Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-07-08

by the efficient young manager, Philip
Newton.
He had worked on the matter for
several weeks before he decided that
]. ennon, his foreman on the wharf.
was in conspiracy with the captain of
a handsome Chinese junk that had
lain at anchor near the wharf at inter
walls that correspondent with the date
of the robberies.
So it was that one rainy night Philip
Newton made his way down to Pun
derson's jetty, where he found Peter
Cook, his trusted young assistant,
waiting for him in the trim little
launch which belonged to the COM
pany.
Punderson's jetty overlooked Cor
don's wharf, and Philip had scarcely
seated himself IN the launch when Pc
ter leaned cautiously toward him.
1.-THE junk went up about half hour
ago, SIR" he said.
Good! Well go right along too"
The Meteor sputtered out into the
river and pointed her nose up stream.
After her engine was fairly started
and the specially patented muffier had
been applied the noise died down I'M
til at last she glided in utter silence
through the water.
The drizzling rain had ceased, and
the harbor was jeweled with the radi-
ance of hundreds of lights from the
gathered shipping. Each tiny sampan
and fishing boat bore its softly gleam-
ing paper lantern, and as the launch
threaded her way out of the anchorage
she seemed to glide over waves of
molten gold where the current broke
the reflection into a thousand SHIN
mering lights.
The boat was going very slowly, feel
ing her way. now and then avoiding
a rapidly moving sampan. and but for
the occasional meeting of one of these
small craft their journey was without
incident until suddenly. without warn
ing, Peter brought the launch to a
standstill and Philip realized that the
fender chafed the side of some huge
craft which was moored in the middle
of the river.
There was a slight jar of impact, an
almost imperceptible listing Of the lar
| ger craft to starboard, and as she
righted herself the launch was tossed
gently away and again brought up
with a slight rub against the black
| bulk
There was dead silence in the launch.
but all about them in the fog were the
staccato murmur of Chinese voices
and the swish of water as though
myriads of tiny boats might be darling
between the junk and the shore, for
sometimes the sounds were near, as
If approaching them and then dimin-
iShing.
Occasionally there was a muffied
thud as though some heavy object had
been transferred from one vessel to
another. but the encompassing fog con-
cealed the mysterious happenings from
the eyes of the Americans in the
launch.
at is the junk" said Philip in a
whisper. f.
81 guess you're right, sir"
Put her under shore now, Peter.
There should be q landing and some
can find what they are taking ashore
Gently now" -
The swift flow of the river drowned
the pant of the engine, and in a ,Ie|
minutes they had drawn up under the
high, muddy bank, just beneath the
black wall Of masonry.
From his seat in the bow Philip
thrust one leg over the rail, CROPPED
with his foot and discovered what he
was looking fora fight of broken
Shiny stone steps leading from the riv
er to the bank above.
Quite by accident Peter had brought
the launch to a standstill at the foot
of this fight of steps.
Philip was undetermined as to wha1
he would do next. His object ha6
been to gain the next landing beyond
them, where he suspected the cargo
boats were unloading the stolen mer
chandise from the junk.
Although he did not doubt that thu
mandarin, San Yuen, chief magistrate
of the province of Szechuan, was the
instigator of the plot and likewise thu
chief benefactor in the returns, ht
knew it would be a difficult matter t.
bring the man to justice owing to tn,
corrupt practices i'm vogue at tn,
courts, especially where a high officia
was concerned.
And San Yuen was not an ordinary
mandarin-ruler of a small province
He was rich and powerful, a man
DARN of the coral button of high rank
and much in favor near the throne
He could command the richest Office
within the gift of the rulers, yet b
preferred his position as potentate of
prosperous province, which he rule,
with cruel hand that could wiring tn
, last copper cash from a poor farme
or extract silver ingots from a mel
chants treasure chest.
San Yuen was a gentleman bandit
a pirate, a. terror to his enemies O
y those he preyed upon. To the polit
! Chinese world he was a splendid ger
, tleman. with the instincts of a tru
sportsman.
Philip was tolerably familiar wit
the ways of the yellow man. and /
realized that such an elaborate plot {
-, the roundabout method of stealth
Il