Tao freely. "Thus their absence
involves me in much ill-spared delay."

At this avowal the stranger's looks became more sombre, and he
breathed inwards several times between his formidable teeth before he
made reply.

"This is doubtless your angle, but there is another; nor is it well to
ignore the saying, 'Should you miss the tiger be assured that he will
not miss you,'" he remarked at length. "Have you sufficiently
considered the eventuality of a dragon killing you?"

"It is no less aptly said: 'To be born is in the course of nature, but
to die is according to the decree of destiny.'"

"That is a two-edged weapon, and the dragon may be the first to apply
it."

"In that case this person will fall back upon the point of the adage:
'It is better to die two years too soon than to live one year too
long,'" replied Chang Tao. "Should he fail in the adventure and thus
lose all hope of Melodious Vision, of the house of Shen, there will be
no further object in prolonging a wearisome career."

"You speak of Melodious Vision, she being of the house of Shen," said
the stranger, regarding his companion with an added scrutiny. "Is the
unmentioned part of her father's honourable name Yi, and is his
agreeable house so positioned that it fronts upon a summer-seat domed
with red copper?"

"The description is exact," admitted Chang Tao. "Have you, then, in
the course of your many-sided travels, passed that way?"

"It is not unknown to me," replied the other briefly. "Learn now how
incautious had been your speech, and how narrowly you have avoided the
exact fate of which I warned you. The one speaking to you is in
reality a powerful dragon, his name being Pe-lung, from the
circumstance that the northern limits are within his sway. Had it not
been for a chance reference you would certainly have been struck dead
at the parting of our ways."

"If this is so it admittedly puts a new face upon the matter," agreed
Chang Tao. "Yet how can reliance be spontaneously placed upon so
incredible a claim? You are a man of moderate cast, neither diffident
nor austere, and with no unnatural attributes. All the dragons with
which history is concerned possess a long body and a scaly skin, and
have, moreover, the power of breathing fire at will."

"That is easily put to the test." No sooner had Pe-lung uttered these
words than he faded, and in his place appeared a formidable monster
possessing all the terror-inspiring characteristics of his ki