Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-06-15

was his custom TO take the silver with
out at once testing it, he replied. GER
Itainly not but that fact of an Amlican
officer whom he knew belonged TO the
Delaware, coming with the prisoner.
had thrown him off his guard us it
seemed to corroborate the tale which
Wan Lee had told him the night be-
fore that the officers Of the friga.e had
raised the money by subscription for
him.
L felt rather a buzzing in my head
at this answer. which was not improy-
ed by Frank Morley, the widest young
iscapegrace in the ship. whispering in
my ear, On, Arnold Arnold. only
think of the cute Jack Arnold being
used as a tool by a Chinese coolie:
what will they say at Harvard when l
write homen However, the magistrate
seemed to think it was Il reasonable
answer and the plaintiff left the stand,
to be followed by his cashier whose
evidence was only his masters. Then
came my turn, and |, Of course. corro-
borated them as far the buying the sill
yer was concerned.
Then a silversmith was called to
prove the baSeneSS of the metal. ard
that closed the case Tor the prosecution,
and very black it looked against poor
Wan Lee as the magistrate turned to
him for his defense: That poor little
girl is in for two years wid0whood. at
least whispered Frank to me: they
can't give him less for such an attempt
But before the prisoner was sworn
| following the very sensible custom of
the middle kingdom, where they don't
shut evidence of the man who may be
supposed to know most about the case.
/ q question, arose as to how the oath was
to, be administered. The other witness
es had taken it in the usual Shinto0
way, by breaking a plate, and the
mandarin was for swearing Wan in
the SINE wy, ubt the magistrate, looking
to the marriage Of the day before.
thought the oath should be put in the
/. After some lit
tie discussion the prisoners opniiOn
was asked, and that astute young man.
with an evident determination to offend
neither of the Judges, disclaiming any
parhality. Kill i'm cock, break i'm plate.
smell i'm book-alle same, alice good
ways averred this Ceestial broad
churchman; so it was finally decided
to let him smell i'm book Oh the
ground Of economy.
On being sworn his tale was as
simple as his opponents.
He was poor orphan, the honorable
court was his father and his mother:
he had brought his wife and paid for
her with good silver, and he could
not imagine why Lung Sien should
charge him with the crime he was ac-
! cllsed of. The magistrate pointed out
that the charge did not rest on Lung
Stems evidence alone: he was cOrrOb-
! GRATED on all points by independent
testimony; the officer sWOre to the
bars being sold, and the silverSmith
a respectable tradesman had testified to
their baseneSs. Would the prisoner
like to have it tested by another expert? ?
No; the prisoner was quite willing to
accept the honorable witnesses state
ment; but still the fact remained that
! he had paid good silver. and he could
only imagine that Lung Sien had chang
ed the bars to be revenged on him
for insisting on an immediate marriage
This line of defense seemed very
strong to VANS friends, the sailors. in
the body of the court, and loud muir
muir against Lung Sien arose, which alas
was destined to die out before the
magistrates matter of fact suggestion
/ 10 aa1 flA l.
the bars from to testify whether they
were the same or not. But this how
lever willing to oblige the honorable
court, the prisoner declared his inability
to do because he had saved the silver
up little by little and had cast the ingots
himself. must confess with shame
that hits artless plea produced con-
Sldeable amount of loud smiling among
the very sailors who had Backed I'D
the prisoner a few minutes befor.
The old captain, who had about
as much humOr in his composition as
| an overloaded camel, and whose honest
heart was full UP with pity for the Door
bride, turned on them with a look of
scorn, before which the laughter soon
died out, but there was some little eX-
cJlSe for the poor fellows. None but
those who knew the princely salary
poor Wan had been receiving since the
! day he came On board the Delaware
! fair change for nickel, counting the
rags and bones as the bOatswain iudic-
tally expressed it could feel the full
force of this assertion
"But though the court must have
been unable to appreciate the beauty
of the defense at its full value. it was
clear it had pretty well made I'D it's
mind, and that the ony questionin de-
bate between it's members was the
amount of the sentence. Poor Wan
Lee, however, was fumbling about in
the lining of his hat. and at last pro-
duced carefully folded piece of paper,
which he held out toward the Judge
ment sat, explaining that it was Lung
Stems receipt for the bars and en-
treating that it might be compared with
them. AS he held it out I happned to
be looking in Lung Stems direction,
and what [ saw there startled me.
Could those staring eyes, that pallid,
CHASTITY countenance belong to the SNUG
oily merchant? L drew Morleys at
tentlon to it, and for moment he star
ed as / did; but the next a light seem
ed to break in on him. Though young,
he had had more service in the Chinese
seas than l had; his local knowledge
and general shrewdness gave him the