"But I should like you to walk a little way with me."
"In what can I serve you?" she hastened to ask.
Without speaking, he took her into a quiet little tavern. When they
were seated, and the attendant had brought them fruit and dishes of
food, he poured out a full cup of hot wine and offered it to her,
saying:
"I have something to ask of you, ma-ma Lu. But I am afraid that you
cannot accomplish it."
"Without boasting," she answered with a wide smile, "there are few
enterprises, however difficult, in which I do not succeed. What is it
you desire?"
"I want you to arrange a meeting for me with the daughter of P'an,
who lives in the Street of the Ten Officials. Here are five ounces
of silver to begin with. If you succeed, you shall have quite as much
more."
"The small Eternal Life? The little witch! I thought her so demure!
I should never have imagined she was a wild flower. But the matter is
difficult. There are only the parents and the daughter in that house,
and the father is dangerous. He keeps a damnably suspicious watch over
his door. How could you get in? I dare not promise any success."
"You have just boasted that you always succeed. Here are two ounces
more."
The old woman's eyes gleamed like fire at the sight of the
snow-colored metal, and she said:
"I will take the risk. If all goes well, it will be your fortune.
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