The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1916-12-23

| the cnlefs or police IN every large city
| which contains a Chinese quarter. In
the densely crowded communities of
1 China itself the local authorities.
whether native or foreign, regard 1t as
truism.
| The reason Is not far to seek. China
is essentially a democracy governed
by an autocrat. Every Chinaman. be
he princely born, Manchu or the veri-
est coolie, emulates the Napoleonic SOL
dier who carried In his knapsack mar
shal's baton. In effect the way is al
ways open from the gutter to the high.
est post. and as a consequence when
the Chlnaman bands with his fellows
| In one or other OF innumerable secret
societies he is well aware that he has
to protect himself from officials Of his
own kith and kin.
This explanation is necessary II one
would regard In its true light the fail
ure of some Of the smartest members
of the New York police force to discov-
er Ali Singh's temporary headquarters
in tumble down house standing for
lornly In the midst of New Jersey
marsh. The den was there, yet they
could not find it.
The simplicity of the ruse adopted
was its chief feature. When Captain
Kemps men came upon the empty mo-
torboat tied to rotting pier In
narrow creek 1t may be taken for
granted that they made most thor
ough search of the neighborhood. Not
content with his subordinates report.
Police Captain Kemp brought Man
ming and Bronson to the place and
conducted a second and even more ex-
haustive search.
Standing we'll back from the shore
and screened from view by clump of
trees was the house which the detec-
lives had already visited. 1t had been
deserted a generation ago. Its stairs
were broken. its flooring decayed, and
not window was intact. Neverthe-
less. although number of sharp eyed
and keen witted men satisfied them
| selves that the building was untenant-
| ed. as matter of fact more than once
| they were only separated by narrow
wall from group Of desperate and
well armed scoundrels who might cas-,
| lily have gained the upper hand In a
| fight.
Ali Singh. Ii has been seen. was alb,
sent. but Hong Kong Harry. once Malta
was removed. gave his chief unfailing
service and could be trusted to lead
the gang with skill and devotion. Ka-
tisha, the odalisque. too. was a bold
| and shrewd woman. She. like the 9th,
ers. carried a brace Of heavy caliber
revolvers and would have fought to a
| finish.
However the search party withdrew,
| little dreaming how near they had
come to their quarry. They took away
| the motorboat and returned to New
York. Obviously the whole afternoon
had been wasted. and the two young
men did not reach Mannings residence
until a late hour. They were met by
an amazed and mystified butler, who
| had devoted the best part Of the day to
| preparations for the reception Of his
master and Bronson as dangerously in.
| jured men. BY this time the man had
learned to dread anything out of the
| common course which affected the
Manning or Bronson household
"Why. SIR" he cried. gazing at Man
ming with wide open eyes, ''the tele-
gram said that you and Mr.: Bronson
were all broken to pieces!'
What telegram demanded Man
ming instantly. And where Is Miss
May-and the others?"
"The three young ladies went or at
once. sir"
Good God. man. what are you talk
ing aboutT'
The butler ran to the library table
and picked up the telegram which Mar
garet Bronson had left there in her
agitation. One glance revealed the
dreadful truth. All Singh had tri
umphed again. He had completely
fooled the authorities and, worst of
all. he now held three hostages.
Kemp was summoned Immediately
But what could he do? What could
any man do against the fendish intel
ligence of the Asiatic?
The sheer bopelessness OF the quest
affected Manning and the others. They
sat with bowed heads as men stricken
with mortal disease. They had moth
ing TO say. no scheme to advance.
They could simply wait and wait, yet
without hope OF result.
And then a strange thing happened.
one Of those madly improbable occur
rences against which the ordered brain
revolts. yet of such seemingly tangible
reality that the unwilling senses are
compelled to accept 1t.
Somehow why. none of them could
explain subsequently : they became
aware OF a sinister presence In the
room. They looked up. each moved by
the same impulse. and fancied they
saw Ali Singh standing I'm the archei
passage which led from library to hall!
Maddened by the vision and swayed
by some uncomfortable impulse. both
Manning and Bronson drew their re
volvers and fred.
As the smoke cleared each man fan
cied he could detect a sneering smile
on the shadows face, smile which
merged at once into scowl Of inef
fable hate. Then the frenzy passed
and they knew that they, had shot at a
0bOstt., - - So . -s-.s - =