Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-06-21
l'.l|leYell0Wl Man

l6 !. el | | ! Man !
koon-Si. appeared to know the lay 81
the land, and with that accuracy which
men who live on ships seem to com
mand we made our way without mis-
hap. Once in still water, the oars were
again brought into requisition. and
presently | felt the boats keel crate on
the bottom. Then the carpenter slipped
overheard and held the boat while Jim
: and ! leaped ashore, q feat we accom-.
plished for The mere wetting Of our
boots. Koon-si Immediately Joined us.
AT last, excellencies,'' he said. I'VE
are on the island Of Ching-hi. He whom
we have come to find IS here. The gods
have greatly favored our endeavors.''
Indeed. It seems so,"" replied Jim.
"You are wonderful man. Koon-Si.
Thanks to you we have accomplished
what at one time seemed to be an i'm
possible Journey. l think we have not
come SO far for nothing" y ~, ~, -. !.
Believe me, excellency, you have not
come for nothing, nor have I. T. have
waited long for this. have suffered
much, endured much degradation, but
the gods are wise, and in their hands
is vengeance" 80 ..-@ -
Good. And how?' = 49, -s..@. g.
Nov, excellency, with the aid Of
these worthy .boatmen, who: know Of
the habitation Of Kung and his manner
Of living, we will make our way to his
abode. What shall follow we know
not, but this we do know: 1t is already
written in the book of destiny" =,
With that the boat was drawn up out
Of the current, and, looking cautiously
about, though l could distinguish little
in the gloom. l loosened My revolver.
Then began whispered consultation
between the carpenter and his associ-
ates, during which All Yon sided up to
me and said in low voice, "Makee
pistol all liz, .. .,..r-.
"Al1 Ii, Yon,'' replied. "You know
all about this expedition?' =.
"Sabbee plenty. Be welly caleful.
Plenty dangelous." - 49,. 49,
Here Kocn-Si, who seemed to have
eyes and ears for everything, interpos.
ed and asked what Yon had been say:
ing.
He merely mentioned the fact that
it was time to keep our eyes open and
our pistols handy"
coiA 6 !,
Yon is worthy servant. He shall be
rewarded" '*F
THAT he shall be-" said Jim heartily.
"Ah Yon Is an excellent fellow "
But the subject Of these flattering re-
marks had skunk away, his natural
modesty being no proof against such
praise. .~>' =. -
Learning from the carpenter that we
had still some distance to walk before
reaching Kung's house, we immediate.
~ set out with All Yon and one Of the
boatmen at our head. Jim followed
next. Then came Koon-Si, myself and
the other boatmen. =
F., In this manner we pursued our way
In silence, and If the journey dowr
the river had seemed to be charged
with the horror of awful uncertainty
this creeping over unknown ground
through the dark night toward fate
which no man might foresee contained
for me all tie elements of a hideous
nightmare / confess that my nerves
were strung to an acute pitch, that
my imagination pictured many strange
and incongruous things. The knowl
edge that one was entirely in the hands
Of this carpenter and his associates
was not conducive to the tranquility
of ones mind. TO me it seemed a.
though l wanted to see something
Hitherto we had been cropping in thu
dark, and yearned for the light.
Yet l could not do less than admit
that in Koon-Si we had a nlarvelou!
auxiliary and one without whom i
would have. been quite impossible tt
proceed upon this desperate adventure
Indeed, but for the hint my father CAV,
Of seeking out the carpenter l now saw
that our visit to China would haiv,
been dangerously abortive. Faithfully
had he fulfilled the hopes which ",
had centered in him, and felt, that i
was ungrateful in the extreme to with
hold from him the praise which was 8,
Justly his due. g.,...%.5.,. 49,.
Presently the1eaders% 81 our 1 little par
ty stopped. There was hurried .whis
perfng among Koon-Si and, the boat
men, and then we went on again, bu
this time more slowly and carefully
1nstinctively l crept closer to Jim ant
felt that my revolver was: ready, TO
danger seemed to Turk in the very air
/ and my nerves were strung to the high
est pitch Of intensity. However,, moth
/ ing came as yet, and still stealing ON
| ward we presently found ourselves fac
ing ia structure, which, seen through
the gloom, resembled q squat pillar O
chimney, but which IN reality was til.
dihpidated pagoda. We had seen from
the river; q esd All .#{t st *4tr3iI5q
i Toward this our guides led us, and al