The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-01-09

received my chit?"
here?'
wait. Come with me- Smith led
the way to a door painted with an,
other red dragon and opened 1t. ad'
hitting his friend to the gloomy In
terror of Il large room.
Here we are. and here we remain
until fate chooses to release u.s." said
Smith gloOmily as he faced Dick with.
in the locked room.
"Have a light. can't youT' was
Dicks first question.
Presently a lantern diffused soft
light around the dusty o which
was lined with inches. in each one OF
which was a rather battered idol.
Except for a straw pallet on the floor,
a jug Of water and a bowl Of flee. the
Don was empty.
what are you doing herey" asked
Dick.
Had a tip from a Chinese friend
that our houses were to be looted and
burned today. / sent you word. and
I've taken refuge here after making
an observation from the pinnacle and
seeing the brigands coming from one
direction and the soldiers from an
other. Between the two forces our
bones would he picked quite clean"
"After they pass we can get away?'
asked Dick thoughtfully.
Maybe" smiled Smith. provided
they don't take it into their heads to
level the tower to the ground"
"Wish we could give them a stiff
scare. You know they are rather sus-
picious of this place."
II know it. Give me time to think"
For a long time Smith sat on the
floor with his head in his hands. At
last he arose and uttered a triumphant
whoop.
He darted to u carved chest thrust
in one corner and from it dragged stiff
robes Of yellow brOcade. soiled and
dusty and almost falling to pieces
with great age.
IF they linger along till dusk l think
! SuA cCuiC tucLI sill Will IuAo pl4CoI-
~ garb." he chuckled. you know
one of the traditions connected with
this place concerns an old priest of
Buddha who starved himself to death
in the tower in order to attain celes-
tial rewards The superstitious say
that sometimes the spirit Of this old
priest comes back to the tower. hungry
and forlorn. and cries for food and
drink. I shall be that old priest for
awhile. Watch me-!
When Smiths tall. gaunt frame was
wrapped in the yellow robe and a
black satin cap was stuck on his dark
hair Dick confessed himself amazed at
the resemblance to a Buddhist priest
painted on one of the porcelain panels
Of the stairway. The disguise was per-
feet.
The two men sat and talked beside a
tiny window that gave a view Of tho
road to the city.
. III they only wait until dusk we can
scare 'em of. and then we can get
away Smith repeated over and over
again.
The day wore on. and. although they
caught occasional glimpses of ap-
preaching soldiers. they did not make
much progress. for there were much
halting and disputing. 1t vas almost
twilight when a company Of ragged
soldiers stirred the thick white dust
Of the road neal the porcelain tower.
They're going to halt there, just as
l thought. They're taking pot shots at
the tower. See the ancient cannon
they are dragging along"
Dick looked out and saw all the
things Smith described. He saw more.
for he noticed that they prepar-
ing to load the cannon and gunners
were pointing it toward the porcelain
tower.
deuce take it. we're in for it now"
muttered Smith.
Get into your robes. Scare EN- OF,
man. You can do it. l know the Chi
nese like a book. They'll streak it If
they see that old yellow back on the
balcony of the tower" Thus Dick
encouraged his friend while he helped
Smith into the yellow robe
While the gunners were loading the
cannon there came the sound of fierce
cries from the south. and a band OF
tattered brigands came racing through
the dust of the road
At the same instant Smith stepped
through u door that led to a small bal
cony that encircled the tower and,
lifting his arms in their flowing
sleeves, shrilled down at them a mix
ture of American slang and bad Chi
nese that hushed the riotous crowd be-
low.
How long he stood there he never
knew. but his arms grew stir and
useless and his neck cramped with its
rigid attitude.
The long silence of the crowd below
was broken at last by a shrill screech
Of terror from a brigand. That was
the signal for panic. In ten minutes
the long dusty road was empty and a
full moon smiled wanly over the place
where SuDerStitiOn still held SWAY.