"How! what dog's words are these, thou ignorant slave? Dost thou not know that these are the symbols of the Lord of heaven's religion?" replied the Emperor, who, at the beginning of his reign, having befriended the missionaries, and made himself master of the mysteries and symbols of their religion, was far beyond most of his nobles in intelligence. "It is so alleged, O dread sovereign, by the villains, for their own vile ends, and should it be even so, the Son of Heaven can not doubt this proof of guilt," replied the mandarin, placing a letter in the Emperor's hands. For some time there was a dread silence; when, however, the Emperor had perused the document, his eye sparkled with rage, and he exclaimed, "Truly the proof is overwhelming, and it is to the viceroy of Quang-Tung the Emperor owes the discovery of this villainy. Bring hither the petition of the criminal tribunal for the villain's execution. Moreover, let it go forth through the earth that every Christian dog be exterminated;" and the court having prostrated themselves three times in token of obedience, one of the colaos presented the petition or sentence to the Emperor, which as he was about to confirm, by affixing the signature of the vermilion pencil, Nicholas threw himself at the foot of the throne, crying at the risk of his life, "O great Emperor, thy slave dares proclaim the extreme villainy of the great viceroy of Quang-Tung, whose jealousy and envy of the favors his royal master has bestowed upon the good father has caused him to seek his life." "Is the boy pirate mad that he dares so insolently presume upon his small services, as to interrupt the course of justice?" exclaimed the angry Emperor. Taking from his vest the letter his father had given him for Father Adam, Nicholas said, boldly, "This letter, O great sovereign, thy servant was commanded by his parent to place in the hands of the priest Adam. Should it contain treason, the Emperor can punish on the spot, for both the priest and the son of the writer are in his hands. Should it be otherwise, his royal generosity will know how to reward." No less surprised than appeased by the boy's vehemence, Wey-t-song commanded the censor Woo to proclaim aloud its contents, to which the nobles, as they were friends or enemies of the priests of Christ, listened with divided attention. The document was lengthy and tedious, and directed by Chin-Chi-Loong, the merchant of the south, to his illustrious teacher and religious parent, the Father Adam Schaal, warning him that the viceroy of Quang-Tung, in conjunction with the bonzes of the court, whom he had bribed at Pekin, had organized such a scheme that it could not fail to appear clear that the Christian priests in China were at the head of a conspiracy to dethrone the Emperor, at whose feet he advised the Father Adam immediately to prostrate himself and demand an investigation, promising speedily to send proofs of the viceroy's villainy to Pekin.