ply.

"And what may the price be?" anxiously enquired the priest.

"The hat and robe will cost four thousand taels, and the crosier, which
is of the rarest materials and manufacture, will be sold for the same
amount."

At this a great laugh resounded through the crowd. In those days eight
thousand taels was a huge fortune which only one or two of the
wealthiest men of the State could have afforded to give. The
boisterous mirth, however, which convulsed the crowd when they heard
the fabulous sums asked by these strangers for their articles, soon
became hushed when the latter proceeded to explain that the sums
demanded were purposely prohibitive, in order that the sacred vestments
should not fall into the hands of anyone who was unworthy to possess
them.

"You are all aware," said one of the strangers, "that His Majesty the
Emperor, recognizing that the service for the dead which he is about to
hold is one of momentous importance, not only to the spirits suffering
in the Land of Shadows, but also to the prosperity and welfare of the
Chinese Empire, has already issued edicts to secure the presence of
some saintly and godly priest, who shall be worthy to superintend the
prayers that will be said for the men and women who are leading dreary
lives in the land over which Yam-lo rules."

The story of these two men spread with great rapidity throughout the
homes of all classes in the metropolis, and when it was understood that
they had no desire to make money by the rare and beautiful articles
which they readily displayed to the crowds that followed them whenever
they appeared on the streets, they began to be surrounded with a kind
of halo of romance. Men whispered to each other that these were no
common denizens of the earth, but fairies in disguise, who had come as
messengers from the Goddess of Mercy. The garments which they had with
them were such as no mortal eyes had ever beheld, and were clearly
intended for use only at some special ceremony of exceptional
importance such as that which the Emperor was planning to have carried
out.

At length rumours reached the palace of the strange scenes which were
daily taking place in the streets of the capital, and Li Shih-ming sent
officers to command the two strange priests to appear in his presence.

When they were brought before him, and he saw the wonderful robe
embroidered in delicate hues and colours such as no workman had ever
been known to design before, and gra