Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-26
The Mysterious of Wang Foo By Sidney Partridge


] will acknowledge you are indeed a
wonder,"
Wang Foo put his long hand UP his
right hand sleeve and drew out
therefrom n slender piece of bamboo
about eight inches long. 1t was hol-
lowed out and the end was sharply
pointed like pen. Attached to it was
long bag resembling stocking
with very small leg and very
large foot
Here. gentlemen, is your solution.
You see this 8 neither rat nor
ghost; on the contrary. it is some
thing very simple and human. The
coolte who carries the rice bag has
this apparatus concealed beneath his
clothing. The bag is fastened around
his waist and the bamboo is conceal
ed In his collar. When he is given the
bag on the ship, he places it on his
right shoulder and steadies it with
his right hand. his left hand grasp
ing the tally-stick which the COM
pradore collects. Now for the. trick.
With his right hand under the bag ne
pushes the bamboo pipe up through
the meshes until he reaches the
grains of rice and then they begin to
flow slowly but surely down through
the tube into the stocking. The rock
ing motion of his body as he walks
assists the flow--like good exercise
for the dyspeptic-and before he
reaches the go-down he has several
pounds inside his garments. He then
draws the bamboo down into his col
lar and no one is ever the wiser"
Did you ever see anything cleverer
than that, Mr.. Morehead?" asked the
merchant
ut certainly beats me-" was the
chiefs brief but emphatic answer.
And, pray. what do they call this
liabolical invention. Mr. Wang?'
1T am tod" replied the detective.
with a rather significant smile, II am
told that they call 1t the little bam-
boo assistant or encourager Your
compradore suggested little en-
couragement,' did he not?"
yves, but not exactly that kind"
'"Trua, not exactly that kind, but
still of the Same bamboo, was 1t not?'
Yes. believe it was--a wonderful
plant, when all is said and done, Mr..
Wang. is 1t not?"
"One of heavens best gifts to man."
replied the Chinese scholar. AS the
ancient saying goes:
"How restful by the waters cool,
To watch its graceful waving!'
las far as the case itself Is con-
cerned, Mr.. Wang" remarked DR.. Cor
telyou, the consul, to his visitor from
Hongkong, lit seems clear enough to
haven't been here four years with
out realizing that In every one OF
these international rows there's al
ways a little niger in the woodpile.'
as We say in the United States. You
. are familiar with that phrase, are
you not?"
"Oh, yes, indeed, sir though I am
told that in Boston they express the
same sentiment little differently"
"Ah. how Is that?"
II believe they say that there's
lurking suspicion of a diminutive son
of Africa's having concealed himself
in the accumulated kindling, or
something to that effect
"Diminutive son Of Africa is very
good laughed the consul.
yes, you know the difference be-
tween Boston and Chicago, for in
stance, in the mode Of expression re-
minds me of the difference between
the classic language OF the literati
of China and the vernacular of the
provinces, sometimes, / suppose you
not?"
"As far as my limited travels per-
nit me to judge, believe you debut
to go back to our case: The evidence
all shows that there had been bad
feeling between the second mate and
the stoker for some time, owing to
some row on shipboard, and it finally
eliminated In this Iiongkew scrim-
mage, when Jackson attempted to
throw the fellow into the creek and
self-defense. OF course. Jackson was
drunk at the time, for he and some Of
his cronies had been imbibing< at that
Happy Anchorage place near the
bridge and / suppose when he came
out and saw the stoker he thought 1t
would be a good chance to get even
with him on shore. Now when men
are under the influence of liquor, they
generally come through all right, as
you know. when a really sober man
would succumb. but in this case he
must have fallen very heavily ON the
pavement, for the doctor said his skull
was fractured when they picked him
up"
Well where is your niger In the
woodpile?"
why. Just here, Mr.. Wang. and this
is really the reason why I have sent
Cor you; the jinriksha coolie and the
others all testify that when the stoker
struck him he cried out: Swim up
the dragon pool, you golden carp;
swim up the pool And In spite of ali
my efforts, cannot find anybody who
can explain these words Now, what
h2d Jackson to do with a dragon pool
and why did the stoker tell him to
Swim up" There seems to be some
mysterious hidden meaning In these
expressions and the more think of
them the more I am convinced that
there's some connection between them
and the murder"
Wang Foo looked very thoughtful
for moment. "Have you inquired of
the missionaries? he asked.