Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-02-03

NO, no, she, cried IN protest, mo alice
light. Lew~Pang he want Ching Moy. He
take Ching Moy back to China and mally
her."
But" said Barnes cheerny, Il suppose
Ching Moy will have something to say
about that9'
She shook her head sadly,
Lew Pang velly bad man; he max.
Ching Moy maly him; he hurt Woo Tong"
The chief put a reassurinK hand on her
tiny shoulder.
mot in this country" he said sooth-
ingly.A
She sighed. sigh of relief and sigh Of
bliss
"oh, Ching Moy love Woo Tong velly
much: oh. so velly much"
Tell me about the Joss" he said per
emptorily, coming back to the business in
hand.
"Can Ching Moy love Woo Tong vel,v
muchT' she asked guardedly
Certainly" and the chief laughed at the
graciousness of his permission
mo one hurt Woo Tonga
mo, no." was the now impatient reply.
Custom house man put Lew Pang In
PRISON."
III he gets half chance" This with
vehemence.
The promise appeared to satisfy the girl.
for she silently tiptoed I'm the direction oF
the joss house. The exposition grounds
were almost deserted The afternoon
crowds had departed, and II wanted nearly
an hour before the evening visitors would
arrive. The door or the rude temple was
closed. but the girl soon effected an en-
trance, and the customs Inspector quickly
followed her into the dimly lighted room
There was something weird about the
he
in state on It's rough pedestal. glaring at
them with CLASSY eyes and an insufterable
smile. 1t sat with legs crossed, tailor
fashion, and pair OF wooden hands were
complacently folded across an abnormally
fat stomach. Once II looked as IL the
thing were sneering at them, but the flu
sion was probably caused by a ray of the
setting sun that penetrated a chink in the
doorway.
Barnes bump OF fear was not strongly
developed, but he felt for moment as II
this invasion were half a mistake. His
natural caution told him that IL he were
detected by the Cinnamon their outraged
feelings might prompt them to swift
vengeance But sense Of his duty to the
government doomed up wildly before him.
and he advanced without hesitation The
girl, half hysterical over the sacrilege and
half gleeful in the thought OF her powerful
ally, was pointing to the floor Of the tenn
pie. The man could see nothing She
raised the wick of the smouldering lamp,
and the ghostly light revealed a soft white
covering over the earthen surface. still
puzzled, he looked at her for a further ex-
PLANTATION. Her answer was to point ST.
lently to a small closely woven sieve In the
corner of the room.
The explanation flashed on him in an In
slant A portion of the floor had been
sifted over carefully with a covering OF
fine white flour. Designedly she had led
him about the extreme edge of the room
without disturbing the stun. He adjusted
his glasses. and. leaning over, inspected
the soft mantle. In the center, leading I'D
to the idol was a series OF distinct foot
prints. A second and closer inspection sat
isfied him that the impressions had been
made by a pair OF wooden soled shoes
such as are commonly worn by Cinnamon.
The tracks reversed themselves after a
while and showed where the man had left
the building.
"You sprinkled the -four here?" he ex-
claimed. grasping the girls wrist.
She nodded her head, her doll-like face
glowing with feverlsh excitement.
"When?"
Last night"
The next moment he was on the outside
following the white footprints with the
eagerness of a bloodhound. They led to-
ward the main living room of the troupe.
and then suddenly branched of and finally
ended in front of a low, one-story frame
structure In the rear.
He turned quickly.
WHOSE room is this7"
A look of fear came to her baby face and
she was silent.
Tell me-" commanded the chief mo
harm shall come to you"
Lew Pang," she exclaimed, throwing
discretion to the winds.
"Ah!" calculated Barnes. and there was
satisfaction and triumph in the brief word.
He made no bones about breaking through
the frail doorway which readily yielded
TO his strong arms. At this she gave a
little shrek and ran away with her face
buried in her hands. He paid no further
attention to the girl, but got down to work
at once A chest stood in the corner of
the room. 1t was the work of minute to
pry open the lid with chisel which lay
near by. A lot OF old clothes greeted his
gaze. He tossed them aside and dug to
the bottom of the chest Presently his
hand struck hard substance. He reached
down and brought up a square shaped mat
containing a sticky material. Beneath it he
found half a dozen similar packages He
arose from his knees, his face glowing.
Opium! At lastl'
In an incredibly short time he had thrust
everything back into the chest and closed
and fastened 1t. He FASTENED toward the
large building. Clancy was the door
steps. curiosity and wonder In his face.
Cont" shouted the chief reckoning to
his assistant.
Clancy responded without question. The
two men FASTENED to the temple. Barnes
entered first. He turned to Clancy
Guard that door with your life. We've
only got a short time. l must not be in
terruDted."
The light was bad but 1t answered. The
chief pulled the lid down 1t was made of
rattan and was light in weight. The base
was heavier than the other portion. Barnes
irreverently turned 1t upside down. The
bottom was screwed on In a workmanlike
manner. With the adeptness OF a cabinet
maker the chief got TO work. The screws
moved easily. They had evidently been in
and out before. In few minutes the bot
tom came off and out of the cavity there