Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1890-09-08

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strange summons | at once connected with
my harboring an escaped prisoner, and full
Of vague distrust, had almost decided either
to put 10 sea two hours before the advertised
| time, noon and SO temporarily avoid any ex-
| plantations, or to plead press of business, and
/ refuse to obey an almost royal command
/ Disturbed by such doubts, hardly felt re-
| lieved when another herald came to say that
| the vicsroy had concluded, as he desired to
| see the ship, to visit the captain, and that my
presence At the ''yamenn would beexoused.
| Such thing as a viceroy visiting in state
| a merchant vessel was almost unprecedented
and began 70 fear that was implicated in
the escape OF a political prisoner Of high
| rank :
Now the customary official messengers be-
j gan to pour in--first, two clad in robes OF
state announced that his excellency would
arrive in half an hour; then four more that
| he VISA coming in ten minutes; then four
| horsemen, gaudily caparisoned rodo down
| to tbs wharf, where ] was now waiting, to
| say that their master would arrive in five
/ minutes then a procession of liveried SER
wants. bearing aloft on high poles red sign
| boards, on which all the virtues under the
sun were a,cribed 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 pheasauts' tails in their caps, and
urge rabble on foot-all proclaimed that
Ills excellency had arrived. AIighting from
2 gorgeous green sedan chair, borne by six
teen men in livery, he greeted mo most po-
| litely and accepted my invitation to take
passage in my gig Of to the snip A large
| portion of his escort followed, occupying a
small fleet 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 q few courtesies had been exchanged,
! was informed through an interpreter that
Prince Ichang the leader of an insurrection,
who had been captured and condemned to be
beheaded, had made his escape Suspicion,
they said, seemed to point to his being So
creted on board my ship; a sampan had been
seen to 80 alongside of her the night before
about midnight; it reached the ship with two
boatmen and one foreigner, and returned to
the shore with only one man, and he made
| of in great haste as soon as ne had landed
leaving the sampan 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 it
would be equivalent TO acknowledging that
the man was on board, and would cost me
| my place in a 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 70 begin a general massacre felt
the color come and 20 in my cheeks, and for
a moment thought Of delivering the refugee
/ ap 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. l thought this man has
| trusted his life in my hands and, hunted Grim
inal that he is, I will not betray him.
AL this flashed through my mind in an in
slant, and when | turned to the viceroy felt
the same spirit Of helpless yet indomitable de-
dance that every true sailor feels in the fury
81 the storm. | said quietly: Certainly,
| your excellency; my steward will turn over
the keys to your servants, but they will end
no such man Oh board my ship"
The search party went all over the ship.
directed by the crew, and after probing into
| corners and peering III amongst the bales Of
silk and boxes Of tea, no stranger was found.
| This was reported to the vieeroy, who said.
| you have not searched this cabin; do So
| was whd with excitement and alarm, hut
| 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
|
| apartment behind your excelleney's chair
| We viii look there, too; where is the keygn
| now became thoroughly frightened, and
| fnmbling for some loophole to escape.
| told the viceroy that that was a locker
where | kept my wines, and-I was ashamed
| to confess it 70 so high ruler under the "Son
| Of Eeaven9-tbat ] sometimes hid opium ard
| other contraband articles there. Would lis
e1cellency forgive me if | begged that that
| place be left unopened as my peccadilioes, il
| discovered, would cost me my post as cap
tain I'm that case said the viceroy, II
viii save you from trouble by inspecting my
| self; the keyf
Doubtful whether to confess my complicity
OF 70 brave it through, ! thought Of the mys-
ferious nature Of the whole affair and hoped
that the strange passenger might in some
mysterious 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 giceroy unlocked the door, opened it,
| and closed it hastily behind him
My nerves We're then 50 wrought upon that
I could almost have heard the dew fall, and
faneied | heard a word within spoken very
| low. Then the door opened again and there
was a rustic 81 siken robes, the door closed,
and the viceroy said ia Chinese, mo one
therein
] felt my heart throb with one great bound,
and things seemed 70 reel around me. When
| recovered my composure enough tolo0ls w
with pleased and grateful eyes | saw an ex-
preston thought | recognized and IN an in
slant I knew what my own unstrung nerves
ma tie regal robes had before concealed
the miserable coolie Of the night before was
| none other than the viceroy Of the province
" Fuh-kied, the absolute ruler of twenty-five
million Of people. ] had no longer a doubt
that my mysterious passenger and the roynl
| 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 in Hong Kong, whore he
| lived under English protection until a severe
| illness let him have that privilege most NOR
tails enjoy-of dying with his head on.
Subsequent developments pointed 10 the
| fact that the viceroy was influenced not only
| 10y personal friendship, but by an enormous
| bifbe with which the rich prince bought his
head. and that, fearing the treachery Of any
Of his subordinates, he had planned and exc
cuted the escape entirely alone. OF my be-