t airs, and a great bell would toll
its evening warning. This bell was the third largest in the world, and
for five centuries it had given the signal for opening and closing the
gates of Seoul, the chief city of the "Land of the Morning Radiance."

At the stroke of the bell, with a great clang the gates were shut, and
strong bars were placed across the inner sides, not to be removed until
at early dawn the bell again gave its signal to the keepers.

To little Yung Pak, the loud tones of the bell meant more even than to
the sentinels at the gates. He knew that not only was it a signal for
the closing of the city gates, but it was also a warning that bedtime
was at hand.

The house in which Yung Pak lived was a very fine one, although the
grounds were not as spacious as those of many houses in the outskirts of
the city. But its walls were of stone, whereas many of the houses of
Seoul had walls of paper.

Yes, actually walls of paper!

But this paper was a very tough, fibrous substance, and would resist
quite a heavy blow as well as keep out the cold. Its slight cost brought
it within the means of the poorer people.

In some parts of Korea the houses were built of stout timbers, the
chinks covered with woven cane and plastered with mud. Neat hedges of
interlaced boughs surrounded them. The chimney was often simply a
hollow tree, not attached to the house.

Ki Pak's house was not only built of stone, but about it were four walls
of stone, about five feet high, to help keep out intruders. The wall was
surmounted by a rampart of plaited bamboo. In this wall were three
gates, corresponding to entrances into the house itself. One gate, the
largest, on the north side, was used only by Ki Pak himself, though
after he grew older Yung Pak could enter this gate with his father. The
second gate, on the east, was used by the family and friends of Ki Pak.
The third and smallest gate was reserved for the use of the servants.

The roof of this house was not covered with shingles, but with clay
tiles, coloured red. Many houses in the city had simply a roof-covering
of thatched straw.

The house was but a single story high, but in this respect the king's
palace itself was no better. There were three divisions to the house.
One was for the use of the men, a second for the women of the family,
and a third for the servants. Each division had a suitable number of
rooms for its occupants.

Yung Pak's own sleeping-room was a dainty a