BARGAINING AND BRIBES 123 



career, in which he had met, he praised Heaven, 

 many just and upright men, he had never met any 

 one whose character had impressed him as being 

 so nearly perfect and flawless as the gentleman 

 before whom he then stood ; and that, as a small 

 token of his gratitude at having been so privileged, 

 he proposed giving the taotai a small mark of his 

 esteem. 



The taotai expressed himself as being quite 

 overwhelmed at such praise. At the same time 

 business was business, and a plot to murder rather 

 a dangerous affair to be mixed up in. Lao, of 

 course, he could see, was a very sterling fellow, 

 though things looked black against him. Finally 

 he delicately hinted that the exact sum which Lao 

 considered adequate to his merits had not yet been 

 named. 



Lao said five hundred taels appeared to him about 

 the right amount 



The taotai said that five hundred taels was a 

 nice little nest-egg, but that they could not value 

 good men very highly in Lao's locality. 



Lao thought perhaps they were rather a mean 

 lot, and that personally he considered six hundred 

 taels nearer the mark, only he was afraid of going 

 against public opinion. 



The taotai rejoined that of course he was 

 immensely flattered, but, after all, he was there 

 to dispense justice, and that Lao's stepmother had 

 struck him as being a very well-balanced woman. 



Lao made a plunge, and said that in taking 

 everything into consideration, and the fact that 

 Heaven would probably never gratify him again 

 with the sight of so perfect a being, he had resolved 



