Judge Dee cursed his absentmindedness. He now remembered, too late, that Miss Ting had spoken about the fourth door on the right. He had entered by mistake the room opposite, evidently that of Miss Ou-yang. She was out, but that awful brute was there.
The scratching stopped. The planks under Judge Dee's feet shook as the bear lay down in front of the cupboard.
This was a most unpleasant situation. Presumably Miss Ou-yang would arrive before long, and he could shout at her through the door. But in the meantime he was at the mercy of that fearsome creature. He hadn't the slightest idea of the behaviour of bears. Would the animal presently try to smash the door? It seemed solid enough, but if the bear threw its enormous weight against it, he could doubtless easily smash the entire cupboard to pieces.
The cupboard was empty, but there wasn't much space. He had to stand half-bent, the ceiling boards pressed down painfully on the lump on the back of his head. And the air was getting very close. Soon it would become suffocating. He carefully opened the door at a narrow crack.
A waft of fresh air came inside, but at the same moment there was a commotion outside that made the cupboard shake. The bear growled ominously, and again began to scratch at the door. The judge closed it quickly, and kept both hands on the handle.
A cold fear gripped his heart. This was a situation he was utterly unable to cope with. Soon the stale air began to hurt his lungs; sweat broke out all over his body. If he put the door ajar again, would the bear push his paw inside and force it open?
Just when he had decided that he would have to risk it again, he heard someone enter the room. A voice said gruffly: "Are you after the mice again? Back to your corner, quick!"
The floor shook again under the bear's heavy tread The judge opened the door very slightly and filled his lungs with fresh air. He saw Miss Ou-yang lighting the candle. Then she went up to the dressing table, took a handful of sugared fruit from a drawer and threw it to the bear."
"Well caught!" she said. The bear growled.
Judge Dee heaved a deep sigh of relief. He didn't relish the task ahead of announcing his presence from his undignified hide-out, but anything was better than being mauled by that fearful brute! He opened his mouth to speak, then saw to his embarrassment that Miss Ou-yang had untied her sash and was now impatiently tugging at her robe. He would have to wait until she had changed into her night-dress. He was about to pull the door shut again when he suddenly halted. He looked wide-eyed at the girl's bare arms. They were thin, but there was a rippling movement of well-developed muscles, and the upper arms were covered with black hair. There was a long red scar on the left arm. The robe fell down and revealed the bare torso of a young man.
The judge opened the door wider. He cleared his throat and said: "I am the magistrate. I entered here by mistake." As the bear lumbered forward with an angry growl he quickly added: "Keep that beast away from me!"
The young man at the dressing table looked dumbfounded at the figure in the cupboard. Then he barked an order at the bear. It went back to its corner by the window, still growling. Its neck hairs stood on end.
"You can come out!" the youngster said curtly. "He won't touch you."
Judge Dee stepped into the room and went to the chair by the table, eyeing the bear suspiciously.
"Sit down!" the other exclaimed impatiently. "I tell you it's safe!"
"Even so, I want you to put him on the chain!" the judge said curtly. The youngster took off his wig, then went up to the bear and attached a heavy chain to its iron collar. The other end was fastened to a hook in the window sill. Judge Dee thought that the snap of the lock was one of the nicest sounds he had ever heard. He sat down on the bamboo chair.
The young man put on a loose jacket. He sat down, too, and said in a surly voice: "Well, now you have found me out, what are you going to do about it?"
"You are Miss Pao's brother, aren't you?" the judge asked.
"I am. But fortunately that woman Pao isn't my mother! How did you know?"
"When watching your act," Judge Dee replied, "it struck me that White Rose was very frightened when Mo Mo-te threatened you with his sword, while your scene with the bear left her completely unperturbed. That indicated that she knew everything about you and your bear. And when just now I saw your face, I noticed that there's a basic resemblance." The young man nodded.
"Anyway," he said, "I have committed only the minor offence of posing as a member of the other sex. And in a good cause."
"You'd better tell me all about it. Who are you?"
"I am Kang I-te, eldest son of Kang Woo, the well-known rice merchant in the capital. White Rose is my only sister. Half a year ago she fell in love with a young student, but my father disapproved of the match and refused to give his consent to the marriage. Soon after that the young fellow fell off his horse when returning drunk from a party. He broke his back and died on the spot. My sister was broken-hearted. She maintained that her sweetheart had become despondent because of my father's refusal, and that my parents were responsible for his taking to drink, and thus for his death. That was nonsense, because the fellow was a drunkard to begin with. But you try to reason with a girl in love! White Rose announced that she would enter religion. Father and mother did what they could to persuade her to give up that plan, but that only made her all the more stubborn. She threatened to kill herself if they didn't let her go. She entered the White Crane Nunnery in the capital as a novice."
Kang rubbed his upper lip where he had evidently worn a moustache, and continued unhappily: "I went there several times and tried to reason with her. I explained to her that the young man had been notorious for his dissolute life, and that father had been quite right in opposing the marriage. The only result was that she grew furious with me and refused to see me again. Last time I went there, the abbess told me that White Rose had left, and that she didn't know where she had gone. I bribed the gate-keeper, and he told me that a certain Mrs. Pao, a pious widow, had struck up a friendship with her, and taken her away. My parents were worried, and my father ordered me to make further inquiries. By dint of much effort I at last discovered that Mrs. Pao had taken my sister to this monastery, to be initiated as a nun. I decided to follow her in order to try again to persuade my sister to return home. Since I knew she would refuse to see me if I went as I was, I disguised myself as an actress. I am of rather slight build, and I have taken part in some amateur theatricals. As Miss Ou-yang I approached Kuan, and bribed him to offer his services to this monastery for the commemoration festival, and to let me join his troupe. The fellow acted in good faith. You shouldn't blame him, sir.
"The stratagem worked. Mo Mo-te unwittingly did me a service when he teased me during his sword-dance. It frightened my sister and made her forget her resentment against me. After the show she slipped away from Mrs. Pao and hurriedly told me behind the stage that she was in an awful quandary. Mrs. Pao had been very kind to her. She had more or less adopted her as her daughter. Her one great aim in life was to see my sister properly ordained as a nun, for she was a very pious woman. However, in this monastery White Rose had met a young fellow, a certain Mr. Tsung. Though she didn't know him very well yet, her meeting him made her doubt whether after all she had taken the right decision. But on the other hand she could never disappoint Mrs. Pao who had gone to so much trouble for her, and who had consoled her when her own family had turned against her. Those were the words she used, ‘turned against her.' I ask you, sir! Well, I said she had better come up to my room for a quiet talk about what she should do. I told her to take off her black dress. In her white undergarment people would take her for me. She did so and then went away, stuffing her folded black robe in her sleeve."