"On the Sang-kiang, five Chinese _li_ to the north of the city of Canton. A narrow path leads due north from the Five-Storied Pagoda. This path crosses the hills and descends into the valley of the Sang River--a very beauteous place."
"Are they long _li_?" asked Sir Thomas, understanding well the vagueness of all Chinese measurements, "or short _li_?"
"They are short _li_," answered Men-Ching, "for the road runs up-hill until you come to the last _li_, where the traveller descends into a wide valley of ricefields and fruit trees, li-chi and mango. In the Sang valley there is a tall tower, from the top of which, in days gone by, fathers were wont to throw the she-children they could not afford to keep. A woman child is no use in the world. From the day of her birth to the day of her death she does little else but talk. On the west side of the tower is a small wood, and in the centre of this wood is a glade where the birds sing in summer-time, whilst the water of the river makes sweet and pleasant music. In the glade are rocks; but in one place there is a great red stone, almost round. Two strong men can roll it away from the place where it is; but they must use all their strength. And when the red stone is rolled away, it will be seen that it rests upon a great hole in the ground. It is like the lid of a kettle. Inside this hole there is room enough for twenty thousand dollars."
The judge had listened intently, committing each detail to memory. A little after, Men-Ching left the cave, and the three white men found themselves together. Sir Thomas turned to his nephew.
"Did you hear what the rascal said, Frank?" he asked.
"Then," said the judge, "help me to write this letter. It will be by no means easy to write. I shall have to explain matters very clearly to Sir John, and I've got to write it with a brush."
In the temple they had been deprived of their pencils and notebooks, and everything else their pockets contained, and these had not been brought by Cheong-Chau to the cave. Otherwise Sir Thomas might have asked for his own fountain pen. As it was, he was now obliged to write in English characters with a Chinese brush, and this was a tedious business. In the end, however, the letter was written, covering in all five pages of Chinese rice-paper, in shape longer than foolscap, but not so broad.