The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-05-01

! ttnt Apiu Itls II tAIuC III my
mornings mall Murphy is sull at
Cos Cob. He didn't leave his bunga.
low all day yesterday. and no had
no callers"
I'm crazy to know what you learn
tonight from Yup Sing" she went on.
eagerly. "Oh, how ! do hope It viii
| give us some hint! II seems terrible
/ TO think OF Uncle Robert In the hands
! OF those uncomfortable Cinnamon.
| And, Philip, don't you think you had
| better take some ono with you?
| suppose Mr.. Yup is TO be trusted, but
] at the same time, you must remember
you are going into the enemy's camp.
and you should be careful"
But ! laughed at the notion OF TAX
ing body.guard.
I'm to meet him at nino O'clock"
| told her, In n public restaurant. Be-
sides, therell be q crowd Of those
! Seeing New York people down there
about that time, and Chinatown will
be on its best behavior. So never fear,
! little girl. DO you want me to tele-
phone you when | get uptown? You
know I'm going to stop tonight at my
rooms in the Loyalton."
"Of course want you to telephone
me" she returned, emphatically. ut
shouldn't take you very long TO hear
what Mr.. Yup has to tell, should It?
shall be expecting you to call mo up
between ten and half-past, or by olev.
en- at the latest; 30 don't dare to so
for supper first"
AS IL | could think Of supper" !
said, looking at her in n way I had,
when might be hearing your
voice."
Could ! have forcseen what the
night was to bring forth certainly
should have discouraged her waiting
for my message But the power Of pre-
vision is given to few Of us, and Of
those few / am not one.
Assurcdly ] had no misglvings rs,
after dining at tho University club
that evening | stepped into an cleo
trio hanson and gave the driver the
address OF tho DOyers street rcatau.
rant. Whatever II may have been in
the past ! believed the Chinatown OF
tho present to be, outwardly at least, n
reasonably low.abidiug section Of the
borough Of Manhattan. And was not
| tlHt night the guest OF one Of IT'S
most houoycd citizens? What, there
fore, had | 10 fear?
On the contrary, rs VIC turned from
tho Bowcry into that little scmiCircu-
lar thoroughfaro which Is perhaps the
most characteristic of Chinatown's
three principal streets, ! was pleas
aatly interested This was quite a
different place from that which | had
visited the afternoon before, Then n
sort OF brooding quiet reigned over
what was so ordinary az to be scarce
~ distinctive; for that part Of Mott
street on which the Nup Sing estab-
lishment Is located, have since learn.
ed. is merely one Of the gates of the
real Chinatown, OF which Doyers
street is the heart and center-and
which nwakens only after nightfall.
Now the place was alive and alight
Narrow roadway and still narrower
sidewalks were thronged with n com
bination OF denizcns and sightseers
Shop fronts and upper windows glow
ed with varying degrees of brightness
From the Chinese theater on the left
came bedlam of inharmonious
sounds. the brazen crash of cymbals
the sQueaking OF raucous stringed in
strumcnts, the resounding clangor Of
gong. Voices high pitched and voices
cultural mingled with hoarse and
strident laughter. echoed from wall TO
wall Of the streets encroachIng
squalid buildings
Before the least unprctcntous Of all
these structures, my hanson stopped
and MS | stepped to the curb I got
glimpse OF It's banner and lantern
strung balcony. giving TO the street
a touch OF color that helped to lift Il
into an atmosphere which. II not
Oriental, was at least wildly un-Amor
lean.
Finding now that had anticipated
my appointment by something like ten
minutes ! chose to watch further the
Kaleidoscope scene without. rather
than pass the time waiting at a table
within; and to this end took up post
ton OF vantage oI the restaurants
low step.
Whether | am more or less keenly
observant than tho average man | do
not know. Probably any one az fas
cInated by the general scene as was /
would have noted as closely its ind
vidual elements. am not sure. But
the truth Ia that In very few mo
ments / had acquired a mental photo
graph OF the opposite side II the
street, in SO far as It came within my
direct vision. In other words. every
detail OF the background OF the NOV
ing picture before me was indelibly
printed upon my minds retina. There
was the playhouse, with its plain. rec
tangular doorway. unadorned, save by
a auartette of rude signs; two above
slanting outward. and one on either
side, all announcing Chinese Thea
ter" and one giving the current al
traction In Chinese characters. with