The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-28

China were a nomadie, rowing race,
land the geographical conformity of
Herring Strait would make an eastern
| migration perfectly possible, one
HAVING reached the continent or North
America they would naturally turn
their faces southWafd, Hndlns no re-
i sistance and a rich ana fertile cohn-
try before them. The more L thought
Of the matter the more | became sat
isfied with my theory, and finally, haV-
ing reached a standstill, l fell asleep,
The murmur of oiceSga,Waheneu
me, and, turning over, l saw lhat the
room was full of men VINO were afeu-
ing eXcitedly and occasionally cast
ing scowling looks at Mckim, who
was sleeping heavily, But our ola
friend of the evening before was the
most excited of the lot ana apparent
Inv the most authoritative, for hnally
the tumult ceased and the rapble
poured out. | tried 10 get up, but he
shook his head and motioned for me
| To remain where l was. one or the
| women brought me some FOOD, a stew
| of chicken and rice ana rev slices
of raw fish
With the old mans permission,
| moved my mat to the doorway OF the
| nut anu amused iliyStll WllthiiS ~
| fishermen along the river bank, EVi~
| IDENTIFY our jailer was We'll disposed
| for he spoke to one of the women
| who stepped me a bowl of tea ana
| furnished me With pipe and Stobac-
60, | tried to talk with him, as
| was somewhat familiar with the dia-
} lects of the coast, but, although he
| made every effort To understand me-
| he was unsuccessful.
hn ArlE "a
out, but in a few minutes returned
With a heavily padded tunic, | was
not at all chilly, but he motioned
| for me to put 1T on. a few minutes
| later two coolies came iii, and liftins
Mckim, mat and all. carried him
outside the door, where there were a
little knot of men Waiting-coolie car
riers | made them out to be, Mchlm
was laid in hammock swung from
a bamboo. and our host, or iailer, mo-
toned for me to get into another like
it, and in a few moments We We're
all in motion,
Although il was very dark, / could
see that we We're climbing up into a
very wild country Occasionally the
road led along the edge of a ehasm,
and | could hear the water boiling
far beneath. AT dawn We reached u
little hut, where we remained all day
and at night the trip began again,
this time with new coolies. on the
fourth morning Of our journey Me-
kim's condition began to change for
the better, and, after sleeping all day
quite naturally, he suddenly awolle
to consciousness, | did not want to
excite him any more than was neces~
say, SO in answer TO his question
simply said that we We're prisoners,
but We're being Well treated and just
now We're moving into the interior,
probably TO make escape more diff
cult. That seemed to satisfy him and,
after eating light meal he Went To
sleep.
That night We travelled again. and
as the first light began To break IN
the east l saw that we were entering
a big, fertile valley, We changed
bearers once more. but the following
daV continued our travel instead OF
waiting for the darkness,
AS soon as we started | noticed a
difference in our coolies. They were
leaner, more muscular, and more of
the Tartar or Samoeide type, | no
TO address them in a different tongue
and that they treated him With great
deferenc.
When we halted at noon McKim
was wide awake ana taking an active
interest in his surroundings, While
We were talking, for | had told him
nothing about the queer events at Hal
Chin, the old man approached, and
as he drew near | could see that he
was powerfully agitated, He tried
once or twice TO speak, but seemed
unable to articulate, Finally he jerk
ed out a few cultural words,
The effect on McI<im was magical,
He was on his feet like flash. and
stood with his head dropped between
his shoulders. looking at the old
Chinaman through narrowed lids
every muscle was tense, and his lower
jaw worked nerVously up and down
like a pointer dog when he is stand
ing a covey The Chinaman's face
was set and rigid, and, With his eyes
boring straight into McKim, he spoke
slowly four monosyllabic words; and
like an echo the words came back,
followed by a dozen or SO more,
Then the spell was rudeiy broken,
The old man uttered a sudden cry, and
the bearers came running up, lie
spoke to them in quick unmusical
words while they stood apparently
wonderstruck. uttering at intervals
astonished grunts, much resembling
the ugh ugh!' of the American In
dian,
/ turned to my partner "McKim,
what the deuce does ii all mean ,"
He looked at me, his face dazed
and aWe-struck,
''He talks my grandmother's Ian
guage, he said weakly.
lis he talking it now"
mo, but he is talking one like 1t,
What does it mean, doctor?" He
turned ON me almost fierceiy.
1T means" / answered. that YOU
are among your relatives, l hope
they are glad to see you He can tell
YOU more about it than l cam
Mckim turned to the old man and
said few words, The moment he
began TO speak the coolies dropped
upon their knees and touched their
roreheads to the ground The old man
stood listening respectfully. Ia mo-
ment he answered.
His name is Khan ghi-sen," said
Mckim, turning to me. 'He says /
speak an almost forgotten language
used only by the nobility of his tribe,
ana he wants to know where l come
from"
suppose you ask him where you
are going" l suggested Keep him
guessing, as you Yankees say"
Mckim turned to Khan ghi-sen and
spoke, 1t seemed to me than the
Khan was rather apologize in his
manner
HE says to my own people" said
IL \ rk.Af fa4