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280 hospitality, they taught the Chinese their cunning crafts which knowledge is retained to the present day.

The King, jubilant at his success, proclaimed a general rejoicing. The nautch-girls were rewarded with munificent liberality, and the queen herself was honoured by the King with marriage with accompanying festivities that were usually accorded only to princesses of royal blood. All through the ceremonies she never once gave a thought to the unhappy man who in his great and trusting love had confided to her the secret of the walls of his fort. On the night when she was conducted to the palace of the King, when silence reigned and his Majesty slept, the spectre of the goldsmith appeared by the queen's side. What he said is not known. The following morning she was found dead by the attendants. She had been strangled with the diamond necklace which had been part of her reward. Time passed and the proud independent artisans were almost forgotten, when difficulties arose which had never troubled the people of that kingdom before. There was a scarcity of agricultural implements. Carts, axes, harrows, sickles, brass cooking-pots, and other indispensable articles for field and household use wore out and had to be renewed. The supply in the shops was exhausted, and the shopkeepers were unable to procure a fresh stock. Mats, furniture, the fittings for houses, even jewelry and personal ornaments became dear and well-nigh impossible to buy. The curse of the young chief was beginning to work. When the King's daughter was about to be married the King sent out in all directions for jewels; there were none to be had but those that were secondhand. Not a goldsmith, carpenter, or brassworker was to be found throughout the length and breadth of the land. All had fled to China or had perished.

The King was in great distress. His people blamed him for the calamity, and openly expressed their dis-