The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1890-01-02


swept the ground, and saying .sFat-slan
o. chin-chinned herself adieu.
The Chinaman with the long oueue
was bound for Fat-shan afoot. and the
curt explanation OF " F'at-stan To- by the
boatzwom an embodied he advice hat
BY following in his wake / should be in
no danger Of losing my way.
The ssFaf-shdn lo'' was but one Of be-
wildering number OF narrow stone foot
paths leading hither and thither across
the level valley Of the Choo- Kiang, and
so the squat figure with the pendulous
fve-foot queue trudgfng along before
proved very fortunate accessory to be-
gin with. #
#It=wa not until we arrived at Fat
shan that my troubles began. As we
approached this city Long Queue point
ed out a little gate in the massive brick
wall that surrounds Fat-Shan, as eyery
Chinese city is surrounded, chin-chinned,
and betook himself off across the fields
Five minutes after had entered this
gate | was in the midst Of a crowd Of ma
tives, whose aggressive curiosity made it
extremely difficult for me to move
either backward or forward, or to do
anght. but stand and try to protect my
self from the crush.
They seemed to be very good natured
crowd, on the whole, and withal In
clined to be courteous: but the pressure
of numbers, the struggling and pushing
to obtain peep at the bicycle, rendered
the good intentions of individuals
wholly imperative,
With perseverance L finally succeeded
in extricating myself and followed the
lead OF inteiligent-leol young
man, who fondly thought was plotting
me toward the gate leading out to the
Sam-shin road. The crowd followed at
our heels as we treaded the labyrinthian
alleyways that seemed as interminable
as they were narrow and filthy.
At every turn respected the welcome
sight OF an open gate and green rice
fields beyond; when, after we had tray
ersed most bewildering maze, my vol
unteer guide halted before wicket
gate set in the wall of house. Point
ing to the gate, he motioned for me to
knock
1t now became very evident that he
had been mistaken from the beginning
in respect to my purpose. Instead of
taking me to the Sam-shin road he had
brought me to some kind Of house, the
nature of which had no more idea OF
than the man in the moon.
- Saua-sjttn. isdna-s1tsft7l " explained,
making gestures of -disapproval at the
house. 't'-s-.-s
At this the weli-mannered young man
regarded ME with q look of utter bewil-
derment, and backed off into the crowd;
henceforth he was content to stand and
survey me with the same degree of curl
osity as the others. Another attempt to
enlist his services only resulted in alien
ating his sympathies still further He
had been grossly taken in by my as
sumption of ordinary intelligence. Hav-
ing discovered in me a jackass, incapa-
BILE of making myself understood, he
stood on his dignity and abstained from
further interest in my affairs.
Faces peered curionsly through little
barred apertures in the wicket-gate and
grinned with good-natured amusement
at the sight of Fan-Kwae, as / stood
for few minutes uncertain what course
to pursue From inability to do any
thing else, seized upon well-dressed
youngster among the crowd, rendered
him coin, and addressed him question:
ingly "Sam-shin lor Sam-sAin lo''
The youth regarded me with
monkeyish curiosity for moment,
and then looked around upon the crowd
and giggled.
Nothing was now palmer than that
nobody in the crowd had the slightest
conception of what | wanted to do. So,
at least, it seemed to me then, although
the righteousness of my situation may
be readily understood by imagining
lone Chinaman surrounded by dense
crowd on the Bowery, New York, and
uttering the one word Boston," or
ssBoston road.
Imagine, also, that instead of pro-
nouncing the word properly, the wan
dering Celestial had corrupted it into
"Blostim, !" and the mutual perplexity is
easily understood.
At length, after no end of travelling
about the crooked streets, followed at
every step by shouting crowds, i STUN
bled upon an individual who fortunately
sabed word or two of pigeon English.
Like drowning man, l was willing to
clutch wildly even at straw, and seiz-
ing upon this embryo interpreter, bribed
him to lead the way to the Sam-shin
gate. -.
Full tlfFee hours after had entered
Fat-shan this person at length conduct
ed me to the very gate by which / had
come in, and, pointing through it, said,
with Chinese chuckle, not sSam-shin,"
but Canton lo!n Inow knew as much
about the road to Sam-shin as | did be.
fore reaching Fat-shan, but / had learned
a valuable lesson in the unfathomable
ways of the Celestial that stood me in
good service for the rest of the journey.
Thomas Stevens, in Youths Com,
panion.
How They Marry In Burmah.