with, and overwhelmed by the priest's
kindness, Tokubei burst into tears, and answered, "Indeed, indeed, I
don't know what to say. In a fit of madness I was tempted to kill and
rob you. Fortune befriended me ever after; but the richer I grew, the
more keenly I felt how wicked I had been, and the more I foresaw that my
victim's vengeance would some day overtake me. Haunted by this thought,
I lost my nerve, till one night I beheld your spirit, and from that time
fell ill. But how you managed to escape, and are still alive, is more
than I can understand."

"A guilty man," said the priest, with a smile, "shudders at the rustling
of the wind or the chattering of a stork's beak; a murderer's conscience
preys upon his mind till he sees what is not. Poverty drives a man to
crimes which he repents of in his wealth. How true is the doctrine of
Moshi [Mencius], that the heart of man, pure by nature, is corrupted by
circumstances!"

Thus he held forth; and Tokubei, who had long since repented of his
crime, implored forgiveness, and gave him a large sum of money, saying,
"Half of this is the amount I stole from you three years since; the
other half I entreat you to accept as interest, or as a gift."

The priest at first refused the money; but Tokubei insisted on his
accepting it, and did all he could to detain him, but in vain; for the
priest went on his way, and bestowed the money on the poor and needy. As
for Tokubei himself, he soon shook off his disorder, and thenceforward
lived at peace with all men, revered both at home and abroad, and ever
intent on good and charitable deeds.

A CHINESE GIRL GRADUATE, By R. K. Douglas

Who among the three hundred million sons of Han does not know the
saying:

There's Paradise above, 't is true;
But here below we've Hang and Soo?
[Hangchow and Soochow]

And though no one will deny the beauty of those far-famed cities, they
cannot compare in grandeur of situation and boldness of features with
many of the towns of the providence of the "Four Streams." Foremost
among the favoured spots of this part of the empire is Mienchu, which,
as its name implies, is celebrated for the silky bamboos which grow
in its immediate neighbourhood. These form, however, only one of the
features of its loveliness. Situated at the foot of a range of mountains
which rise through all the gradations from rich and abundant verdure
to the region of eternal snow, it lies embosomed