prizes. But what is the matter with your sister?" lowing day the prefect called prizes. prefect called again, and in conversation with the twins, with whom he had now grown familiar, he remarked"So I see you have read the 'Book of Poetry.' "Yes," said Convolvulus; "and it was such a pleasure to be able to quote our favourite ode in writing to our dearest friend." The prefect, touched and pleased at this artless expression of regard, rejoined "It so happens that that is one of my favourite odes also. The description," added he, waxing enthusiastic," of the wide-sweeping rivers, and the lovely gardens, with the admixture of human interests in the mention of lovers toying beneath the shade, presents to my mind a picture which is literally laden with beauty and delight." Though, of course, I am quite incapable of understanding all that you mean, it has occurred to me in reading the ode,” replied Plumblossom, "that every line is like a seed of corn, which, if properly treated, may be made to bring forth rich literary fruit." "I cannot help thinking, Miss Plum-blossom," said the prefect, "that if you were to enter the lists at the examination you would probably win yourself." "What a barren triumph it would be!" said Plum - blossom, laughing. "But if I competed at all," she added, "I should insist on your taking this ode as our text, and then I should reproduce the ideas you have just given us, and win the prize." 'Well, I tell you what I will do if you will keep my secret," said he. "I will give the themes from this ode, and then you and your sister will be able to judge whether the winners deserve the This exclamation was caused by Convolvulus dropping her teacup on to the floor and breaking out into hysterical sobbing. "Oh, she is rather subject to these attacks at this time of the year," said Plum-blossom, running to her side. "Will you excuse my attending to her?" "Oh, don't think of me for a moment. Please look after your sister. I will go off at once, and shall send over in the afternoon to inquire how she is." As the door closed on the prefect, Convolvulus sobbed out: Oh, how stupid I have been ! But I could not help it. Dear Te is now safe." That afternoon there were great rejoicings in the summer-house, and Plum - blossom's finesse was eulogised in terms which to an unprejudiced observer might have seemed adulatory. And it was generally agreed between the four lovers that by steady application during the month which intervened before the examination, Te might easily make himself so completely master of all that had been written on the ode in question that he could not fail to succeed. With ready zeal, on the very next morning he set to work at the commentaries, and beginning with Maou's, he waded carefully through the writings of every weighty critic down to the present time. In the intervals of leisure he practised essay-writing under the guidance of Tsin, and made such progress that Convolvulus was in raptures; and even Plum-blossom, reflecting the opinion of Tsin, was loud in her praises of his diligence and success. At last the examination day arrived, and armed with the good wishes and benedictions of the twins, the two friends betook themselves to the prefect's yamun. and the second, of what I may call the refrain of the ode Wei There blooms a garden rich in blossoms gay, Where lads and lasses toy in shady bowers, And pelt each other with soft-petalled flowers.' On entering the courtyard they Beyond the watery waste of mighty found that rows of tables, separated by temporary partitions on the sides and at the back, were ranged in the usually empty space. At the door was a secretary—a stranger who gave to each a numbered ticket, and inscribed their names on a register; while another official allotted to each a table, and distributed paper, ink, and pencils. In their impatient anxiety our two heroes had come early; but from the noise and excitement which began immediately to echo on every side of them, it was plain that there were very many others who were minded to be in good time also. At length, when every table was full, and every ticket given away, a drum was sounded, the folding doors were closed, and the competitors were cut off from the outer world for the rest of the day. Presently the prefect entered at the upper end of the hall, and having taken his seat on a raised dais, thus addressed the assembled scholars "You are all doubtless aware of the unusual circumstances under which I am holding this examination, and I take it for granted that you are cognisant of the prizes which are to be won by the two most successful competitors." Many an eye sparkled at this reference to the twins. "The two themes on which I shall ask you to write as many essays are taken from the ode of the 'Book of Poetry,' entitled 'The Tsin and the Wei.' Here Te gave a great sigh of relief. "The first consists of the two opening lines 'See where before you gleams the foaming tide Of Tsin and Wei down-sweeping in their pride;' You will have observed that a As the When the students had settled down to their work, the prefect, acting on a sudden impulse, sent to invite the twins to look down at the competitors from the latticed gallery which ran along one side of the courtyard. Such an opportunity of looking down upon five hundred possible husbands was not to be lost, and as quickly as their chair coolies could carry them "Where do you mean?" asked Convolvulus, seeing that her sister was looking in quite another direction to the one in which her eyes had been riveted for some minutes. "In the front row, and about the tenth from this end." "Why, you silly thing, there the dear fellow is, sitting in the fourth row, with his sleeves tucked up and his spectacles on." "Well, then, all I can say is, that there is another young man with a pigtail exactly like Te's. Do you see Tsin?" she added, after a pause. "He is writing as though his life depended on it, and smiling at times as though some happy thoughts were crossing his mind.” "Oh!" exclaimed Convolvulus presently, "Te is in difficulties. He is biting the end of his pencil, as he always does when he is stranded for want of matter. wish I were by him to encourage him." I "I don't think your presence would be likely to add much to the concentration of his thoughts," remarked her sister. "Oh, there, he is off again! I wonder what thought suggested itself to him at that moment. Do you know, I sometimes think that Te and I are able to communicate mentally by speechless messages, for I have several times found that we have both been thinking of the same thing at the same moment." "Oh, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! But now we must be going, or those men near us will hear us chattering." So sending a dutiful farewell to the prefect, they returned home to await the arrival of their lovers, who had promised to report progress after the labours of the day. As the shades of evening fell, the sound of well-known footsteps brought the sisters to the balcony of the summer-house, and as they leaned over to greet their lovers, the young men instinctively paused to admire the beauty of the picture they made. Their light and graceful forms, clothed with all the taste and brilliancy of richly embroidered robes, and their exquisite features lit up with pleasure and expectancy, presented a foreground which found fitting surroundings in the quaint carving of the arbour and the masses of wistaria-blossom, which drooped like bunches of grapes from the eaves and every coign of vantage. "Well?" they asked. "Good news, "7 was the answer. "The prefect was as good as his word, and everything turned out exactly as we had expected." "That is capital. But we were sorry you did not sit together," said Plum-blossom. "How do you know that we did not?" said Tsin, with surprise. "And why, Te, did you tuck up your sleeves, as though you were going to contend with a sword rather than with a pen?" said Convolvulus. "Now, who told you that I tucked up my sleeves? Confess, or I'll "Oh, what a pair of unsympathetic mortals you are!" broke in Plum-blossom, who was too happy to be silent. "There were we looking down upon you from the latticed gallery, and you were no more conscious of our presence than if you had been made of stone." "And, Te, dear," said Convolvulus, once when your ideas had evidently forsaken you, I longed to be at your side to help you out. And I think my longing wish must have been of some use, for almost immediately you set to work again." "Let us go for a stroll in the garden, and we will talk it all over," was the reply of the enamoured Te. The ten days which elapsed between the examination and the announcement of the results passed slowly with Tsin and Te, and were mainly occupied in going over each point they had made and each opportunity they had missed. In the preliminary studies Tsin had among other points striven to impress upon Te the importance of drawing a comparison between the effect of the licentious music of the state of Ching, as illustrated by the manners of the people described in the ode, and that produced by the austere strains of Wei. But when the moment came for the use of this comparison, Te found himself hopelessly confused, and ended by attributing to the exceptionally pure airs of Wei an impropriety which bordered on grossness. The recollection of this and other shortcomings weighed heavily on Te's spirits, and tortured him even in the presence of his lady-love. "But what matters it," said that young lady, "if you do fail in one direction, so long as you make up for it in others? It is VOL. CXLII.-NO. DCCCLXI. no use making a bridge wider than the river." "True," replied Te; "but what if an architect puts his materials together so badly that they topple over into the stream?" "What should you say of an architect," answered Convolvulus, "who built a good bridge, and could not sleep of a night if a leaf stirred for fear it should be blown down?" "Well, my eyes will not now be long blackened with the pencils of sleeplessness,' to use your own pretty imagery," answered her lover. "And I really don't know whether to wish that between this and the fifteenth Time should fly or move with leaden feet. At all events, I enjoy your presence now, and it may be that then it will be lost to me for ever." "I should not give up hope even if you failed," replied the cheery little Convolvulus. "There are more ways of catching a bird than grasping his tail." The intense anxiety felt by Tsin and Te as to their success or failure caused them, as perhaps was only natural, to lose sight, to a certain extent, of the fact that to the young ladies there was even more depending on the fifteenth than to themselves; for, after all, their failure would only bring on them a negative misfortune, while it was within the bounds of possibility that Plum-blossom and Convolvulus might find themselves bound to partners whom they loathed. Their interest in the day was heightened by the arrival of the prefect on the afternoon of the fourteenth, to invite them to be present on the following morning. ceedings. As you know, I inserted a saving clause into my proclamation, reserving to myself the right of rejecting any student who should appear physically unworthy of you; and it may be that I may wish to refer the decision on such a delicate point to yourselves." "How thoughtful you are, your Excellency! But I am sure we may trust you not to give us pock-marked, bald, or stunted husbands," said Plum-blossom, smil ing. "Now describe your idea of what a husband should be," replied the prefect. "First of all, he must be tall," answered Plum-blossom, drawing a mental picture of Tsin, "with broad shoulders and an upright figure. He should have a wellformed nose, a bright eye, and a glossy pigtail." "Just what I used to be in bygone days," thought the prefect to himself. Somehow lately he had taken to wishing that life was beginning with him anew, and after each interview with the twins he had returned to regard Madam Lo's matronly figure with increasing disfavour. On this particular occasion he was evidently bent on enjoying himself, and seemed disposed to reproduce in Ma's garden the free and easy manners of the frequenters of the "shady bowers" "beyond the watery waste of mighty Wei." Nothing loath, the girls indulged his humour, and when he finally took his leave he carried off with him one of Plum-blossom's prettily enamelled hairpins and Convolvulus's bangle. On the following morning the town was early astir, and quite a crowd collected at Ma's doorway to see the twins start for the prefect's yamun. In that usually decorous building the scene was tumultuous. Not only did the five hundred competitors present themselves, but when it became known that the beautiful twins would be present, nearly the whole male population of the town, including myself, poured into the courtyard. The police and lictors had no fight task in keeping order; and when the twins stepped into the alcove a rush was made to that side of the courtyard, which threatened to break down the barrier that enclosed the hall. Even the sounding of the drum and the appearance of the prefect produced little or no effect on the disorder which prevailed; and it was not until two or three of the most obtrusive admirers of the two beauties had been seized and flogged on the spot, that sufficient silence was obtained to allow of the opening of the proceedings. "I have read," said the prefect, addressing the competitors, "with the greatest care the essays which you handed in on the fifth, and after much consideration I have selected two sets as being the best of those contributed by bachelors, and two whose authors are married men. As there is less to say about the married men, I will dispose of them first. I find that Ping and Lung are the winners in that competition. Let Ping and Lung step forward. Your essays," said the prefect, addressing the two scholars, "are extremely creditable, and I have much pleasure in presenting you with the gazelles which I advertised as your reward. am only sorry for you that they are not the gazelles on my left hand," pointing to the twins. I "Most cordially do we echo your regret, your Excellency," said Ping, casting longing eyes towards the alcove; "but failing those priceless |