nce. The body lay prepared as if
for a funeral. The clothes and the dressing of the hair, and the other
minute details necessary in laying out a body for burial, had all been
attended to. No outside hands need touch her, and no curious or
unsympathetic eyes be gratified by peering too deeply into the mystery
of her life.

The story spread with wonderful rapidity from the suburbs into the
city. There it was discussed in every home, gentle and simple. The
universal feeling was one of intense admiration for the devotion and
heroism which had caused the mother to sacrifice her life for her son,
and the mandarins and scholars petitioned the Emperor to issue an edict
permitting an arch to be erected in order that the memory of such a
noble woman should be kept alive for ever.

This petition was granted; and it was decided that the inscription to
be carved upon the arch should consist simply of these words: "THE
WONDERFUL MAN."

VIII

THE GOD OF THE CITY

One evening in the distant past a fisherman anchored his boat near the
bank of a stream which flowed close by a great city, whose walls could
be seen rising grey and rugged in the near distance. The sound of life
fell upon his ear and kept him from feeling lonely. Coolies, with
bamboo carrying-poles on their shoulders, tired out with the heavy work
of the day, hurried by afraid lest the darkness should overtake them
before they reached their homes. The bearers of sedan-chairs, which
they had carried for many a weary mile, strode by with quickened step
and with an imperious shout at the foot passengers to get out of their
way and not block up the narrow road by which they would gain the city
walls before the great gates were closed for the night.

By the time that the afterglow had died out of the sky and the distant
hills were blotted out of the horizon, the fisherman had finished the
cooking of his evening meal. The rice sent a fragrant odour from the
wide-mouthed pan in which it lay white and appetizing. A few of the
very small fish he had caught in the river had been fried to a brown
and savoury-looking colour, and he was just about to sit down and enjoy
his supper when, happening to look round, he saw a stranger sitting in
the after part of the boat.

He was greatly amazed and was about to express his surprise, when
something about the appearance of this unexpected visitor kept him
spell-bound. For the stranger had a fine scholarly look about him