The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-21

When 10 remember is to sin.
And to forget Ito die! $50
ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE.
.sYes. gentlemen" said the young lieu
tenant. .you may say what you like, con-
science 10 IN affair OF geography. fus she
hest man you like down in = foreign coun-
try and he'll laugh at things that he'd drop
! hard hand on here In Gotham. Don't be-
lieve me-eh9 Ifanoy ] can convince you.
You al know old Roberts. and know that
he's a. good = Christian AZ he is a captain,
and that's not saying q little. Well. I've
seen that man twisting and turning like Q
cat on hot bricks for fear that a rogue
should be punished. and it wasn't because
the fsllow had only broken some petty local
Law. either, for he would have five years
Sing Sing here. and She captain have been
first to say: He's got of easy
II was serving in tho United States Of
America ffigate Delaware, and We had besn
cruising on the China station for . couple
81 years, and for The principal part of that
time we'd had ayouno Chinaman helping In
the cook house. He was a pleasant. good
tempered young fellow. not bad looking fol
a Celestial, and had become q great favorits
With us all, officers as we'll as men.
..There was q bit of romance attaching to
him: he was in love with the orphan niece
Of an o~pulent ship chandler At Hong Kong.
and that was why he was with US. His
sweetheart. little Sing Ooh. was a great
beauty, with eyes like b~uttonholes and
Golden lilies no bigger than a three-ysar-
ODDS fists; 10 her uncle had made up his
mind that she must connect him with some
middle class mandarin or rich banker. and
when Wan Lee made his advances the old
rascal simply demanded q payment of zoo
onnces Of silver as . Eecompense for the
expense hs had been put to In bringing
her up.
.Now, as far as Wan Lee was concerned.
he might just as we'll have asked 5000. and
that tho old rascal knew very we'll. and
doubtless thouRht that when poor little
Sing had taken time TO dry her tears q re-
fact how impossible it was she should ever
become Mrs. Wan Lee. she would. like a
sensible girl, lake the man of her uncle's
choice rather than run the risk of becoming
that most miserable of created things, a
Chinese old maid. And no doubt Lung
6ien (.Long Sinner the sailors called him,
and they weren't far wfong) was correct in
his calculations. tor Chinese g,s'S are very
"Well. Wan Lee had taken service on tho
Delaware as a last despsirina hore. Allthe
foreign devils were rich, and surely among
them there must be some chance of making
money. But the poor fellow found that
even on such a mine Of wealth as the Della
ware must have seemed. there we're very
=. - Nh. ~ Akn ~ Nunk tn ha py0RaN ~
by q 'pigtaii.'
Had it only been a small sum he needea
he might have got help when the men knew
his story, but 800 ounces means $500 more
or less, and that was beyond even Jacks
opep-heartedness.
$50 poor VANS gains were confined to
what he could save out Of his monthly S.,
month when we ran into Hong Kong> by
the preserved violets, candied sluRs and
similar dainties which he would smuggle
In to Sing Ooh. for human nature Is pretty
much the same whether under a dudes silk
hat or o coolies skull cap.
1--WE were lying ut anchor on one of our
visits, and as it was my turn for leave ] had
logged up and was coming on deck whom
was summoned to the captain. oh, Mr..
Arnold he said. I want you to do a little
commission for me- Certainly, sir. What
ia it?' why. it's rather a queer affair.
Wan Lee says his relatives have raised
the money for his marriage and begs me to
let a "Melican officer" &C with him to see
it paid over to Lung Sien-snd, by the by.
M. Arnold, as l have promised to put
him ashore at Cheefoo when We
weigh anchor. ! want you to keep an eye or
him and see that he comes back to the ship
after he Ia married. 1t may be all right.
and he is q very OWL fellow. but l shall
have the officers jewelry looked over. III
- AZ. s~&~ kh,, ~x,n -,
suddenly
.tOf course / wasn't sorry for the chance
Of seeing a little real Chinese life, so, sol
ennly promising to keep my eyes glued or
to Wan Lee, l went ON shore with him in
the gig.
me to a little teahouse near the quay, where
we found a couple of coolies waiting for us,
for the expectant bridegroom had come on
shore tho night before. and made his pre-
parations. / expected to see some of his
relatives waiting to meet us, but no one lp-
peared save the proprietor, who received Ms
most obsequiously and led us into the back
room, where Wan took out a key
and opened tho door of q little off
room he had hired for treasure
chamber. In IL was q long box,
which he instructed the coolies to take ur
and follow us. Now. as you most likely all
know, there are no Chinese coins large,
than the cash. about six of which 90 TO q
cent. So all large sums are paid by silver
ingots. which are always carefully weighed
at each transaction n the balances ad-
justed by strings OF cash. SO l could make {
very fair guess at what the box contained
We hadn't far TO carry 1t. for. of course
Long Sinners place was near the river. anc
very shortly we were in the cool shade o.
the mat-hung piazza, and Wan was IN
packing the box.
The old merchant had evidently hat
notice of our coming. for his money scalel
were ready, and in the room behind tn,
shop We could hear soft voices and tn,
swish Of calico. AS might be expected, m,
companion had eyes for nowhere but tn,
door into that apartment, II the old maj
and his cashier had the weighing prett,
much to themselves. ! nudced Wan ono,
and asked if he oughtn't to cheol
tho weights. but his only answe
watehee him take away his face,' (namely
make him blush. which l knew to be
grave breach of Chinese otiquette.)
must own ! stared a little at VANS i'll
timed politeness. I've been in love n fey
times myself. and ] know how soft it make
a man. but it struck me if it could bin,
poor Wan to the character Of tn
he must have IL badly; but it was II
affair of mine. ! had done my duty by war;
ing him. So when Lung Sien had weighe
each bar very carefully. he brought over tn
receipt, signed and countersigned by him
self and his cashier, and also the bglanc,
for the bars weighed a few ounces over tn
boo. which he handed to Wan Leo in Ion
strings of cash. for l can tell you a dollar j
Chinese currency makes quite q respectabl
show.
tue next thing to settle was the maj
rage. and Lung Sien intimated that tn