' And at the memory
of his former occupation, Quen again waved his arms from side to side
with untiring assiduousness.
"'Strange indeed to this person's ears are your words,' said Ah-Ping,
outwardly unmoved, but with an apprehensive internal pain that he
would have regarded Quen's display of emotion with an easier stomach
if his own taels were safely concealed under the floor of his inner
chamber. 'The sum which this one entrusted to you has, without any
pretence been expended upon the Temple, while the written paper
concerning the repayment bears the duty seal of the high ones at
Peking. How, then, can Ah-Ping suffer a loss at the hands of
Quen-Ki-Tong?'
"'Ah-Ping,' said Quen, with every appearance of desiring that both
persons should regard the matter in a conciliatory spirit, 'do not
permit the awaiting demons, which are ever on the alert to enter into
a person's mind when he becomes distressed out of the common order of
events, to take possession of your usually discriminating faculties
until you have fully understood how this affair has come about. It is
no unknown thing for a person of even exceptional intelligence to
reverse his entire manner of living towards the end of a long and
consistent existence; the far-seeing and not lightly-moved Ah-Ping
himself has already done so.
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