The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-02-22

metal which the Chinese boat-women
wear instead Of putting their savings
| In the bank). She worked II Off her
ankle with difficulty and pain and
handed to him all her worldly wealth.
Where are you going now?" she
ITO consult Old Lang the fortune
teller at the Temple Of the Queen of
Heaven"
60! And may the lucky stars guide
thee on thy way!"
Old Lang sat at his little ia bIe in the
temple court when Wan Sene arrived.
1t mad been a busy day with him and
more than twenty customers had
learned from him the DEGREES of fate
and received advice on matters of per-
sonal Importance They waited till a
quiet moment and then the boat-man's
son told the story of the accident, of
the seizure Of his father and of the
frantic efforts they were making to
save mis- life. The seer turned over the
pages OF musty volume that lay be-
iofe him made some mystic symbols
On tablet and raising I'D an urn con-
tanning slips of carved bamboo shook
them solemnly in the air as he bowed
thrice towards the shrine of the Queen.
one slip fell out and lay upon the
table. He picked 1t up and deciphered
the characters upon it. Imperial eff
fort" he said. He repeated the words
over slowly. Imperial effort'-and.
playing upon the similarity of sounds
added, Substitute work. He turned
to his anxious customer and wrote
upon slip of yellow paper THE
fates decree that every effort must be
made to find a substitute" He ac-
cepted the profrered fee and said: &c
to TAX Foy the Matchmaker of the
Dragon Alley and tell him to have the
. two hats ready by the morrow"
The little shop of TAX Foy carried
only a very limited stock. so after a
; thorough search along his dusty
shelves and in the various boxes and
i. trunks which stood about, he could only
find two official hats of the rank in
question and these he agreed to sell to
his customer for five and twenty Mex
leans.
But the feathers. the peacock
feathers with three eyes, exclaimed
the lad. these are the most important
things Of all; where can I get them %
Nothing but the decree of heaven
could bring You them in this island. +"
was the saddening answer THE Bird
OF Confucius wears them only for
those OF noble rank. But buy the hats
and try the fortune tellers words, tic
find a substitute
Scarcely knowing what he did. he
laid the price upon the counter afl6
departed with the carefully wrapped
bundle in his arms. He passed dowr
the Dragon Alley and walked rapid,
along Queens Road till he came to the
narrow PASSAGE way that separated
the house of Takimoto & Co. from the
adjoining establishment
He paused and hesitated for a. mo.
ment. then said to himself: It will se
and see my Uncle Lee. who lives a few
doors above, and beg him to advise
me-
He found the door. opened It ant
climbed the rickety stairs to the hum.
Bile abode Of him who was known Al
Deaf Lee. the coolie."
What they there said and did. and
what the uncle planned to save hi
brothers life had better be told b,
Wang Foo himself. the unraveller o
the mystery.
"A very clever capture, Mr.. Wang
said Inspector Wallace to the HON.
Kong man of mystery, when, a few
days later, they met by appointment a
the scene Of the now famous robbery
But" he aided with pardonable pride
to say that We have suspected Dea
Lee from the very beginning. He wa
questioned and questioned and hi
room bas been thoroughly searched
but not word Of confession could W
get out of him, nor could a trace o
the missing embroidery be found. Tn
detectives have Swallowed him ever.
moment since. but he has not gone t
any place where he could dispose OF Il
And, then, Mr.. Takimoto had such con
ldence in him and trusted the old dea
creature go implicitly that It rathe
threw US of the trail would yo
mind telling us what led you to fix
SO quickly upon him."
We'll, after a careful study of tn
apartment. felt very sure that 1t ha
not been broken into from without an
So my conclusion was, very naturally
that it had been stolen from within
The next question was the time. Nj
Takimoto saw the screen covered him
self late in the afternoon, and whe
1t was opened at noon the next day.
was gone; the theft must clearly hav
taken place during the night or earl
in the morning. Now" he said. yer
slowly, as he slipped his cup Of japan
csc tea, I'VE come to the importar
question OF the man. No one was 1
that room between these hours-fo
the proprietor had it securely locked
c. except Deaf Lee. and he was only ther
b. for some fifteen minutes or So dustin
n it out at the close of the day. He mus
to have watched his master closely ant
e. taking advantage of a temporary ali
US sence, have slashed out the peacoc
. with very sharp knife. tucked it ava
TX. under his gown and rapidly replace
rt the covering and tied the heavy cord
rs in fact. Gentlemen. that is exactl
u, what he did-he confessed every wor
to Of It to me yesterday
es Under torture. Mr.. Wang?"
s,l "Oh, no, not under torture. but VI
n der the pressure of a Chinese fear tn;
" very few Europeans would undel