The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-02-14

that night"
The seven nodded I'm unison. but die
not remove their gaze from Nelson:
angry face.
He kept silence now, briefly review
ing the strange events that had snatch
ed him from the busy streets of tho
city into as dismal n den of murdererS
as one might hope 10 find along the
water front of any Chinese city.
Before his eyes there flashed a pie
ture of his last year in China. Then
he had been in the diplomatic service
of his country. Lesson. his friend, an
Englishman I'm the British employ al
Hongkong-inspector OF health or some
thing of that sort-had interested Mel
son in his establishment of leper col
ony down In Anam.
IL was Lessons ambition TO clean
out the lepers hidden In the city, to
root them out from their places of con-
cealment and transport them TO the
colony where preparations had been
made for their segregation. where
their cases should be studied and
modern methods be employed.
IT happened that the afflicted ones
looked on the idea of Punishment with
distaste. They cared little to be herd
ed together in a foreign province far
| from friends and familiar scenes
They cared nothing whatever for the
benefits that might accrue to posterity
through their segregation.
Lessons efforts met with little sue
cess, and he brought the law to his
aid. Thus he gained permission to
capture the afflicted ones, and so his
colony prospered for awhile. Then
there was formed against him the So
ciety of the White Brothers. created to
protect the lepers scattered throughout
the city from Lessons agents. Each
one bore some mark of the disease,
and they had some other emblem by
which they might be known to each
other If the mark of the disease was
not plain enough. And this emblem
was the green and gold paper umbrel-
Ia, with its snaky twisting golden
dragon colling in and out of the green
painted bamboo shoots.
Nelson remembered the first time he
had seen them-that night Of Lessons
carefully planned expedition into a
suspected quarter. 1t was at night.
and red lanterns had lighted the street
down its crooked length. Suddenly
there had burst upon them and the
three agents who accompanied Lesson
n hideous babel of cracked voices:
horrible spectacle of CHASTITY faces; a
leprous mob that leered and ieered at
them; that drove them point by point
toward the end of the street OF lepers;
a yelling crowd that received the bull
lets from their revolvers and died
nOisily; n filthy crew that tried 10
touch them, that longed to render
them as loathsome as itself.
Lesson had been killed, and Nelson
tried to forget the sight as the rest os
them got away. The next day he led
a party back to the street, but it was
deserted. Even poor Lessons body
had disappeared. After this outbreal;
the, matter went under the supervi-
sion of large medical corps, and the
colony ut Anam was augmented by
several hundred cases. Nelson resign
ed from the service and went home.
sickened of the whole dubious web of
oriental life, thankful that he had es-
capped cOntact-that he was clean.
Now they had found him out they
would take their revenge for his be-
trayal OF their outbreak. 1t pleased
them to call him by Lessons name.
AS Lesson he would probably die in
this hole in the ground under San
Francisco.
Nelson determined to force some i'm.
mediate action from the men who had
sprung up in this faraway city TO call
him TO account for his setting the
hounds of law upon their trail. All his
hideous dreams Of the past year seemed
to have been realized I'm the strange
events of this day that would un.
doubtedly be his last on earth.
1t had been strange day, and even
now. face to face with death-for the
presence of these White Brothers
meant nothing less-he seemed to be
moving i'm dream more frightful than
anything his sleeping mind had con-
ceived
Fire ahead" he said recklessly;
I'm not afraid of you. Come on,
every devils imp of you" He flashed
out the revolver he always carried just
as they arose in body and came at
him. CHASTITY company with stretch
ing, clawing fingers and fiendlsh eyes.
Then jay Nelson awoke. He sat uD
in bed bis brow dripping sweat and
his heart pounding with excitement,
FOR once more he had dreamed of the
japanese umbrella and the horrible
band whose emblem 1t was This was
the worst dream of all, and he muir
INJURED devout thanks that 1t had been
n dream.
Sitting there with the morning sum
shine streaming into the room and a
fresh breeze from the bay rufIling his |
hair, Nelson saw the early newspaper
slid under his door. Eager to be Ia |
touch with the commonplace Of every |
day life, he fetched it and read the |
headlines. After awhile. in n corner |
of the sheet. he read that the Hong |
kong authorities were satisfied that |
they had rid that city of its lepers.
The White brotherhood had been