Indignant as he was at this disloyalty, Nicholas, remembering the necessity of the princess, dissembled his anger, and said, "Is the worthy Yang under sufficient obligation to Chin-Chi-Loong to serve his son?" "Even to the extent of his life and fortune." "Then I will trust thee," said Nicholas, dropping the usual formality of speech, and telling him the whole of his adventure of the morning. "Truly, O youth, this is a dangerous affair; but Yang dares not break faith with the great chief who may some day be master of us all," said the merchant, trembling with fear. "This, then, is just; I would have the head-dress and mourning garb of a widow, and the coarse robes of two Coolies." "This is a cautious method of proceeding, and shall be done," said Yang, who left the room, leaving the impatient youth walking to and fro with great anxiety. The articles, however, not being very difficult to obtain in that part of the city, the merchant soon returned with them packed up in a small bale; then, hastily thanking Yang, Nicholas took the bale with him some little distance from the house, and paid two Coolies to carry him in their sedan to the gate of the valley of tombs; having arrived there, he jumped out of the chair, and paid the Coolies handsomely, telling them to leave it near the gate, and to fetch him again in two hours' time; when, not in the least doubting the honesty of so generous a customer, the Coolies went off to spend their earnings at a wine-shop, and Nicholas proceeded cautiously to the cavern. Having explained his scheme to the princess, he left her in the cavern to attire herself in the widow's weeds, while he and Chow proceeded to the tomb above, to assume the garbs of Coolies. This being done, he gave Chow some silver and sent him off to the wine-shop, after which he assisted the princess up the steps, and, supporting her, they slowly walked through the valley, till they came within a short distance of the gate, when, to the delight of Nicholas, Chow came up to them and said:-- "I found the two sots drinking like fishes, and when I told them a merchant wished to hire them, they laughed heartily, saying, that they had already been engaged by too good a passenger to stir for the next two hours." Then, assisting the princess into the chair, Nicholas and Chow took the place of the Coolies, and so carried it to the house of Yang.