Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1908-11-26

AS Brock examined the fragments,
he saw that they were not steel but
porcelain, skillfully nodded and glazed
10 represent a projectile. The brass
case was genuine, but instead of pow
der it was filled with black sand
that brought the whole up TO about
the proper weight, He called the en-
gineer and shove N the imitation
shell. and toges they overhauled
the boxes and found them all filled
with similar dummies.
Then the explanation came to them
of the viceroy's strange actions, the
closed shops, the ovens and the pug
mill and the clayey wheelbarrows. No
doubt the rascal had stocked half the
ships of the navy with his clever por-
celain shells, which, with cheap labor,
would cost not a tenth part of the
money required for the manufacture
OF genuine ones.
Brock was in a quandary. Evidently
nothing was TO be gained by going
back. the viceroy himself having proved
a man with whom II would be exceed
ingly unwise and unsafe to deal. On
the other hand, it looked easy enough
TO run by the Japanese gunboat in the
dark, and upon that they determined.
The two officers fingered over an ex-
cellent Chinese dinner, supplemented
by some superb cigarettes, till nine
o'clock came upon them unawares,
when Barstow put on his overalls and
went on deck, leaving Brock to take
a few more puffs. But the engineer
had not been gone three minutes be-
fore he came tumbling down the COM
panionway
Captain" he cried. Captain, we've
been deserted, Every man jack of the
crew has skipped ashore in the star
board boat And can you guess Why"
They must have seen us discover
those dummies!" exclaimed Breck.
Worse than that. See this!"
Barstow handed out great chip or
flake OF porcelain. glazed, and in APP
pearance similar to the pieces of the
broken shell, but much larger.
Capt Breck," said Barstow, this
whole boats built of china. She's
nothing but skin of baked clay riv-
eted to an iron frame. | found this
chip on the floor of the fireroom. One
of the coolies had faxed ii off the
side of the bunker while trimming
coal. The crew are all from another
part of the province, and didn't see
the boat till she was ready for sea,
and as soon as they found out that
there was nothing but crockery shell
between them and the bottom of the
sea they jumped ship"
"A ship of porcelain? Impossible!"
exclaimed Brock, as he followed Bar
stow on deck. where they leaned over
the side and scraped away bit Of
paint Underneath was earthenware
They went below and tested spot after
spot. Everywhere 1t was the same.
The framework was of steel. but in
stead of the steel plates that should
compose the skin of the vessel there
were slabs of a coarse china-not the
costly kind used in the manufacture of
vases, but tougher sort-riveted with
copper to the frame and ribs.
The whole of the viceroys scheme
revealed itself in a rush. Steel, the
proper raw material for shell making
and boat building, could only be i'm
ported at a cost that would have left
the viceroy but moderate profit His
internal ingenuity, starting with the
dummy shell, had evolved this plan Of
building cheap boats that would be de-
stroyed with the evidence of his guilt,
on encountering a heavy sea or an
enemy's shell. The boat-builder was
safe. The torpedo boats had left him
in good condition after he had re-
ceived his pay-and what became of
them was no concern of his. Breck's
flesh crept as he thought of the prob
able fate of the three boats the ad-
miral had mentioned as having been
lost after leaving Wah Foo
The TWO officers talked over the sit
uation, and agreed that, while they
would have liked 10 go to war In
charge of a genuine torpedo boat,
there was little satisfaction in fight
ing the battles of a nation of people
like the viceroy in china bowl
Il know what would be the result
of complaint to the Chinese govern
ment," said Barstow. The viceroy
has every official palm oiled, all the
way to Picking, and in spite Of all the
admiral could do for us. we'd lose our
commissions and probably our heads,
IL we complained. We'd best drive
this ballyhoo on the rocks and give
ourselves up to the commander Of that
Jap gunboat outside"
So, packing their kits, they tum-
bled into the remaining small boat.
Barstow started the engines and Breck
swung the vessels stem around to
where the shore line showed black
against the stars and dashed the helm.
Then he jumped into the port boat
with his companion and showed of.
Next morning the Japanese gunboat
picked them up, and to her CON-
mander, a fine young fellow. they
made a clean breast of the whole af-
fair. AS they declared that they had
ceased to harbor any designs against
his government and considered their
Chinese commissions Cancelled, he