Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-03-12

/ O merchant vessel was almost unprecedented,
and began to fear that I was implicated in
| the escape Of a political prisoner Of high
| rank.
| Now the customary official messengers be-
| gan to pour in-frst, two clad in robes of
| state announced that his excellency would
arrive in half an hour; then four mora that
he was coming in ten minutes; then four
horsemen, gaudily caparisoned. rode down
! to the wharf, where l was now waiting, to
say that their master would arrive in five
| minutes; then a procession of Hveried SER
wants, bearing aloft on high poles red 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 pheasants' tails i'll their caps, and
large rabble on football proclaimed that
his excellepcy had arrived. Alighting from
q gorgeous green sedan chair, borne by six
teen men in livery, he greeted me most po-
htely and accepted my invitation TO take
passage in my gig of TO the ship. large
portion OF his escort followed, occupying a
small feet of sampans.
The viceroy was ushered into the cabin,
and, strange to say, selected chair imme-
diately in front of the door of the closet in
which the refugee was concealed.
After few courtesies had been exchanged,
was informed through an interpreter that
Prince Ichang, the leader of an instruction,
who had been captured and condemned to be-
beheaded, had made his escape. Suspicion,
they said, seemed to point to his being Sc
crcted on board my ship; sampan had been
l. - Al L
about midnight; it reached the ship with two
boatmen and one foreigner, and returned to
the shore with only one man, and he made
off in great haste a., soon as he had landed,
leaving the sanlpan adrift. ''Of course the
captain knew nothing about the escaped pris-
oner, and so he could have no objections TO
allowing the ship to be searched"
This was subtly put. To refuse to allow il
would be equivalent TO acknowledging that
the man was on board, and would cost me
my place il company whose interest it was
to placate the unfriendly Chinese. TO allow
the ship to be searched involved the possible
discovery Of the man, and in that case his re-
capture and certain DEATH as well 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 a general massacre. felt
the color come and go in my cheeks, and for
moment thought of delivering the refugee
up to certain death, saying that when took
him on board | was not aware of the nature
of the offense, and then revulsion of feeling
came over me- | thought this man has
trusted his life in my hands and, hunted Grim
inal that he is, l will not betray him.
All this flashed through my mind in an in
slant and when l turned to the viceroy felt
the same spirit of helpless yet indomitable de
fiance that every true sailor feels in the fury
OF the storm. / said quietly: Certainly,
your e1cellency; my steward will turn over
the keys to your servants, but they will find
no such man 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 stranger was found
This was reported to the viceroy, who said:
You have not searched this cabin; do So"
I was wild with excitement and alarm. but
my relief was intense when my furtive glance
showed me that the search party did not dare
TO ask their master to move from in front of
the door. This relief was of short duration,
for he again asked if they had searched
everywhere. Everywhere except in that
apartment behind your excellency's chair
We viii look there, too; where is the key?'
l now became thoroughly frightened, and
fumbling for some loophole to escape,
/ told the viceroy that that was locker
where | kept my wines, and-I was ashamed
to confess it to so high aruler under the ''Son
of Heaven'-that sometimes hid opium and
other contraband articles there. Would his
excellency forgive me if l begged that that
place be left unopened, as my peccadilloeS, if
discovered, would cost me my post as cap
tain. I'm that case said the viceroy, Il
will save you from trouble by inspecting my
SELF the keyr'
Doubtful whether to confess my completely
or TO brave it through, thought of the mys
ferrous nature of the whole affair, and hoped
that the strange passenger might in some
manner have escaped. This straw
Of hope that drowning desperation chung to
saved the day. reached in my pocket, and
with trembling fingers pulled out the key.
The viceroy unlocked the door, opened it, |
and closed it hastily behind him.
My nerves were then so wrought upon that |
/ could almost have heard the dew fall, and !
fancied l heard word within spoken very
low. Then the door opened again, and there |
was rustic of silken robes the door closed, |
and the viceroy said in Chinese, mo one |
there!n
felt my heart throb with one great bound, |
and things seemed TO reel around me. When !
| recovered my composure enough to look up /
with pleased and grateful eyes I saw an e1-
preston | thought | recognized, and in an in
slant | knew what my own unstrung nerves |
and the regal robes had before concealed |
the miserable coolie Of the night before was |
none other than the viceroy of the province |
Of Fuh-kied, the absolute ruler of twenty-five /
million of people. | had no longer doubt !
that my mysterious passenger and the royal |
fugitive were the same. and that the viceroy |
himself was conniving at his escape.
The ship sailed on time, and Prince Ichang |
was landed safely 10 Hong Kong, where ne |
lived under English protection until severe /
illness let him have that privilege most NOR
tails eDjoy-of dying with his bead on
Subsequent developments pointed to the |
feet that the viceroy was influenced not only |
by personal friendship, but by an enormous
bride with which the &ch prince bought his |
nead, and that, fearing the treachery of any
Of his subordinateS, he had planned and exc
DCNSN liz eStapS cum cay dAOlIc- vi Ky Ge-
traying him he had no fear, as the word of a |
foreign DEVIL" would then weigh nothing in
4 Chinese court.
Two years afterward received from the
Ficeroy Of Kwang Tung gorgeous pair Of /
vases and some magnificent embroideries, ''in
for past Inequalities, and / found !
that my cooiie friend had been promoted 10
the government Of one Of the largest prov
noes OF thear1nirA Tn, T-a-
fortuEais nu,cIs.