The Monmouth inquirer., 1919-09-25

fdk through which the moon sought
to shine and only succeeded In throw
ing a sort OF silver sheen.
The very air seemed damp, as
though full of an impalpable mist, SO
that the sidewalks glistened with
faint moisture as we advanced up the
hill. After a time we came to the top
] and the edge of Chinatown Itself.
II stretched before us with its
strange appeal of something hybrid
a strange blending of East and West
with a thousand foreign noises and
thousand unaccustomed smells.
Electric arcs and incandescents
threw their light over its garish night
life Painted lanterns bloomed like
dream peoples before the doors OF
some of it's shops and restaurants,
and the facades of joss-house swing
| ing blobs of color in the night breeze.
Painted ideographs Haunted on Grim
son banners from a balcony, half
! hazed by the streamers of fog.
Stretches of plate glass in some mo-
dern pagoda rooted and lowered bust
ness emporium gave glimpses OF dis
PLAYS of beauty, things Of wondrous
workmanship, toiled out with what
must have been indescribable pa
tience BY fingers of other lands.
Sandwiched beside them murky
lights of swinging incandescents gave
views of dimly lighted squaloF, and
round oriental faces, stolid, world
| wearied, as it seemed.
It's pavements were full of varied
and polyglot life Slant-eyed Orientals
in flbwing blouse and trousers and
wide white soled shoes, shuffled past
with their more modern brothers In
Occidental sack coats and pants.
Now and then woman, stopped
Slightly, her dark hair coiled on her
head, thrust through with jeweled
nins. her limbs clad in twin tubes OF
silk teetered along, turning her dark
eyes out of heavy lids like wax.
Here and there a child toddled
staring at you out of beady points OF
darkness set in the midst of round
faces, for all the world like dolls from
a toy store come to life and clinging
to the skirts of their mothers blouse.
Groups of Eastern tourists in the trail
of a guide passed us now and then,
treating the denizens of the place
with open stares OF curious interest.
Through and among it the night
owls fitted, creatures OF the dark,
men-and even women-with the tnln
pallor Of slaves of the poppy. Sinking
out of their lairs Into the night life,
passing you with a furtiye glance and
a twitching of pallid lips, bits of hui
man t1otsam cast into this backwater
of world-old life.
And withal it was strangely without
sound. Unlike an American crowd, it's
people moved with few words, little
outcry, spoke in a low singsong, which
carried little beyond the speaker. The
squeak of fiddle as we passed a door
sway was a noise in that place. And
do not remember that we spoke to any
extent as we moved.
In fact, it all came to seem like the
strange phantasmagoria Of dream to
.me as we followed McKabe's shuffling
lead. The lights, the crowds, the
weird changing, shifting life, the
damp kiss of the fog, the odd pungent
doors, the cool night wind tanning my
face took on the unreality of sub
conscious rather than of an objective
something, so that I turned my head
and picked up Sheldon and Reich, Lu-
ellie Foote and Semi Dual, and lastly
McKabe, in order to break from the
spell which had gripped me and fore
ed me into waking dream.
And so l noticed Dual. He was
of our guide, and l saw that Lucille, at
his side, was gazing up at his face
with an almost puzzled expression on
her own. Semi was walking straight
onward, with his face to the front,
and on his features was the look of
dog when it dreams of the chase.
l don't know how else to describe
the expression. His clean features
had grown tense, acquisitive, with a
set as of one seeking a thing elusive,
His nostrils swelled slightly, and
could it be said of man, l would
have sworn his ears were pricked. /
would have said that he was listening
with all his being for something so
family perceptiye as to be almost be-
yond the range of perception.
Yet l was not surprised. Perhaps it
was the odd mood into which l, my
self, had fallen, but it seemed to me
that | understood 1t came to me in
that moment that in the same way he
had sensed Sheldon's call on the plat
form at Salida so now Semi Dual
was seeking to pick up some subtle
thread of leading which should bring
us to the object of our search.
AS If to prove me right he spoke:
wait, Mr.. McKabe. We have come
too far"
The little guide stopped in sur
prise.
What do you mean?" he inquired.
"Too far for what? Do you know this
district"
Dual shook his head and smiled
slightly.