Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-01-16
This society embraced men Of all
ranks and all ranges of intellect, from

the low cody to the high official.
kung's father, so the story went, had
once been person of some conse-
quence at Picking, but having fallen
under the d;spleasure of the Son of
Heaven he had been duly decapitated.
Kung's family had therefore to fly to
avoid the imperial wrath, and Kung,
being man who neither forgot nor
forgaye, took to plotting.
Little by little the Importance of
this society increased, and Kung was
willing to prove to me that its power
dominated six provinces. His own
freedom from arrest was proof of the
power he welded. Indeed he played
upon me to such an extent that al
ready saw him seated upon the dragon
throne dispensing provinces to his
trusted servants. In those days 1t was
anything for merry life and short
road to fortune. was promised both.
My western intellect would prove of
incalculable service to the cause. In
Europe, Australia, America, the society
numbered many white men, but none
In China, for none who might have
Joined could speak Chinese with any
fluency. Therefore might count upon
ten thousand advantages. duly be-
came a member of the Society of the
Hidden Meaning.
Shortly after my Inauguration,
which was attended by many oaths
and mysteries, l was offered the COM
mand of a vessel which traded up and
down the coast, and soon found that
my new associates were as good as
their word. Many an excellent piece
Of business came my way, and nothing
more was exacted of me than that l
should occasionally carry cargo Of
which it was not necessary for me to
see the bill Of lading and passengers of
whom knew not the legal status.
This found extremely profitable and
somewhat inclined to my way Of think
ing, for 1t enabled me to fulfill the
dream of my life and marry your moth
er. But 1t SO happened that was no
longer my own master-as what man
is? Hence my frequent journeyings
anddong stoppages abroad. Then came
the climax and the subsequent cause of
all MY misery.
II had just concluded trip from
Chemulpo, in Korea, to Tien-tsin and
was about to betake myself ashore in
the due course of business, when cody
advanced across the deck to me and
without speaking word slipped pa
per into my hand. It was not the first
time such thing had happened, SO
that upon opening the paper was not
at all surprised to see the symbol of
the society. This was that elliptical,
egg shaped sign seen on your mothers
forehead. on the gateposts, on the sta
BILE door at the killing of the horses. 1t
Is the sign that you may one day see on
my forehead unless l can elude the
emissaries Of the society. Why such
symbol was chosen is no doubt obvious
to you. 1t is meant to represent an egg
and is symbolical of what may be In
side the shell unseen by human eyes.
Simple as 1t appears, 1t is an allegory
of deep meaning and justly illustrates
the title Of the society. When you see
1t, open wide your eyes and watch the
man walking by your side. avoid shad-
ows and all dark places and men with
yellow skins and strange eyes.
II turned to the man who had
brought this missive. who was stand
ing watching me from the stern of the
vessel. and, waving him to me, learned
from him the spot chosen for the as
signation. Up to that moment l had
no knowledge of Kung's presence at
Tien-tsin, believing him to be still at
his place in Fuchau nor could the mes
senger offer an explanation or give me
the slightest information. Like all the
members of the society. he spoke with
the utmost reserve. commendable
habit in a community where each man
was spy upon the other.
However, late that night put in an
appearance at the appointed place and
was received by Kung and some score
of the chief members Of the society.
could not help wondering what bust
ness had brought him SO near the CAPT.
tai though had known that the stout,
surly looking fellow on his right was
the governor of the imperial province
of Pe-chi-li, l might have guessed that
something of the utmost importance
was in the air. AS 1t was, knew that
it was for no ordinary business l had
been summoned.
Nor was 1t. The plot, briefly ex-
planned. was the capture of Picking, the
deposition Of the emperor and the set
ting up of Chinese as against a Mant-
choo dynasty. fairly gasped for breath
as this scheme was unfolded, foresee-
ing certain failure in such gigantic
But this did not seem to
disconcert Kung and his friends. A
thousand men had been secretly armed.
The Tartar governor of the capital was
one of the revolutionists. He would
open the gates; the rest was easy. The
imperial family were to be put to the
sword, wiped out root and branch-the
only way to prevent trouble with pre-
tenders in the future. The populace,
once assured Of the end of the Mant-
choo dynasty, would rally to the new
order of things.
AS Kung deliberately unfolded this
gigantic scheme, which from time to
time was met with 'wah' of approval
from his listeners, l thought that he
addressed more of his remarks to me
personally than I cared to receive.
Round and round the stolid faces of his
council wandered his piercing eyes, but
as l came within their radius they
seemed to fix and glitter into mine.
tried hard to think that this was only
fancy. that he paid no more attention
to me than to others present, but my
instinct had not erred. Kung had ac-
cented some of his remarks especially
for my benefit.
"After he In no ambiguous language
had outlined the principal features of
this gigantic scheme some whispered
conversation took place between the
leaders, and to my gradually increas-
Ing dismuy saw that their looks were
constantly centering upon me. Then
after few preliminary remarks Kung
disclosed the part was to play in the
conspiracy.