, 1900-02-10

TeNeuSe. Anu IN tue secret society OF
the Sons of the Silver Land one of
the high officials went about stealthily
spreading reports that a traitor was
among them; that important secrets
had more than once been given away,
and that If not located and dealt with
the traitor would soon accomplish the
ruin of the society.
All this anne to a head one night
when the most important meeting Of
the year was held. For more than an
hour the room of the secret society
had been filled with an ominously quiet
crowd of Cinnamon, who were wait
ing in perfect stiffness the return of
one of the officials who had gone to
fetch their erstwhile head, Sing Low.
For the first time in twenty-one years
he had failed to appear at the meeting
Of the society, and, more than that, all
the private records and documents of
the Sons of the Silver Land" had been
stolen. No wonder there was perfect
stiffness in the secret rooms, and that
over in the corner one Chinaman walt
ed, holding a huge, razor-edged sword.
These things are dealt with quickly
among Chinese guilds.
They brought him in presently, the
cousin and another society member
carrying him. for the honorable head
was too much overcome with the mix
ture of opium and bad cognac to walk
of his own accord. He was dropped
Imply into the corner where the Chi
naman and his sword waited, and to a
Indignantly quiet set. of members the
cousin showed the precious papers and
records that he had Just taken from
Sing Lows silken vest. The man had
been found dead drunk in a low can
tina in the Mexican part of the town,
had access to only by two men, the
cousin and Sing Low himself-were
dropping unheeded to the cantina floor,
to be seen there of all who might care
had found them in time, the papers
would have beer distributed far and
wide before the setting of tomorrow's
sun, and the society Sons of the Sill
yer Land" with all its important Sc
crets, would have been ruined, and
many of its members implicated in all
sorts of crimes and given up to prison
cells. or perhaps the gallows. The sin
Of Sing Low had been a tremendous
one, for which no atonement could be
made, and there was but one thing to
do, so far as his punishment was con-
cerned.
The meeting lasted a long time, and
finally Sing Low was released from the
hands Of his %torturers, far more dead
than alive. His drunen stupor had
lasted but a short time under their
hands, and in a frenzy Of terror he
waited what he knew was still to come.
The room was still now, n you could
have heard a pin drop as the wretched
man was placed on his knees Just in
front of the masked Chinaman, who
held in both hands the great. sharp,
sword. Another man, the cousin of
Sing Low. knelt quietly in front of
him, and drew his barred head and neck
down and forward SO as to meet the
uplifted sword. Then there was death
ly quiet as the huge blade assembled.
1t made a circle and a whistling sweep
In the air before it descended slowly
and touched the neck Of the condemn
ed. Then it stopped. No blood came,
and there was no cry or moan from
Sing Low, for the reason that the blade
had just touched his flesh, and no
more. Then the cousin stood up, fac
ing the judge, and the ex%ecutionor did
likewise. holding the sword erect, as
he announced solemnly:
Honorable Judge, this man is
dead!"
Five minutes later the Cinnamon
were all hurrying from the hall. Sing
Low had been dragged, still on his
knees, from the room, n flung into
the narrow, weed-choked street out
side. He had e%ndeayored to beg mercy,
but his lips were stiff and dumb. Then
he had chung to the judges knees, jab-
bering Historically, only to be cast
aside like a truly deadly thing, for a
Chinaman lost to caste and his secret
society is worse than dead. He had
moaned and begged at the feet of his
cousin, but he, too, had passed relent-
lessly on, paying no attention to a
dead mans speech. And SO at last they
had all gone-among the crowd Sing
Lows own clerks and employes-and
the dead crouched alone and deserted
Of all, in the darkness of night.
In the early dawn Sing Low stumb-
led drunkenly homeward-not to the
house In which he lived with his Mex
lean wife. but to Chinatown, for at last,
whether in joy, sorrow, death or dis
grace, the heart Of ever an Oriental
turns to his own people, such as they
may be. Sing law had no thought of
Felipa, much as he had loved her, or
even for his restaurant, with its Amer
lean sign, that had brought him so
much money. The Americans or the
Mexicans would take him in surely,
for had he not money? His W peo-
pie had cast him out, yet to them he
turned. -
Posted up in front Of the opium den