The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-10-21

no send you? Government he say I 1
savvy how fashion put salt on tail
cage-bird. I thinky! You wantches [
back safe. let Pekin mandarin think u
belong dead: NO? Good7 Well. the
Five thousand dollars I send you subst
tute-all finish, safe-can go back!"
Lim-fung. with mouth drawn down ar
an air of business. made an oblique swee
with his fiat hand. as II he sheared o
the heads Of difficulty. t1a5
Poor Lo was not used to the large fit
ures Of American comm5rce. and u thou
sand pounds was quite beyond his figure
so he collected himself into that Quie
gentlemanly bluff at which educated Chi
nese are pastmasters, and replied wit
| dignity:
| Il perceive, Mr.. Linn, that you are tina
which they call blackmailer; and thin
| it is only necessary to touch this bell i
| order that you may be arrested by Amer
| lean policemen. You have no power +
murder. or to interfere with me here"
Lim-fung again expressed large an
benevolent admiration for his Excellen
cy's wit, courage, and knowledge of bar
harlan law: but he was in nowise discon
certed. and soothingly explained that hi
method for kidnapping and murderin!
prospective "corpses" worked in perfec
harmony with the municipal laws, tina
the street gods in blue were his persona
friends and pensioners, that there was NJ
difficulty whatever in having little
harmless compound inserted in his soup
either at the hotel or on board the ship
by his humble fellow-countrymen, sufh-
cient to entitie him to willow coffin
and that. finally, the alternative before
his Excellency was either to go back and
be arrested when he landed, surrender
and be sent back a corpse, or come to an
agreement by which substitute could be
sent for him, enabling him to continue
his conspiracy with absolute security and
freedom. For even in China it is contrary
to precedent to execute a man twice for
the same offence.
No one Is SO open to reason as q Chi
naman; the highest encomium bestowed
on good citizen is that he sho lee, talks
reason, and his intellect is conspicuously
receptive Of subtle pros and cons. Lo
surrendered the point, and confined his
argument to the price; he pointed out
that Lim-fung, by his own statement,
would earn 81, 900 reward for sending back
the body; and could not in fairness de-
mand more than another $500 (f100).
which was already more than he. Lo.
could aSord.
But Lim-fung wallowed In distress.
T iNC AuuuiC GU Diu Mo A<ASSAShSy
imagine that substitute could be picked
up for nothing; that so rare and artistic
cratic q physiognomy could be matched
at a moments notice.; that embalming,
coffin, freight were thrown in gratis?
No; such fashion talk no have got. His
wanted to defraud an honest
man Of the bare wages Of rice and opium;
but since he, Limiting. was privately
heart and soul absorbed in the welfare
IF his country and overlooking with SYM
pathy for his Excellency's projects, he
would make a sacrifice, do the trick for
thousand dollars, and say no more about
t. And on this basis. although it abso-
utely cleared out the capacity Of poor
Los pocket an understanding was ar
lived at, and Limiting was under con-
ract to find, assassinate, and pack q |
plausible duplicate of the conspirator, to |
ravel back to the fatherland on the same |
-essel as the live original; cash to be
aid on ocular demonstration OF the deed. |
Lim-fung then produced tape from |
lis pocket, and measured Lo for his cof- |
IA grewsome proceedings. not alto
ether enlivened by the facetious remark
hat he was lightweight. and IL he got
substitute to match 1t might save few
ents in coolie hire.
You will not-er-embalm the poor
reature before / have seen him?" Lo
equested anxiously. Eat least, l must
nauire the names of his relatives. in
rder that hereafter he may receive the
pablo"
Limiting was grieved at such an as
ersion on his common sense. What
ords!" he said reproachfully. Suppose
kill he and you no pay. he go bad and
oney wasted. Next Friday evening you
me my shop. Ling Hong. Flower
rect, any man savvy. and bring the
!ousand dollar and papers: he put on
,ur clos, you see him in coffin, and
We you letter to my agent to post your
II. Then all ploper; you dead. take dead
ans name. go back, be happy"
II Is scarcely necessary to say that dur |
g the rest OF the week Los anticipations /.
st their roseate hue. and he realized FAR
ore seriously than on his previous at .
mpt how dark and dangerous are the
this of the conspirator. He realized that
was the accomplice, II not the instiga- {
r. of murder. and although he could
ID certain approved state casuistries to
s.ify the connivance. his humane heart L
uddered at the guilt. He thought OF
lat he had suffered himself when death d
yered over him. and how black and hope
IS was the prospect when his brother be- t
wed him: ard that led his thoughts in
asibly back to that beloved young scamp,
II OF surmise and also of fond hopes for
wer to indulge him. Chi-lu was the ia f
rite of his old father as well, and Tai
vi possessed the filial reverence in an
ense degree. and longed to be able to
,ase the old man by establishing the :,
'er-do-well in career which should =,
"a scope for his talents. Poor Lo Tai !,
vi. He was a good young man. and 1t ~
ely rent him to incur his family's dis -
assure in order to procure his country's u
erty. This led him once more into the IL
,al fond hopes OF ambition. and the crime IL
ich he was pledged to participate dwin- c.
d into a negligeable abstraction Of cruel C.
'essity.
% the ordinary reader all this will ap- II
IT merely farce: Lim-fung and his III
ency merely the comic detective: but
had q deeper experience Of the ways pl
t are dark" and knew how grim such tt
ces turned out at the finish. Limiting. II
h his pidgin English, his pgtail. his d.
colate silk loose-sleeved coat. so abb
div incongruous with his big bowler IA
and pointed American boots his fat,
la rubber face and simple, oily smile. hf
I'D strike a European who heard him m
,uss his proposition as a mere gro CO
lue old clown. or at the worst. harm n,
lunatic who invented inhuman Asiatic 10
tleties which were absurdly impracti-
but to Lo there was nothing absurd.
tesque, or improbable in the kind of
,city proposed. He knew that murder. ft
an experimental science bunglingly
formed in Europe. had reached In hi
erican China the pitch of a fine art. us po
used to be in Italy: and the official he
,tice OF kidnapping, or buying a sub
ute for the gallows was too familiar to he
to excite the least surprise. European on
ons are largely responsible for the Nc
With of this practice. by insisting on
punishment OF anfi-missionary rioters: in
rioters are. OF course, seldom to be =
,ht, and the consequence is that lot M,
vretched beggars are decapitated for a