The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-07-26

much?" she asked guardedly.
Certainly" and the chief laughed at
the g~raciousness of his permission.
NO one hurt Woo Tong?"
mo. no." was The now impatient reply.
Custom house man put Lew Pang in
p%r;son%'
IF he gets half a chance" This with
vehe,nence.
This promise appeared to satisfy the
girl, for she silently tiptoed in the direc-
ton of the joss house. The exposition
grounds We're almost deserted. The after
crowds had departed, and 1t wanted
nearly an hour before the evening visitors
would arrive. The door of the rude tenn
pie was closed. but the girl soon effected
an entrance, and the customs inspector
quickly followed her into the dimly light
ed room. There was something weird
about the barren interior. The hideous
statue stood in state on Its rough pedestal
g!aring at them with CLASSY eyes and an
inSufferable sinle. 1t sat with legs cross
ed, tailor fashion, and a pair of wooden
hands were complacent!y folded across an
abnormally fat stomach. once 4, ooked
as if the thing We're sneering at them,
but the illusion was probably caused by
a ray of the setting sun that penetrated a
ch;nk in the doorway.
Barnes bump of fear was not strongly
developed, but he felt for q moment as If
this invasion We're half a mistake. His
natural caution told him that il he wera
detected by the Cinnamon their outraged
feelings might prompt them to swift ven-
geance. But a 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
NAN gleeful in the thought of her power
ful ally, was pointing to the floor of the
temple. The man could see nothing. She
raised the wick of the s1nouldering lamp.
and the ghostly light revealed a soft
white covering over the earthen surface.
Stlll puzzled, he looked at her fo- a fur
Their explanation. Her answer was to
point silently 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
MN about the extreme edge of the room
without disturbing the stuff. He adjusted
his glasses. and, leaning over, inspected
the soft mantle. In the center. leading up
to the idol, was a series of distinct foot
prints. a second and closer inspection sat
istied 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 sprinklcd the -four here?" he ex-
As-7f' tliS SIAS NliSA
She nodded her head, her doll-like face
glowing with feverish excitement.
"When?"
Last night"
"a woman's Wit" he muttered.
h 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 off and fin
ally ended in front of a low, one story
frame structure in the rear.
He turned quickly.
Whose room is this?'
"A look of fear came to her baby face
and she was silent.
Tel me" commanded tho chief. NO
harm shah come TO YOU"
Lew Pang. she exclaimed, throwing
discretion to the winds.
All 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 q little shrek and ran away With her
face buried in her hands. He paid no fur
ther attention to the girl. but got down to
work at once. A chest stood in the corner
of the room. 1t was the work Df q minute
to pry open the lid with a ch:sel which lay
near by. A lot of old clothes greeted his
gaze. He tossed them aside and dug to
tine bottom of the chest. Presently his
hand struck a hard substance. lie reached
down ard brought up a square shaped mat
containing a sticky material. Beneath 1t
he found a half dozen similar packages.
He arose from his knees, his face glowing.
opium! AT LAST
In an incredibly short time he had
thrust everything back intD the chest and
closed and fastened it. lie FASTENED to-
ward the large building. CLANCY was on
I tha f,,o,StcDs r,,rjoc,,,, . ,-5 ,.,,LIa. -, l;r
face.
Can shouted the chief, %beckoning 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. I must not be in
terrupted."
The light was bad. but it 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,
h bottom was screwed on in a work
.aanlike manner. With the adeptness of a
cahi.1etInaker the chief got to work. The
screws moved easily. They had evidently
been In and out before. In a few minutes
the bottom came off ard out of tho cav
ity there rolled numberless small mats.
Clancy'S mouth distended In frank amaze
ment. He deserted his post for a moment.
what is it?" he gasped In an awed
whisper.
Opium" replied Barnes calmly. Hun
dreds of dollars worth-mobably thou
sands"
And its"
Yes" said the chief Ironically, answer
ing question before it had been fully
framed. Its all been smuggled into the
port before our very eyes"
BY"
by Lew Pang-your vtuaanous friend of
the play"
What are you going to do with it?'
Well close it up for the present." said
Barnes blandly, and suiting the action
to the word. he screwed the bottom or
again and placed the Idol on dts pedestal
IN its former position The next moment
they had closed the door and were on tho
outside OF the temple. Theis exit was in
the nick of time. for Y was dusk and the
exposition grounds were beginning to fill
up. Barnes paused to think for a mo-
ment, and then said:
Get In communication With tha In
spectors at once; have mon sent out here
to watch both the joss house and Lew
Pangs shack, and wait until I give the
! word and then seize the nugele stuff