The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-09-03
FIRST EPISODE
"The Antagonists
CHAPTER 1.
"The Dragons Claws.'

EJ GU otdLGS COuSul III LQc Ohl-
lyN nese treaty port of Hong-Kai,
creaked ponderously in his
chair and permitted his troubled eyes
to dwell for a moment on the trim
lawn and belt of trees and shrubs
which made the consulate an oasis in a
seeming desert of dust. Normally Mr..
Clark took life with the dignified ease
which beftted a man of generous pro-
portions and genial disposition. But
conditions were not normal just then.
Indeed, they were perplexingly unset
tied. At that hour of a hot day in
April the consul should have been
snoozing comfortably after a good
meal, SO that he might plunge into q
refreshing bath at shutdown, enjoy the
swift rush of rickshaw to the club
and play auction bridge with his GRO
MES till it was time to dress for dinner.
Today. however, Mr.. Clark was wor-
ried and very wide awake. He was,
in fact, writing to his friend, Enrol
Manning, in New York and deemed
the subject under review of such real
importance that he conned each sen
tence with studious care. Manning
and he had been boys together and
were Harvard graduates of the same
year. Thus far he had written:
Dear Manning-Certain facts-if they
are facts-which have reached my ears
within the past few days impress me as
10 vitality important that I am rushing
of preliminary line by this mail. Next
week you may expect to hear from me in
more detail, or I may possibly bid you
disregard every word in this letter. Mean
while tho indefinite rumors, yelled hints
and underground rumblings of storm
which have accompanied the appearance
in this settlement of an extraordinary
parsonage known as Ali Singh have as
sumed such proportions of late that l
would be failing in my duty II | did not
make you aware of them. To you, with
your thorough knowledge of the east the
mere name Of the man must sound ludi-
crous. How is it possible, you may well
ask that Mohammedan Ali should be
coupled with ultra Hindu Singh? But,
oddly enough, this seemingly absurd com
bination OF opposites forms part Of the
sinister mystery which surrounds the
man. I have never seen him. My in
formation is hearsay. In this letter |
shall not even tell you its source. But
you can take it from me that this enigma
embodies in hirnself"the subtlest charac-
teristics of every eastern race. He seems
to be equally powerful in China Japan
and India. While In no sense an ennis
sary OF any recognized government he
controls tho people--all the people, with
out distinction of creed or class-in a way
far beyond the utmost achievement or
any mandarin, samurai, amir or mahara-
jah. He is immensely wealthy. educated
above the average scientist of real
Iv-,tt+ tail L, rf 6Anth
originality, yet reputed a sheer fanatic
in his hatred of the west and his fixed
resolve to exalt the yellow races at the
expense of the white.
At this stage the portly consul paus-
ed, read his screed and was satisfied
with it. He cut the end off and lighted
a cheroot, swore at the Chinese ell
mate--which, like Mr.. Mantalini's rainy
day in London, can be "demmed moist
and unpleasant"-and scrubbed on.
No one knows whence Ali Singh obtains
his money or his power. The solitary
fact In my possession at this moment con-
corning him or mis- family Is that his
niece, a Mile. Malta. is now being ecu-
Gated at vassar college. This, you may
argue, should tell In his favor wish l
could think so. Unhappily the presence
Of such a girl in our country and tho
friendships she must inevitably form may
become an element of real danger II ana
when Ali Singh should ever attempt TO
carry cut the program of destruction with
which he is credited. As you are aware,
nearly every city in the United States
contains orN or more Chinese tongs. or
secret societies. as they may DO termed
for lack OF closer definition. have
reason, to believe that these organizations,
almost without exception, are pledged to
support Ali Singh. Their leaders know
him only ~ the Higher One" the lone
from within the Shrine" tho "Ono APP
pointed" and other similarly vague and
high sounding titles. The mark or totem
Of this new and strange cult Is that OF
the crescent, or new moon. Here again
you will note the singular breadth OF pur-
pose underlying Ali Sinsh's hidden men
ace, because such a token is equally COM
prehensibls to the Bedouin Of the desert
ana the two sword man Of Yoddo. All
Singh II described to mo as stolid vet
domineering, secretivs yet wonderfully
gracious toward those subordinates who
Yield him unquostioned obedience. man
Of barbarie tastes and impulses, yet ono
we'll versed In the ways of courts and
thoroughly up to date in the laws ana
pregress Of the west. Somehow cannot
express myself more clearly-his person.
atty impresses mo as constituting veri-
table peril to civilization as we under
stand It,
Unqusstionably the consul's letter
was one Of serious import. He was
about to, end it with renewed prom
ise Of more comprehensive statement
to follow by next mail when a young
man entered hastily, sweeping aside
the chick, q closely woven fiber blind
which guards each open doorway in
the east, admits air. keeps out hies and
lessons the glare Of the sun. he wore
4 sofa topi, or pith helmet, and had
evidently walked rapidly through tho
midday heat. His attire, too, was
somewhat disordered whereas Ameri-
cans In the far east usually affect q
spick and span appearance.
Mr.. Clark looked up in surprise. Not
even Watson, his personal assistant,
should have disturbed him so rudely
while in the throes OF composition.
"What is It now?' he cried irritably.
Another mutiny. I supposef"
The question was meant to be isar-
castle.