In the town they soon heard of the arrest; but as there were two magistrates, there were, of course, two trails to follow, as no one they met seemed to know before which one the girls had been carried. In the eagerness of inquiry, Mr. Kit-ze became separated from Mr. Reid and Mallard and, while they went on the wrong trail at first, he went on the right one, arriving almost as soon as the court had begun.
There was a joyful reunion at the sampan. Only Mr. Kit-ze looked sad. Helen watched for the first opportunity to speak to him when alone and said: "Oh, Mr. Kit-ze, that was a good, brave thing you did. How glad it has made me!"
The gloomy look began to leave his face. He turned toward her, a joy awakening in his eyes. "I did it," he said, "because you told me."
"I?" asked Helen astonished. "Oh, no, Mr. Kit-ze, I never told you."
"Not with lips, but with eyes," declared Mr. Kit-ze. "Oh, when you looked at me so, I knew I must. I felt it here," laying his hand with a pathetic movement on his heart. "And when you talked to me, daughter of the most honorable teacher, oh, it was like light coming, coming, that is almost here."
"But how did you know that I knew about the miriok?" she asked, now more astonished than ever.
"I heard him. The day on the bluff. Oh, how frightened poor Kit-ze, and wretched, wretched!"
So he had heard Choi-So tell the story, and though he had hotly protested against his accompanying them as poleman, all the time vigorously declaring to himself that he would never give up the miriok, yet the seeds of better things had taken root in his heart, were even then beginning to push their tender shoots upward. And how Helen's deep interest, her kindness to him, her evident concern, above all, the sweet, earnest words she had spoken—how these had brought just the nourishment to make the seed grow! The hand that no harsh force of compulsion could ever have made give up the idol to which it clung had brought it tremblingly to the feet of love, won by its all-conquering power.
They turned back from the old temple above Yo-Ju after thoroughly exploring it. They also spent a day in Yo-Ju, where Mr. Kit-ze fortunately found a poleman whom he knew and in whom he had confidence. They stopped at Mr. Ko's long enough to pick up Mr. Chefoo, whom they found well on the road to recovery, and to leave with their old friend some remembrances brought from Yo-Ju.
What a joy it was to Helen, on the homeward journey, to watch Mr. Kit-ze coming more and more into the light.