candle and as he approached the hall on his way back he began to feel uncomfortable again, though he ended up by stepping inside after a moment's hesitation. The first thing to come under his observation as he entered the hall was the package of soap in green wrappers in the center of the table. The golden seal glittered in the lamplight and the delicate patterns could be seen.
Hsiu-erh and Chao-erh were playing, squatted on the ground in front of the table, while Hsueh-cheng was looking up words in the dictionary on the right side of the table. Farthest away from the lamp Mrs. Ssu sat on the high-backed chair in the dimness, her face immobile and expressionless and her eyes staring vacantly at nothingness.
"K-chee, k-chee, shameless wretches . . . "
This seemed to have come from Hsui-erh, but when Ssu-ming looked back he only saw Chao-erh scratching her face with her two little hands.
Aware that the atmosphere was none too favorable, he extinguished his candle and strolled out again into the yard, where he began to pace back and forth. The minute he forgot himself, the hens and chicks would begin to cluck and twit, whereupon he would make his steps lighter and walk farther away from the chicken cage. After a long time the lamp in the central room was shifted to the bedroom. Moonlight covered the ground like a sheet of seamless white muslin, while overhead the jade disc of the full moon shone between white clouds and showed not the slightest imperfection.
He was a little sad and felt himself a lonely man, as forgotten and neglected as the filial maid. He did not go to bed until very late that night. But the services of the soap were enlisted early the follow-
