the one element which would have filled her heart with happiness,
was the one thing that was never offered her. Instead of affection
there were cruel, cutting words and scornful looks and heavy blows--all
these were plentifully bestowed upon her by the soulless man who was
called her husband.

At length, to show his utter contempt and abhorrence of her, he
arranged with the connivance of his father to bring a concubine into
his home. This lady came from a comparatively good family, and was
induced to take this secondary position because of the large sum of
money that was paid to her father for her. The misery of Pearl was
only intensified by her appearance on the scene. Following the lead of
her husband, and jealous of the higher position in the family that the
law gave her rival, she took every means that a spiteful woman could
devise to make her life still more miserable.

The death of her parents had filled Pearl's heart with such intense
grief and sorrow that life had lost all its charm for her. She saw,
moreover, from the sordid rejoicing that was openly made at their
tragic end, that the Yins would never be satisfied until she too had
followed them into the Land of Shadows. She would therefore anticipate
the cruel purposes of her husband and his father, and so deliver
herself from a persecution that would only cease with her death. So
one midnight, when all the rest of the family were asleep, and nothing
was heard outside but the moaning of the wind which seemed as though it
was preparing to sing a requiem over her, she put an end to all her
earthly troubles by hanging herself in her own room.

When the body was found next day, suspended from a hook in one of the
beams, a great cry of delight was uttered by Yin and his son. Without
any violence on their part they had been set free from their alliance
with this low-class family, and at a very small cost they had obtained
firm possession of the land which was to enrich and ennoble their
descendants.

And so whilst the poor girl lay dead, driven to an untimely end by
spirits more fierce and malignant than any that were supposed to be
flying with hatred in their hearts in the air around, smiles and
laughter and noisy congratulations were indulged in by the living
ghouls whose persecution had made this sweet-tempered woman's life
unbearable.

But retribution was at hand. Heaven moves slowly in the punishment of
the wicked, but its footsteps are sure and