The man hissed, `Now you, you treacherous slut!' Adding some horrible words, he reached over the bed, felt for my hair, drew my head back and brought the sickle down on my throat. I heard a thud by the side of my head, then I lost consciousness.

"When I came to I was lying on a cart that was bumping along an uneven road. Fan's naked corpse was lying by my side. I then realized that the point of the sickle had struck the side of the bed, so that only the edge had scratched my throat. Since the murderer evidently thought he had killed me too, I feigned to be dead. Suddenly the cart halted, it was tilted and I slid to the ground together with the corpse. The murderer threw some dry branches over us, then I heard the cart moving away. I hadn't dared open my eyes, so I can't say who the murderer was. When be entered the bedroom I thought he had a rather thin, swarthy face, but that may have been the effect of the oil lamp in the corner.

"I scrambled up and looked around. I saw in the moonlight that I was in the mulberry bush near Fan's farm. At the same time I saw a monk coming down the mud road, from the direction of the city. Since I was clad only in my loincloth I wanted to hide behind a tree, but he had already seen me and carne running toward me. Leaning on his staff, he looked at Fan's corpse, then said to me, `You killed your lover, eh? You had better come along with me to the deserted temple and keep me company a bit. Then I promise I won't betray your secret!' He wanted to grab me and I cried out in fear. Suddenly another man appeared as if from nowhere. He barked at the monk. 'Who told you you could use the temple for raping women? Speak up!' He drew a long knife from his sleeve. The monk cursed and lifted his staff. But suddenly he gasped, clutched at his heart, and fell to the ground. The other quickly bent over him. Righting himself, he muttered something about having bad luck."

A GIRL SURPRISED IN A MULBERRY BUSH

"Do you think," judge Dee interrupted, "that the newcomer knew that monk?"

"I couldn't say, your honor," Mrs. Koo replied. "It all happened so quick, and the monk didn't call him by his name. Later I learned that he is called Po Kai. He asked me what was going on. He didn't as much as glance at my nakedness, and spoke like an educated man. Since despite his shabby clothes he also had a certain air of authority about him, I decided I could trust him, and told him everything. He offered to take me home to my husband, or to my father; they would know what to do. I told him frankly that I couldn't face either of them, I was half out of my mind and wanted time to think. I asked him whether he couldn't hide me somewhere for a day or two; in the meantime he could report P'an's murder, without saying anything about me, for I was certain that the murderer had mistaken me for another woman. He replied that the murder was no concern of his, but if I wanted to hide he would help me. He added that he himself was living with other people, and that a hostel would never accept a woman alone that time of the night. The only solution he could think of was to rent a room for me in one of the floating brothels, those people asked no questions and anyway he would tell them a plausible story-. I le told me he would bury the bodies in the middle of the mulberry bush; it would then take several clays before they would be discovered, and by that time I could decide whether I wanted to report to the tribunal on it or not. He took off the monk's cowl and told me to put it on after 1 had removed the blood from my face and bosom with my loincloth. When he came back I was ready. He took me to a wooded patch further along the mud road where he had tethered his horse, made me sit behind him and rode back to the city. At the canal lie rented a boat, and brought me to the floating brothels outside the east wall."

"How did you pass the guards at the city gate?" the judge asked. "He knocked on the south gate," Mrs. Koo said, "and acted as if he were very drunk. The guards knew him; he shouted something to them about importing new talent into the city. The guards told me to lift the hood, and when they saw I was indeed a woman they all laughed, nade some coarse jokes about Po Kai's pranks, and let us through.

"He rented a cabin for me on the boat. I didn't hear his whispered explanation to the woman in charge there, but I saw clearly that he gave her four silver pieces. I must say she treated me well. When I told her I couldn't afford to become pregnant she even gave me a medicine to take. I gradually recovered from my fright, and decided I would wait till Po Kai would come and then ask him to take me to my father. This morning the woman came to my room together with the waiter. She said that Po Kai was a criminal and had been arrested. She added that since he bad paid only a small advance for my dress and my lodging, I would have to work in the brothel to settle that debt. I told her indignantly that four silver pieces ought to cover those expenses and to spare, and that I wanted to leave there immediately. When this woman told the waiter to get her a whip, I thought that anything was better than falling into the clutches of these people, and told the woman I had witnessed the crime Po Kai had committed, and knew everything about other crimes of his. Then the woman became afraid and told the waiter that they would get into serious trouble with the authorities if they didn't report me. Thus the woman took me here to your honor's tribunal. I fully realize „that I should have listened to the advice of that man Po Kai. I don't know what crime he has committed but I can only say he treated me very well. I should have reported everything at once, but I was deeply upset by what I had gone through, and the only thing I wanted was to rest and consider calmly what I should do. This is the complete truth."

While the scribe was reading out his notes of her statement, the judge reflected that she had told her story in a frank and natural manner, and that it fitted all known facts. He knew now the meaning of the deep notch he had found in the edge of the bed on the farm, and now it had also become more understandable why Ah Kwang had not realized she was not Soo-niang; for when he turned with his sickle to her, he had been standing over on Fan's side of the bed, and her face had been covered with Fan's blood. Po Kai's readiness to assist her was easily explained; it confirmed his suspicions of Dr. Tsao. Dr. Tsao must be an associate of Po Kai in his dark schemes, and the latter had doubtless informed him that his daughter had happened to witness his meeting with one of their accomplices among the monks, and that he had arranged that she would be out of their way for a few days. That also explained Dr. Tsao's indifference to his vanished daughter's fate: he knew all the time that she was safe.

After Mrs. Koo had impressed her thumbmark on the document, the judge spoke.

"You went through some fearful experiences, Mrs. Koo. I don't think anyone could honestly say that he would have acted more wisely under similar circumstances. The legalistic problem of the degree of guilt of a woman who fails to report the murder of the man who a few hours previously had committed on her the capital crime of rape, I shall not enter into. It is not my duty to provide experts in jurisprudence with material for study. It is my duty to administer justice, and to see that the damage wrought by a crime is repaired. Therefore I rule that this court has no plaint against you, and herewith restore you to your husband, Koo Meng-pin."

As Koo came forward his wife gave him a quick look. But ignoring her completely, he asked in a strained voice, "Is there any proof, your honor, that my wife was indeed raped and that she did not voluntarily submit to that scoundrel's embraces?"