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the eminent Hsi Jen， with winsome ways， rails at Pao-yue， with a view to exhortation. The beauteous P'ing Erh， with soft words， screens Chia Lien.
But to resume our story. When Shih Hsiang-yuen ran out of the room， she was all in a flutter lest Lin Tai-yue should catch her up； but Pao-yue， who came after her， readily shouted out， "You'll trip and fall. How ever could she come up to you？"
Lin Tai-yue went in pursuit of her as far as the entrance， when she was impeded from making further proGREss by Pao-yue， who stretched his arms out against the posts of the door.
"Were I to spare Yuen Erh， I couldn't live！" Lin Tai-yue exclaimed， as she tugged at his arms. But Hsiang-yuen， perceiving that Pao-yue obstructed the door， and surmising that Tai-yue could not come out， speedily stood still. "My dear cousin，" she smilingly pleaded， "do let me off this time！"
But it just happened that Pao-ch'ai， who was coming along， was at the back of Hsiang-yuen， and with a face also beaming with smiles： "I advise you both，" she said， "to leave off out of respect for cousin Pao-yue， and have done."
"I don't aGREe to that，" Tai-yue rejoined； "are you people， pray， all of one mind to do nothing but make fun of me？"
"Who ventures to make fun of you？" Pao-yue observed advisingly； "and hadn't you made sport of her， would she have presumed to have said anything about you？"
While this quartet were finding it an arduous task to understand one another， a servant came to invite them to have their repast， and they eventually crossed over to the front side， and as it was already time for the lamps to be lit， madame Wang， widow Li Wan， lady Feng， Ying Ch'un， T'an Ch'un， Hsi Ch'un and the other cousins， adjourned in a body to dowager lady Chia's apartments on this side， where the whole company spent a while in a chat on irrelevant topics， after which they each returned to their rooms and retired to bed. Hsiang-yuen， as of old， betook herself to Tai-yue's quarters to rest， and Pao-yue escorted them both into their apartment， and it was after the hour had already past the second watch， and Hsi Jen had come and pressed him several times， that he at length returned to his own bedroom and went to sleep. The next morning， as soon as it was daylight， he threw his clothes over him， put on his low shoes and came over into Tai-yue's room， where he however saw nothing of the two girls Tzu Chuean and Ts'ui Lu， as there was no one else here in there besides his two cousins， still reclining under the coverlets. Tai-yue was closely wrapped in a quilt of almond-red silk， and lying quietly， with closed eyes fast asleep； while Shih Hsiang-yuen， with her handful of shiny hair draggling along the edge of the pillow， was covered only up to the chest， and outside the coverlet rested her curved snow-white arm， with the gold bracelets， which she had on.
At the sight of her， Pao-yue heaved a sigh. "Even when asleep，" he soliloquised， "she can't be quiet！ but by and by， when the wind will have blown on her， she'll again shout that her shoulder is sore！" With these words， he gently covered her， but Lin Tai-yue had already awoke out of her sleep， and becoming aware that there was some one about， she promptly concluded that it must， for a certainty， be Pao-yue， and turning herself accordingly round， and discovering at a glance that the truth was not beyond her conjectures， she observed： "What have you run over to do at this early hour？" to which question Pao-yue replied： "Do you call this early？ but get up and see for yourself！"
"First quit the room，" Tai-yue suggested， "and let us get up！"
Pao-yue thereupon made his exit into the ante-chamber， and Tai-yue jumped out of bed， and awoke Hsiang-yuen. When both of them had put on their clothes， Pao-yue re-entered and took a seat by the side of the toilet table； whence he beheld Tzu-chuean and Hsueeh Yen walk in and wait upon them， as they dressed their hair and performed their ablutions. Hsiang-yuen had done washing her face， and Ts'uei Lue at once took the remaining water and was about to throw it away， when Pao-yue interposed， saying： "Wait， I'll avail myself of this opportunity to wash too and finish with it， and thus save myself the trouble of having again to go over！" Speaking the while， he hastily came forward， and bending his waist， he washed his face twice with two handfuls of water， and when Tzu Chuean went over to give him the scented soap， Pao-yue added： "In this basin， there's a good deal of it， and there's no need of rubbing any more！" He then washed his face with two more handfuls， and forthwith asked for a towel， and Ts'uei Lue exclaimed： "What！ have you still got this failing？ when will you turn a new leaf？" But Pao-yue paid not so much as any heed to her， and there and then called for some salt， with which he rubbed his teeth， and rinsed his mouth. When he had done， he perceived that Hsiang-yuen had already finished combing her hair， and speedily coming up to her， he put on a smile， and said： "My dear cousin， comb my hair for me！"
"This can't be done！" Hsiang-yuen objected.
"My dear cousin，" Pao-yue continued smirkingly， "how is it that you combed it for me in former times？"
"I've forgotten now how to comb it！" Hsiang-yuen replied.
