The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-02-05
The
Sable
Iorcha
-- 1T
horace Hazeltine
CHAPTER XIII.


Though I spoke In my ordinary tone.
the visiting Celestials gave no sign
that they heard me. I had expected
protestation- should not have been
surprised had been forced to restrain
them-to mako them prisoners, In fact,
until the arrival Of the police. But
neither Of them either moved or spoke,
until the silencs. In my nervously sx.
cited condition. becoming unbearable
% me-. I demanded:
by what right Mr.. Yup. do you
mako the assertion that my friend and
Jour enemy are onef"
With . scpercilious arroxancs of
manner that naddened me- to the limit
on self-control. he made reply.
: Il was coming to that, Mr.. CLYDE.
when you 20 unfortunately lost your
temper. In stating the purpose Of our
visit think I Informed you that Il was
two-fold In the frst place. we came
TO give what you had asked for-infor.
nation In the second place. we came
TO request something from you-as-
ststance. The motive Of the threaten.
Ing letters which Mr.. Cameron re-
csfvsd. I think have made clear. For
sixteen years my people. the kinsfolk
OF the victims Of the Sable Lorcha,
have searched the world for the fiepd
who brought upon them q sorrow be-
yond any that you OF the Occident can
understand To M Of the Celestial
Empire the tombs Of our fathers are
very dear. McNish robbed these men
not only Of life but Of decent burial"
That Ia all very well." I exclaimed,
tmpatiently. but can't you see that a
terrible mistake has been nader Why
under heaven you should fancy that In
Mr.. Cameron. q gentleman to his I'm.
Sertips. you have found this outlaw
MeNish fs incomprehensible."
: Once more Yup Sing smiled his icy
smile and the Vice Consul made as II
to speak. but thinking better Of Il, ap.
paren1y. maintained his stolid silence.
You were coming to that" urged.
The man TO whom McNish boasted
or his deed was the man who identified
hin. They had been partners In ths
FAR East In the trade Of smuggling
coolies The one. I have no doubt,
was no better than the other; yet we
believe that our informant was neither
directly nor indirectly concerned In
tho particular piece OF brutality of
which have told you. Eventually, he
and McNish Quarrelled and parted. For
some years he lost all trace Of him:
and then by accident. one day he came
upon him. here In America, living In a
palace On Long Island Sound and mas
querading under a new name"
"A resemblance!" cried. In a pas
sion OF indignation. "A mere resem-
blancei And ON that you and your
people conspire TO torment and alb.
duct purely innocent man. Was ever
such an outrage heard Of! Every one
OF you shall pay dear for this error"
. j might have been the fire wood
sputtering on the hearth for all the eff
Feet my vehemence had upon that
precious pair Of Mongolians.
: We understand" the spokesman re-
sumed. that your friend managed In
some way TO escape from his captors.
and 10 now In this house"
Yes" l resumed. hotly. "Hes here,
more dead than alive unfortunately;
but he is coming around slowly and
viii be quite able to testify when the
time comes"
Nj. Chen Mok," he proceeded,
calmly, has communicated with the
State Department at Washington, and
the United States authorities are now
only waiting our word to put your
good. gentlemanly friend under arrest,
Mr. Clyde. Tor The crime he commit.
ted on the high seas. sixteen years
ago.
For n momeat stared at them In
silent amazement.
You're both mad" I exploded at
length. both crazy. Do you think for
one moment l believe such rot as
thatf Even IL what you say were pos
sible--and IL isn't-you would have 10
identify the accused by something bet.
ter than the mere word OF man who
hadn't seen him for years. or what
use would such an Identification be
against the testimony OF Mr.. Cam
eron's lifelong friends?"
Since you doubt our ability to
identity" was Mr.. Yup's prompt re-
joinder. II may add that there are two
marks OF Identification. which must.
think. convince even yourself"
laughed grimly. SO that was their
gamel For nearly a month Cameron
had been their prisoner. In that time
they had examined. inspected, inven-
toried him. His scars. Inoles. birth
marks had been listed. and were now
10 be used to identify him with a rene
gade murderer OF Chinese coolies.
l told my slant-eyed visitors that
their trick was transparent. But they
only looked at me with an expression
which aRarnnh hnlf rilu nnh hnlk nnn-