CHAPTER VI
The High-minded Strategy of the Amiable Hwa-mei
Warned by the mischance attending his previous meeting with Hwa-mei,Kai Lung sought the walled enclosure at the earliest moment of hispermitted freedom, and secreting himself among the interlacing growthhe anxiously awaited the maiden's coming.
Presently a movement in the trees without betrayed a presence, and thestory-teller was on the point of disclosing himself at the shutterwhen the approaching one displayed an unfamiliar outline. Instead of amaiden of exceptional symmetry and peach-like charm an elderly anddeformed hag drew near. As she might be hostile to his cause, Kai Lungdeemed it prudent to remain concealed; but in case she should prove tobe an emissary from Hwa-mei seeking him, his purpose was to standrevealed. To combine these two attitudes until she should declareherself was by no means an easy task, but she looked neither near norfar in scrutiny until she stood, mumbling and infirm, beneath theshutter.
"It is well, minstrel," she called aloud. "She whom you await bid megreet you with a sign." At Kai Lung's feet there fell a crimsonflower, growing on a thorny stem. "What word shall I in turn bearback? Speak freely, for her mind is as my open hand."
"Tell me rather," said Kai Lung, looking out, "how she fares and whataverts her footsteps?"
"That will appear in due time," replied the aged one. "In themeanwhile I have her message to declare. Three times foiled in hismalignant scheme the now obscene Ming-shu sets all the Axioms atnaught. Distrusting you and those about your path, it is his sinisterintention to call up for judgment Kai-moo, who lies within thewomen's cell beyond the Water Way."
"What is her crime and how will this avail him?"
"Charged with the murder of her man by means of the supple splinterher condemnation is assured. The penalty is piecemeal slicing, and init are involved those of her direct line, in the humane effort toeradicate so treacherous a strain."
"That is but just," agreed Kai Lung.
"Truly. But on the slender ligament of a kindred name you will bejoined with her in that end. Ming-shu will see to it that records ofyour kinship are not lacking. Being accused of no crime on your ownbehalf there will be nothing for you to appear against."
"It is written: 'Even leprosy may be cured, but the enmity of anofficial underling can never be dispelled,' and the malice of thepersistent Ming-shu certainly points to the wisdom of the verse. Isthe person of Kai-moo known to you, and where is the prison-house youspeak of?"
To this the venerable creature replied that the cell in question wasin a distant quarter of the city. Kai-moo, she continued, might beregarded as fashioned like herself, being deformed in shape andrepellent in appearance. Furthermore, she was of deficientunderstanding, these things aiding Ming-shu's plan, as she would bedifficult to reach and impossible to instruct when reached.
"The extremity is almost hopeless enough to be left to theever-protecting spirits of one's all-powerful Ancestors," declared KaiLung at length. "Did she from whom you come forecast any confidence?"
"She had some assurance in a certain plan, which it is my message todeclare to you."
"Her wisdom is to be computed neither by a rule nor by a measure. Sayon."
"The keeper of the women's prison-house lies within her hollowed hand,nor will silver be wanting to still any arising doubt. Wrapped inprison garb, and with her face disguised by art, she whose word I bearwill come forth at the appointed call and, taking her place beforeShan Tien, will play a fictitious part."
"Alas! dotard," interrupted Kai Lung impatiently, "it would be well ifI spent my few remaining hours in kowtowing to the Powers whom I shallshortly meet. An aged and unsightly hag! Know you not, O venerablebat, that the smooth perfection of the one you serve would shinedazzling through a beaten mask of tempered steel? Her matchless hair,glossier than a starling's wing, floats like an autumn cloud. Her eyesstrike fire from damp clay, or make the touch of velvet harsh andstubborn, according to her several moods. Peach-bloom held against hercheek withers incapably by comparison. Her feet, if indeed she hassuch commonplace attributes at all, are smaller--"
"Yet," interrupted the hag, in a changed and quite melodious voice,"if it is possible to delude the imagination of one whose longing eyesdwell so constantly on these threadbare charms, what then will be theposition of the obtuse Ming-shu and the superficial Mandarin ShanTien, burdened as they now are by outside cares?"
"There are times when the classical perfection of our graceful tongueis strangely inadequate to express emotion," confessed Kai Lung,colouring deeply, as Hwa-mei stood revealed before him. "It is trulysaid: 'The ingenuity of a guileless woman will undermine ninemountains.' You have cut off all the words of my misgivings."
"To that end have I wrought, for in this I also need your skill.Listen well and think deeply as I speak. Everywhere the outcome of thestrife grows more uncertain day by day and no man really knows whichside to favour yet. In this emergency each plays a double part. Whilevisibly loyal to the Imperial cause, the Mandarin Shan Tien fans thewhisper that in secret he upholds the rebellious banners. Ming-shu nowopenly avers that if this and that are thus and thus the rising hasjustice in its ranks, while at the same time he has it put abroad thatthis is but a cloak the better to serve the state. Thus every manmaintains a double face in the hope that if the one side fails theother will preserve him, and as a band all pledge to save (or if needbe to betray) each other."
"This is the more readily understood as it is the common case on everylike occasion."
"Then doubtless there are instances waiting on your lips. Teach mesuch a story whereby the hope of those who are thus swayed may beengaged and leave the rest to my arranging hand."
On the following day at the appointed hour a bent and forbidding hagwas brought before Shan Tien, and the nature of her offenceproclaimed.
"It is possible to find an excuse for almost everything, regarding itfrom one angle or another," remarked the Mandarin impartially; "butthe crime of destroying a husband--and by a means so unpleasantlyinsinuating--really seems to leave nothing to be said."
"Yet, imperishable, even a bad coin must have two sides," replied thehag. "That I should be guilty and yet innocent would be no morewonderful than the case of Weng Cho, who, when faced with thealternative of either defying the Avenging Societies or of opposingfixed authority found a way out of escaping both."
"That should be worth--that is to say, if you base your defence uponan existing case--"
"Providing the notorious thug Kai Lung is not thereby brought in,"suggested the narrow-minded Ming-shu, who equally desired to learn thestratagem involved.
"Weng Cho was the only one concerned," replied the ancientobtusely--"he who escaped the consequences. Is it permitted to thisone to make clear her plea?"
"If the fatigue is not more than your venerable personality canreasonably bear," replied Shan Tien courteously.
"To bear is the lot of every woman, be she young or old," replied theone before them. "I comply, omnipotence."
The Story of Weng Cho; or, the One Devoid of Name
There was peach-blossom in the orchards of Kien-fi, a blue sky above,and in the air much gladness; but in Wu Chi's yamen gloom hung likethe herald of a thunderstorm. At one end of a table in the ceremonialhall sat Wu Chi, heaviness upon his brow, deceit in his eyes, and asour enmity about the lines of his mouth; at the other end stood hisson Weng, and between them, as it were, his whole life lay.
Wu Chi was an official of some consequence and had two wives, asbecame him. His union with the first had failed in its essentialpurpose; therefore he had taken another to carry on the direct linewhich alone could bring him contentment in this world and a reputableexistence in the next. This degree of happiness was supplied by Weng'smother, yet she must ever remain but a "secondary wife," with norights and a very insecure position. In the heart of the chief wifesmouldered a most bitter hatred, but the hour of her ascendancy came,for after many years she also bore her lord a so
n. Thenceforward shewas strong in her authority; but Weng's mother remained, for she wasvery beautiful, and despite all the arts of the other woman Wu Chicould not be prevailed upon to dismiss her. The easy solution of thisdifficulty was that she soon died--the "white powder death" was theshrewd comment of the inner chambers of Kien-fi.
Wu Chi put on no mourning, custom did not require it; and now that thewoman had Passed Beyond he saw no necessity to honour her memory atthe expense of his own domestic peace. His wife donned her gayestrobes and made a feast. Weng alone stood apart, and in funerealsackcloth moved through the house like an accusing ghost. Each day hisfather met him with a frown, the woman whom alone he must regard ashis mother with a mocking smile, but he passed them without any wordof dutiful and submissive greeting. The period of all seemly mourningended--it touched that allotted to a legal parent; still Weng casthimself down and made no pretence to hide his grief. His father'sfrown became a scowl, his mother's smile framed a biting word. A wiseand venerable friend who loved the youth took him aside one day andwith many sympathetic words counselled restraint.
"For," he said, "your conduct, though affectionate towards the dead,may be urged by the ill-disposed as disrespectful towards the living.If you have a deeper end in view, strive towards it by a less openpath."
"You are subtle and esteemed in wisdom," replied Weng, "but neither ofthose virtues can restore a broken jar. The wayside fountain must oneday dry up at its source, but until then not even a mountain placedupon its mouth can pen back its secret stores. So is it with unfeignedgrief."
"The analogy may be exact," replied the aged friend, shaking his head,"but it is no less truly said: 'The wise tortoise keeps his paininside.' Rest assured, on the disinterested advice of one who has nogreat experience of mountains and hidden springs, but a life-longknowledge of Wu Chi and of his amiable wife, that if you mourn toomuch you will have reason to mourn more."
His words were pointed to a sharp edge. At that moment Wu Chi wasbeing confronted by his wife, who stood before him in his innerchamber. "Who am I?" she exclaimed vehemently, "that my authorityshould be denied before my very eyes? Am I indeed Che of the house ofMeng, whose ancestors wore the Yellow Scabbard, or am I some namelessone? Or does my lord sleep, or has he fallen blind upon the side bywhich Weng approaches?"
"His heart is bad and his instincts perverted," replied Wu Chi dully."He ignores the rites, custom, and the Emperor's example, and sets atdefiance all the principles of domestic government. Do not fear that Ishall not shortly call him to account with a very heavy call."
"Do so, my lord," said his wife darkly, "or many valiant champions ofthe House of Meng may press forward to make a cast of that sameaccount. To those of our ancient line it would not seem a trivialthing that their daughter should share her rights with a purchasedslave."
"Peace, cockatrice! the woman was well enough," exclaimed Wu Chi, withslow resentment. "But the matter of this obstinacy touches the dignityof my own authority, and before to-day has passed Weng shall bring uphis footsteps suddenly before a solid wall."
Accordingly, when Weng returned at his usual hour he found his fatherawaiting him with curbed impatience. That Wu Chi should summon himinto his presence in the great hall was of itself an omen that thematter was one of moment, but the profusion of lights before theAncestral Tablets and the various symbols arranged upon the tableshowed that the occasion was to be regarded as one involvingirrevocable issues.
"Weng Cho," said his father dispassionately, from his seat at the headof the table, "draw near, and first pledge the Ancient Ones whosespirits hover above their Tablets in a vessel of wine."
"I am drinking affliction and move under the compact of a solemn vow,"replied Weng fixedly, "therefore I cannot do this; nor, as signs aregiven me to declare, will the forerunners of our line, who from theirhigh places look down deep into the mind and measure the heart with animpartial rod, deem this an action of disrespect to their illustriousshades."
"It is well to be a sharer of their councils," said Wu Chi, withpointed insincerity. "But," he continued, in the same tone, "for whomcan Weng Cho of the House of Wu mourn? His father is before him in hiswonted health; in the inner chamber his mother plies an unfalteringneedle; while from the Dragon Throne the supreme Emperor still rulesthe world. Haply, however, a thorn has pierced his little finger, ordoes he perchance bewail the loss of a favourite bird?"
"That thorn has sunk deeply into his existence, and the memory of thatloss still dims his eyes with bitterness," replied Weng. "Bid the raincease to fall when the clouds are heavy."
"The comparison is ill-chosen," cried Whu Chi harshly. "Rather shouldthe allusion be to the evil tendency of a self-willed branch which, inspite of the continual watering of precept and affection, maintainsits perverted course, and must henceforth either submit to be bounddown into an appointed line, or be utterly cut off so that the treemay not suffer. Long and patiently have I marked your footsteps, WengCho, and they are devious. This is not a single offence, but it is nolight one. Appointed by the Board of Ceremony, approved of by theEmperor, and observed in every loyal and high-minded subject are thedetails of the rites and formalities which alone serve to distinguisha people refined and humane from those who are rude and barbarous. Bysetting these observances at defiance you insult their framers, acttraitorously towards your sovereign, and assail the foundations ofyour House; for your attitude is a direct reflection upon others; andif you render such a tribute to one who is incompetent to receive it,how will you maintain a seemly balance when a greater occasionarises?"
"When the earth that has nourished it grows cold the leaves of thebranch fall--doubtless the edicts of the Board referred to havingfailed to reach their ears," replied Weng bitterly. "Revered father,is it not permitted that I should now depart? Behold I am stricken andout of place."
"You are evil and your heart is fat with presumptuous pride!"exclaimed Wu Chi, releasing the cords of his hatred and anger so thatthey leapt out from his throat like the sudden spring of a tiger froma cave. "Evil in birth, grown under an evil star and now come to afull maturity. Go you shall, Weng Cho, and that on a straight journeyforthwith or else bend your knees with an acquiescent face." Withthese words he beat furiously on a gong, and summoning the entirehousehold he commanded that before Weng should be placed a jar of wineand two glass vessels, and on the other side a staff and a pair ofsandals. From an open shutter the face of the woman Che looked down inmocking triumph.
The alternatives thus presented were simple and irrevocable. On theone hand Weng must put from him all further grief, ignore his vows,and join in mirth and feast; on the other he must depart, never toreturn, and be deprived of every tie of kinship, relinquishingancestry, possessions and name. It was a course severer than anythingthat Wu Chi had intended when he sent for his son, but resentment haddistorted his eyesight. It was a greater test than Weng hadanticipated, but his mind was clear, and his heart charged withfragrant memories of his loss. Deliberately but with silent dignity hepoured the untasted wine upon the ground, drew his sword and touchedthe vessels lightly so that they broke, took from off his thumb thejade ring inscribed with the sign of the House of Wu, and putting onthe sandals grasped the staff and prepared to leave the hall.
"Weng Cho, for the last time spoken of as of the House of Wu, nowalienated from that noble line, and henceforth and for ever anoutcast, you have made a choice and chosen as befits your rebelliouslife. Between us stretches a barrier wider and deeper than the YellowSea, and throughout all future time no sign shall pass from thatdistant shore to this. From every record of our race your name shallbe cut out; no mention of it shall profane the Tablets, and both inthis world and the next it shall be to us as though you have neverbeen. As I break this bowl so are all ties broken, as I quench thiscandle so are all memories extinguished, and as, when you go, thespace is filled with empty air, so shall it be."
"Ho, nameless stranger," laughed the woman from above, "here is foodand drink to bear you on your way"; and from the grille she
threw awithered fig and spat.
"The fruit is the cankered effort of a barren tree," cast back Wengover his shoulder. "Look to your own offspring, basilisk. It is givenme to speak." Even as he spoke there was a great cry from the upperpart of the house, the sound of many feet and much turmoil, but hewent on his way without another word.
Thus it was that Weng Cho came to be cut off from the past. From hisfather's house he stepped out into the streets of Kien-fi a beingwithout a name, destitute, and suffering the pangs of many keenemotions. Friends whom he encountered he saluted distantly, notdesirous of sharing their affection until they should have learned hisstate; but there was one who stood in his mind as removed above thepossibility of change, and to the summer-house of Tiao's home hetherefore turned his steps.
Tiao was the daughter of a minor official, an unsuccessful man of noparticular descent. He had many daughters, and had encouraged Weng'saffection, with frequent professions that he regarded only the youth'svirtuous life and discernment, and would otherwise have desired onenot so highly placed. Tiao also had spoken of rice and contentment ina ruined pagoda. Yet as she listened to Weng's relation a newexpression gradually revealed itself about her face, and when he hadfinished many paces lay between them.
"A breaker of sacred customs, a disobeyer of parents and an outcast!How do you disclose yourself!" she exclaimed wildly. "What vile thinghas possessed you?"
"One hitherto which now rejects me," replied Weng slowly. "I hadthought that here alone I might find a familiar greeting, but thatalso fails."
"What other seemly course presents itself?" demanded the maidenunsympathetically. "How degrading a position might easily become thatof the one who linked her lot with yours if all fit and propersequences are to be reversed! What menial one might supplant her notonly in your affections but also in your Rites! He had defied thePrinciples!" she exclaimed, as her father entered from behind ascreen.
"He has lost his inheritance," muttered the little old man, eyeing himcontemptuously. "Weng Cho," he continued aloud, "you have played adouble part and crossed our step with only half your heart. Now thepast is past and the future an unwritten sheet."
"It shall be written in vermilion ink," replied Weng, regaining animpassive dignity; "and upon that darker half of my heart can now betraced two added names."
He had no aim now, but instinct drove him towards the mountains, theretreat of the lost and despairing. A three days' journey lay between.He went forward vacantly, without food and without rest. A fallingleaf, as it is said, would have turned the balance of his destiny, andat the wayside village of Li-yong so it chanced. The noisome smell ofburning thatch stung his face as he approached, and presently theobject came into view. It was the bare cabin of a needy widow who hadbecome involved in a lawsuit through the rapacity of a tax-gatherer.As she had the means neither to satisfy the tax nor to discharge thedues, the powerful Mandarin before whom she had been called orderedall her possessions to be seized, and that she should then be burnedwithin her hut as a warning to others. This was the act of justicebeing carried out, and even as Weng heard the tale the Mandarin inquestion drew near, carried in his state chair to satisfy his eyesthat his authority was scrupulously maintained. All those villagerswho had not drawn off unseen at once fell upon their faces, so thatWeng alone remained standing, doubtful what course to take.
"Ill-nurtured dog!" exclaimed the Mandarin, stepping up to him,"prostrate yourself! Do you not know that I am of the Sapphire Button,and have fivescore bowmen at my yamen, ready to do my word?" And hestruck the youth across the face with a jewelled rod.
"I have only one sword, but it is in my hand," cried Weng, recklessbeneath the blow, and drawing it he at one stroke cut down theMandarin before any could raise a hand. Then breaking in the door ofthe hovel he would have saved the woman, but it was too late, so hetook the head and body and threw them into the fire, saying: "There,Mandarin, follow to secure justice. They shall not bear witnessagainst you Up There in your absence."
The chair-carriers had fled in terror, but the villagers murmuredagainst Weng as he passed through them. "It was a small thing that onehouse and one person should be burned; now, through this, the wholevillage will assuredly be consumed. He was a high official and visitedjustice impartially on us all. It was our affair, and you, who are astranger, have done ill."
"I did you wrong, Mandarin," said Weng, resuming his journey; "youtook me for one of them. I pass you the parting of the woman Che,burrowers in the cow-heap called Li-yong."
"Oi-ye!" exclaimed a voice behind, "but yonder earth-beetles haplyhave not been struck off the Tablets and found that a maiden withwell-matched eyes can watch two ways at once, all of a morning: andthereby death through red spectacles is not that same death throughblue spectacles. Things in their appointed places, noble companion."
"Greetings, wayfarer," said Weng, stopping. "The path narrows somewhatinconveniently hereabout. Take honourable precedence."
"The narrower the better to defend then," replied the strangergood-humouredly. "Whereto, also, two swords cut a larger slice thanone. Without doubt fivescore valiant bowmen will soon be a-rangingwhen they hear that the enemy goes upon two feet, and then ill befallwho knows not the passes." As he spoke an arrow, shot from a distance,flew above their heads.
"Why should you bear a part with me, and who are you who know theserecent things?" demanded Weng doubtfully.
"I am one of many, we being a branch of that great spreading lotus theTriad, though called by the tillers here around the League ofTomb-Haunters, because we must be sought in secret places. The thingsI have spoken I know because we have many ears, and in our care awhisper passes from east to west and from north to south without aword being spilled."
"And the price of your sword is that I should join the confederacy?"asked Weng thoughtfully.
"I had set out to greet you before the estimable Mandarin who is nowsaluting his ancestors was so inopportune as to do so," replied theemissary. "Yet it is not to be denied that we offer an adequateprotection among each other, while at the same time punishing guiltand administering a rigorous justice secretly."
"Lead me to your meeting-place, then," said Weng determinedly. "I havedone with the outer things."
The guide pointed to a rock, shaped like a locust's head, which markedthe highest point of the steep mountain before them. Soon the fertilelowlands ended and they passed beyond the limit of the inhabitableregion. Still ascending they reached the Tiger's High Retreat, whichdefines the spot where even the animal kind turn back and wherewatercourses cease to flow. Beyond this the most meagre indication ofvegetable sustenance came to an end, and thenceforward their passagewas rendered more slow and laborious by frequent snow-storms, barriersof ice, and sudden tempests which strove to hurl them to destruction.Nevertheless, by about the hour of midnight they reached the rockshaped like a locust's head, which stood in the wildest and mostinaccessible part of the mountain, and masked the entrance to astrongly-guarded cave. Here Weng suffered himself to be blindfolded,and being led forward he was taken into the innermost council. Closelyquestioned, he professed a spontaneous desire to be admitted intotheir band, to join in their dangers and share their honours;whereupon the oath was administered to him, the passwords and secretsigns revealed, and he was bound from that time forth, under the bondsof a most painful death and torments in the afterworld, to submergeall passions save those for the benefit of their community, and tocherish no interests, wrongs or possessions that did not affect themall alike.
For the space of seven years Weng remained about the shadow of themountain, carrying out, together with the other members of the band,the instructions which from time to time they received from the highercircles of the Society, as well as such acts of retributive justice asthey themselves determined upon, and in this quiet and unostentatiousmanner maintaining peace and greatly purifying the entire province. Inthis passionless subservience to the principles of the Order noneexceeded him; yet at no time have men been forbidden to burnjoss-sticks t
o the spirit of the destinies, and who shall say?
At the end of seven years the first breath from out of the pastreached Weng (or Thang, as he had announced himself to be when castout nameless). One day he was summoned before the chief of theircompany and a mission laid upon him.
"You have proved yourself to be capable and sincere in the past, andthis matter is one of delicacy," said the leader. "Furthermore, it isreported that you know something of the paths about Kien-fi?"
"There is not a forgotten turn within those paths by which I mightstumble in the dark," replied Weng, striving to subdue his mind.
"See that out of so poignant a memory no more formidable barrier thana forgotten path arises," said the leader, observing him closely."Know you, then a house bearing as a sign the figure of a goldenibis?"
"Truly; I have noted it," replied Weng, changing his position, so thathe now leaned against a rock. "There dwelt an old man of some lowerofficial rank, who had no son but many daughters."
"He has Passed, and one of those--Tiao by name," said the other,referring to a parchment--"has schemingly driven out the rest and heldthe patrimony. Crafty and ambitious, she has of late married a highofficial who has ever been hostile to ourselves. Out of a privateenmity the woman seeks the lives of two who are under our most solemnprotection, and now uses her husband's wealth and influence to thatend. It is on him that the blow must fall, for men kill only men, andshe, having no son, will then be discredited and impotent."
"And concerning this official?" asked Weng.
"It has not been thought prudent to speak of him by name," replied thechief. "Stricken with a painful but not dangerous malady he hasretired for a time to the healthier seclusion of his wife's house, andthere he may be found. The woman you will know with certainty by acrescent scar--above the right eye."
"Beneath the eye," corrected Weng instantly.
"Assuredly, beneath: I misread the sign," said the head, appearing toconsult the scroll. "Yet, out of a keen regard for your virtues,Thang, let me point a warning that it is antagonistic to our strictrule to remember these ancient scars too well. Further, in accordancewith that same esteem, do not stoop too closely nor too long toidentify the mark. By our pure and exacting standard no highattainment in the past can justify defection. The pains and penaltiesof failure you well know."
"I bow, chieftain," replied Weng acquiescently.
"It is well," said the chief. "Your strategy will be easy. To curethis lord's disorder a celebrated physician is even now travellingfrom the Capital towards Kien-fi. A day's journey from that place hewill encounter obstacles and fall into the hands of those who willtake away his robes and papers. About the same place you will meet onewith a bowl on the roadside who will hail you, saying, 'Charity, outof your superfluity, noble mandarin coming from the north!' To him youwill reply, 'Do mandarins garb thus and thus and go afoot? It is I whoneed a change of raiment and a chair; aye, by the token of theLocust's Head!' He will then lead you to a place where you will findall ready and a suitable chair with trusty bearers. The rest liesbeneath your grinding heel. Prosperity!"
Weng prostrated himself and withdrew. The meeting by the waysidebefell as he had received assurance--they who serve the Triad do notstumble--and at the appointed time he stood before Tiao's door andcalled for admission. He looked to the right and the left as one whoexamines a new prospect, and among the azalea flowers the burnishedroof of the summer-house glittered in the sun.
"Lucky omens attend your coming, benevolence," said the chiefattendant obsequiously; "for since he sent for you an unpropitiousplanet has cast its influence upon our master, so that his powerlanguishes."
"Its malignity must be controlled," said Weng, in a feigned voice, forhe recognized the one before him. "Does any watch?"
"Not now," replied the attendant; "for he has slept since these twohours. Would your graciousness have speech with the one of the innerchamber?"
"In season perchance. First lead me to your lord's side and then seethat we are undisturbed until I reappear. It may be expedient toinvoke a powerful charm without delay."
In another minute Weng stood alone in the sick man's room, betweenthem no more barrier than the silk-hung curtains of the couch. He sliddown his right hand and drew a keen-edged knife; about his left helooped the even more fatal cord; then advancing with a noiseless stephe pulled back the drapery and looked down. It was the moment forswift and silent action; nothing but hesitation and delay couldimperil him, yet in that supreme moment he stepped back, released thecurtain from his faltering grasp and, suffering the weapons to fallunheeded to the floor, covered his face with his hands, for lyingbefore him he had seen the outstretched form, the hard contemptuousfeatures, of his father.
Yet most solemnly alienated from him in every degree. By Wu Chi's ownacts every tie of kinship had been effaced between them: the bowl hadbeen broken, the taper blown out, empty air had filled his place. WuChi acknowledged no memory of a son; he could claim no reverence as afather. . . . Tiao's husband. . . . Then he was doublychildless. . . . The woman and her seed had withered, as he hadprophesied.
On the one hand stood the Society, powerful enough to protect him inevery extremity, yet holding failure as treason; most terrible andinexorable towards set disobedience. His body might find a painlessescape from their earthly torments, but by his oaths his spirit lay intheir keeping to be punished through all eternity.
That he was no longer Wu Chi's son, that he had no father--thisconviction had been strong enough to rule him in every contingency oflife save this. By every law of men and deities the ties between themhad been dissolved, and they stood as a man and man; yet the salt cannever be quite washed out of sea-water.
For a time which ceased to be hours or minutes, but seemed as afragment broken off eternity, he stood, motionless but most deeplyracked. With an effort he stooped to take the cord, and paused again;twice he would have seized the dagger, but doubt again possessed him.From a distant point of the house came the chant of a monk singing aprayer and beating upon a wooden drum. The rays of the sun fallingupon the gilded roof in the garden again caught his eyes; nothing elsestirred.
"These in their turn have settled great issues lightly," thought Wengbitterly. "Must I wait upon an omen?"
". . . submitting oneself to purifying scars," droned the voice faroff; "propitiating if need be by even greater self-inflictions . . ."
"It suffices," said Weng dispassionately, and picking up the knife heturned to leave the room.
At the door he paused again, but not in an arising doubt. "I willleave a token for Tiao to wear as a jest," was the image that hadsprung from his new abasement, and taking a sheet of parchment hequickly wrote thereon: "A wave has beat from that distant shore tothis, and now sinks in the unknown depths."
Again he stepped noiselessly to the couch, drew the curtain anddropped the paper lightly on the form. As he did so his breathstopped; his fingers stiffened. Cautiously, on one knee, he listenedintently, lightly touched the face; then recklessly taking a hand heraised the arm and suffered it to fall again. No power restrained it;no alertness of awakening life came into the dull face. Wu Chi hadalready Passed Beyond.