Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-11-13

SO particular that we dld not want to
run any risk of losing our appoints
ment."
"Perhaps you will now be good
enough to tell me what that business
is?" l replied, taking my note book out
OF drawer, preparatory TO writing
down what they had TO say.
I'm the first place, sir" the man be-
gan, eve of course understand that
everything we have TO tell you will
be regarded by you as strictly privats
and confdential?"
THAT goes without saying" I rec
Piled. IF were to diyulge what my
clients tell me, my business would not
be worth a days purchase. You can
rest assured that everything you may
| impart to me will be treated in strict.
est confidence"
1--WE thank you" said Kitwater.
"The story l have TO tell you is per-
haps the strangest that has ever BEEN
told TO mortal man. To begin with
you must understand tina. my com-
panion and myself have but lately sr-
rived In England. Wa have been for
many years miss onaries in China, sow.
| ing tut ROOI sttu IN tHt WchleTn pTOVS
inces. ! do not know whether you
have ever visited that country, butt
even if you have not, you must be aware
to some extent of the dangers to whick
our calling is subjected. We carry our
lives in our hands from the momentwo
leave civilization until we enter it
again. There are times, however, that
compensate one for all the trials that
have to be undergone"
You must excuse me-" I said. "if T.
remind you that my time is valuable,
and that, however interested l may be
in the missionary work of China,
cannot allow it to interfere with my
business. The sooner you tell me in
what way you want me to help you, the
sooner I shall be able to give you the
answer you are seeking"
81 must implore your pardon" ths
man continued, humbly enough. 1T
am afraid our calling, however, is apt
to make us trifie verbose. II youw>t
allow me l will put what have to san
in as few words as possible"
l bowed and signed to him to pro.
coed.
"Our ca Sc is as follows" began AS
I have told you, we have been in China
for several years, and during that
time we have had the good fortune 10
enroll not a few well-known names
among our converts. To make long
story short, we were so successful as
to be able to persuade even the man
DARN of the province to listen TO our
message. He vas an enormously rich
man, one of the richest, perhaps, in
China, and was so impressed by the
good news we brought to him that, on
mis- deathbed, he left to US for the
benefit of the mission all his wealth in
gold, silver and precious stones. 1t
was princely legacy, and one that
would have enabled us 10 carry on our
mission with such success as we had
never dreamed Of"
But If you were so lucky and so
much in love with your profe sion, how
does 1t come about that you are in
England now?" inquired.
II will tell you why" he answered,
leaning toward me and tapping with
his fingers upon the edge Of the writ
ing-table. ut is sad story, and tho
mere telling of It causes me more pain
than you would believe. You must un-
derstand that at the time of the man
darin's death an English traveller, who
had been passing through the vest
ern provinces, reached our city and
took up his abode with Us. Needless
: to say, we were overwhelmed with
grief at the loss Of our patron. The
treasure he had presented US with wa
took to the mission and deposited 10
in a safe place. We had no suspicion
, OF any sort Of ,reachery. l fear my
companion and l are not men of the
world, that is to say we do not GO
! about suspectiug evil Of our neigh
t bors."
| II think understand" said. You
, brought the treasure home, put IL
- in what you considered safe place,
= snd one day awoke TO find your es-
e Unable guest missing and the treas
Y ure gone with him. Have guessed corr
E rectly?'
d You have hit the mark exactly"
Kitwater replied. I'VE woke one cay
, not only TO find the treasure gone. eua
| also ourselves and our mission seTlous-
= " compromised The re,a lions of the
: dead man not only accused us OF hav-
! ing alienated him from the faith OF h y
r forefathers, but also of having robbed
him OF his ancestral treasure. Wa
e could not but admit that we had been
D presented with the wealth in question.
e and when II was demanded OF us We
n could only explain that we had lost Il
h in our turn. You can imagine the po-
I sition for yourself. At the best OF
: times the foreigner is not popular IN
| China. and our situation was parncu-
q larly unpleasant. Situated as we were
Z in one Of the widest portions of the
: empire, and accused OF the basest sac
d rilege, that is to say of violating the
: home of dead man, We could hope for
e but small mercy. The man who had
e robbed us had entirely disappeared,
n and no trace Of him could be discov-
e cred To attempt to offer any expla-
J. nation, or to incriminate him, was OUT
e Of the question. We could only suffer
l in silence"
S He paused and heaved ahesvy sigh
: And what form did your punish
= ment take?" inquired, for I was be-
: ginning TO be interested in their story.