gone in decomposition as if the man had been dead for a fortnight or more. On my putting this last question to the prosecutrix, her son replied that bodies naturally decompose more rapidly in water than otherwise; and as for the accused, they none of them seemed to have a word to say for themselves, while mother and son stood there jabbering away, with their hempen garments and mourning staves, the one bemoaning the loss of her husband, the other of his father, in such affecting tones as would have drawn tears from the bystanders even had they been of iron or of stone. My own conviction was, however, unfavourable to their case, and I bade them go along home and bury the body themselves. At this, there was a general expression of astonishment; and then I called the accused and said to them, “Chêng is not dead; can you not manage to arrest him?” They all declared that they “didn’t know;” whereupon I railed at them, saying, “What! you can’t find out the affairs of those who live in the same village and draw from the same well as yourselves? This indolent careless behaviour is perfectly amazing. It’s all very well to be callous when other people are concerned; but now that you stand charged with this murder and your own necks are in peril, it being my duty to commit you to prison, do you mean to tell me that you are willing to take the consequences?” The accused men then burst into tears, and implored me to save them; to which I replied, “Here is this man Chêng, who was formerly an accomplice of thieves, alarmed by my appointment to office, disappears from the scene. Now, your cities of refuge are confined to some half-dozen or so; and if you separate and go to them in search of the missing man, I have no doubt but that you will find him.” Three days passed away, when back came one of them with Chêng, whom he had caught at the city of Hui-lai. They were followed by a large crowd of several thousand persons, who clapped their hands and seemed much amused; among them being the mother and son, overwhelmed with shame, and grovelling in the dust before me. I made the latter tell me the name of the legal adviser who had egged them on to act thus, and
