I received this announcement without manifesting any emotion.
‘Am I to take any credentials?’
The president of the Company of the Joyous Peach Blossom unbuttoned his coat, and drew from the breast-pocket a small parcel wrapped in yellow silk. Unwinding the silk, fold by fold, with reverent care, he displayed to view a square tablet of translucent stone, of a colour like that of an olive tree seen at a distance with the light upon it. It was a piece of jade, a stone whose beauty is not yet appreciated in Europe, but which the Chinese estimate far above onyx or mother-o’-pearl or chalcedony.
Taking the tablet from his hand, I perceived that it was engraved with the figure of a dragon, whose extended claws each showed five talons.
‘This is an Imperial talisman,’ I observed.
‘It is a passport,’ the other responded. ‘The sight of that tablet will gain you admittance to the presence of her Imperial Majesty.’ He sighed as he added: ‘You are to be envied, monsieur.’
‘That remains to be seen.’ I proceeded to fix the amount of my remuneration and expenses, which M. Bignaud paid without demur.
As he was rising to go he could not resist asking—
‘Have you any objection to tell me what it was that led you to guess that your journey would be to China?’
‘It was more than a guess, monsieur, since I knew I had the honour to receive the chief of the Company of the Joyous Peach Blossom.’