Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1878-05-01

disappearance of the azalea bush
down to the energy with which the
proprietors OF the house were en-
bracing foreign notions-the dol
lar box question was too much fol
me.
Judge Of my surprise, when the
next morning beheld the azales
bush In it's accustomed place
certainly wasn't in any way affect
ed by liquor the previous evening
for was in strict training, and the
disappearance of a huge azalea
bush would have been a trick toe
great, even for the eyes Of drunk
en- man to be deceived by it. Put
ting this and the dollar box bust
ness together, / am sorry to say
that / began to suspect my rustic
friend I; but ! resolved to wait till
the evening, in order to have my
suspicious varified. True enough,
as passed the gate at the same
hour as on the previous evening,
the azales bush was gone, and moth
ing but a bare, uneven space mark
ed its site. Well, knew the azalea
bushes are not, even in eccentric
japan, put out during the daytime,
and taken in at night to nurse like
tender, delicate exotics, so / called
the comprador, told him what l had
remarked, and desired him to watch
for a night. He told the same
story, and my suspicious were con-
firmed, that something Of an extra
ordinary nature was going on some
where in the neighborhood of the
bungalow over the way. i set men
to watch for the actual operation of
carting away the bush, but on the
nights when they watched, it re-
NAMED undisturbed. One man re-
ported that at midnight he had
seen the CLEAN of lanterns fitting
about in the garden, had heard
voices and the sound of digging,
and l watched for a night or two,
but saw or heard nothing. l put
the native police on the scent, but
nothing came of it, and / began to
think, that after all, it was merely
a piece Of Japanese eccentricity.
In about a week the athletic
sports came off, which meant two
half holidays for the whole settle
ment, during which time the China
men devoted their time to opium.
smoking and sleeping, and Japan
csc to drinking and louneing in
wine-shops. On the evening of the
last day to celebrate the victories
won, and the cessation from the
bondage of training, we of the
"Junior Hong" gave a big dinner.
1t was a cold, wet night in Novem-
Der, and we were seated in the
drawing-room, talking about the
funny phases Of our Yokohama
life /; of the fires, Of the stories OF
men cut down and robbed by jap
anese in lonely places, of the ex-
tremely clever way in which the
Curio Street bankers had been re-
lieved Of their gold, of the game
laws, Of the absurd opposition by
the government to Europeans 60
ing up country, and Of a hundred
other things, when boy came in
and whispered in my ear that the
comprador wished to see me. In
the passage l found the old man,
trembling from head to foot with
excitement, and utterly unable to
articulate q syllable. He siezed
me by the arm, hurried me down
stairs through our strip Of garden
to the gate, and simply pointed to
the bungalow on the opposite. The
rain had changed to snow, and the
keen wind blew in fitful gusts down
the street, driving the snow into
our faces. Through the mist and
snowflakes, after some peering, l
could make out the occasional CLINT
of a lantern on the other side, and
when the wind lulled for moment,
fancied I heard a grating sound, as
of something being dug and SHOW
eled up, Immediately under our
feet. If / hadn't been told that
such q noise had been distinctly
heard during the evening by one Of
the coolies on watch, I do not sup
pose / should have noticed It, bu,
as now listened, it was very pal
pable.
1t was all very mysterious bu,
I had long been suspicious, and as
l was now certain that something
unusual was taking place / came to
the conclusion that the treasury