Evening star., 1921-12-11

persed."
Hanecy stalled. II know only ru-
mors. your excsllency. What are the
facts?'
The mandarin beamed on him with
oily grace. Hanecy decided to dis
trust the gentleman.
1T Is no news to you, Of course. that
workman in Honan unearthed GER
tain relics which must have come
from no other than the tomb OF the
Emperor Ling tt of the eastern-Han
dynasty?"
That" said Hanecy promptly, ''is
what brought me here
"Of course" was the bland response.
You know that the workman. who
came from Cheng-tu. fed here at
once with the things he unearthed.
but not before news Of his discovery
had gone abroad. Reaching here, he
confided the treasures to q relative
and shortly afterward died. The rela-
tive disposed OF the things carelessly.
Your fellow dealers camo here toe
late"
Hanecy expressed proper disap-
pofntment. drank his tea to end the
audience. and departed thoughfully.
He retraced his steps across town by
way Of the moated. walled and entire
ly ruined palace OF the old Han EN-
perors, in the center of town.
+ y X X
At least. he had learned what he
was here for! 1t was not likely
that some workman had CHANGED on
an emperor's tomb. Most of these
tombs were looted ages ago. but many
yet remain. And Ling TT, who had
reigned in the second century A. D.,
would have taken some fine things
with him to the spirit world.
'I'd like to know whether this
mandarin was lying" reflected Aane-
cy. striding down the narrow street
that led past the ruined palace moats.
An instant later he had his answer.
II came in the shape of dirty beggar,
who rose up out of the dust and came
within an ace Of sending Hanecy to
join his several ancestors by means
of six-inch silver of steel.
For man SO immersed in thought,
the American moved with astonish-
ing rapidity. With his left hand he
caught the knife wrist and jerked
the besgar forward: with his right
he groped for the mans ribs. There
was single wild howl, and Hanccy
looked calmly down at the writhing
object. He ignored the fast gather
ing crowd.
THE hands of the foreign devils arc
strong" he said grimly. BE thankful
that I broke your ribs instead of your
neck, son of turtle!'
He went his way chuckling a little
to himself. He knew now that the
mandarin had lied. and that Benson
had lied. The Ling I'll relics might be
dispersed. but they were within reach.
You have lot OF friends among
these yellow folk, Benson" he mur-
INJURED complacentiy. But I have q
few myself. Still, didn't think you'd
go as far as this merely because
called you a liar. So it's war, is It:
I'm satisfied
Jim Hanecy conferred long with the
estimable Kiang. merchant in furs,
that evening He told kiang all the
truth, and the old son Of Han smiled
gently upon him.
There will be no further attempts
on your life in the streets. my friend"
said Kiang complacently. Il will
speak with certain members Of my
tong, and they will see to it. Still.
1 cannot answer for other places.
May I unworthily advise that you
tread with care. lest you step on the
tail Of a tiger
Hanecy grinned. 'sTm used to til
gers, Kiang-thanks all the same.
So you know nothing about this
treasurer"
Kiang knew nothing. He belonged
to one Of the historic families, had
an extensive collection Of jade and
caligraphy, and was certain that no
ancient objects had been offered for
sale generally. And thus the confer
encc ended.
In the morning Hanecy went forth
carrying a gun in the holster under
his arm. He could not depend on
Kiang's tong brethren for too much.
He realized that Benson was playing
a big game of some kind, and that
if he fought Benson he would be
fighting some powerful and dangerous
allies. Also, Benson's reference to
the disappearance Of Toptit worried
him badly. Hanecy liked this Toptit,
who made poetry and had knack
OF ingratiating himself with the na-
tives, but he hardly considered Top
tit a match for the astute Benson.
The word disappeared" had an oni-
nous flavor. coming from Benson.
Perhaps that had been = hint, =
covert threat.
'If anything's happened to poor
Toptit. I'll make Benson sweat for
it." thought Hanecy angrily. ''Now,
where to go? All! I think TIL take
a trip to the Tu temple-the BONES
are good old sports and would put
me wise to anything they knew"
This was no random cast. The
Buddhist priests at the temple Of the
poet Tu were old friends of Hanecy,
and were fairly reliable. They would
have the whole countryside gossip on
their tongues, and would have no
traffic with Benson. The latter was
notorious as an enemy Of the BONES,
because Of a certain barefaced rob-
berry perpetrated on Shantung tenn