' remarked Quong Lee coldly.

"'Forget them, O Munificent; forget them,' said Ah Moy, deeply
contrite. 'Carried away by excitement, your abject slave considered
but lightly what he then so foolishly said, and now so fervently
regrets--and--and--let's drop this powwow, Quong Lee. I have no time for
it! I tell you, man, I am in a hurry!'

"Now, Quong Lee, while wholly in Ah Moy's power, and quite well aware of
it, exacted from all of his countrymen a certain amount of deference,
and was loath that his visitor should prove an exception to this
gratifying rule. Ah Moy knew this, but the li