The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-10
A TIGER OF THE LAW.


to his cup of tea in more sorrowful
frame of mind. A something wrapped
in yellow silk lay before him, which
bid fair to give the brave mandarin a
headache. 1t was an official letter.
A wcighty matter it was for Chi
Hung Lang-to be or not to be- in fnct.
In case he succeeded in doing what was
asked of him he would receive the SEQ
ond peacock feather and the red 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 own hands on one of his i'll
feriors in office
For Chi Hung Lang was the highest
judge of the province and bore the title
of honor, tiger of the lawbook. "
In criminal circles and among those
learned i'll tho law his name was great
ly respected. He understood the law so
we'll and could cxpound it so infinitely
that he once succeeded by brilliant
plea i'll having 2-hour-old infant sen
fenced to Is years Imprisonment
There was no ono in all the land with
n 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 man
to put his theory into practice.
1t cannot be denied that Chi Hung
Lang, with his method of administering
Justice, accomplished great results If
any one 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 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-siling, over which Chi
Hung Lang ruled, had been without
an inmate for eight days. 1t was abso-
lutely impossible to find wrongdoer
The beautiful prison, with it's s32
oclls, electric lights, fiogging machines
and torture chamber equipped with all
the modern improvements, was empty
empty as u Chinese lieutcnant's purse
on the Goth of the month
This is the reason that Chi Hung
Lang's heart qual1ed 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 at an enormous cost,
and 1t had been made SO large ut 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 we'll filled The
writing ended with the ominous figures
20. Oh. how poor Chi Hung Lang 3
feet burned! 1t was just like the Mikado
But where was he to get S32 Nanki
Poohs without stealing them? II was
hardly to be expected that any one
would volunteer. But the viccroy want
ed to see the fiogging machine and the
hydraulic gallows in actual operation
during his inspection. Here the terrible
number % appeared again. Oh, how
the feet of the tiger of the lawbook
burned! There was no escape. An I'M
lawful act he would not have commit
ted, and ut any rate there was no time
to manufacture several hundred COM
plants and try the cases III the usual
way. Oh, if only he had more time
And Chi Hung Lang rubbed his head
doubtfully. He had u very long head,
had Chi Hung Lang, tiger of the law
book.
AT this moment his pupil and favor
lite practitioner. ka-cha-lo, entered the
room with newspaper III his hand and
horror i'll his face
Read, master, he said.
1t was copy of a comic paper, The
Dragon Claw. which contained q ma
Gcious item ridiculing the large feet OF
Chi Hung Lang's wife.
Ka-cha-lo had expected his master to
| fly into passion and at least breathe
| out fro and smoke or some exhibition
] of the kind
Nothing Of the sort took place The
mighty man of law danced around the
room i'll his glec until his cue upset all
the candles, crying; II am saved! ]
| shall fill my prison! I shall get my $50
prisoners!" Ka-cha-lo said i'll astonish-
ment, "Only one, think-thc RESPONSE
BILE editor Of The Dragon Claw"
Young man." replied Chi Hung
Lang. what do you know about law:
How about his accomplices?"
But do you think he has 832 of
| them?" vcntured Ka-cha-lo.
HE has as many rs need, " was the
| wise answer.
| Ka-cha-lo, more astonishcd than ever,
left the room, saying. What a mani
Two days afterward proceedings were
| begun.
Eight hundred and thirty-two persons