The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-08

incs Of the noted trrachcry Of the Chi
ncSc.
woke c.arly, and had hardly begun
dressing before herald came TO inform
r.le that the Eiccroy Of the province de-
sired to sec me at his ''yamcn' ut 10 that
morning. This strange summons | at
once connected with ny harboring aa cs-
capped prisoner, and. full of vague dis
trust. ! had almost decided either to put
10 sea two hours before the advertised
time, noon, and So temporarily avoid any
explanations, OF 10 plead press of bust
ness and refuse to obey an almost royal
command. Disturbed by such doubts, [
hardly felt relieved when another herald
came to say that the Viccroy had con-
cludcd, as he desired to see the ship, to
visit the Captain, and that my presence
at the ';yamen" would be excused.
Such thing Us a Viccroy visiting in
state merchant vessel was almost unprc-
ccdentcd, and 1 began to fear that | was
implicated in the escape Of political
prisoner of high rank.
Now the customary official messengers
began to pour in: First, two clad in
robes of state announced that his excel
lency would arrive in half an hour: then
four more that he was coming in ten
minutes; then four horscnen gaudily ca
pariSoned. rode down to the wharf where
l was now waiting to say that their mas
ter would arrive in five minutes; then a
procession of livcricI servants bearing
aloft on high poles rcd sign boards. on
which all the virtues under the sun were
ascribed in Chinese characters to their
lord; soldiers with flags and swords and
spears; men with whips and gongs to
clear the way; mandarins on horseback;
lictors with long phcasants' tails in their
caps, and large rabblc on foot--all pro-
claimed that his cxccllcncy had arrived.
Alighting from gorgeous green sedan
chair, borne by sixteen men in livery, he
greeted me most politely and accepted my
Invitation to take passage in my gig Oft
to the ship. A large portion OF his escort
followed, occupying small! fleet OF sam
pans.
The Viceroy was ushcred into the
cabin and, strange to say, selected a
chair Immediately in front of the door
of the closet in which the refugee was
concealed.
After few courtesies had been ex-
changed was informed through an in
terpreter that Prince Ichang, the leader
of an insurrection, who had been cap
tured and condemned to be beheaded,
had made his escape. Suspicion, they
said, seemed to point to his being sccreted
on board my ship; sampan had been seen
to 90 alongside of her the night before
about midnight; it reached the ship with
two boatmen and one foreigner and re-
turned to the shore with only one man,
and he made off in great haste as soon as
he had landed, leaving the sampan adrift.
"Of course the Captain knew nothing
about the escaped prisoner, and so he
could have no objections to allowing the
ship to be searched"
This was subtly put. To refuse to
allow it would be equivalent to acknowl-
edging that the man was on board, and
would cost me my place in company
whose interest it was to placatc the I'M
friendly Chinese. TO allow the ship to
be searched involved the possible dis
covery of the man, and in that case his
recapture and certain death, as we'll as my
own dismissal from the company. Either
course might endanger the lives OF the
foreign community in Annoy, against
whom the hatred of the Chinese needed
only a pretext to begin general massa-
Gre. felt the color come and 90 in my
cheeks and for moment 1 thought of
delivering the refugee up to certain
death, saying that when | took him on
board was not aware of the nature of
the offence, and then revulsion of feel
ing came over me. l thought "this man
has trusted his life in my hands and,
hunted criminal that he is, I will not be-
tray him"
All this flashed through my mind in an
instant, and when | turned to the Vice
roy felt the same spirit of helpless, yet
indomitable defiance that every true sail
or feels in the fury of the storm. | said
quietly, "Certainly, your excellency, my
steward will turn over the keys to your
servants, but they will find no such mau
on board my ship"
The search party went all over the ship,
directed by the crew, and after probing
into corners and peering in amongst the
bales of silk and boxes of tea, no stran-
ger was found. This was reported to the
Viceroy, who said: "You have not
searched this cabin; do so." Twas wild
with excitement and alarm, but my re-
lief was intense when my furtivc glances
showed me that the search party did not
dare to ASH their master to move from IL
front of the door. This relief was of
short duration, for he again asked if they
had searched everywhere. "Evcrywhcre
except in that apartment behind your
cxcelcncy's chair. We will look
there too; where is the key"
I now became thoroughly fright
ened, and, fumbling for some
loophole to escape, I told the Vice;oy
that that was locker where kept my
wines, and-I was ashamed to confess it
to so high a ruler under the son of
heaven that l sometimes mid opium and
other contraband articles there. Would
his cxccllcncy forgive me if begged that
that place be kept unopened, as my pee
cadilloes, if discovered, would cost me
my post as Captain. sin that case, said
the Viceroy, 81 will save you from trou-
bic hv inSncctino mysnlf-thc kew