The second day of the races passed off with perfect quiet and order. Foh’s soldiers arrived in good time, and were more than sufficient to overawe the rabble. At last Mrs. British Consul stood up to give the prizes for the various races. The prizes for the first three races are given, and then comes the handsome bowl for the Derby. “The Derby! Why, Kwa Niu was the only horse that finished!” says everyone, and the blushing Gubbins is pushed forward. “Objection,” says the American Consul; “he never weighed in.” “Go and weigh in,” says Shelford. Of course it was quite unorthodox, but anyway Gubbins got his saddle and, amidst a laughing crowd of men, weighed in wearing a black cap only. Fortunately he had carried over weight, and as he stood his weight was exact. The decision was received with cheer upon cheer. Shelford had undoubtedly won the Derby, and Gubbins, hastily regaining his clothes, was carried before Mrs. British Consul. Shyly he received the bowl, but when Mrs. Consul said, “I think your colours were pink with a black cap, Mr. Gubbins,” well, Mr. Gubbins’ colours might very well have been described as scarlet. “But we were all too upset to notice you,” kindly added the lady, “and, at all events, we think you and Kwa Niu saved our lives.” Yes, it was a very popular win, and the missionaries are back in Whang Chai again. The pig-like To Phat has been removed to another district, and the mission-house and school have been rebuilt, and, I am glad to say, their new sites do not in any way encroach on the anatomy of the famous guardian dragon that lives beneath the hill in Whang Chai. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLYMOUTH WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LIMITED PRINTERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ● Transcriber’s Notes: ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was corrected. ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rice Papers, by H. L. Norris