The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-09-06

invited: so you had better go and see
Gubbins and get him to wire down in
the name of the Department and he'll
almost surely be here on the next mail
from the Island" ----
Mr.. Bellsize lost no time in following
the Consufs advice, and in less than
a weeks time Wang Foo, the Man of
Mystery. found himself once more in
Shanghai, with his time and services
placed at the disposal of the British
authorities. He went into the whole
case thoroughly with the Inspector and
the Captain. and OF course talked it all
over from native standpoint with the
Chinese portion Of the force. He
visited the scene of the fire and made
careful notes of the inside of the GO
down and of the exact spots from
which the alarm was first given. and
he was unusually particular to inquire
the exact moment when the different
persons in question first saw the smoke
and the flame. He even took the
trouble to go aboard the Ming Pc
steamer and look up the record OF It
on her log-book. He called on the dtA-
consulate family in the Alley of the
Heavenly Moon, representing himself
as a private citizen much interested in
the case, and found out all that ne
could regarding Nam Tuck and his re-
lations to the parties in the goodwin
next door. In word. he made very
thorough investigation of allathe cir
cumstances= surrounding the case, and
then took quiet evening of, in the
home OF his old friend. the basket
maker from Hong Kong, to think it
over carefully.
YES" he said TO himself, 1T GER
tainIy looks at first sight like a very
clear case against the Waterman.
First, you have the motive, which was
TO get rid of the old building and Sc
cure the contract of the new bricks for
the brother; then, second, you have
the fact OF the four smoufdering fires
| inside; then. third. you have the epur-
chase OF the four fuses on just the day
before, and then, fourth you have Nam
Tuck,s own expressed wish that a fire
would come along and burn the old
thing down as he stood in the go
down on the very afternoon of the
seventeentht YesI It's a clever piece
of work that the foreign police have
done and pretty close net of evil
dence that they have woven about
him, but they have got to draw it just
little tighter before they can con-
vince me that he actually committed
the crime. There are just four butts
or mays, as prefer to call them, that
deserve our fair consideration. First,
he may have made the remark about
wishing the old building burned down
| Just as innocently as anyone else
might have made IT; second, he may
have used the four powder-paper fuses
just to light his pipe and drive away
the mosquitoes. as he says; third, he
It'll
business WITHOUT any thought of the
fire, and, fourth. the fire may not have
been started from paper fuses at all
but from something else which the
police may never have thought of"
He lighted his little cloisonne pipe
and, taking out copy of the Classics
| from his trunk, he soon forgot this
present world of suspicion and OF
| crime and found himself wandering
once more in the delightful glades OF
Confucius and the Disciples and
breathing with them the refreshing
air of divine philosophy and the up
lift of mortal life. So reading he fel
lasleep. -- r.-r~ -~
He was awakened from his slumber:
by the loud beating of a brazen CONS
in some building just behind thu
basket makers home. He opened tbs
shutters and looked out into the dark
ness and listened. The sound cam'
again, louder than before. and i
seemed to be accompanied by som'
monotonous chant as of a number o
voices singing a dirge. His curiosity
led him to put on his gown and JACKIE
and to pass down the stairs, out init
the street, and around the building
into the neighboring alley. He fount
there that the sounds came from >;
little temple where a group of ageC
priests were having some kind of re
lligious ceremony. The doors wer'
closed, but the cracks were wild
enough for him to see clearly all tina
was going on inside. Some half 1
dozen of them were standing around ;
shrine which they had placed in tn
center of the room and before the lido
of which clouds Of incense were risint
to the roof. Above the shrine, hang
ing on brazen chains from the rafters
was a beautiful gong swinging slowll
through the air, as If it had beer
struck with spirit hands. He read thu
: great characters painted upon it
"Shen low (eThe Spirit Gong'D, ant
over the shrine he saw this scroll:
He who can strike the Temple Gong
i VIII edA Nhlg l4AS
He returned to his room and in thu
morning asked the basket-maker abou
it. He found it was little Ming p
/ Temple with a number of devotees whit
came to it frequently in search o
health. The gong. he learned was o
: an adjustable height and could just b.
touched by the tips of the visitor
fingers. the priests raising and lower
ing it by concealed pulleys behind tn
screens. The patients were alr pro
found believers in its virtue. for. Xix
so many of its companions in tn
pagan world, it had most assuredll
fallen at one time from heaven. Their
was just one other secret, which b.
learned from the old tea man acros
the way from the Temple gate, whicl
! even the basket maker. did not know
and that was that virtue of the life
l uroIonQinq gong could be trausmittei