"There's something brewing downtown, Your Honor. I sat around a bit in the teahouses. People are expecting trouble, but nobody knows what it's all about. There are vague rumors about robber bands assembling in our neighbor district Chiang-pei. Some people whisper that armed robbers are planning to cross the river and come here to Han-yuan. When 1 walked back here, die shopkeepers were already putting up their shutters. Their closing shop so early is always a bad sign."

The judge pulled at his mustache. He said slowly to his two helpers:

"It started a few weeks ago. I felt it directly after my arrival here, but now it is taking a more definite shape."

"I noticed that I was being followed," Tao Gan resumed. "That was only to be expected; I know many people downtown, and the fact that I was concerned in the arrest of the monk is, of course, being talked about."

"Did you know the man who followed you?" Judge Dee asked.

"No, Your Honor. It was a powerfully built, tall fellow with a red face and a ring beard."

"Did you have the guards arrest him when you arrived at the gate here?" the judge asked eagerly.

"No, Your Honor," Tao Gan replied sadly. "I couldn't manage that. Another fellow joined him when I was passing through a back street near the Temple, and they were closing in on me. I halted in front of an oil shop, next to a large vat that was standing on the sidewalk. When the big fellow came for me I tripped him up so that he fell against the oil vat, which toppled over. The oil ran all over the street, and four sturdy millers came rushing out of the shop. The ruffian said it was all my fault because I had attacked him, but after one look at the two of us the oil millers decided he was fooling them and fell on him. The last I saw was," Tao Gan concluded contentedly, "that they were breaking a stone jar to pieces on the head of the tall fellow, while the other rascal was running off like a hare."

Judge Dee gave the thin man a searching look. He remembered what Ma Joong had told him about Tao Gan luring the monk to the inn. He reflected that this innocent-looking scarecrow apparently could be a very nasty opponent.

Suddenly the door opened, and Ma Joong and Chiao Tai came in, with Mrs. Djang between them.

"Mao Loo has been put in jail, Your Honor!" Ma Joong announced triumphantly. "This girl is the missing bride!"

"Well done!" Judge Dee said with a broad smile. Motioning the girl to be seated, he addressed her kindly: "You are doubtless eager to go home, madam. In due time you'll deliver testimony in the

A GIRL MALTREATED IN A BROTHEL

tribunal. Now I only want you to give me an account of what happened after you had been placed in the Buddhist Temple, so that I can check on a murder that was committed there. The unfortunate occurrence that brought you in your predicament is already known to me."

Moon Fairy's cheeks went scarlet. After a while she mastered herself and began:

"For one horrible moment I thought that the coffin had been buried already. Then I noticed a faint whiff of air that came through the cracks between the boards. I tried to push up the lid with all my force, but it didn't budge. Shouting for help, I started kicking and beating the boards till my hands and feet bled. The air had become very close and I was afraid that I would suffocate. I don't know how long I was in this terrible state.

"Then I suddenly heard sounds of laughter. I shouted as loud as I could and again kicked the boards. The laughter stopped abruptly. 'There's someone inside,' a hoarse voice exclaimed. 'It's a ghost, let's run!' I shouted frantically: 'I am no ghost! I have been encoffined alive, help me!' Soon the coffin resounded with hammer blows. The lid was lifted and at last I could breathe fresh air again.

"I saw two men who looked like laborers. The elder one had a kind, wrinkled face; the other looked sullen. I could tell from their flushed faces that both had been drinking heavily. But the unexpected discovery sobered them up. With their help I got out of the coffin, and they took me outside to the Temple garden and made me sit down on the stone bench next to the lotus pond. The old man scooped water from the pond and let me moisten my face; the younger one made me drink some potent liquor from a calabash he was carrying. When I felt somewhat better I told them who I was and what had happened. The elder one then said he was the carpenter Mao Yuan who had worked in Dr. Djang's house that very afternoon. He had met his cousin in the city; they had eaten together and since it had become very late they had decided to pass the night in the deserted temple. 'We'll now take you home,' the carpenter said. 'Then Dr. Djang will tell you everything.'"

Moon Fairy hesitated a moment. Then she went on in a steady voice:

"His cousin had been staring at me silently all the time. Now he said: 'Let's not act rashly, cousin! Fate has decided that this woman should be considered as dead. Who are we to interfere with the decrees from on high?' I knew the man desired me and all my fears came back. I implored the old man to protect me and take me home. The carpenter scolded his cousin severely. The other flew in a terrible rage, and a violent quarrel started. Suddenly the cousin raised his ax and hit the old man a fearful blow on his head."

Her face had become pale. Judge Dee gave a sign to the sergeant, who quickly offered her a cup of hot tea. When she had drunk that she cried out:

"That horrible sight was too much for me! I fell down in a faint. When I came to, Mao Loo was standing over me with an evil leer on his cruel face. 'You'll come with me!' he growled. 'And keep your mouth shut! One sound and I'll kill you!' We left the garden by the back door and he bound me to a pine tree in the forest behind the temple. When he came back he didn't have the toolbox and that ax with him any more. He took me through the dark streets to what seemed to be a low-class inn. We were received by a horrid woman who took us to a small, dirty room upstairs. 'Here we'll pass the wedding night!' Mao Loo said. I turned to the woman and begged her not to leave me alone. She seemed to understand a little. 'Leave the chicken alone,' she said gruffly to Mao Loo. Til see to it that tomorrow she's ready for you!' Mao Loo went away without another word. The woman gave me an old robe so that I could throw that horrible shroud away. She brought me a bowl of gruel and I slept till noon of the following day.

"Then I felt much better and wanted to leave that place as soon as possible. But the door was locked. I kicked and shouted till the woman appeared. I told her who I was, that Mao Loo had kidnaped me, and that she should let me go. But she just laughed and shouted, 'That's what they all say! Tonight you'll be Mao Loo's bride!' I became angry and scolded her, saying that I would report her and Mao Loo to the tribunal. The woman called me a vile name. She tore down my robe and stripped me naked. I am rather strong, so when I saw her taking a roll of rope from her sleeve to tie me up I gave her a push, trying to get past her to the door. But I was no match for her. She suddenly hit me a hard blow in my stomach. While I doubled up gasping she pulled my arms back and in a moment had tied them behind my back. She grabbed me by my hair and forced me down on my knees with my head bent to the floor."

Moon Fairy swallowed; an angry blush colored her cheeks as she went on:

"She gave me a vicious lash across my hips with the loose ends of the rope. I cried out in pain and anger and wanted to crawl away, but that horrible woman planted her bony knee on my back, pulled my head up with her left hand and, swinging the rope in the other, began to beat me cruelly. Crying frantically for mercy, I had to submit to that humiliating punishment till the blood trickled down my thighs.