The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-01-29

Il
be free. You madame, when you placed
| the lid of the vase in the mouth of the
dragon, fulfilled the law, and our bon
dage was ended. We rose then in our
might and slew the monsters. Behold
upon our breasts the tokens of his
downfall"
The noble taikos and Hojo-nO-Toki-
mune himself arose, touched the golden
amulets they wore, and once more max
ing an obeisance of grateful acknow-
Judgement, sat down again.
al shall not weary you with the story
of our long slavery, of the dreary years
when we were thus bound to serve the
altar of the hateful Dragon. For two
| centuries we were condemned to remain
i'm the temple at Peking; then came Il
! long period of oblivion when we lay
forgotten in the grave of priest.
Chance brought us to light again, and a
curio hunter carried Us away from China
went from hand to hand as years pass
ed, sometimes rs "A piece of private
property, sometimes ~ an object of
public curiosity in the museum of
city. AT last, an English gentleman
carried Us home with him and present.
ed us TO the British Museum. "There
madame he added, as where we
learned, during five and twenty years
when We were on exhibition to speak
your language"
nodded appreciatively. 1t seemed
to me that my bewiiderment was pass
ing away, and that / had begun TO
comprehend the situation. | longed to
tell him so.
II do not propose to betray tie person
who stole Us from the British Museum, "
| Hojo continued. .'That woCid be base
ingratitude, considering the fact that
this theft led TO our being sold in New
York and then i'm Philadelphia where,
to our great good fortune, We fell into
| the hands of our deliverer.n
4 murmur of concurrence arose fIOm
| the noble taikos, whose blue and white
robes emitted silken rustic a. they
swayed their bodies To and fro.
at remains for us now only to thank
you, madame" said Hojo, waving his
hand, naiestically, 'and to give you
some small token of our gratitude.
After five hundred and fifty years of
imprisonment in foreign lands you be-
hold us shorn of all possessions-no
weapon, no jewel, no gold remains for
us to present To you. But We have
heard you say that your husband l.
now in China i'm the tea business. For
tunes may he made in a week and lost
as soon by the buying or selling Of tea"
nodded. / knew this all too well, for
We had been almost swamped ourselves
when the Ludlow Hill Company went
| up.
ave are going back to Japan" said
the old regent. "Now at last the in
vasion of Japan shall he punished by
an invasion of China. Madame, Japan
will declare war upon her ancient enc
my; Japan will possess Corea; Japan
will do victorious battle at the gates of
Peking until every CiinlmIn SUES for
peace upon his knees, as we have
sued for liberty throughout eenturiez
of bondage"
The takes sprang Up with an ire
pressible shout, hreakiHg into invect-
i've in their own tongue, waving their
arms wildly and shaking their heads
with the emphasis of Il fierce purpose.
The regents restraining gesture stilled
them again.
"Chlna Is no place for foreigners"
| he continued. "There will be massa-
cres and outrage in Fooehow. | do
not - wish it, but it is the inevitable
sequence of war in the country OF the
barbarian. Tell your husband 10 come
home at once, but before he leaves
China tell him to buy all the tea he
can lay hands OH. The price will rise
when war is declared. If he follows
my advice he will make his fortune"
/ listened eagerly. II struck ME he
was in Il Position to know.
"And now, madame" he added,
rising, "we must say goodbye. trust
you feel how deeply we are indebted to
you. If it were possible"
His voice died away in faint DIur-
mur. The noble taikos bowed very
low and withdrew toward the door.
One 10y one they passed out silently,
but the last one tripped over rug and
fell with a loud thud upon the floor.
"Oh, hope you have not hurt your
selfr' | cried, surprised to find the
words coming quite naturally at will.
Nobody is hurt, dear" Nan replied
soothingly, and | found myself stFeteh=
cut upon the COUGH with Dr. Stewart
holding my hand and Mrs. Vaughan
looking at NE in very anxious way.
"How much did she drink of it alto
gether?" observed the doctor glancing
at his watch and then at me.
almost a cupful," Nan replied.
"The rest of us had just barely tasted
it when she fell over and struck the
teapot. / was so frightened | couldn't
stir for moment"
81 thought Mrs. Morris understood
mat my report on the analysis was not
final" observed the doctor. 81 told
her I should like another sample,
though there really did not seem to be
anything harmful in it."
"rhe Chinese possess great many