t the case," she concluded, "and if
you now order an examination of the body, it simply means that you have
suspicions about me, for no other person was with him but myself when
he died. I protest therefore against the body being examined. If,
however, you are determined to do so, I warn you that if you find no
signs of violence on it, you expose yourself according to the laws of
China to the punishment of death."

"I am quite prepared to take the responsibility," replied the mandarin,
"and I have already ordered the Coroner to open the coffin and to make
a careful examination of the body."

This was accordingly done, but no trace of injury, not even the
slightest bruise, could be discovered on any part of the dead man's
body.

The county magistrate was greatly distressed at this result of the
enquiry, and hastened to Shih-Kung in order to obtain his advice as to
what steps he should now take to escape the punishment of death which
he had incurred by his action. The Viceroy agreed that the matter had
indeed assumed a most serious aspect. "But you need not be anxious,"
he added, "about what you have done. You have only acted by my orders,
and therefore I assume all responsibility for the proceedings which you
have adopted to discover the murderer."

Late in the afternoon, as the sun began to disappear behind the
mountains of the west, Shih-Kung slipped out by a side door of his
yamen, dressed as a peddler of cloth, and with pieces of various kinds
of material resting on his shoulders. His disguise was so perfect that
no one, as he passed down the street, dreamed of suspecting that
instead of being a wandering draper, he was in reality the
Governor-General of the Province, who was trying to obtain evidence of
a murder that had recently been committed in his own capital.

Travelling on down one street after another, Shih-Kung came at last to
the outskirts of the town, where the dwellings were more scattered and
the population was less dense. By this time it was growing dark, so
when he came to a house that stood quite apart by itself, he knocked at
the door. An elderly woman with a pleasant face and a motherly look
about her asked him in a kind and gentle voice what he wanted.

"I have taken the liberty," he replied, "of coming to your house to see
whether you would not kindly allow me to lodge with you for the night.
I am a stranger in this region," he continued, "and have travelled far
from my home to sell