The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1910-08-18


tion or why everything had suddenly
turned black, Maybe it had been too
free use Of his pipe and the cooking"
lamp.
Chinatown accepted the news as
matter of coures That any one should
doubt that the spirit of Chang Jen
Yuan had not flown was never dreamed
OF Had not the devil doctors of the
colony said so? Had they not
Strengthened the road for the depart
ing spirit? So Chang Jen Yuan had
been borne away TO one of those half
dozen barren rooms in the remote re-
cesses OF Chinatown which were used
Tor the sole purpose of dying in, each
one being used with q view of having
the departing unfortunate as far away
from the company headquarters as
possible, and thus eschew bad luck for
the family in proportion to the dis
tance.
II may have been the slamming of
the door, but something woke the of.
fcially and economically dead man
instantly the watcher had departed.
And it may be that the long sleep, the
reaction from the opening and the
sea-pregnant wind from the south
combined to renew his strength in that
mysterious way so often observed in
those sick as was he. He felt stronger
than he had for weeks, and he recog-
nized the need of large Jar of tea
and few bowls of rice. The inter
mittent hunger of the opium.user
was upon him. So he made his way
out through the unillumined Railways
of the Doyers street tenement and
down to the street. So keen was his
animalistic instinct that his actual
relation towards his fellows occurred
to him not at all till he slid into a
corner seat at his favorlte restaurant
nearby and shouted for the foods of
his desire, pledging his credit in the
same breath.
Il am honored, worshipful," began
the proprietor in his stereotyped an
swer from where he was waiting on
another table. his back turned to
Chang. Just then he turned his head
and saw who was ordering. There
was crash of wares, a shower of
chow main and splash of tea mingled
with the thud of fat man falling over
backward in a sudden effort to get
turned around, bow, and fall on his
knees at the same time. The guests
at the other table looked One was
the consulting expert of the board of
condemnation. Instantly, amid a
clatter of falling stools, five person
ages much superior to the poor Chi
look in ordinary were on their knees
humping the floor with their heads.
The nimble wit of the old geo
mancer was too quick for the chi-look.
At least, il he had never seen a living,
walking, talking member of the holy
band of Heavenly Ancestors he had
read in the ancient books the stories
of men who had, and he knew from
that how 10 behave. Thrusting his
hand inside his jacket he came for
ward with rare genuflections, and
drawing forth a crushed thing, blew in
one end of it, and laid on the plate
before the hungry Chang a red and
holy paper fowl such as are always
served to the dead. In bowl he
sprinkled a handful of chopped paper
cubes and the rice was ready.
Then a torrid wave of Chinese an
ger swept over him, and he rented
shocking sentiments concerning the
gods, the ancestors and the lacks of
virtue of the worshipers before him,
in fact, everything in general. At
this instant two of the Tongs of
Walters on the Dead appeared, and
Chang was reverently and prayerfully
kicked into the street.
Next door, Tom Lee, the mayor, was
holding a hasty consultation with the
three doctors who had condemned the
poor chi-look, the death-waiter who
had tended him, and the head of the
Chang family company. The doctors
said he must be dead because they
had condemned him, the watch said
he was dead because when he had last
seen him he was not alive and the
Chang chief was certain he was dead
because he had already paid the death
walters and had ordered the funeral
A few minutes after an eager group
scanned small red strip of paper on
the municipal bulletin board, which
officially and irrevocably pronounced
Chang Jen Yuan to be of earth no
more. Ii might have added "and gov
erp yourselves accordingly" but it did
not.
Meanwhile Chang had considered
until he had plan. He rose and
started off, showered with prayers
and blessings and good luck signs
from every side, none of which he
needed.
At dawn next morning any one who
had been abroad in the desolate tide
flats beyond Astoria might have seen
had (fhinnca