The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-25
OUOYS DRAGON;
 w FELL STREE7

lonely without it. Quoy himself had first known 1t across the Black Water at home. It had followed him to America and he was touched when he thought of it, at it's devotion in a strange land. The split mating he lay on might grow more and more ragged. The little jade sunh bottle might break and the odd far- travelled Lares and Penates might fall to pleces but the dragon was always the same. So long as he kept the black smoke pipe with the lotus mouthpiece, and the small can of opium, and the peanut oil lamp at hand, the dragon would come and keep him company.
 Every night when he was tired of his window and felt little lonely he would light the peanut oil lamp beside the mat and cook one fat, bubbling pill of opium after the other on his needle and smoke slowly. The occasional time-killing pipes of the day no more than kept the pains cut of his lungs, and 1t was the even- ing's smoking that was the days event When the air was close and sweet |, smelling from successive pipes and the small lamp flame grew misty, then at last out from behind the battered grimy screen across the room, Quoy's dragon would come crawling little by little into view, through the floating smoke streaks and dusk with his pink and furnished scales
 
 When he was all in view, his bulk seem ed out of all proportion to his screen hiding place. His great head, with it's horns and long teeth and the saffron beard from Its chin, was very near the little lamp between the two big forepaws. Behind the sealed back and the folded wings and long, spiky tall blended with the smoke streaks and darkness. So, very socially, it would settle down on one side of the lamp while Quoy, on the other, rolled his pills and looked sleepily into it's big red eyes and talked to 1t about Canton oontente edly. As the dragon had , known his father and Canton city from the Wall Pagoda to the Flower Boats, Quoy, in isolation and solitude from his fellows, was never positively lonely. One night. nearly twenty hours after the dragon had gone, Quoy woke up from a long dream very six man indeed. The several diseases and the Black Smoke had pretty nearly finished him. and for once the pipe was almost too far away for him to reach. When his fellow towns man came in presently and chased the shadows off the mat by lighting the pea nut oil lamp, Quoy fixed him with his eye and said:
 Go to the missionary man tonight and tell him to come here. Tell him that shall want him to take my money and
 
 to China"
 T would do that as well as the mis- sionary man." he said solemnIy and plain ly. Quoy's face cracked in ghost of smile.
 ''No," he said. T would not put shadow on my friends conscience. Bring him here quickly or no one will ever find it.
 The friend got up silently ana welt out. Quoy managed to pick up pipe and needle and to light the lamp. He smoked his makeup pipe feebiy. Once he stop ped and said, half aloud (which showed that he was not himsel9: Many hide money ir mating and clothes and screens but who would hide 1t in the queue on his head?' A little noise startled him ard he looked up to see his fellow towns man griDning .n at the door.
 The man came in and deliberately un- wound Quoy's rusty queue. while Quoy dragged at his hands furiously, but tao weakly. When he found the tight roll of bills he laughed and jumped back, while Quoy jabbered fiercely at him and then coughed himself nearly 70 pieces. By foolish word he had thrown away his hope of lying in sacred ground out side the Canton walls. something he had