Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1905-09-13

Leaving them to their chat, stroll
ed out to the front door and stood
watching the passing throng. A mo-
ment later my attention was attracted
by a crowd suddenly gathering, ap-
parently in great excitement, at a
street corner some twenty yards
away. Curiosity getting the better of
discretion, / left the doorway and
walked up to see what was going on,
with the ever-faithful Pat in attend
ance.
/ found what looked like a toy tenn
pie, which two men had set down on
the ground, and which the crowd was
examining closely, with much gesticu-
lation and yelling. What it was all
about l do not know to this day, for
just then I heard a loud yelp from
Pat, followed by series of furious
barks, and turned to find him savage
ly shaking rag which served as the
only article of apparel worn by an
urchin about ten years old. who, /
suspect, had been up to some prank
with Pats caudal appendage.
The little imp was unhurt as 10
body and limbs, but ne promptly set
up roar of fright which drowned ev-
cry other sound, and was the most
natural noise I had heard for weeks.
Pat loosened his hold as seized him,
while the youngster was swung aloft
out Of harms way by a tall China
man, whose face, as he turned to
me, was the very incarnation of fury.
Holding the yelling brat on one arm,
he shook the other fist in my face,
stamping and shrieking with rage.
The crowd closed in, and I was in
stantly surrounded by angry yellow
men, ohattering and screaming like a
cageful of apes, and clawing the air
with skinny arms and long-nailed
hands.
Pretty thoroughly scared, | instinc-
lively dug into a pocket, and offered
a handful of loose change to the tall
man. He snatched it as a wild beast
snatches meat, but it had not the
slightest effect on his temper, and he
seemed on the point of striking at
my face with his claw-like hand.
was totally unarmed, save for an
ordinary walking-stick, which l raised
to ward off the impending blow. Then
I stepped quickly backward. The
crowd behind made way with the cow
ardly instinct of an unorganized mob,
but closed in front just out of reach
of my stick, screaming and gesticu-
lating as before. I continued back
ing until I was fairly clear, and then
turned and ran, as I thought, toward
Tan Quin Sees shop.
Unfortunately, in my bewilder-
ment I started down the wrong street,
not discovering the mistake until |
had sprinted some distance, with the
bowling swarm close behind. The
miserable Pat scudded ahead, his un-
lucky tail between his legs, adding
his terrified yaps to the general up
roar.
A stone whizzed close to my head,
followed by another, and feeling that
was now in real danger, | lodged
down the first side street which
seemed to me to lead in the direc-
ton of the shop--and unexpected
ly found myself in a blind alley,
ending in a brick wall about seven
feet high, with sort of ledge or
shelf running along its foot.
Jumping UP on this, | backed up
against the wall and raised my hands
aloft in token of surrender. The
crowd closed round as before, their
combined voices now sounding like
one continuous, steady shrek, with
out cadence or rise or fall. Every
hand that I could see gripped stone
or fragment of brick-the Chinese
rowdy's weapon Of offense.
I could see over the pigtailed heads
which filed the narrow alley, and
still holding my hands aloft-a ges-
ture which seemed to puzzle them,
for the stone-throwing had Temporal
rily ceased-I noticed in the street
outside a jinrikisha occupied by a
portly old merchant, well-dressed in
clean blue silks, with red button on
his little round cap indicating the
rank of mandarin. He was gazing
placidly at the crowd, his hands COM
fortably folded on his rotund stomach,
and my frantic efforts to attract his
attention elected no response what
ever. He probably had no sympathy
to waste on unlucky foreigners.
Imagining that he could not see me
through the forest of waving arms,
turned and grasped the edge of the
wall, with the idea of climbing up.
Then the shrek of the mob turned
to snarling roar, and I felt the sting
ing blows Of half a dozen stones
while countless others broke against
the wall or sailed over. l made wild
leap in hope of finding temporary
haven of refuge on the other side
and crash came my helmet against
something hard, which smashed il
down over by face like an extin