Evening star., 1921-04-03
By Sidney c. Partridge

IL securely n1d0en away IN d DuHuie
in the very center of the old hogskin
trunk which every Chinese traveller
takes with him. He had. however,
passed only two or three nights at the
Resting Place OF the Golden Phoenix
(Which was the high-sounding title
mingled with fear and dread. began
to do it's deadly work. and he awoke
from an awful nightmare. trembling
and dripping with the very cold and
icy sweat of death itself: For this
is what he had seen: Four awful
demon lictors from the court OF hades
started to seize him as he lay in bed.
ITO wo men lai! To wo men lai!'
("You must come with us! You must
come with us!") they shrieked. .'Tsai
To what place?") he asked. Tao ii
yok wang va men" f'"To the va men
Of the king Of hades"') was their only
answer. He begged for mercy. for
he knew only too we'll the horrors
of that court. as he had seen them
hells. Their only answer was mock
ing laugh as they dragged him out
through the opening tiles and flew
with him through the air and miles
away to an open cave. and then down
into the dungeons beneath the earth.
They came to the edge of the black
and Shiny river of death and. point
ing to the dark clouds that hung
over it, they cried Kan! Slang va
chwan lai. shi chwan lai pow tow shi
plants tusks is coming! The death
boat is coming to take you to the tor
tures!D He looked, and there, right
before him, he was Mortified to see
the white ivory barge approaching.
with the pale and ghostly rover Of
death silently plying the oars! Nearer
and nearer it came. until it touched
the bank at his feet Summoning up
all his courage and strength. he made
one final effort to escape. II am
guilty! I am guilty" ne shrieked.
in the finest gold"
Thou canst not bring here the
money on earth.'' said the boatman of
the Ivory Sampan.
Where then shall pay it?"
AT the Shrine OF Our Guardian by
the Seven-story Pagoda. Swear by
beat bears thee now to thy doom"
Il swear! I swear" he cried, and
awoke to find it all a dream!
He waited a few days before making
the promised visit and then. having
exchanged a dozen sovereigns for the
native coin, he sauntered out toward
the end Of the settlement and. calling
take hm to tne 9e1sa sh The hv cGole %ab to
"seven-story Pagoda-" Dismissing the
conveyance at the entrance to the
tower, he walked to and fro a little
while until the coolie was out of sight,
bomboo. lined path to the shrine at the
rear. Alas for him, the little gate was
licked and the old priest was away!
There was not soul there but a
crippled fortune-teller in little mat
shed by the roadside. He hobbled out
on his crutches and. bowing most
courteously, said: 'The august and
venerable guest must be worry and
thirsty, his unworthy servant begs
MIN to tarry moment and he will
out a little bamboo stool from his
shed. he bade the honorable guest be
seated while he attended to the max
ing OF the tea Let me pass behind
YOU" he said: &c! am unworthy that
my shadow should darken your Wis
age. and. suiting the action to the
word. the cripple crawled behind the
visitor. It was but the work Of an
instant for him to raise his crutch
into the air and bring it down like q
guest. who. stunned by the blow, fell
backward into the mat shed. It was
the work OF only another instant for
the suddenly transferred cripple to
produce pair Of handouts and slip
them onto the honorable wrists, for
the redoubtable Green Leopard was
now a prisoner in the hands of wSnr
Foo. who. disguised as the fortune
teller. had been patiently awaiting
"How shall we protect our village
and our countryman. and at the same
time secure the ends of Justice 90
asked the tai-tai Of Wang Foo.
when he heard from him the story Of
the capture.
II have thought all that carefully
over" answered Wang Foo, "and
have decided that our proper pro-
cedure is, first, to see that the police
here ship him promptly back to Hong
kong. Then. when we have him
upon the old contract which the bank
always makes with the compradore.
that. in case of any dishonesty, he
will make it good and guarantee the
punishment of the criminal. This
will enable us to keep him out of the
everlasting disgrace. Then we will
have the compradore send him back
to his own fathers house in the
country as servant. and the old
| man will see to it that he atones by
hard labor for his most unfilial con-
duct"
"Hao Slang! Hao Slang; shuin
Sien jim Tsz Tao" (''Well thought
out! Well thought out! 1t follows
the doctrine Of the Sages!"). replied
that of course. must be returned?"
Every dollar of it must be made
good to the bank. Fortunately, he
has spent as yet but very little Of it.
and most of it Is still in the trunk"
When Inspector Macarthur heard
Wang Foo had actually captured the
robber, he hastened to congratulate
him. remarking as he did 80. you
didn't seem to have much faith in our
search for him, Mr.. Wang, now. did
you?"
"Well." answered the detective with
smile, this was a little different
kind OF criminal from the ones that
While really didn't have much idea
that you would locate him. still. it
kept the department busy for a week
or two. and that enabled me to con-
duct my own search in quiet and
unobtrusive way. which Is what I al
| ways prefer"
And will you go down to Hong
kong on the steamer with him?"
mo, I will leave that little trans
portation matter to you. Just send
him down in charge Of two trusty
officers: keep a sharp lookout that he
doesn't jump overheard or commit
suicide in some other way. and I will
go down a few days ahead and make
arrangements with the authorities
there to handle the case on arrival.
You certainly have made a triple
saving Of 1t, this time. Mr.. Wang, il
may say SO, you have saved the
man, you have saved the money. and
you have saved the compradore's
face"
is always luck in odd numbers'-per-
haps this is a case in point" smiled
the man Of mystery as he bade the
inspector good morning.
A