CHAPTER II.
THE STORY OF CHOP-CHIN AND THE GOLDEN DRAGON.
ONCE upon a time, long ago and long ago, there lived in Pekin, which, asyou all know, is the chief city of the Chinese Empire, a boy whose namewas Chop-Chin. He was the son of Ly-Chee, a sweeper of the Imperialcourt-yard, whose duty it was to keep the pavement of the court-yardalways absolutely clean, in case His Celestial Majesty, the Emperor,should feel inclined to put his celestial and majestic noseout-of-doors. Chop-Chin hoped to become a sweeper also, when he was alittle older; but at the time when my story begins he was only twelveyears old, and the law required that all sweepers should have passedtheir fourteenth year. So Chop-Chin helped his mother about thehouse,--for he was a good boy,--carried his father's dinner to him, andmade himself generally useful.
One day Chop-Chin entered the court-yard at the usual time, carrying ajar of rice on his head, and a melon in one hand. These were for hisfather's dinner, and setting them down in a shaded corner, on the coolwhite marble pavement, he looked about for his father. But Ly-Chee wasnowhere to be seen. A group of sweepers stood at the farther end of thecourt-yard, talking together in a state of wild excitement, with manygestures. One of them drew his hand across his throat rapidly, and theyall shuddered. Some one was to be killed, then? Chop-Chin wondered whatit all meant. Suddenly one of the group caught sight of him, and at oncethey fell silent. Two or three, who were friends of his father, began towring their hands and tear their clothes, and the oldest sweeper of alladvanced solemnly toward the boy, holding out both his hands, with thepalms downward, in token of sympathy.
"My son," he said, "what is man's life but a string of beads, which atone time or another must be broken? Shall the wise man disquiet himselfwhether more or fewer beads have passed over the hand?"
"What words are these?" cried Chop-Chin, alarmed, though he knew notwhy. "Why do you look and speak so strangely, Yow-Lay; and where is myfather?"
The old sweeper led the boy to a stone bench, and bade him sit downbeside him. "Thou knowest," he said, "that the first duty of us sweepersis to keep the court-yard always as clean as the sky after rain, and aswhite as the breath of the frost."
"I know it well," replied the boy. "Does not my father wear out twopairs of scrubbing-shoes in a month--"
"Scrubbing-shoes, Granny?" said Toto, softly. "I didn't mean tointerrupt, but what _are_ scrubbing-shoes?"
"I remember asking the same question at your age, Toto," said the oldlady, "and my grandmother told me that the sweepers always wore shoeswith very thick soles, in which stiff bristles were fastened as in ascrubbing-brush. It was their custom to dash the water in bucketfulsover the pavement, and then dance violently about, scrubbing with theirfeet as hard as they could."
"Oh, what fun!" cried Toto. "Mayn't we try it some day, Granny? I'llfasten four brushes to your feet, Coon, and you can scrub the floorevery day."
"Thank you, kindly!" said the raccoon. "If you can get the brushes on myfeet, I will pledge myself to dance in them. That is certainly fair."
He winked slyly at Toto, while the grandmother continued:--
"Alas! my son," said the old man, "your father will wear out no morescrubbing-shoes. Listen! This morning, while we were all busily at work,it chanced through some evil fate that His Celestial Majesty felt adesire to taste the freshness of the morning air. Unannounced he came,with only the Princely Parasol-Holder, the Unique Umbrella-Opener, andseven boys to hold up his celestial train. You know that your father isslightly deaf? Yes. Well, he stood--my good friend Ly-Chee--he stoodwith his back to the palace. He heard not the noise of the opening door,and at the very moment when His Celestial Majesty stepped out into thecourt-yard, Ly-Chee cast a great bucketful of ice-cold water backward,with fatal force and precision."
Chop-Chin shuddered, and hid his face in his hands.
"Picture to yourself the dreadful scene!" continued the ancient sweeper."The Celestial Petticoat, of yellow satin damask, was drenched. TheCelestial Shoes, of chicken-skin embroidered in gold, were reduced to apulp. A shriek burst from every mouth! Your unhappy father turned, andseeing what he had done, fell on his face, as did all the rest of us. Insilence we waited for the awful voice, which presently said:--
"'Princely Parasol-Holder, our feet are wet.'
"The Princely Parasol-Holder groaned, and chattered his teeth togetherto express his anguish.
"'Unique Umbrella-Opener,' continued the Emperor, 'our petticoat iscompletely saturated.'
"The Unique Umbrella-Opener tore his clothes, and shook his hair wildlyabout his face, with moans of agony.
"'Let this man's head be removed at sunrise to-morrow!' concluded HisCelestial Majesty.
"Then we all, lying on our faces, wept and cried aloud, and besought thecelestial mercy for our comrade. We told the Emperor of Ly-Chee's longand faithful service; of his upright and devout life; of his wife andchildren, who looked to him for their daily bread. But all was of noavail. He repeated, in dreadful tones, his former words:--
"'Our feet are wet. Our petticoat is saturated. Let this man's head beremoved at sunrise to-morrow.'
"Then the Unique Umbrella-Holder, who is a kindly man, made alsointercession for Ly-Chee. But now the Emperor waxed wroth, and hesaid:--
"'Are our clothes to be changed, or do we stand here all day in wetnessbecause of this dog? We swear that unless the Golden Dragon himself comedown from his altar and beg for this man's life, he shall die! Enough!'And with these words he withdrew into the palace.
"So thou seest, my son," said the old man, sadly, "that all is over withthy poor father. He is now in the prison of the condemned, and to-morrowat sunrise he must die. Go home, boy, and comfort thy poor mother,telling her this sad thing as gently as thou mayest."
Chop-Chin arose, kissed the old man's hand in token of gratitude for hiskindness, and left the court-yard without a word. His head was in awhirl, and strange thoughts darted through it. He went home, but did nottell his mother of the fate which awaited her husband on the morrow. Hecould not feel that it was true. It _could not be_ that the next day,all in a moment, his father would cease to live. There must be someway,--_some_ way to save him. And then he seemed to hear the dreadfulwords, "Unless the Golden Dragon himself come down from his altar andbeg for this man's life, he shall die." He told his mother, in answer toher anxious questions, that his father meant to pass the night in thecourt-yard, as he would be wanted very early in the morning; and as itwas a hot day, and promised a warm night, the good woman felt nouneasiness, but turned again to her pots and pans.
But Chop-Chin sat on the bench in front of the house, with his head inhis hands thinking deeply.
* * * * *
That evening, at sunset, a boy was seen walking slowly along thewell-paved street which led to the great temple of the Golden Dragon. Hewas clad in a snow-white tunic falling to his knees; his arms and legswere bare; and his pig-tail, unbraided and hanging in a crinkly massbelow his waist, showed that he was bent on some sacred mission. In hishands, raised high above his head, he carried a bronze bowl of curiousworkmanship. Many people turned to look at the boy, for his face andfigure were of singular beauty.
"He carries the prayers of some great prince," they said, "to offer atthe shrine of the Golden Dragon."
And, indeed, it was at the great bronze gate of the Temple that the boystopped. Poising the bronze bowl gracefully on his head with one hand,with the other he knocked three times on the gate. It opened, andrevealed four guards clad in black armor, who stood with glitteringpikes crossed, their points towards the boy.
"What seekest thou," asked the leader, "in the court of the HolyDragon?"
Chop-Chin (for I need not tell you the boy was he) lowered the bowl fromhis head, and offered it to the soldier with a graceful reverence.
"Tong-Ki-Tcheng," he said, "sends you greeting, and a draught of coolwine. He begs your prayers to the Holy Dragon that he may recover fromhis grievous sickness, and prays that I may pass onward
to the shrine."
The guards bowed low at the name of Tong-Ki-Tcheng, a powerful Prince ofthe Empire, who lay sick of a fever in his palace, as all the city knew.Each one in turn took a draught from the deep bowl, and the leadersaid:--
"Our prayers shall go up without ceasing for Tong-Ki-Tcheng, the nobleand great. Pass on, fair youth, and good success go with thee!"
They lowered their pikes, and Chop-Chin passed slowly through thecourt-yard paved with black marble, and came to the second gate, whichwas of shining steel. Here he knocked again, and the gate was opened byfour guards clad in steel from top to toe, and glittering in the eveninglight.
"What seekest thou," they asked, "in the court of the Holy Dragon?"
Chop-Chin answered as before:--
"Tong-Ki-Tcheng sends you greeting, and a draught of cool wine. He begsyour prayers to the Holy Dragon that he may recover from his grievoussickness, and prays that I may pass onward to the shrine."
The guards drank deeply from the bowl, and their leader replied: "Ourprayers shall not cease to go up for Tong-Ki-Tcheng. Pass on, and goodsuccess go with thee!"
Onward the boy went, holding the bronze bowl high above his head. Hecrossed the white marble court-yard, and his heart beat when he came tothe third gate, which was of whitest ivory, for he knew that beyond thethird court-yard was the Temple itself,--the House of Gold, in whichdwelt the mighty Dragon, the most sacred idol in all China. He paused amoment, and then with a steady hand knocked at the gate. It openedwithout a sound, and there stood four guards in white armor inlaid withgold. The same questions and answers were repeated. They drank from thebowl, promised their prayers for Tong-Ki-Tcheng, and then bade the boypass onward to the golden gate, which gleamed at the farther end of thecourt-yard.
"But see that thou touch not the gate!" said the chief soldier. "It isthe gate of the Temple itself, and no profane hand may rest upon it.Speak only, and the priests will hear and open to thee."
Softly Chop-Chin paced across the last court, which was paved withblocks of ivory and silver, laid in cunning patterns. Halting before thegate of gold, he raised the bowl in his hands, and said softly:--
"Ka Ho Yai! Yai Nong Ti! Tong-Ki-Tcheng Lo Hum Ki Ni!"
The gates opened, and showed four priests in robes of cloth-of-gold,with golden censers in hand.
"Rash youth!" said the chief priest, "by what right or by whose ordercomest thou here, to the Sacred Shrine of the Holy Dragon?"
Chop-Chin knelt upon the threshold of the golden gate, and, with bowedhead and downcast eyes, held out the bronze bowl.
"By the right of mortal sickness, most holy priest, come I hither!" hesaid, "and by order of the noble Tong-Ki-Tcheng. He prays thee and thybrethren to drink to his recovery from his grievous malady, and thatyour prayers may go up with mine at the Jewelled Shrine itself."
The priest drank solemnly from the bowl, and handed it to hisassistants, the last of whom drained the last drop of wine.
"Our prayers shall truly go up for Tong-Ki-Tcheng," he said. "Give methy hand, fair youth, and I will lead thee to the Jewelled Shrine. Butfirst I will cover thine eyes, for none save ourselves, priests of theFirst Order of the Saki-Pan, may look upon the face of the Holy Dragon."
So saying, he bound a silk handkerchief firmly over the boy's eyes, andtaking his hand, led him slowly forward.
Chop-Chin's heart was beating so violently that he was half suffocated.He felt the floor suddenly cold, cold, beneath his feet, and knew thathe was walking on the golden floor of the Temple. A few steps farther,the hand of the priest drew him downward, and together with the fourpriests he lay prostrate on his face before the shrine of the GoldenDragon.
A great silence followed. The warm, incense-laden air was stirred by nosound save the breathing of the five suppliants. No breeze rustled theheavy satin curtains which shrouded the windows; no hum of insect orsong of bird came from the outer world, which was fast settling downinto night.
Silence!
The boy Chop-Chin lay as still as if he were carved in marble. He heldhis breath from time to time, and his whole being seemed strained to oneeffort,--that of listening. Did he hear anything? Was the breathing ofthe four priests changing a little,--growing deeper, growing louder?There! and there again! was that a whisper of prayer, or was it--couldit be--the faintest suspicion of a snore? He lay still; waited andlistened, listened and waited. After a little while there could be nodoubt about it,--the four men were breathing heavily, slowly, regularly;and one of them rolled out a sonorous, a majestic snore, which resoundedthrough the heavy perfumed air of the Temple, yet caused no movementamong the other three. There could be no doubt about it,--the priestswere asleep!
Slowly, softly, the boy lifted his head; then he rose to his knees, andlooked fearfully at the sleepers. There they lay, flat on their faces,their hands clasped over their heads. He touched one of them,--there wasno answering movement. He shook another by the shoulders; he shook themall. They snored in concert, but gave no other sign of life. The druggedwine had done its work.
Then, and not till then, did Chop-Chin venture to lift his eyes and lookupon the awful mystery which was hidden by these golden walls. Hetrembled, he turned white as the tunic which covered his dusky limbs;but standing erect, he gazed firmly at the Golden Dragon. From the floorrose a splendid altar of gold, studded thick with precious gems. Rubies,sapphires, and emeralds, set in mystic lines and figures, formed thecharacters which told the thirty-two names of the world-renowned dragon;and on the top of this glittering pedestal, fifteen feet in the air,stood the idol itself.
It was, indeed, a marvellous thing to look upon. Ten feet long, composedentirely of thin scales of the purest gold, laid over and over eachother, and each scale tipped with a diamond. Two magnificent rubiesglowed in the eye-sockets, and the head was surmounted by a crown ofemeralds worth any ordinary kingdom. But the tail! the tail was thewonder of wonders. Millions of delicate gold wires as fine as silk wavedgracefully from the scaly tip a length of three feet, and each one wastipped with a diamond, a ruby, or an emerald of surpassing beauty andlustre. So wonderful was the shimmering light of the stones that thewhole tail seemed to sway and curl to and fro, as if some livingcreature were moving it, and rays of rainbow-colored light darted fromit on every side, dazzling the eyes of the beholder.
Chop-Chin gazed and gazed, and hid his eyes and trembled, and gazedagain. At last he shook himself together, and whispered, "My father! myfather!" Then softly, surely, he began to climb up the golden altar.Stepping carefully from glittering point to point, holding on here by aprojecting ornament of carven amethyst, there by a block of jasper oronyx, he reached the top; then steadying himself, he leaned forward andlifted the Holy Dragon from its stand. To his amazement, instead ofbeing barely able to move it, he found he could easily carry it, for thegolden plates which formed it were so delicate that the weight of thewhole great creature was incredibly small. Lightly the boy lifted it inhis arms, and slowly, surely, noiselessly bore it to the ground. Herehe paused, and looked keenly at the sleeping priests. Did that one'seyelids quiver; did his mouth twitch, as if he were waking from hissleep? Was that a movement of yon other man's arm, as if he werestealthily preparing to rise, to spring upon the sacrilegious robber?No! it was but the play of the colored light on the faces and raiment ofthe sleepers. The voice of their snoring still went up, calmly, evenly,regularly. The wine had done its work well.
Then Chop-Chin took off the sash which bound his tunic at the waist, andshook out its folds. It was a web of crimson silk, so fine and soft thatit could be drawn through a finger-ring, and yet, when spread out, soample that the boy found no difficulty in completely covering with ithis formidable prize. Thus enwrapped, he bore the Golden Dragon swiftlyfrom the Temple, closing the doors of gold softly behind him. He crossedthe ivory and silver pavement of the inner court, and came to the ivorygate. It was closed, and beside it lay the four white-clad warriors,sunk in profound slumber. Stepping lightly over their prostrate forms,Chop-Chin ope
ned the gate softly, and found himself in the second court.This, also, he traversed safely, finding the armed guardians of thesteel gate also sleeping soundly, with their mouths wide open, and theirshining spears pointing valiantly at nothing. A touch upon theglittering gate,--it opened, and Chop-Chin began to breathe more freelywhen he saw the bronze gates of the outer court-yard, and knew that inanother minute, if all went well, he would be in the open street. But,alas! the four guards clad in black armor, who kept watch by the outergate, had been the first to drink the drugged wine, and already theeffect of the powerful narcotic which it contained had begun to wearoff. As Chop-Chin, bearing in his arms the shrouded figure of the mightyidol, approached the gate, one of the four sleepers stirred, yawned,rubbed his eyes, and looked about him. It was quite dark, but his eyecaught the faint glimmer of the boy's white robe, and seizing his pike,he exclaimed,--
"Who goes there?"
Chop-Chin instantly stepped to his side, and said in a low whisper,--
"It is I, Nai-Ping, second priest of the Saki-Pan, bound on business ofthe Temple. Let me pass, and quickly, for the chief priest waits myreturn."
The sentinel bowed low, and undid the fastenings of the huge bronzegates. They swung open silently, and the boy passed through with hisawful burden.
"Strange!" soliloquized the guard, as he drew the massive bolts again."I never knew one of the priests to go out at this time of night. But Idared not say anything, lest he should find out that I was asleep at mypost. And now that he is gone," he added, "I may as well just take fortywinks, as he may be away some time."
So saying, he curled himself up on the marble pavement, and fell thistime into a natural slumber.
Ten o'clock of a dark night. The outer gates of the royal palace wereclosed, though lights still shone in many of the windows. Outside thegate a sentinel was pacing up and down, armed with pike and broadsword.Every time he turned on his beat, he looked up and down the narrowstreet to see if anything or anybody were approaching. Suddenly, as hewheeled about, he saw before him a figure which seemed to have sprungall in a moment out of the blackness of the night. It was the figure ofa boy, carrying a burden considerably larger than himself,--a dark andshapeless mass, which yet seemed not to be heavy in proportion to itssize.
"What is this?" cried the astonished sentinel. "Who art thou, and whatmonstrous burden is this thou carriest so lightly?"
"Hist!" said the boy, speaking in an awestruck whisper, "speak not soloud, friend! This is the Celestial Footstool!"
The sentinel recoiled, and stared in dismay at the dark bundle.
"May the Holy Dragon preserve me!" he said. "What has happened?"
"His Celestial Majesty," replied Chop-Chin, "threw it in anger at hisPutter-on-of-Slippers yesterday, and broke one of its legs. All day mymaster, the Chief Cabinet-maker, has been at work on it, and now he hassent me with it by nightfall, that no profane eye may see clearly eventhe outer covering of the sacred object."
"Pass in," said the sentinel, opening the gate. "But tell me, knowestthou how it will fare with the Putter-on-of-Slippers? He is cousin to mystepfather's aunt by marriage, and I would not that aught of ill shouldbefall so near a relative."
"Alas! I know not," said the boy, hastening forward. "I fear it may gohard with him."
The sentinel shook his head sadly, and resumed his walk; while Chop-Chincrept softly through the court-yard, keeping close to the wall, andfeeling as he went along for a certain little door he knew of, which ledby a staircase cut in the thickness of the wall to a certain unusedcloset, near the Celestial Bed-chamber.
While all this was going on, the Emperor of China, the great and mightyWah-Song, was going to bed. He had sipped his night-draught of hot winemingled with honey and spices, sitting on the edge of the Celestial Bed,with the Celestial Nightcap of cloth-of-silver tied comfortably underhis chin, and the Celestial Dressing-gown wrapped around him. He hadscolded the Chief Pillow-thumper because the pillows were not fatenough, and because there were only ten of them instead of twelve. Hehad boxed the ears of the Tyer-of-the-Strings-of-the-Nightcap, and hadthrown his golden goblet at the Principal Pourer, who brought him thewine. And when all these things were done, his Celestial MajestyWah-Song got into bed, and was tucked in by the Finishing Toucher, whogot his nose well tweaked by way of thanks. Then the taper of perfumedwax was lighted, and the shade of alabaster put over it, and then theother lights were extinguished; and then the attendants all crawled outbackwards on their hands and knees, and shut the door after them; andthen His Celestial Majesty went to sleep.
At last the Emperor began to dream. He heard an awfulvoice, the voice of the Golden Dragon. "Wah-Song! Wah-Song!Awake!"--PAGE 44.]
Peacefully the Emperor slept,--one hour, two hours, threehours,--discoursing eloquently the while in the common language ofmankind,--the language of the nose. At last he began to dream,--adreadful dream. He was in the Golden Temple, praying before the JewelledShrine. He heard an awful voice,--the voice of the Golden Dragon. Itcalled his name; it glared upon him with its ruby eyes; it lifted itscrowned head, and stretched its long talons toward him. Ah! ah! TheEmperor tried to scream, but he could make no sound. Once more thedreadful voice was heard:--
"Wah-Song! Wah-Song! Awake!"
The Emperor sprang up in bed, and looked about him with eyes wild withterror. Ah! what was that?--that glittering form standing at the foot ofhis bed; that crowned head raised high as if in anger; those glaringred eyes fixed menacingly upon him!
"Ah, horror! ah, destruction! the Golden Dragon is here!"
With one long howl of terror and anguish, His Celestial Majesty Wah-Songrolled off the bed and under it, in one single motion, and lay thereflat on his face, with his hands clasped over his head. Quaking in everylimb, his teeth chattering, and a cold sweat pouring from him, helistened as the awful voice spoke again.
"Wah-Song!" said the Golden Dragon, "thou hast summoned me, and I amhere!"
The wretched Emperor moaned.
"I--I--I sum-summon thee, most Golden and Holy Dragon?" he stammeredfaintly. "May I be b-b-bastinadoed if I did!"
"Listen!" said the Dragon, sternly, "and venture not to speak save whenI ask thee a question. Yesterday morning, in consequence of thine owncaprice in going out unannounced, thy silly shoes and thy pusillanimouspetticoat became wet. For this nothing, thou has condemned to death myfaithful servant Ly-Chee, who has brought me fresh melons every Tuesdayafternoon for thirty years. When others, less inhuman than thou,interceded for his life, thou madest reply, 'We swear, that unless theGolden Dragon himself come down from his altar and beg for this man'slife, he shall die!'"
The Emperor groaned, and clawed the carpet in his anguish.
"Therefore, Wah-Song," continued the Dragon, "I AM HERE! I come not tobeg, but to command. Dost thou hear me?"
"Ye-ye-yes!" murmured the wretched monarch. "I hear thee, Most Mighty.I--I--didn't know he brought thee melons. I brought thee two dozenpineapples myself, the other day," he added piteously.
"Thou didst!" exclaimed the Golden Dragon, fiercely. "Thou didst,_slave!_ and they were half-rotten. HA!" and he gave a little jump onthe floor, making his glittering tail wave, and his flaming eyes glaredyet more fiercely at the unfortunate Wah-Song, who clung yet moreclosely to the carpet, and drummed on it with his heels in an extremityof fear.
"Listen, now," said the Fiery Idol, "to my commands. Before day-breakthou wilt send a free pardon to Ly-Chee, who now lies in the prison ofthe condemned, expecting to die at sunrise."
"I will! I will!" cried the Emperor.
"Moreover," continued the Dragon, "thou wilt send him, by a trustymessenger, twenty bags of goodly ducats, one for every hour that he hasspent in prison."
The Emperor moaned feebly, for he loved his goodly ducats.
"Furthermore, thou wilt make Ly-Chee thy Chief Sweeper for life, withsix brooms of gilded straw, with ivory handles, as his yearlyperquisite, besides three dozen pairs of scrubbing-shoes; and his son,Chop-Chin, shalt thou appoint as Se
cond Sweeper, to help his father."
The Emperor moaned again, but very faintly, for he dared not make anyobjection.
"These are my orders!" continued the Dragon. "Obey them strictly andspeedily, and thine offence may be pardoned. Neglect them, even in thesmallest particular, and--Ha! Hum! Wurra-_wurra_-G-R-R-R-R-R-R!" andhere the Dragon opened his great red mouth, and uttered so fearful agrowl that the miserable Emperor lost hold of such little wits as hadremained to him, and fainted dead away.
Ten minutes later, the sentinel at the gate was amazed at the sight ofthe Chief Cabinet-maker's apprentice, reappearing suddenly before him,with his monstrous burden still in his arms. The boy's hair wasdishevelled, and his face was very pale. In truth, it had been very hardwork to get in and out of the hollow golden monster, and Chop-Chin waswell-nigh exhausted by his efforts, and the great excitement which hadnerved him to carry out his bold venture.
"How now!" cried the sentinel. "What means this, boy?"
"Alas!" said Chop-Chin, "alas! unhappy that I am! Was it my fault thatthe mended leg was a hair-breadth shorter than the others? Good soldier,I have been most grievously belabored, even with the Sacred Footstoolitself, which, although it be a great honor, is nevertheless a painfulone. And now must I take it back to my master, for it broke again thelast time His Celestial Majesty brought it down on my head. Whereforelet me pass, good sentinel, for I can hardly stand for weariness."
"Pass on, poor lad!" said the good-natured soldier. "And yet--stay amoment! thinkest thou that aught would be amiss if I were to take justone peep at the Celestial Footstool? Often have I heard of itsmarvellous workmanship, and its tracery of pearl and ebony. Do but liftone corner of the mantle, good youth, and let me see at least a leg ofthe wonder."
"At thy peril, touch it not!" cried the boy, in great alarm. "Knowestthou not that the penalty is four hundred lashes? Not a single glancehave I ventured to cast at it, for they say its color changes if anyprofane eye rest upon its polished surface."
"Pass on, then, in the name of the Dragon!" said the sentinel, openingthe gate; and bidding him a hasty good-night, Chop-Chin hurried awayinto the darkness.
* * * * *
Now, while all this was going on, it chanced that the four priests ofthe First Order of the Saki-Pan awoke from their slumber. What theirfeelings were when they lifted their eyes and saw that the Golden Dragonwas gone, is beyond my power to tell. Their terror was so extreme thatthey did not dare to move, but after the first horrified glance at thebare altar flung themselves flat on their faces again, and howled andmoaned in their anguish.
"We slept!" they cried, in a doleful chant of misery. "Yea, verily sleptwe.
"Ai! ai! we know not why; Wow! wow! we know not how.
"Thou removedst thyself. Thou raisedst the paw of strength and thehind-feet of swiftness. Because we slept, thou hast gone away, and weare desolate, awaiting the speedily-advancing death.
"Hong! Kong! Punka-wunka-woggle! Hong! Kong! Punka-wunka-wogg!"
While thus the wretched priests lay on the golden floor, bewailing theirsin and its dreadful consequences, there fell suddenly on their ears aloud and heavy sound. It was at some distance,--a heavy clang, as ofsome one striking on metal. "Pong! pong!" what could it be? And now cameother sounds,--the opening and shutting of gates, the tread of hastyfeet, the sound of hurried voices, and finally a loud knocking at thedoor of the Temple itself.
"Open, most holy Priests of the Saki-Pan!" cried a voice. "We havestrange and fearful news! Open without delay!"
The unhappy priests hurried to the door, and flung it open withtrembling hands. Without stood all the guards of all the gates, thewhite and the steel-clad soldiers clustering about the four black-cladguardians of the outer gate.
"Speak!" said the chief priest in great agitation, "what is yourerrand?"
"O Priest!" said the black guards, trembling with excitement, "we hearda great knocking at the gate."
"Yes, yes!" cried the priest, "I know it. What more?"
"O Priest!" said the guards, "we were affrighted, so great was thenoise; so we opened the gate but a little way, and peeped through; andwe saw--we saw--" They paused, and gasped for breath.
"Speak, sons of pigs!" shrieked the priest, "_what_ did you see?"
"We saw the Golden Dragon!" said the soldiers, in a fearful whisper. "Heis sitting up--on his hind-legs--with his mouth open! and he knocked--heknocked--"
But the priests of the Saki-Pan waited to hear no more. Rushing throughthe court-yards, they flung wide open the great bronze gates. Theycaught up the Golden Dragon, they raised it high on their shoulders, andwith shouts of rejoicing they bore it back to the Temple, while theguards prostrated themselves before it.
"He went out!" sang the priests. "He walked abroad, for the glory andwelfare of his subjects. He cast upon the city the eye of beneficence;he waved over it the plenipotentiary tail!
"Ai! ai! we know not why! Wow! wow! we know not how!
Glory to the Holy Dragon, and happiness and peace to the city and thepeople!"
* * * * *
But in the house of Ly-Chee all was sunshine and rejoicing. At daybreaka procession had come down the little street,--a troop of soldiers inthe imperial uniform, with music sounding before them, and gay bannersflaunting in the morning air. In the midst of the troop rode Ly-Chee, ona splendid black horse. He was dressed in a robe of crimson satinembroidered with gold, and round his neck hung strings of jewels mostglorious to see. Behind him walked twenty slaves, each carrying a fatbag of golden ducats; and after the troop came more slaves, bearinggilded brooms with ivory handles and scrubbing-shoes of the finestquality. And all the soldiers and all the slaves cried aloud,continually:--
"Honor to Ly-Chee, the Chief-Sweeper of the court-yard! Honor and peaceto him and all his house!"
The procession stopped before the little house, and the good sweeper,stupefied still with astonishment at his wonderful good fortune,dismounted and clasped his wife and children in his arms. And they wepttogether for joy, and the soldiers and the slaves and all the peoplewept with them.
But the Celestial Emperor, Wah-Song, lay in bed for two weeks, speakingto no man, and eating nothing but water-gruel. And when he arose, at theend of that time, behold! he was as meek as a six-years old child.