Mexico Missouri message., 1913-02-06
l40R|l.C;Ef.A.
CaOm0o4Z I9lx, &c N1nzA7c s. co,

| pass from sight OF men into torment"
| the professor pointed out as an Illus
| trsion. And then remembered little
/ Now Chez, who was In my class at
/ Yale, and how. once. in speaking of
the demise Of n fellow classman, he
/ had used the odd expression, he has
saluted old age" which | afterwards
/ learned was quite a common form in
/ China.
| II was now year or more since l
had seen Nov Chez, but l recalled
that at our last meeting | had made
| note OF his address, and 80 on reach
| ing my desk the next morning /
| looked It up Curiously enough a pri-
yato detective agency which had
/ arranged TO consult CHANGED to have
its Office in the same building on low.
er Broadway as the Pacific Transport
/ company, by which Nov Chez was
employed; and thus the plan which
had been shaping mentally the previ-
Gus afternoon, as hurried away from
| Professor Grifiins was readily set in
motion before noon of the day fol
/ lowing
|
with Evelyn; and though the detec-
| tive feature did not at first meet with
| her approval, she eventually conceded
/ that IL was necessary part OF the
| project. II was agreed. however, that
/ the real purpose for which that aid
/ was invoked should not be diyulged.
/ Philctus Murphy was to be Swallowed
| and daily reports we're TO be made 10
me. That he had been under suspi-
cion Of brutally numbering his Chi
nese servant was sufficient reason for
the proceeding. and TO the detective
/ agency / gave no hint OF any further
| consideration.
| AS for my Celestial classmate, | was
not by any means sure that l should
| find him at the Pacific Transport Of
| fees. ! knew that for some time Chi
ma had been calling upon her sons of
western education to return to their
mother country for service. and |
feared that little Now Chez might al
| ready be customs taokai of Shantung,
or some other imperial province. But
my misgivings were very promptly al
! layed for no sooner had | stepped
within the outer Office than he saw
me. and came hastily forward, with
smile Of greeting on his square, fiat
! tened, yellow face.
His desk was just back of the long
counter which ran the length of the
room, and a glance at It's piled con-
| tents showed me that he was very
| busy. Moreover, there was no oppor-
tunity here for the privacy which l
desired; so after an exchange Of greet
ings. and few conventional Inquiries,
I invited Now to lunch with me at the
Savarin, at whatever hour would best
suit his convenience.
Somewhat to my dismay, he fixed
upon one o'clock. AS it still wanted
ten minutes Of noon l now had over
an hour of leisure, which, as may be
| imagined. promised to hang rather
heavy, the more so, as l was impa-
tient 20 make some real progress in
ny quest.
Wall street being at hand, / conclud-
ed TO call on friend there who usu-
ally handles my investments, and
make a convenience of his office. On
1 IL
and as my broker happened to be at
the Stock Exchange, had ample OPP
portunity to read 1t from first column
TO last. II proved about as thrillingly
/ interesting as the early afternoon re-
prints Of what one has already read
at breakfast usually are, and was
about TO drop II to the floor, when
my eye caught group Of headlines
on the last page, which up to that
moment, had escaped me, but which
now suddenly riveted my attention:
| CELESTIAL CLAIMS MYSTERIOUS
BOX ON FALL RIVER PIER.
Anything concerning Celestials,
suppose, would have attracted me,
/ Just then, but the burden OF this was
so peculiarly pertinent, that 1t seemed
as II It must have intimate connection
with the taugle / had undertaken TO
| unravel.
With the paper gripped tightly in
| both hands, and my heaS bent intently
/ forward, l raced through the friyo-
! lously-written article which followed:
and from a superabundance Of cheap
wit and East side slang managed to
extract the somewhat meager facts.
A truck, driven by a Chinaman, II
seemed, had that morning taken from
the pier Of the Fall River Line a
square box, measuring about five feet
each way, and perforated with a mum.
Der OF auger holes The brilliant
spaoe-writer had given his magma.
ton free rein as 10 the contents, spec
ulating as TO the possibilities, from ed
ible Chinese dogs TO Rmuggled opium.
but he had omitted to furnish the
name and address Of either the con.
signor or consignee. The truck,
drawn by the slant-eyed white horse,
and driven by the phlegmatlc Chink,
clattered away in the direction OF
Mott street." the account concluded.
After all, It was very common
place, everyday occurrence. Probably