A little later Mrs. Van Buren, beckoning him to her side as though she were in her own house, said to Sky-High, in lowered tones, “Is this tall mandarin the mandarin in Manchuria that was your master before you came to America?”

Little Sky-High bowed, with a sudden blink of his almond eyes.  “Mistress,” said he, “he was the mandarin who sent me to America, in care of the consul, that I might know of the American home-life.  He wishes me to learn everything that will be of good to me and my country when I am a man”—­

“Is he any kinsman of yours?” interrupted his mistress.

“Yes, my noble madam.”

“Pray, what relation may he be to you?” Mrs. Van Buren asked, a strange sensation rushing over her.

Lucy and Charles stood near, drinking in every word.

“The prince is my father, mistress,” answered little Sky-High.

The two children, standing in the shelter of a carven screen, clapped their hands in the American fashion.  Lucy cried out, though softly, “Oh, Sky-High, we are so glad, so glad!  You are a wang!  You were a wang all the time!”

“Even as you treated me, always, my little Lady of the Lotus!” answered Sky-High, bowing before the children and their mother in the manner of his gorgeous father.

* * * * *

That night there was a feast in the summer palace of the Canton mandarin in honor of the return of the little prince, and the visit of his great American friend, the mandarin of Boston.

Over the tea of Dharma the mandarins related Chinese tales for the entertainment of the illustrious American.  The little prince told the story of the German collier family who changed a haunting evil into a guardian angel.

And the prince, his father, said, “That must be a true tale, for it is as it would be with men and spirits in China.  The wisdom of Buddha is in the story.”

The next day, in the pavilion by the lake of the rosy nelumbiums, where she sat with her mother, and the wonderful Chinese ladies and children, little Lucy said to Sky-High.  “I always treated you like a wang, didn’t I?”

“And we will treat you here as a viceroy would treat another viceroy’s little girl,” said Sky-High—­whose real name was Ching—­the Prince Ching.