The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-09-15

by his ship. for not a moment should b
lost In the pursuit of our mission. II
strikes twice who strikes first"
That IL was excellent advice and backe,
| up by an excellent maxim and one 70
Which j duly notchsd a point In favor o
Mr.. koon-Si, may be at once admitted
ana 1 could discover no reason why sucl
excellent advice should not be followe,
up Nor could my uncle. when put 10 tn,
test. though he needed no spur to nj
| endeavor His one object In life was (,
stand face to face with Kung and tha
| at the earliest opportunity.
| wen. the next morning we were up be
times and away, and once more Rooms
lived man apart along with the coolies
| We knew he was aboard. and that wal
all. IL would have puzzled the keenes
| spy or the society TO discover any con
nection between us and the slit noset
| rascal forward. Koon-Si evidently knew
| how to meet cunning with cunning, and
FELT glad that we were I'm the hands OF
such shrewd being and congratulated
myself on the great good fortune which
had followed us since we FIRST serfousl
set out 10 combat our enemies, not that
koon-Si was a lovable creature or one FOL
whom IL was possible To develop any I'm.
mediate affection. His manner reminded
me too forcibly of the awful mysterios
movements of the society. There were a
cunning and shrewdness in him which
though extremely valuable, were not
pleasant When Kung made an enemy Of
MN, ne committed "A fatal mistake and
one which ! believed would cost him
dearly IL was not without reason my IA
ther had said, Find Koon-si."
Had we searched the whole of China
doubt II We could have discovered a
man more fitted for our purpose
The Chungking was not e. nice steam
er. and her captain wae not a nice cap
tain, but she plodded her way up the
great river with commendabie dignity,
and one afternoon the gallant skfpper
informed US that we should be In Han
know early the next morning. We thank
cd him. 1t was a piece OF information
supplied gratutfovsiy even chuoked at US
but we thanked him. II Is extremely
pleasant TO meet an amiabie fellow coun-
tryman In a foreign land
Toward dusk as we rounded n long
bend OF the river, an island opened out
In the distance. and by the time we were
abreast of IL the day had appreciably
darkened. AS Jim and / stood at the
side watching the narrow strip OF land.
upon slight eminence of which we
could just distinguish the outline of a
dilapfdated pasoda, a voice muttered be-
hind "Chine-hi."
Turing sharply. we encountered the
form OF Mr.. Roon-S. The beggar gave
me a start The quiet crawling, mys-
tertous movements OF these yellow men
had got upon my nerves. Out of the
shadows they came like ghosts or grouls
and into them they vanished again. ST.
lent. mysterious, leaving no impression
behind. save a chill round the heart
"Ching-hi." repeated Jim indifrerently
though knew that the carpenter had aisv
given him a start. 80 he is therey"
Was there. excellenoy. Where he Is
now who shall say7 Kung isl Ike the dark
shadows which the clouds fling before the
moor--a moment here, a moment there
In one place never"
Then" said Jim. ''you seem TO have
led us on a pretty Wild goose chase Any
how We must see
We shall see. excellency, and II. as
believe, the vfrtuous are rewarded upon
this earth as weil as in heaven the end
Of Rung is close at hand. From the birth
to the death Of on old man Is a long
Journey; but, excellency, Il ends at laxI.
30 is II with the evildoer. He goes his
way and wounds and riots and strikes
terror throughout the land. but his day
dawns and his sun sets, ana behold here
is nothing for him but darkness evermors!
So shall II be with Kung. HIS foot shall
grow weary, his eyes shall fail him, and
the great river shall carry HIS death wall
down to the great ocean,"
He stopped and with a horribly familiar
laid his hand upon my Shout
der. and I felt a cold shudder sweep me
from head to foot Indeed I almost fan
cled I could hear he wailing OF ghosts
In the mists of the river. With an ex-
rlamation OF anger shook the cold claw
from me and drew back a pace. Mr..
koon-Si smiled, and / was fearful lest he
should understand the movement What's
10 become of the white mans dignity II
ne allows heather to frighten him in
this fashion7
That's all very weIl," said Jim. who.
however. much the carpenter may have
Impressed him. showed no sign of Il, but
ws haven't heard his death wall yet. and
should like TO know how you intend |
hat we shall hear Il"
"Bxceiiency. the future is In the hands |
" the gods. and who am I that should |
ay them yea or nayT'
my worthy Koon-Si the future Is al |
10 somewhat In our hands. How know |
'ou that the gods have not chosen rs as |
Instruments OF their pleasure1" |
NAY. exceilenoy, I know not. II may |
20 even as you say; the gods move mys- |
eriousiy. II I could only think so. |
would spit In the face OF Kung."
First meet him, my illustrious car
'enter. Tell me. what are your pians9"
Tomorrow we shall he in Hankow, in
Utmost visilaoe will be necessary. II we J
vish 10 escape detection"
"WeIl7"
'T have arranged all that We shall
md early tomorrow morning. when
ope few people viii be about Your ex-
ellencics win follow me from the ship.
ut without speaking. You may bring
our servant with you. as he may be use
ul. have cousin m HRnkow. n wor-
by tailor. who has suffered somewhat
Trough Kung. He will give VS. a hearty
'elcome."
And then7'
"onoe I have your exceilencies safe in
he house OF my illustrious cousin we
hall soon devise a plan OF reaching the
'land % Chine-hi II r. even possible
hat my distinguished relative may know
~ the movements 90 Kung.
our exceilency understanos7
quite"
He strikes twice who strikes first"
The gaunt figure OF the carpenter
lippef from our side and disappeared IN
he gloom. and friend as he was. and