Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-02-14

ly compromised. The relations of the
dead man not only accused us of hav'
ing alienated him from the faith of his
forefathers, but also of having robbed
him of his ancestral treasure. We
could not but admit that we had been
presented with the wealth in question
and when 1t was demanded of us we
could only explain that we had lost il
in our turn. You can imagine the pc.
sition for yourself. AT the best OF
times the foreigner is not popular in
China, and our situation was particu-
larly unpleasant. Situated as we were
in one of the widest portions of the
empire, and accused of the basest sac
rilege, that is to say of violating the
home of dead man, we could hope fof
but small mercy. The man who had
robbed US had entirely disappeared
and no trace of him could be discov-
cred. To attempt to offer any expla-
nation, or to incriminate him, was out
OF the question. We could only suffer
in silence"
He paused and heaved a heavy sigh
"And what form did your punish
ment takeY inquired, for 1 was be.
ginning to be interested in.their story
Can you not see for yourself?" the
man answered. "Can you not see that
I am blind, while my companion is
dumb? That was what they con.
demned us to. By that mans villainy
am destined never to look upon God S
earth again, while my companion will
never be able to converse with his
fellow-men. except by signs. We are
in the world, yet out of it,
Hooked at them both in amazement.
Their tale seemed too terrible to be
true. And yet had the best of evi.
dence to show that it was correct.
"And why have you come to me I:
What do you want me to do? Icannot
give you back your sight, nor your
friend his power of speech"
"But you can help us to find the mar
who brought this misery upon u.s.
Kitwater replied. '.That is what we
have come to ask of you. He must no,
be permitted to enjoy the wealth he
stole from us. 1t is sacred to a spe.
cial duty, and that duty 1t must per.
form. We are not overburdened with
riches, in fact, we are dependent upon
the bounty of another, but if you car
help us to recover the sum that was
stolen from US. we will gladly pay
whatever you may ask! We cannot
say more than that"
But this is most unheard-of re.
quest" 1 said. "How do you know
where the man may be at this mo.
ment?"
''We do not know, or we should
scarcely have asked your assistance y
Kitwater replied, with some show OF
reason. "1t is because we have heard
of your wonderful powers in tracing
people that we have come t o you. Our
only cause for attending the trial al
which you saw us waste hear the evi.
dence you gave and to draw our own
conclusions from it. That those con-
illusions were complimentary to you,
our presence here is evidence of. We
know that we could not put our case
in better hands, and we will leave it
with you to say whether or not you will
help us. AS l said just now, my com.
panion is dumb, while am blind; we
cannot do much ourselves. Will you
not take pity upon us and help us to
find the man who betrayed and ruined
us?"
"But he may be at the other end of
the world at this moment?" l said.
That does not matter" he returned
"We know that, wherever he may be,
you will find him. All we ask you to 10
is to bring us face to face with him.
We will manage the rest. 1t will be
strange then if we are not able to get
him to a proper way of thinking
This was the most unusual case ]
had had to do with, and for the mo-
ment | scarcely knew what to say. /
turned to the blind man once more.
"Haye you any idea where the man
went after he robbed your"
He crossed the province of Yunnan
into Burmah," he replied. After tina
he made his way through Rangoon, and
shipped Ton board the steamer jena
dar for London"
when did the Jemadar reach Lon
don?"
ION the 23d of June" he answered
I'VE have made inquiries upon that
point"
I made note of this, and then con-
tinued my inquiries.
zone other question, said. while
we are on the subject, what do YOU
suppose would be the total. value of
the treasure of which he robbed you?"
'That is very difficult to say" Kit.
water replied, and then turned to his
companion and held out his hand. The
other took it and tapped upon the palm
with the tips of his fingers in sort of
acknowledgement fashion that I had
never seen used before.
My friend says that there were 90
stones, all rubies and sapphires; they
were of exquisite luster and extraor-
binary size. Possibly they might have
been worth anything from e170,0oo
to e250,0OO.''
I opened my eyes on hearing this.
Were the men telling me the truth, I
asked myself, or were they trying to
interest me in the case by exaggerat-
ing the value of the treasure?
What you say is almost incompre-
hensible," continued. 81 trust you
will forgive me, but can you substan-
tate what you say?"
when we say that we are willing to
pay your expenses in advance if you
will try to find the man, think we are
giving you very good proof of our