The San Francisco call., 1913-08-17


physique is valuable asset? Had 1t
not been for deep chest, powerful
pair Of lungs, heart without flaw,
I must certainly have snccumbcd.
For, IS learned later, had inhaled
enough carbon inonoxide gas to have
killed the average man of my age
twice over. The stove on which the
caldron of peanuts steamed was .
charcoal farnace, and the tiny space
within that back room was inapreg-
mated with the heavy poisoned fumes
TO i distance of four feet and more
above the floor.
1t is customary, | understand. to
employ rigorous treatment in such
cases to effect rcsuscitation. | was
moribund, and, in the eyes of those
who carried me from the cellar to IN
upper room, I was already dead. It
lis perhaps needless to add that no
steps were taken to revive me,
Providence, however. favored me. |
was thrown into a bAnk under opt of
the few open windows of Chinatown
and door left ajar drew across me 4
current of comparatively pure oxygen
Thus invited, nature reasscrtcd itself.
With dawring consciousness came
acute discomfort. My head and back
ached nigh unbearably. and my ankle,
swollen to twice its normal size. shot
pains to my thigh. My tongue seemed
too large for my mouth and my throat
was raw. Later, memory started q
train Of questions and surnlises. A
half light admitted through the open
window gave unsatisfactory answer as
to time and place. 1t might be dawn.
midday or evening. might still be in
the same building into the basement of
which / had plunged after the so
called Peter Johnson, or / might be
miles away. Yet of one fact | was
assured. 1t was no longer night. Day
had come again and eight hours at
least must have passed since | stood
killing time on the sidewalk in front
of the restaurant
And, as my mind cleared, there
rushed in upon me recollection of
Evelyn and my promise to phone her
not later than II o'clock Suffering as
! was physically, ] know my mental
distress at thought Of how she must
have waited was more poignant.
In my eagerness to relieve at once
this unrest which / knew to be hers I
would have risen, but my strength was
not equal to the test Ny muscles re-
fused to obey my will and lay supine,
inert, powerlcss.
The room in which was was a
cramped. confined place, upholstered
and furnished with four rough board
hunks, one of which ] occupied The
other three were empty, but in the
scant passageway between my resting
lplace and that opposite was stool,
and upon the stool the pipe and other
fparaphernalia peculiar to opium
smoking
Then, very slowly, there came to me
realization of the vulpine cunning of
these orientals into whose hands |
had fallen ! was to be found here
dead, not from inhalation of foul air
in an i'll ventilated cellar, which might
excite suspicion and provoke inquiry.
but from overindulgence in opium, to
which | had probably been addicted
for years. unknown even to my. closest
| friends.
Yes. il svas very clear they had
thought me dead and so had left me
here unmatched and unattended with
the evidence Of my mode Of passing
theakricallY displayed beside me. 1t
only remained now for some employe
Tor visitor to discover me and give the
alarm.
had about reached this conclusion
when my straining ears detected the
sound Of footsteps in the passage. The
door of the den was slightly ajar and
l lay we'll in sight of any passer-by.
Whether to feign death or boldly
make known my recovered conscious
ness was for just a moment qucs-
tion. But choice was snatched from
me. The footsteps paused and, stimuli
taneously it seemed, the door swung
further inward. disclosing, not the pig
tailed. greasy bloused Mongolian |
had expected. but a white woman, tall
and shape1y, with hair of iron gray
and the very kindliest eyes that ever
/ looked into.
made as If to speak, but my
swollen tongue refused to perform its
Office, and something that may be best
described as gurgIe was the result.
With that she came 10 my side and for
"a little regarded me silently. felt
that seeing the pipe and the little
peanut oil lamp she must draw The
natural inference. and, although there
WIS no rerroach Ii her lock visii&d