“That’s it,” he said. “He caused trees and grass to be planted so that it might appear a part of the mountain.” “But why should he have been brought so far away from the capital?” asked Tillizinni. “That is a question which we have never satisfactorily settled. You might as well ask,” said the other, “why the Ming Emperors wanted huge stone elephants to indicate the way to their tombs. There is no reason for anything in China, except that if you see a thing for which there is absolutely no excuse, you may be satisfied that that _is_ the excuse!” “You are almost lucid,” said Tillizinni with a smile. He himself was enjoying the trip immensely; he found the relaxation which he needed so badly. There was no telephone; nobody brought him tangles of mystery to unravel. He was living amidst actualities, amongst primitive forces, in a land where murder was a commonplace everyday incident, and where the murderers seldom troubled to hide their tracks. He recognised that there was considerable danger to himself and to his companion if the real object of the visit was ever discovered. Soo would be very active just now; his spies would long since have carried news of the arrival of the “foreign devils.” It needed no spy, as it happened, for the Mandarin himself, with a keen desire to “save-face” all round, had sent a private courier with many apologies to his powerful rival, and Soo’s agents were active. The first indication of trouble that Talham had seen, took the shape of a jagged stone which was thrown at him as he passed through the bazaar on an afternoon on his return from one of his expeditions. That evening he found the soldiers sullen, and he was interviewed by the officer of the guard. “My insignificant men,” said the officer, “have petitioned me, asking that your Noble Beneficence will restore to them their arms, because they feel afraid and ashamed also, since the common people of the bazaar laugh at them.” “You may tell your men to go to the devil,” said Talham without finesse. But an hour later the officer had returned, this time with a fresh grievance. “My men,” he said boldly, “do not like these strangers sleeping in the same room with them, for they come from another province, and are members of another society.” “Captain,” said Talham patiently, “if you come to me again with such stories, I will have you beaten on the feet.” Later, he was to receive private advice from one of these same strangers, that the men had had a meeting and were discussing the advisability of leaving the compound in a body. This threat took definite shape the next morning, when the officer came yet again in some fear to announce the intention of his men. “These pigs,” he said humbly, “will leave your Excellency unless their arms are returned.” “Tell them they may leave,” said Talham cheerfully, “and they will get no arms from me.”