, 1896-07-13
TIGER OF THE LAW

Never had Chi Hung Lang sat down
to his cup Of tea in a more sorrowful
frame Of mind. A something wrapped
in yellow silk lay before him. which
bid fair to give the brave mandarin q
headache. 1t was an official letter.
A weighty matter it was for Chi
Hung Lang-to be or not to be, i'll fact.
In case he succeeded in doing what was
asked of him he would receive the sec.
ond peacock feather and the rcd button
for his cap, but if he failed the soles OF
his feet would certainly become in.
timately acquainted with the bamboo.
And there were such beautiful, strong,
elastic bamboos in the town hall for
such purposes. He had tried every stick
with his WI hands on one of his i'll.
feriors i'll office.
For Chi Hung Lang was the highest
judge of the province ard bore the title
OF honor, tiger Of the lawbook."
In criminal circles and among those
learned i'll the law his name WI great.
ly respected. He understood the law SC
well and could expound it so infinitely
that he ono succeeded by II brilliant
plea in having Il 2-hour-old infant sen.
fenced to IS years Imprisonment.
There was no one in all the land with
a clear conscience, at least no one who
felt secure, for Chi Hung Lang had once
declared that in his opinion every re.
spectacle citizen ought to sit on the
criminals bench at least once during
his lifetime. and he was just the mar
to put his theory into practice.
1t mo be denied that Chi Hung
Lang, with his method of administering
justice, accomplished great results. II
any II had the least reason to fear the
law, he moved into another province.
This solved the tramp question ut least.
If the tiger OF the lawboOk had not
occasionally instituted a practice law
suit, the judges of the land would have
had nothing to do but smoke their opium
in undisturbed leisure.
At this time the prison of the prov.
ince Of Yen-si-ling. over which Chi
Hung Lang ruled, had been withou,
an inmate for eight days. 1t was abso-
lutely impossible to find Il wrongdoer.
The beautiful prison. with it's S3a
cells. electric lights, fiogging machines
aud torture chamber equipped with all
the modern improvements, was empty
empty as a Chinese ~lieutenant's purse
on the goth of the month.
This ia the reason that Chi Hung
Lang's heart quaked and his feet tin
gled with misgivings:
Five years before this the above men.
toned model prison had been built by
the son Of heaven Mt an enormous cost,
and it had been made SO large at the ex.
press wish Of Chi Hung Lang. The vice.
roy now announced that he would in.
spect the prison in three days and hoped
to find it comfortably well filled. The
writing ended with the ominous figures
"25." Oh, how poor Chi Hung Lang's
feet burned! 1t wa just like the Mikado.
But where was he to get S32 Nanki
Poohs without stealing them? Ii was
hardly to be expected hat any one
would volunteer. But the viceroy want
ed to see the flogging machine end the
hydraulic gallows in actual operation
during his inspection. Here the terrible
number 25 appeared again. Oh, how
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aam ar - wi, ha h,a mnro t;ma,
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~ w; ~I"". 49,. 20 e. Ias.
III
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sU .sa MI.
D...on S,o,, ,,s;oh oo,,..;nad wv
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~ .a " pa A" "n' "a. " .:.:.:n'e
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-;ss'.n I..w s.unna nSon,s .t.o
nen.y ~. o.ao. ~
.Io n.ndins -. ct am .ar,as, =
shen s,I 10, nr;snni sbaIi 90. NV 900
n.;sa,,ar.r Kka1chn-,o sa;d IT, o..n,;shs
nan. ..H,,,n, . T th;nLW.ha rosnnns;
hia ad;tor ~ The Dragon Claw