The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1913-01-10
CHAPTER XII.
The Chinese Merchant.


occurred to me. The professor said
something about the average China
mans Discrimination to speak of death,
directly, and how he invariably en-
ployed some euphemism. The phrase
pass from sight of men into torment"
the professor pointed out as an illus
tration. And then / remembered little
Now Chez, who was in my class at
Yale, and how, once, in speaking of
the demise of a fellow classman, he
had used the odd expression, "he has
saluted old age" which l after wards
learned was quite a common form in
China
1t was now a year or more since
had seen Now Chez, but | recalled
note of his address; and so on reach
ing my desk the next morning |
looked it up. Curiously enough a pri-
vate detective agency which l had
arranged to consult CHANGED to have
its Office in the same building on low
err Broadway as the Pacific Transport
company, by which Now Chez was
employed; and thus the plan which
had been shaping mentally the previ-
Gus afternoon, as hurried away from
Professor GrifIln's, was readily set in
motion before noon of the day fol
lowing.
In the evening had discussed 1t
with Evelyn; and though the detec-
tive feature did not at first meet with
her approval, she eventually conceded
that 1t was necessary part of the
project. 1t was agreed. however, that
the real purpose for which that aid
was invoked should not be divulged.
Philetus Murphy was to be Swallowed
and daily reports were to be made to
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 l gave no hint of any further
consideration.
AS for my Celestial classmate, was
find him at the Pacific Transport Of
fees. I 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 a
smile Of greeting on his square, fat
tened, yellow face.
His desk was Just back of the long
counter which ran the length of the
room, and a glance at its piled con-
tents showed me that he was very
busy. Moreover, there was no oppor-
tunity here for the privacy which |
desired; so after an exchange of greet
ings, and few conventional Inquiries,
| 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 1t still wanted
ten minutes of noon now had over
an hour Of leisure, which, as may be
imagined, promised to hang rather
heavy, the more so, as | was impa-
tient to make some real progress in
my quest.
Wall street being at hand, conclud-
ed to call on friend there who usu-
ally handles my investments, and
make q convenience of his Office On
the way, l bought an afternoon paper,
and as my broker happened to be at
the Stock Exchange, l had ample OPP
portunity to read 1t from first column
to last. It proved about as thrillngly
as the early afternoon re-
prints of what one has already read
at breakfast usually are, and ! was
about to drop it to the floor, when
my eye caught a group, of headlines
on the last page, which, up to that
moment, had escaped me. but which
now suddenly riveted my attention:
CLAIMS MYSTERIOUS
BOX ON FALL RIVER PIER.
Anything concerning Celestials, l
suppose, would have attracted me.
just then, but the burden of this was
so peculiarly pertinent, that 1t seemed
as If it must have intimate connection
with the tangle | had undertaken to
unravel.
With the paper gripped tightly in
both hands, and my head bent intently
forward. raced through the frivo-
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. it
seemed, had that morning taken from
the nier of the Eall River Line a