The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1913-04-05

-' 'te you can prdcucally see ana
hear all that goes on"
mat she yielded promptly to my
argument. pretended. at least. to put
ASIDE her fears, and returning me
smile for smile, confessed to a con-
Stunning curiosity which she had mere
iy enoeavored to disguise, was an cpl
sooe as Characteristic Of her as any
that can remember.
On entering the reception-room-
somewhat formally furnished. square
room, which jutted from the hall, on
the LETT was mildly surprised to dis
cover that one Of my visitors was none
other than the Chinese merchant, Yup
Sing. AT sight of me he rose and
came step forward. the same tall.
spare. dtgnifed Asiatic had met In
the Mott street warehouse, save that
he no longer wore the dress OF his
country, but a dark, well-cut suit Of
American clothes
Permit me- Mr. Clyde" he said, in
that chin leisurely tone ! so we'll re-
membered, TO present to you the vice
| consul Of China at New York, Mr.
Chen Mok" And then saw that his
| companion, a much shorter man than
he and younger. had risen too, and
| was holding out a hand In tentative
| greeting.
My first impulse was to ignore the
| proffer. for of late had come to abhor
the race he represented, but on second
| thought acCeded to the most formal
Of hand-clasps
| q
I because We believe we have secured
for you, Mr.. Clyde, the explanation
which you recently did me the honor
| to request of me. And because we are
| in hope that. through you, some agree
ment may be reached which will put
an end to the present deplorable out
break amongst certain Of our people in
| this city
Vice Consul Chen bowed gravely.
and |, in my turn. gestured my visitors
to resume their seats. So far l had
not spoken, but mentally l had been
| busy. Frankly, distrusted Yup Sing,
and questioned how much of his ex-
PLANTATION, whatever it might be. l
could afford to accept Fortunately.
| however, / now had some basis for
Judgment. l felt that SO far as 1t
went the letter from Miss Clement
could be relied upon absolutely. II
| the merchants story conceded, then 1t
would perhaps be safe to assume the
correctness of added details. II 1t did
not coincide, | was in possession of
valuable material for cross-examina-
tion.
| Il am an advocate of the policy of
reciprocity, Mr. Yup." | said at length.
IF, in return for your service. | can
| render service to you, you have only
to command me-"
| chose a chair between them and
the door. and sitting down assumed an
attitude of attention.
What / tell you," began the mer-
chant, his body erect, his shoulders
squared, his chin lifted. "Mr. Chen will
| verify And once more Mr.. Chen en-
dorsed his friends assertion by
| grave forward sweep of his head.
when you came TO me, Mr., Clyde,
with the story of your friend Mr.. Cam
| eron's annoyance and subsequent alb
duction, l was inclined to the view
that you were, yourself, in some way
deceived What | have learned since,
corroborates that impression. AS you
say here in America, your friend. Mr..
Cameron, did not play fair with you
! Under ordinary circumstances l
might possibly have permitted this as
sertion to go unchallenged. | am not
as a rule truculent; more often than
not | find 1t advisable to ignore pre-
liminary inaccuracies of narration, the
quicker to reach the vitals Of the mar
rative But on this night I was con-
trarily disposed. The inscrutable coun-
tenance and the superior. almost pat
ronizing manner of the speaker chafed
and irritated me to the verge of en-
durance; and SO, without hesitation.
interrupted him with a contradiction.
"If all that you have learned is no
more reliable than this confederation"
| declared, warmly, we might as we'll
end the interview here and now. OF
Mr. Cameron's fairness at all times
and under all circumstances there can
be no question. He is my friend, tried
and trusted, and incapable Of deceit.
On that l would stake everything !
hold most dear; and We may as we'll
have it clearly understood at the out
set"
A white man would either have in
sisted or apologized. But the yellow
man has a way of his own. Yup Sing
remained silent until / had finished.
But whether or not he heard me was
manifested neither by word nor sign.
without change of facial expression or
alteration Of tone, he placidly proceed
ed, choosing his phrases with infinite
care and rounding his periods with a
faculty that for an Asiatic was little
short of marvellous. Had he been
any one else in the world l should
have admired him. As 1T was, his clev-
erness only added to my aversion.
There Ia q story" he went on. "a