Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-01-22
CHE FOO
TRAGEDY
By WILLIAM Z. S.
FALES
co7vrlsh,. 1910. by W. Z. 5 Fale,

- NVIOUS people sneered when
Percy Strathford Grey passcd
n the civil service examinations
with high honors and said that
Il was due 10 his being a cousin OF the
Duke Of EasminSier There was an
io.a Of truth IN the snecr. as there is in
most snccrs. The distinguished rela-
tive had aided Percy by the confidential
hint Ihat the Chinese examination was
the easiest CT all and that the chief ex'
aminyr was deaf and esUtistic. The
student took advantage Of the hint and.
being ambitious and pcrSe ering, had
no trouble with the department OF red
tape. Shortly after the announcement
came his appointment as student In
tcrprcter to the Tientsin consulate.
Here hc arrived in due season and be-
gan his official work. This for the first
two years consisted in mastering the
mandarin or official language. Percy
engaged an old Chinese gentleman Ill
reduced circumstances and made the
slow progress which marks instruction
under such auspices.
lie accordingly had recourse TO the
method employed by student inter
prefers from time immemorial in the
far east and bought living diction-
ary"-that is, he purchased from her
grateful parents a Chinese wife. Nj
HUI. the lady in question. was a girl OF
eighteen, well built and strong, as are
-. . 81, 4, ,,.,,,n,, of Shanut11nO Plain
from a Chinese point of view, she was
attractive and even handsome to Eu-
ropcan eve. Her family belonged to the
poor middle class, so that she had had
the advantage of highly educated sur
roundings. if not of high education
herself. She was bright lively and at
fection0te.
Percy hired a Chinese house and lived
the life of a native scholar. His prog
ress was rapid. In three months he had
good colloquial knowledge of the
mandarin. At the end of two years he
spoke, read and wrote it as fiuently as
Professor Giles, the eminent authority
In the examination which then occur
red he received high praise from the
judges, upon whose report he was pro
NOTED from student interpreter to vice
consul and was assigned to the city
and district of Che Foo.
In the latter city he took a pretty
house, installed his Chinese wife ant
lived the happy -go-lucky life Of the fal
east Five years passed uneventfully
Twice Nj Hu presented him with /
pretty babe which inherited his rec
blond hair and gray eyes and the moth
er's Monaghan cheek bones. AS sh
was a devoted mother and they admira
BILE infants, their presence did not dis
turb him in the least On the contrary
he grew quite fond of them. The.
were his children by Chinese law, jus
as Nj Hu was his wife, but by Englisl
law neither they nor she bore any re
lation to him except meretricious one
Percy did his best to advance hmsel
at Che Foo. His superior, the consul
had grown gray in the service and di
Just as little work as possible. He wa
therefore delighted to have the vic
consul perform the duties Of the office
BY degrees the younger man exercise
more and more of the consular funt
tons until he was practically consul |
all but name The reports and dis
patches We're such models as to attrat
the attention and win the praise Of tn