Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-07-04

to which the long white beard that de-
scended almost to his waist gave an
added reverence. His head was well
shaped and we'll set upon his shout
ders,. his height was six feet two if
an inch, and he carried himself with
the erectn'ess of man accustomed to
an outdo DOR life. He was well dressed,
and for that reason 7 surmised that he
was the possessor of good manners.
His companion was as much below the
middle height as he was above it. His
was peculiar countenance resembling
that of a boy when seen at a distance,
and that of an old man when one was
close to him. His eyes, as have al
ready said, were small, and they were
set deep in his head. This, in itself,
was calculated to add to his peculiar
appearance. He steered his blind COM
panfon Into the room and placed him
in'a seat Then he perched himself on
chair beside him and waited for me
to open the debate. - a.
Good mofning, gentlemen" I said.
"Allow me: to congratulate you on
your punctuality."
eve were afraid of missing you;"
observed Kitwater. ''Our business is
50 particular that we did not want to
run any risk of losing our appoint
ment:' 3, ~; s. ~r<z, x,~..
.rPtrhaps you will now be good
enough to tell me what that business
is?"1 replied, taking my note be ok out
of a drawer, preparatory to writing
down what they had to say.
I'm the first place, SIR the man be-
gan, 1--WE of course understand that
everything we .have:>to tell you will
be regarded by you as strictly private
and confdential?"
:. -: That goes without. saying I re
piled: IF I were to, -diyu1ge: what my
clients tell ms, my business wou,d not
be worth "a days purchase. You can
rest assured that everything you may
impart. to me will be treated in strict
est. confidence" -, ::
! I'VE. 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 that my com
panion and myself have but lately ar
rived in England. :: We have been for
many years miss ionaries in China, sow
ing the good seed in the western PROV
inces. I do not know whether you
have ever visited that. country, but,
even if you have not; you must be aware
to some extent of the dangers to which
our calling is subjected. We carry our
lives in our hands from the moment we
leave civilizati ton 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-" said, IF l
remind you that m5 time is valuable,
and that, however interested may be
in the missionary work of China, l
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"
II must implore your pardon" the
man continued, humbly enough. II
am afraid our calling, however, is apt
to make us tritle verbose. If you vs.:
allow me l will put what have to say
in as few words as possible
x bowed and signed to him to pro-
coed. s III. IT,. :::: H. d: . (: :.
"Ourcaseisasf follows he began As
/ have told You, we have been 81 China
for several years, and during i that
time we have had the good fortune to
enroll not 9 few well-known names
amongsour converts To make long
story short, we were 80 successful as
to be able to persuade even the man
DARN of the province to listen to our
message He. was -an.ehormously rich
man, one Of the richest, perhaps, in
China, and was SO impressed by the
good news we brought to him that, on
his death-bed,. he left to us for the
benefit of the mission all his wealth, in
gold; silver and precious stones. I It
was prineely legacy, and one that
would have enabled us to carry on. our
mission with such success as we had
never dreamed Of" - ..~y.... 49,
'But il, you were SO lucky and so
much in love with your profession, how
does it come. about! that you are in
England now?" I inquired. J.
Il will tell you why he answered,
leaning toward me and tapping with
his fingers upon the edge Of the writ
|ing-table.s 1T. isza sad story and the
mere telling Of it causes me more pain
than you would believe. You must IN
derstand that at the time OF the man ma
darin''s, death han 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 W =
took to the mission and deposited =
/. in 9 safe place. We had no suspici OF
IF any sort. st treachery. ! lear . n9