The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-18

name of the official to whom we are
 referring, by that process of evolution | of thought known as prognostication,
 arrived at the conclusion that Dal-kwe being fox, must, of necessity, pay period dfcal visits to her kith and kin, and while with them turn to her nat
 ural shapS.
 Enquiries were set on foot and he soon aScertained the fact that she did | go somewhere every month but just
 where no one seemed to know. He
 was able to find out nothing further than that she went accom- panied by a large number of attendants to Soli- tary place at the foot of a, well-Wood-
 ed mountain. There she ddsmounted from her litter and ordering her at
 tendants, one and all, to remain where
 they were, she would climb up into the mountain.
 Intent on making some discovery, Pi-kan went to this mountain and hunted everywhere for traces of fox
 es; he had almost given up in des- pair, when early one morning, after a heavy shower, he noticed the rain
 drops had been knocked off the grass here and there, not very far from the mouth of a cave As he approached the cave he was delighted to find dnn-
 pressions left by the light tread of
 several foxes, that had evidently gone
 into the cave and were still there. Feeling that the proof of his convic- tfons lay within his reach he retired to grove of trees up one of which he cHmbed;, he desired to be in a posi- ton, where, unobserved, he could take
 note of all who passed in, or out of,
 that caves mouth.
 The hours dragged slowly by for PI-kan who was anything but com fortable up in the tree. The tedium
 was only broken by the occasional passing in of a fox. Though he had 11e T ! none come out. At last a different sound caused the membrane of his ears to vibrate; it was the pushing aside of twigs and crushing of gravel as though some person walked thfth- CT. Then almost under the very bough on which he was sitting, there
 staIked the erect, solitary and beauti-
 full 4Dal-kwe. She went right into
 the cave. After some considerable time there emerged therefrom 8. pack of foxes who jumped about and fawn- l ed upon one of their number a sleek, sharp, beautiful white fox. Although he had found out the cor rectness of his surmise there was still a difficult task before Pikon could l carry his information into effect; to I so use his Knowledge as to bring about 1 the downfall of the one he was ] accomplish what was in his mind mad yet keep a whole body. to leave him self unassaiIabIe? Da1-kwe was | armed with unusual shrewdness, ad- ded to which she had all the cunning of a. fox. Plan what he would still he could see in his plan a. possible point of attack from the redoubtable Da1-k kwe; for her to 'sget a corner on any man meant death! Though he had spent much time in getting his in
 formation, yet it took him longer to
 devise an accomplishment for his end Tv, T7oJ- I,1
 several monthly visits to the foxes
 cave.
 Cunning as Fox.
 An. happy thought! Was 1t an in- spiration? At any rate it came to him tta1l of 8 sudden Yet, that was 1t, even shes with all her shrewdness
 could never guess who had done it. As he reasoned from effect to cause, | he become convinced that the monthly visits to her ktth and kin enabled her 1 to be what she was, to maintain the influence and power she had as a
 woman. Remove the cause and the effect would not be forthcoming. This | IS what Pi-lan did; he armed a num- Der of his retainers, men whom he could trust to keep a strict silence, and the day after Da1-kwe returned from one of her visits to the noun tain he led forth these men. They caught and slew every fox they could | find. Except for cutting the white fur from the breast of each, the car
 cases were left untouched, strewn about the floor of the cave
 Returning home Pi-kan had these little bits of white fur sewn together
 made up into robe, and had it pre- l scented to the Emperor He was
 present at the court the first time his
 master wore the robe and observed Dal-kwe shudder and became sudden 1V n a Gf1 1A ever may have caused the shudder little did she guess the truth! She l was master of herself. so the effect
 upon her was but a momentary one. A month later, however, it all be- came plain to her when she entered l mains of her fox kindred. Though she had no proof she diVined that the | silent Pikan must be at the bottom of it. She determined to have her
 revenge and on her way home plan ned it.
 DaI-kwe's Revenge.
 On the next court occasion when
 she went into the Emperor's presence
 she was clad in her most becoming | fnery. In her demeanor she was
 more winsome and delightful than ever. To the utmost extent of her 1 ability she used her powers of fas- cination, when at last the spell was | complete and she was conscious she
 could do what she liked with the
 Emperor, she said to him:
 sI am told the heart of a good man is different from that of a wicked l one. I fain would put it to the test Yes, but how could you test it?'' There is but one really good man. desire to hold the heart of Pi-kan in my hand so that may examine it;' as she said this she smiled most be-
 witchingly, and the Emperor, remeIn- bering his many similar acts, was un- able to refuse her request. Pi-kan
 was sent for and as soon as he came into the Imperial presence the attend 1 ants seized him; the clothing was torn