Evening star., 1917-05-27

red-shaded oil lamp and adjusted ii in
such a manner that the face of the
clock came into sharp relief. The hour
hand was of white, shimmering nacre.
the minute hand of some black metal.
See, my friend" he purred. lit is now
the hour of II. 1 said that you would
die after an hour, at midnight pre-
cisely. But l have decided to give you
an extra ten minutes SO that you may
praise my mercy and benevolence; the
benevolence of Yuan kee, the Man
chu. For ] knew that on the thresh-
old of death every minute and every
second and every f1eeting fraction Of a
second seemNe long. swinging pre-
ciouS years"
He swung tAA weight into motion.
The clock struck the hour of il with
the last stroke had passed. Then he
laughed lightly, and, reaching op'
pushed back the minute hand usSfl IL
pointed to ten minutes to IL. He con-
tinued:
Behold and give thanks! For i am
giving you ten extra minutes of life,
my friend: six hundred precious Sec
ondS!' +
He left the room with silken swisi3
of his plum-colored embroidered robe.
A heavy silence fell on the room. likk
a sodden blanket. decided to make
one more bid, to make one more at
tempt to save my life.
"Mascasenhas!" cried 'MaScasenhas!
Are you going to murder me in cold
blood? I have been your friend and
benefactor. I have saved you from
Hussain Khan at the risk of my life.
Mascasenhas-for the love Of heay.
The Goanese looked at me. A slow
smile was on his lips.
will the barking of a dog reach the
high skies of Allah's heaven? Do not
waste thy breath in futile whimpering,
o, thou dog and son of dog. Pray
to thy false maudlin gods. Perhaps
they will intercede for thee on the
day of reckoning. Thou hast Just an
hour. Do not waste it. Pray, Pray
For soon thy life will he like a candle
in the meeting of winds
I knew then that il was useless tn
plead and beg and urge. Death was
near. And l wished that it would come
faster.
Finally / forced myself TO look away
from the clock.
Directly to the left of 1t there was
a heavy biack-and-gold, embroidery
fastened against the wall: I looked
intently until could make out the
Chinese ideaographs with which it was
embroidered.
And as 1 read and reread a great.
white peace. deep sweetness stole
the book of Lieh-Tzu. the book of the
unknown philosopher who lived many
centuries before King-Fu-Tse:
There is a Life that is unrevealed:
There is a Transformer who is chanceless.
The rncreated alone can produce Life;
The Changeless alone can evolve Change
I read the words again: memorized
them; meditated on them. There is
life that is unrevealed-unre-
Suddenly 1 was resigned to my fate.
1 was even happy. The hopes were
over, the promise. the ambition-but
also the strife. Death would soon
come.
l looked at the clock. 1t was just ten
minutes to midnight. And at the same
moment, with sweet. clear vibration.
the great bell from the cathedral
across the river commenced tolling it's
message of love and of sacrifice.
''Ave-Ave Maria-Ave Maria
l closed my eyes. To me the tollins
or the bell was a sacrament. The
faith Of my childhood years came back.
l prayed.
Then 1 shuddered a little. Midnight,
That meant death. I kept my eyes
tightly closed and waited for the knife
Yuan Kee had put back the hands OF
the clock by ten minutes--ten more
minutes And those ten minutes which
owed to the benevolence of Yuan kee
saved my life.
For with the last. lingering vibration
of the church bell a change came over ,
the features of Mascasenhas. He
seemed to drink in the sounds. He
stared ut t1e WINDOW whence tnS
sounds were drifting.
1nstinctively he crossed himself
His thin. sardonic lips relaxed and
regained their tleshy curve; the hard
of the chin softened and the
bony Tartar cheek rounded out The
Mongol eyes became once
more large and oxlike.
Hussain Khan had disappeared. and
remained: the Goanesc.
the half-white. the Christian, my faith
full servant and loyal ally.
For several dragging seconds he
looked at me. Then understanding
came into his eyes. He threw himself
on his knees before me and kissed my
hands again and again.
Then he cut my bonds and helped me
up. Once more he fell on his knees.
Tears rolled from his eyes and he
prayed fervently.
Come. MASTER" he said to me. IT
know the way. Trust me. Follow me-
We walked out of the room. down a
flight of stairs. and out into the street
The temple was deserted. Nobody met
US. Nobody stopped us.
Together we walked toward the Kow-
loon anchorage. Hand-in- hand we
walked. as friends who had lost and
had found each other again.
And as We walked | thanked tine
of Yuan kee. the Manchu.
" ho had given me ten extra minutes.
Me- sun1-','- The Tale of the Mani
hu's Arsenal