Page:Mrs. Spring Fragrance - Far - 1912.djvu/214

 Restoration demands it. For five years you shall not see the face of Sie, your wife. Meanwhile, study, think, be honest, and work."

"Your husband comes for you today. Does the thought make you glad?" questioned Koan-lo the First.

Sie smiled and blushed.

"I shall be sorry to leave you," she replied.

"But more glad than sad," said the old man. "Sie, your husband is now a fine fellow. He has changed wonderfully during his years of probation."

"Then I shall neither know nor love him," said Sie mischievously. "Why, here he—"

"My sweet one!"

"My husband!"

"My children, take my blessing; be good and be happy. I go to my pipe, to dream of bliss if not to find it."

With these words Koan-lo the First retired.

"Is he not almost as a god?" said Sie.

"Yes," answered her husband, drawing her on to his knee. "He has been better to me than I have deserved. And you—ah, Sie, how can you care for me when you know what a bad fellow I have been?"

"Well," said Sie contentedly, "it is always our best friends who know how bad we are."