Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-07-05
copyrighted. 1901, by Ward. Lock s. Col
CHAPTER II.-CoNTINUED.

CHAPTER 1l.@CONTIN UED.
Our caseis as follows" he began. "As
have told you, we have been in China
for several years, and during that
time we have had the good fortune to
enroll not a few well-known names
among our converts. To make long
story short, we were so successful a.
to be able to persuade even the man
DARN of the province to listen to our
message. He was 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
his death-bed, he left to us for the
benefit of the mission all his wealth, in
gold, silver and precious stones. It
was a princely legacy, and one that
would have enabled US to 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 profession, how
does it come about that you are in
Epg.and now?" I inquired.
will tell you why" he answered,
3-arjng toward me and tapping with
aa.# LII upon Lie SdSe VI luC VIII
.gta bic. 1T is 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
farin's death an English traveller, who
lad been passing through the west
ern provinces, reached our city and
.ook up his abode with US. Needless
to say, we were overwhelmed with
grief "a the loss of our patron. The
reasure ne had presented US with We
took TO the mission and deposited it
in a safe place. We had no suspicion
of any sort Of treachery. | fear my
companion and I are not men of the
world, that is to say we do not go
about pecting evilof our neighbours"
= think I understand" said. you
brought the treasure home, put 1t
in what you considered a safe place,
and one day awoke to find your es-
TINA bic guest missing and the treas
ure gone with him. Have guessed cor
rectly?"
you have hit the mark exactly"
kitwater replied. eve woke one day
NOT only to find the treasure gone, but
also ourselves and our mission serious
~ compromised. The relations of the
dead man not only accused us of hav-
ing alienated him from the faith of his
forefa theirs, 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 it was demanded Of Us we
could only explain that we had lost 1t
in our turn. You can magine the po-
sition for yourself. At the best of
times the foreigner is not popular in
China. and our situation was particu-
iarly 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 for
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 take?" I inquired, for I was be-
ginning to be interested in their story
'Can you not see for yours elf?' the
man answered. "Can you not see that
| 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 Gods
earth again, while my companion will
never be able to converse with his
fellowmen, except by signs. We are
In the world, yet out of it.
looked at them both in amazement.
Their tale seemed too terrible TO be
true. And yet l had the best of evil
dence to show that it was correct.
''And why have you come to me?
What do yol, 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 man
who brought this misery upon US :"
Kitwater replied. THAT is what we
have core to ask of you. He must not
be permitted to enjoy the wealth he
stole from us. 1t is sacred to a spe-
sia. duEy, and that duty it must per-