Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-03-20

not II either was poisoned, cared bu
little. If so, an end would be made OF
me once and for all. But this was no
Kurg's way. The water was pure, thu
food palatable, and. having eaten ant
drunk, felt inconceivably refreshed.
What happened then know not
but, wearied out, must have falle1
asleep, and for aught know I ma,
have slept for hours. However, ou
of that sleep was suddenly awakened
by the sound Of a gong, and when
looked up was astonished to see thu
chamber in flood of Hight and the thir
Tipped Kung seated In his chair of au
thority, supported by the diabolica
koonSi and two other men.
Presently the door opened through
which l had last seen them drag my
uncle, and, to my inexpressible relief
1 saw him led in once more. He was
horribly pale and emaciated, his blue
eyes shining with mad sort of light
but when he saw me a glad look
frightened his face. However, he die
not speak, and had nothing to say
/
finite satisfaction. But we understood
each other. Jim and I. We were still
alive.
He was quickly triced up to his old
position against the wall, and then nj
most Immediately after there entered
through the same door n man bearing
burning brazier. This he deposited
between Kung and me and turned the
irons with malicious movement.
stared at the glowing Goals spellbound,
Mortified. Was the wretch going to
torture us? looked Mt him, and he
smiled. Without a doubt he read my
thoughts.
Then long and painful silence fol.
lowed, broken only by an occasional
low crackle of the fire. AS have said,
the horror of these. men was intensified
by the extraordinary silence they In
yariably maintained and by the SO.
crecy of their movements. But pres.
emily Kung spoke.
II presume you have seen the writ.
Ing of Kung?" he said.
Seen it! Heaven, but 1t had come
between me and my sleep for many
years! Now was to feel it upon my
forehead.
at is written in many ways" he
continued suavely, though we always
use the one design-that Of our illus.
trious society, Of which l am the pp,
worthy chief. II you have not seen 1t,
you shall-and feel 1t too. 1t is q
mark we sometimes place upon the dis
obedient, but oftener upon the enemy.
1t is very interesting operation. l
promise that you shall take part in it,
He smiled again; he always smiled
with IN easiness which in some in
definable way proclaimed power. The
man knew what he could do and SEEM
ed content.
Neither Jim nor I answered, and at
our obstinacy he smiled more darkly
still, while at the same time the cor
ners OF his mouth curled with unmis-
taxable scoru,
"Alr. Carter and Mr.. Gray" he said,
"your names are strange to me, but
your movements are not. You arrived
from Australia by the steamship Air
lie and took up your residence ut the
Hongkong hotel. From there you
sought to find one Koon-Si, a worthy
carpenter who crossed our path and is
no more. But being unable to discover
his whereabouts, which might puzzle
much wiser men, you called in the aid
Of one All Yon, who quickly unearthed
the illustrious Koon-Si. Strange, is II
not? And yet not strange. All Yon,
like Koon-Si, is member of this so.
ciety, and you rendered 1t comparative.
ly easy for the one to play into the
hands OF the other. When you set out
to match yourselves against me, you
were not thoroughly equipped for the
encounter"
For the first time was almost con-
sumed with rage us thought how cas-
lily we had been trapped. OF course
All Yon was worthy to rank with the
rest Of his detestable race, but we had
liked him and had treated him with
the utmost Kindness and consideration.
Indeed had almost grown to fancy
that he in turn had conceived some
thing more than passing interest in
US. oh, these yellow men, they We're
horrible beyond oil imagining.
"Ah Yon," continued Kung, has
been an Invaluable aid to our organiza-
ton, but unfortunately he has feelings.
Those feelings have at last brought
him under my displeasure. Weakness
es Of this description must be check
ed"
He nodded, and some one ran to the
door and called, and presently Yon en-
tered between two guards, a prisoner
like ourselves. His arms were bound,
his dress disarranged, aud his face, es-
pecially when he saw the brazier in
the middle Of the floor, took unto itself
q look of the most AFFECT terror.
"This man." said Kung, worked
well to begin with, but he was not
proof against kindness, and 1t is our
intention to eradicate such contempt
ible weakness. Gratitude is COM
mendable quality and one with which
we are much in sympathy, but we hold
that loyalty to the cause is the first
principle of existence. This man has
not been loyal, and so no must be pun
ished."
an what has he offended?" asked
Jim.
eve believe 1t is through no fault Of
his that you have been enabled to
make our acquaintance under these
most suspicious circumstances. 1t is
through no fault of his that the illustri-
Gus Koon-Si was enabled to carry out
our wishes. 1t is believed that on
more than one occasion he sought to
warn you. That is crime for which
he must be punished. We do not usu-
ally view with Indifference the pres
ence of traitor in the camp"
Then he spoke to All Yon in Chinese.
His face changed from suave amiabil-
ity to that Of intense malevolence, and
he harangued the unhappy Yon with a
vehemence which was quite terrific.
Yon replied in a quavering. pltiful tone,
denying his guilt, but the Judge was
as implacable rs death and turned q