142 THE MARRIAGE MAKER 



Whereupon the old man turned over a few leaves in his 

 big book, and without even asking Wei Ku his name, ran 

 his finger slowly along the entries which were written in 

 strange letters that glowed like the light of fireflies. 

 Suddenly he stopped and exclaimed, "Ah, here it is, 

 Wei Ku, native of Sungkiang!" He read the entry to 

 himself and then said, "You are still young, and your 

 marriage will not take place for some years to come; your 

 mate is still an infant, not more than two years old. Near 

 the market-place in the north suburb of your native town, 

 is a small shop where an old woman sells tou-fu; 1 the old 

 woman has charge of that infant, and that infant will one 

 day become your wife." 



On hearing this Wei Ku was sorely disappointed. He 

 had hoped that he might some day wed some immaculate 

 damsel with a huge fortune, or perhaps the beautiful daugh- 

 ter of some high and powerful mandarin; but to be told in 

 this blunt, off-hand way that his bride was still an infant, 

 and in the charge of a stupid old woman who kept a tou-fu 

 shop, was really most discomfiting. 



"That's rough!" complained Wei Ku dejectedly. "Is 

 it not possible for you to arrange matters a little more to 

 my advantage? You give me indeed a long time to look 

 forward to; I cannot wait for an infant of two years; I 

 wish to marry soon?" 



The old man replied gravely. "There is no help for it. 

 What must be, must be; you cannot escape that which the 

 Gods have ordained for youV 



Just then a cloud passed over the face of the moon, 

 and in a moment all was veiled in darkness. When the 

 moonlight again fell upon the scene, the strange old man 

 had vanished. 



An inexpressible sense of uneasiness now took possession 

 of Wei Ku. Those words "What must be, must be; you 

 cannot escape that which the Gods have ordained for you" 

 uttered by a mysterious stranger in the weird moonlight 

 seemed to carry a deep significance to his soul. He reflected 

 that perhaps it was useless to oppose the Gods, though he 

 would certainly do his utmost to see this infant; so rousing 

 himself, he briskly retraced his steps to the house of his 

 friends. 



The next day he left the city and returned hurriedly to 

 his native town. On arrival there he at once went to the 

 north suburb where he had been told the humble shop of 



Beancurd. 



