The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-01-25


was devoid of other furnishing.
Captain Lesson" he announced in
a low voice ION trial for betraying Sc
crets of the White Brothers.
Captain Leeson died, as you all
know" said Nelson sternly. Il saw
him die, killed by your orders. He
died in the street Of
"Silencew menaced the leader. HE
claims to be Nelson, the one who died
that night"
The seven nodded in unison, but did
not remove their gaze from Nelson's
angry face.
! He kept silence now, briefly review.
ing the strange events that had snatch
ed him from the busy streets of the
city into as dismal den of murderers
as one might hope to find along the
water front of any Chinese city.
Before his eyes there flashed pic
! ture of his last year in China. Then
he had been in the diplomatic service
of his country. Lesson, his friend, an
Englishman in the British employ at
Hongkong-inspecto of health or some
thing of that sort-had interested Mel
son in his establishment of leper col
ony down in Anam.
1t 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.
1t happened that the afflicted ones
looked on the idea of banishment 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-
la, with its snaky twisting golden
dragon coiling in and out of the green
painted bamboo shoots.
Nelson remembered the first time he
had seen them-that night of Lesson s
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 Lecson
horrible spectacle of CHASTITY faces; a
leprous mob that Ieered and jeered at
them; that drove them point by point
toward the end of the street of lepers;
yelling crowd that received the bul
lets from their revolvers and died
noisily; filthy crew that tried ia
touch them, that longed to render
Leeson had been killed, and Nelson
tried to forget the sight as the rest OF
them got away. The next day he led
party back to the street, but it was
deserted. Even poor Lessons body
had disappeared After this outbreak
the matter went under the supervi
sion of large medical corps, and the
OF In
several hundred cases. Nelson resign
ed from the service and went home
siczened 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 Leeson he would probably die il
this hole in the ground under Sar
Francisco.
Nelson determined to force some i'm
mediate action from the men who ha(
sprung up in this faraway city to cal
him to account for his setting thC
hounds of law upon their trail. All hi:
, | nluGpu1 tlNdllo VI puot yOli SNClliSN
to have been realized in the strange
events of this day that would un
doubtedly be his last on earth.
1t had been Il strange day, and evel
now, face to face with death-for thu
presence of these White Brother
meant nothing less-he seemed to bo
moving in dream more frightful thai
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 jus
as they arose in body and came a
him, ghastly company with stretch
ing, clawing fingers and fiendish eyes
=. Then Jay Nelson awOke. He sat u
in bed, his brow dripping sweat ant
his heart pounding with excitement
for once more he had dreamed of tn
Japanese umbrella and the horribl
band whose emblem it was. This wa