Page:Ernest Bramah - Kai Lungs Golden Hours.djvu/147

 formidable barrier than a forgotten path arises," said the leader, observing him closely. "Know you then a house bearing as a sign the figure of a golden ibis?"

"Truly; I have noted it," replied Weng, changing his position, so that he now leaned against a rock. "There dwelt there an old man of some lower official rank, who had no son but many daughters." "He has Passed, and one of those—Tiao by name," said the other, referring to a parchment—"has schemingly driven out the rest and held the patrimony. Crafty and ambitious, she has of late married a high official who has ever been hostile to ourselves. Out of a private enmity the woman seeks the lives of two who are under our most solemn protection, and now uses her husband's wealth and influence to that end. It is on him that the blow must fall, for men kill only men, and she, having no son, will then be discredited and impotent."

"And concerning this official?" asked Weng.

"It has not been thought prudent to speak of him by name," replied the chief. "Stricken with a painful but not dangerous malady he has retired for a time to the healthier seclusion of his wife's house, and there he may be found. The woman you will know with certainty by a crescent scar—above the right eye."

"Beneath the eye," corrected Weng instantly.

"Assuredly, beneath; I misread the sign," said the head, appearing to consult the scroll. "Yet, out of a keen regard for your virtues, Thang, let me point a warning that it is antagonistic to our strict rule to remember these ancient scars too well. Further, in accordance with that same esteem, do not stoop too closely nor too long to identify the mark. By our pure