ver it pleases. Remember that if you fail to carry
out this part of the bargain, great sorrow will come upon you and your
home."

Little did either of them dream that the fish was the presiding God of
the River, who for purposes of his own had transformed himself into
this form, and who, while swimming up and down the stream had been
caught in the net of the fisherman.

After travelling for some hours Kwang-Jui and his wife came to the bank
of a considerable river, where they hired a large boat to convey them
to their destination.

The boatman they engaged was a man of very low character. He had
originally been a scholar and of good family, but, utterly depraved and
immoral, he had gradually sunk lower and lower in society, until at
last he had been compelled to fly from his home to a distant province,
and there to engage in his present occupation in order to earn his
living. The large amount of property which Kwang-Jui had with him
seemed to arouse the worst passions in this man, and while the boat was
being carried along by a fair wind and a flowing tide, he planned in
his mind how he was to become the possessor of it. By the time that
they reached the place where they were to anchor for the night, he had
already decided what measures he should adopt.

A little after midnight, accordingly, he crept stealthily towards the
place where Kwang-Jui was sleeping, stabbed him to the heart and threw
his body into the fast-flowing river. He next threatened the wife that
if she dared to utter a sound, he would murder her also and send her to
join her husband in the Land of Shadows. Paralyzed with terror, she
remained speechless, only a stifled sob and groan now and again
breaking from her agonized heart. Her first serious idea was to commit
suicide, and she was preparing to fling herself into the water that
gurgled along the sides of the boat, when she was restrained by the
thought that if she destroyed herself, she would never be able to
avenge her husband's death or bring punishment upon the villain who had
just murdered him.

It was not mere robbery, however, that was in the mind of the man who
had committed this great crime. He had bigger ideas than that. He had
noticed that in personal appearance he very much resembled his victim,
so he determined to carry out the daring project of passing himself off
as Kwang-Jui, the mandarin whom the Emperor had despatched to take up
the appointment of Prefect.

Having t