Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-03-06

fear II was a somew6af l1g0brIo6s AZ
fair. Like dark cloud or curtain our
thoughts hung before US, and no ray OF
light seemed capable Of piercing It. l
admit that ! was anything but pleased
with the circumstance. Things might
30 easily have been different. Why had
not my lot been cast In the ordinary
groove? Why had not been permit
ted to enjoy the peaceful, uneventful
life of the many3s And then looked
across the table and saw her who had
come to me In the long polar winter Of
my life. and could have cried with
the Mussulman, God is greatg' But
for my light from death / should never
have met her. Therefore fate laid me
under an obligation, and could not
quarrel with 1t. for though It had treat.
ed me SO cruelty. yet was l recompens-
ed with the love of this woman. It was
destiny. God Is great
When the wrench came, philosophy
proved but q broken reed. We wan
dered round and round the garden.
sometimes strangely silent for long in.
tervals, at others yoicing with no un-
certain tongue our hopes and fears.
And when l pointed out to her how
absolutely necessarys1t wiS for us that
the power of Kung should be curtailed
her wisdom strove hard with her wo-
mans fears. and eventually I wrung
from her heartbroken consent.
Sometimes l thought this setting out
on such an expedition was the acme Of
folly. Why not let things go. why not
seize on happiness when 1t was within
my grasp and leave the future In the
hands of the godsl ! admit 1t was q
great temptation and one, that sore be-
set me. but Jim was by when waver-
ed. and reason told me that this appar-
emily foolish endeavor was In reality
the only right one.
will pass over the rest OF that scene
and the subsequent train journey to
Sydney, where we caught the steamer
Airlie. Nor Is there anything Of impor-
lance to relate during our voyage north.
ward. We had half 4 dozen agreeable
passengers in the saloon and some Chi.
nese coolies forwSd. and though on
principle we distrusted them, their be.
havior was circumspect In the ex.
IRENE. Nevertheless never neglected
the least precaution. eschewing the
deck after nightfall, unless In the com.
pany OF Jim or one OF the other pas
sengers, and avoiding open matches
and the less freQuented parts of the
vessel. And 20 one day the peak Of
Hongkong opened up. swiftly we up.
preached the Ly-ee-Moon pass. slipped
through, and presently we were swing
Ing at anchor opposite the town.
The sampans crowded with innumer.
able yellow folk told us that we were
In China at last. and 1t was not with.
out some little apprehension that sur
veyed the shrieking and gesticulating
throng. Here were yellow men with .
vengeance. and at flrst experienced
some slight scruple In trusting myself
to them and their frail sampans. but
realizing that though generally dishon-
est. all these people could not be in the
employ Of the society. we left the ship
and went ashore.
We had been recommended to 20 to
the Hongkong hotel. It being at that
time, whatever 1t is now. the only FIRST
class house In the place, and thither We
proceeded and were duly installed In .
room on the second door. Now II was
Cinnamon, Chlnamen everywhere, and
We seemed to realize for, the nrst time
what task this was which we had set
ourselves to accomplish. And yet in
the multiplicity Of pigtails there was
some assurance, of safety. At close
quarters the yellow man was not the
terrible being as,pIctured In my heated
Imagination.
I must say that my Uncle Jim shared
none OF my scruples or alarm. The
moment he set foot on Chinese soil he
seemed another man. The lethargy
and indifference which had character
lied him during the voyage to Austria
lila and the supplementary Journey to
Hongkong vanished now az II BY q
stroke Of magic. It was a. though he
had said: "At last am herel Now to
work" A new energy took possessseo
Of him. His atts sharpened than,
selves upon the MILESTONE Of his DE-
sires. A determination TO act and act
quickly was in everything be said and
did. He was as one suddenly gifted!
with the powers Of born leader OF.
men. and I seemed to see him AZ chair
man OF board meeting curbing the re-
fractory members with the mere force
OF will. There was something in that
man which the city aud the SCOT could
not subdue. and II seemed to me a.
though 1t was going to have fair trial
at last.
Naturally our first endeavor was to
discover the mah Of whom my father
had spoken. Kooh-Si. theicarpenter. but
at the first glance such task appear
ed appalling. As well. to use a Chi
nese proverb. search Sfof needle at
the bottom Of the ocean. Amid these
countless thousands. OF whom each one
seemed but mere hideous replica Of
an ugly original, how was 1t possible to
strike the one particular, solitary unit :
Such was the problem. and at the first
glance 1t seemed somewhat didlcult Of
solution. And'fSsk aAnetimes think
that obstacles arc scRated merely for
the pleasure; Of suEmcunting them.
Koon-si, according to MY father. was q
man whom one might distinguish by
the slit in his left nostril. and take It
that such man would not be entirely
overlooked In crowd. Moreover, he
followed profession which would, 90
to speak. iocalize him. He was car
penter. and IL In the land OF the living
1t would be In the neighborhood Of
some carpenter shop that we should
find him.
II he were living? The doubt was not
palatable. but 1t had to be faced. Ny
father had said nothing Of the mans
age. or Of his physical condition;
though even that was as nothing to the
fact that he had incurred the wrath Of
the society. Such wrath was more dan
gerous than disease or old age, and
though without Ills aid we should be
like children crying in the wilderness.
we tried to prepare ourselves for even
that dire contingency.
Tho novA Anu ~~N A. -