all, he would
have given the letter to Hi-lie; but Hi-lie would not extend his hand to
take it. Therefore Tchin-King replaced it in his bosom, and folding his
arms, looked Hi-lie calmly in the face, and waited. Again Hi-lie waved
his gilded wand; and the roaring ceased, and the booming of the gongs,
until nothing save the fluttering of the Dragon-banner could be heard.
Then spake Hi-lie, with an evil smile,--

"Tchin-King, O son of a dog! if thou dost not now take the oath of
fealty, and bow thyself before me, and salute me with the salutation of
Emperors,--even with the _luh-kao_, the triple prostration,--into that
fire thou shalt be thrown."

But Tchin-King, turning his back upon the usurper, bowed himself a
moment in worship to Heaven and Earth; and then rising suddenly, ere any
man could lay hand upon him, he leaped into the towering flame, and
stood there, with folded arms, like a God.

Then Hi-lie leaped to his feet in amazement, and shouted to his men; and
they snatched Tchin-King from the fire, and wrung the flames from his
robes with their naked hands, and extolled him, and praised him to his
face. And even Hi-lie himself descended from his seat, and spoke fair
words to him, saying: "O Tchin-King, I see thou art indeed a brave man
and true, and worthy of all honor; be seated among us, I pray thee, and
partake of whatever it is in our power to bestow!"

But Tchin-King, looking upon him unswervingly, replied in a voice clear
as the voice of a great bell,--

"Never, O Hi-lie, shall I accept aught from thy hand, save death, so
long as thou shalt continue in the path of wrath and folly. And never
shall it be said that Tchin-King sat him down among rebels and traitors,
among murderers and robbers."

Then Hi-lie in sudden fury, smote him with his sword; and Tchin-King
fell to the earth and died, striving even in his death to bow his head
toward the South,--toward the place of the Emperor's palace,--toward the
presence of his beloved Master.

* * * * *

Even at the same hour the Son of Heaven, alone in the inner chamber of
his palace, became aware of a Shape prostrate before his feet; and when
he spake, the Shape arose and stood before him, and he saw that it was
Tchin-King. And the Emperor would have questioned him; yet ere he could
question, the familiar voice spake, saying:

"Son of Heaven, the mission confided to me I have performed; and thy
command hath been accomplished t