tudy of the subject."

"Do you mean that that gentle old man----"

"Petrie, a certain M. Sokoloff, a Russian gentleman whose acquaintance
I made in Mandalay, related to me an episode that took place at the
house of the mandarin Ki-Ming in Canton. It actually occurrd in the
presence of M. Sokoloff, and therefore is worthy of your close attention.

"He had had certain transactions with Ki-Ming, and at their conclusion
received an invitation to dine with the mandarin. The entertainment
took place in a sort of loggia or open pavilion, immediately in front
of which was an ornamental lake, with numerous waterlilies growing
upon its surface. One of the servants, I think his name was Li,
dropped a silver bowl containing orange-flower water for pouring upon
the hands, and some of the contents lightly sprinkled M. Sokoloff's
garments.

"Ki-Ming spoke no word of rebuke, Petrie; he merely _looked_ at Li,
with those deceptive, gazelle-like eyes. Li, according to my
acquaintance account, began to make palpable and increasingly anxious
attempts to look anywhere rather than into the mild eyes of his
implacable master. M. Sokoloff, who, up to that moment, had
entertained similar views to your own respecting his host, regarded
this unmoving stare of Ki-Ming's as a sort of kindly, because silent,
reprimand. The behavior of the unhappy Li very speedily served to
disabuse his mind of that delusion.

"Petrie--the man grew livid, his whole body began to twitch and shake
as though an ague had attacked him; and his eyes protruded hideously
from their sockets! M. Sokoloff assured me that he _felt_ himself
turning pale--when Ki-Ming, very slowly, raised his right hand and
pointed to the pond.

"Li began to pant as though engaged in a life and death struggle with
a physically superior antagonist. He clutched at the posts of the
loggia with frenzied hands and a bloody froth came to his lips. He
began to move backward, step by step, step by step, all the time
striving, with might and main, to _prevent_ himself from doing so!
His eyes were set rigidly upon Ki-Ming, like the eyes of a rabbit
fascinated by a python. Ki-Ming continued to point.

"Right to the brink of the lake the man retreated, and there, for one
dreadful moment, he paused and uttered a sort of groaning sob. Then,
clenching his fists frenziedly, he stepped back into the water and
immediately sank among the lilies. Ki-Ming continued to gaze fixedly--
at the spot where bubbles w