The Washington times., 1918-08-18


and he might have been a few years
younger. Not older. at any rate. He ad-
mitted to me that he didn't care much
what became of him docking as desperate
as a boy with big. baby-blue eyes CAM, be-
cause there had been.a girl.
| don't recollect all Pope told me about
that girl There had been a quarrel of
some kind and he had determined to run
away and forget her. He had told his
people all about it. They laughed at him,
and his father had told him to run ahead
giving him money to accelerate his speed.
Pope wanted to go up-country and live
among the natives. Don't ask me why.
He said he wanted to see Chinese life
from the bottom side.
At that time ! had never been up-coun-
try very far and knew little about it. ex-
cepting what | had heard from mission
aries. I'm no adventure-seeker myself,
and when Pope offered me money to go
along with him I would have refused on
the spot. but l happened at that moment
to see. passing the door of the restaurant.
a number of jackies from the old Charles
ton.
That meant that the Charleston was in
port. and probably for a long stay. That
meant that Hong Kong was no longer
large enough for me. Once | enlisted to
serve on the Charleston and did not re-
main long.
So agreed TO go with Pope. for money
consideration.
Going up on the boat, Pope put in most
of his time fiddling away on that violin.
don't know the first thing about music,
but it struck me that he played we'll He
had a deep barytone voice, and he would
sing while he was playing. He had one
favorite song, Then You'll Remember
Me-" and he worked it overtime.
We got a sort of an outfit at Tientsin.
but mostly we figured on buying our sup
plies as we went along. We struck out
across country, skipping Peking and work
ing almost directly north.
By easy stages we reached the province
of Kan Su and the town of Chin-Kiang, up
near the foot of the Nan Shan Mountains,
where China dovetails into Tibet
From Chin-Kiang there is a great view
of the hills sweeping across northern
China in a ragged outline We met an
English missionary in Chin-Kiang who had
been in the country for years, He warned
US against going any farther, and / hadn't
intended that we should. The missionary
told US that the people farther on, up in
the mountains, were very hostile to white
men, and that a party of English pros
pector who went up there a few months
before had all been murdered.
The word prospector interested me. If
prospectors had gone up there they could
have been looking for but one thing
asked the missionary about it, and he said
that there had been rumors of gold in the
hills, and that the English prospectors had
gone there to find it. But he warned us
that it was certain death to enter the
mountains.
He told US a story of a woman who
ruled over the mountain country to the
north, sort Of a sub-queen, or something
of that kind, who was very bitter against
white men, and who allowed no mission
aries in her province.
l was as lustful for gold as any other
young man. Instead of the boy being the
one who wanted to press on, it was |. and
he was rather inclined to speak of going
back. His ache was wearing off a little
you see, and he was commencing to think
that perhaps he had given up the battle
for the girl too easily. The missionary's
stories made him rather nervous.
l spoke to him, perhaps harshly. 1t may
be that l wounded his pride. But, any
way. when I was through talking to him he
was hot and flushed, and he cursed and
vowed that he would go with me.
And so We went, with the missionary
ging US not to go.
We had been carrying a couple of native
servants. Babbling incoherently about
their fright, they left US. made two packs
of what thought we would need, and we
set off toward the mountains, looming
clear and cold against the sky.
In the boys pack was his violin. He
insisted on taking that. although ! told
him he was fool and would probably
have to throw it away the first mile
In a single days march we were in the
hills. The roads were good and tie
weather fine. Pope got more and more
cheerful as we went along, and sang
snatches and talked big of how he would
make a fortune and go home independent
of his people. Also, he was proba'. .ly
dreaming of how he would loom large in
the eyes of the girl.
The country grew wilder as we went
along, and we climbed steadily upward
We saw no people, but before we had got
ten very far into the hills ! had a sensa-
ton Of being followed.
Sometimes l turned suddenly and
searched the landscape but could see moth
ing but the stretch Of white road down the
hills and the sweep of dwarftrees
At night we camped on a small plateau
surrounded by heavy forest. and built a
fire to cook supper. We were now right
under the snowy mountain-tops. and it
was getting chilly.
After a supper of bacon, bread and tea
sat smoking, while the boy got out his
fiddle and started to scrape at the strings
with the bow.
His old moodiness seemed to come over
him at the first touch ! was about to tell
him, impatiently, to put the instrument
away when | seemed tn feel SOmp oua