men presented a second memorial couched in still stronger language, and they followed it up the next morning with a third. To their urgent advice was added that of Lady Om herself and of many other of the officials. A crowd of officials gathered at the palace gate, and on their knees awaited the decision of the Emperor. There was not a single soul of all that crowd but knew that the charge was a mere excuse, and yet it was nominally valid. It was the will of that powerful company against the will of the Emperor. The tension was too great, and his Majesty at last reluctantly consented, or at least expressed consent ; but he first ordered the accused to be stripped of all his honours and to render all his accounts. This was nominally as reasonable as was the charge against the man. It was a case of " diamond cut diamond," in which the astuteness of the Emperor won. The accusers could not object to having the accused disgorge before being executed, but it was at this very point that they -were foiled. Yi Yong-ik's accounts were purposely in such shape that it would have taken a month to examine them, for he alone held the key. Nothing can exceed the desperate coolness of the man under the awful ordeal. At one point, just after the acquiescence of the Emperor, the written sentence of death is said to have gone forth, but was recalled just as it was to have gone out of the palace gates, after which there would have been no recall. No man ever escaped by a narrower margin. When Yi Yong-ik presented his accounts the Emperor announced that it would take some days to straighten matters out since the accused was the only man to unravel the skein. Here was probably the crucial point in the intrigue. If the white heat of the day before had been maintained and the officials had demanded instant punishment, accounts or no accounts, the thing would have been done, but as it happened the consciousness of having won relaxed the tension to such a degree that the accused gained time. This time was utilised by calling in a Russian guard and spiriting the accused away to the Russian legation. This accomplished, his Majesty suavely
