d generous person, this plan would have been an ideal
one, but seeing that he was by nature a stingy, money-grubbing
individual, it was attended with the most tragic results.

No sooner had the deeds of the coveted plot of ground been passed over
to him than Yin had the body of his father, who had been buried in a
place far removed from the influence of the Dragon, transferred to this
new location, where he would be in touch with the higher spirits of the
Underworld. Here, also, he could catch the eye of the mandarin, who
day and night would have his face turned towards him, and who from the
very fact of the sympathy that would grow up between them, must in time
give him the mysterious power of turning his grandsons, and their sons
after them, into scholars, who would obtain high positions in the
service of the State.

In the meanwhile preparations were being made for the marriage of the
young maiden of low degree to a man in a much higher social position
than she could ever have aspired to in the ordinary course of events.
Pearl was a sweet, comely-looking damsel, who would have made a model
wife to one of her own station in life, but who was utterly unsuited
for the new dignity which would be thrust upon her as soon as she
crossed the threshold of the wealthy family of Yin. She was simply a
peasant girl, without education and without refinement. Her days had
been passed amidst scenes of poverty, and though she was a thoroughly
good girl, with the high ideals that the commonest people in China
everywhere have, her proper position was after all amongst the kind of
people with whom she had lived all her life.

Her father and mother had indeed all along been doubtful about the
propriety of marrying their daughter into a family so much above them
as the Yins, and for a long time they had stood out against all the
arguments in favour of it. Finally, overborne by the impetuosity of
Yin, and dazzled with the prospects which such an alliance offered not
only to the girl herself but also to themselves by the agreement to
keep them in comfort for the rest of their lives, they had given an
unwilling consent.

In order that Pearl should suffer as little disgrace as possible when
she appeared amongst her new relations, her father sold all his
available belongings in order to procure suitable wedding-garments for
her. His idea, however, of the fitness of things had been gathered
from the humble surroundings in which he had