Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1905-03-25

jaw, his first and second finger separat.
ed at his chin and the thumb fell back
until the nail touched his neck. His
hand hesitated in that position for an
instant and then dropped.
A blind man could see that II was
signal, so glanced at the man across
the street. He was an intelligent.look-
ing japanese. but dressed as a laborer.
As he turned the corner he presented
his profile to US, and I was astonished
to see him extend the thumb of his left
hand and expose for an instant a small
fan on which was red heron, a dupli-
cate Of the fan had in my pocket.
now understood the use Of the
thimhles on my fan. They 1T the
thumb and forennger. and the fan
could be carried In the hand without
attracting attention and by raising the
thumb a sign could be passed quickly.
had heard Of society in the Philip
pines called the Katipunan, the mem
bers of which were sworn to kill all
white men. but supposed that the mem.
bership was confined to natives and
that the organization was defunct.
| could form no idea Of what ! had
note Of the coolies ear and classified
a, his nose, and. before could forget, put
II down in my book.
kept my own counsel and went at
- hAa re- tt,h
made myself known and was allowed
to examine the Chinese section of the
rogues' gallery. ! could find no ear
which correspondent with the one in my
notebook.
After leaving headquarters ! fitted
my fan to my hand and 1t worked to
perfection. 1t was plainly the insig
MIA of some of the secret societies SO
numerous in the Orient, many Of which
were familiar to me. The people OF
Asia are adopts at intrigue and all un
derhand work, and this might be any.
thing from freemasonary to a vendet
ia; but was determined to discover
what It was regardless of the conse
quences.
came to japanese curio store and
saw my opportunity to find out the
extent Of territory that innocent fan
covered among the inhabitants Of Ma
Mia. To be sure. ! might fetch W
short in pretty dilemma. but as a gov
eminent official felt II my duty to as
certain II there was any scheme afooI
to embarrass the United States in theii
work Of making something of the
Philippines, SO / entered the bazaar ant
was greeted by smiling subject OF
the Mikado. For the fraction of sec
ond | exposed the fan hidden under
my thumb and realized that I was mix
/ ing in no small affair. The Jap GOV
: cred his face with his hands and bowed
TO the floor, drawing in his breath with
kissing sound like person in grea,
pain. In japan this is a mark Of
respect.
! left the ship without further de
monstration other than a glance sup
posed to enjoin caution, and went uI
the street lost in maze of conflicting
theories and conjecture. | knew my
limited time in Manila would not per
NIT me to search the affair SO thor
oughly as would like, and was unde
cided as to whether should notify the
proper authorities Of the existence OF
some secret society in Manila or KEEP
my little adventure to myself.
When | came to look at the matter
CONSIDERABLY realized my egotism In
assuming that the secret service in the
: Philippines were ignorant of anything
in existence in the for of plots or petty
cliques of natives or others. and laid
myself liable to being made the butt
. Of the hugest joke ever heard Of in the
annals Of crime and its detection.
While was In this brown study
somebody deliberately pushed me ofl
the sidewalk. was annoyed until
saw the form of Brakens, my old Part
; ner. now on duty at Nagasaki for the
same master as myself I was oyer