The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-02-13

sionaries and during her last illness
had taken a strange fancy to having
this foreign person visit her-abnor.
NAL, no doubt, the graduate explained,
tapping his head signlficantly-but as
II was her last Illness, he had agreed
to the odd whim she had expressed, to
have an image of the foreigner in the
retinue accompanying her to the spirit
world Could Wu undertake such
commission? WI, with much servile
prostrating, owing to the somewhat
exalted rank of his customer, assured
him of his ability to execute any order
his honorable highness might be
| pleased to ask Of his worthless serv,
ant, and the bargain was concluded.
The ceremony Of the burial had pro
ceeded to the point where the local
divinities were being placated by offer.
ings of meat, wine and mock money.
Now the wailings Of the mourners
we're redoubled as the little sedan
char, with the picture of Mrs. Ii in.
side, was brought forward from Wus
pack. Around II were grouped rep.
reservations of animals, mock jewelry
and lunches OF gilt and silver paper
money. Then the officiating priest
with an explanatory remark about the
curious whlm of the late Mrs Ii, held
up the image of the foreign devil"
lady who was to go as an attendant to
| the deceased. The crowd pressed
nearer to gaze at this Offering and a
| "Hi yah" OF admiration smote the ears
of WI where he stood, outwardly non.
] chalant but inwardly exultant as he
noticed ii Fan Yin's satisfaction in
the amount of face" he was creating
in the burial of Mrs. H. THAT means
three, perhaps five, extra strings of
cash." the offering.maker calculated
| to himself.
AS the priest held Wu's masterpiece
/ upraised, cry arose on the outskirts
of the crowd and it parted as two
breathless foreign children forced their
way past the mourners into the circle
around the open grave.
"Oh, my dolly Give me my dolly!"
cried Constance, as she saw her be.
loved Lady Laura in the priests
hands. Then, noticing the fire of smol.
derlng charcoal which was waiting for
the offerings, and realizing what was
about to happen, she began shrieking
Historically with hands outstretched
to her lost treasure.
David, with cooler head, began to
offer an explanation to the company,
which, till now, had stood still from
sheer astonishment at the turn affairs
had taken.
The faultless Chinese of his elo.
| quent appeal for Justice, and his de,
nunciatlon of the thieving WI, who
skunk in the background as attention
was drawn to him, won some sympathy
for the children but Ii Fan Yin's
brow contracted as he saw the effect
of David's tale and, fearing he might
lose face" II the doll were given
up, he hurriedly seized the boy by the
arm and started to eject him from the
place. AS David resisted, the sudden
rage which sometimes possesses the
Chinaman came upon Ii, and, forget
teing the dignity of his position in the
anger that consumed him, he began tu
Shrek TRADE of verbal abuse at the
American lad
Shaking himself free from the half
crazed Chinaman, David faced him
with flashing eyes. Not for naught
came he from line of ancestors OF
the church and state militant. The
blood of fearless pilgrims and staunch
minute men ran in his veins, and he
was ready to fight to the death for his
principles. Lad as he was, he had not
lived In China Ia years in vain, and
his subconscious self, which had been
absorbing Impressions through all his
young life, came to his rescue. In
his comings and goings, many loren
sic contest had he witnessed many
wordy duel In market place and
country road, and, without the slight
est effort, he found himself giving the
irate official a roland for every oliver
with this difference, that, whereas Ii
had descended to street lingo, the re
tort courteous as given by David was
couched in classic Confucian diction
The Chinaman, beaten at his own
game, and red In the face and breath
less from his verbal onslaught, was
soon glad to snatch the doll from the
priests hand and restore II to its
rightful owner. Immediately, as II
nothing had happened, the funeral Ger,
emonies were renewed. and the per,
sistent wall of the mourners again
rent the air. The incident was closed
AS the children lodged around the
tombs to reach the open fields ad.
joining the mission compound, they
saw WI disappearing in the direction
of the temple--a sinking, detected
figure outlined against the red sunset
sky.
The next picnic party found an
empty room at the temple gate. WI
lodged there no more. They also found
the Goddess of the Sea decapitated
her head with family smiling lips ly,
ing on her folded hands The foreign
ers were puzzled by this act of yandal
ism, but no Cinnamon to whom they
appealed could explain It,
But an offering-maker who earns an
Indifferent living in an interior city
some hundred miles away, sometimes