davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1921-03-06
The Cautious Convert. :
D1sHoP PENGELLEY said at q d

DISHOP PENGELLEY said at q din
- ner in Charleston:
Some men get converted after the
manner Of Calhoun Clay.
THE Rev. Wash White met Calhoun
on Hominy street one afternoon and
took him by the arm fraternally.
"'Brudder Cal,' he says, 'arter de
sermon Sunday night we's gwine to
have a rousin' hallelujah meetin' and
burn up yore paraphernalia.'
My what. sab" says Calhoun.
Your gamblin' paraphernalia-' ex-
planned the minister. When a sporttn'
man gifts converted dey allus burns up,
his kyards and dice. and chips and
sech like oniquituous trash in a halle
lujah meetin'. De converted gambler
he's de fust to staht frowin' de stun
on de fire. He frows roulette wheels
and
Hold on, Rev. White. sab. Not
me. None O. dat in mine. ] re-
neges'
but. NAH goodness, brudder. you
is converted, amt you"
Ives, sah.' said Cal Clay. rs con-
yerted. shore but dat don make me
no blame fool. ! tell ye. reverend. I
mought backslide and need dat
Evening star., 1921-03-06

ever received In my life. think
that is the limit. If had known that
before opened the piano. l woulon
have bored you with my music. anu
swinging the revolving stool around.
she slammed down the cover or the
instrument and, seizing her wrap,
jumped up and started for the door.
She hardly had her hand upon the
brass knob. when young Allston rose
and rushed after her.
My dear Miss Kirgman," ne said.
as she walked rapidly aft along the
promenade deck. you really mustn't
take it that way. Your sweet voice
alone would be enough at any time to
empty the smoking room. don't you
know that?"
oh, Is that so? Well. thank you
very much" evidently not object
ing to his company. though she didn't
appear to appreciate his consolation
but musical artists. as a rule, don't
care to appear before compulsory au-
diences.
She walked the whole length Of the
deck and then turned around and
walked briskly back again before he
ventured to continue. He made
brave effort and 1t was crowned with
partial success.
II hope you are going to stay long
enough in Shanghai for me to have
the pleasure of hearing you sing again.
OF course, father and Mr.. Peterson are
going on to Hankow for the season,
but / shall be right here at the Jar
really is something in your voice that
is quite unuSual-
They stopped for a moment and both
looked over the rail at the phosphor-
escent waters. What is that mystic
something in its sparkling beauty that
always seems to bring US to our bet
ter selves and soothes every wounded
feeling? We all Of US have felt its
fascination and yielded to it's spell
And so Miss Kingman felt it-she just
couldn't help it-and in a moment she
was her own sweet self again, ID,
turning to her companion, said, Well
il you really care to hear it again
during the two months ] am in the
Evening star., 1921-03-06

aot only by the citizens Of the United State,
but also by foreigners who from motives a.
curiosity and interest. seek minute informa
sion concerning the present state OF the Amer
lean metropolis.
Accept, madam, the homage, esteem asa re-
spect OF
D. D. WARDEN.
Holm Hall. tho pic ure Of which !.
shown in this story. was the home OF
Thomson Mason. brother of John. 1t
stands near the road to Mount Ver-
non about a mile east Of Wellington.
home Of Tobias Lear. Washington's
secretary. tn'or of :he Gusts chill
dren and auditor of the War Depart
ment. There is tradition that
Thomson Mason's first home on this
site was burned and that the build
ing shown by the picture was the
spinning house" close by the man
sion. Thomson Mason took up his
residence in this home and 1t bore
the name Holm Hall for at least
century. This farm and several 9TH
ers that have been added to it are
owned by Mrs. H. 2. Wilson of Hol-
lin Hall, Washington. New York and
San Francisco.
Mrs. Wilson. after occupying this
old building FOR a number of years:
has erected on Mount Hilbey. half
a mile away, a brick mansion OF
early colonial architecture, which Is
one of the great country houses OF
America. This splendid new man
sion has been given the name. Hol-
lin Hall, and the "Hollin Hall shown
by the Rambler. and believed to be
the spinning house Of the first
Holm Hall, has already come to be
called "Old Holm Hall" or simply
'aThe Old Hall Th" story Of Holm
Hall and the Buckner Stith home OF
Mount Hilbey is one that the RAM
bier will turn to when he has COM
pleted a certain line of work to
which he has set his hand.
Evening star., 1921-03-06

distinguished visitor out to his sedan.
Instead OF returning straight to his
room, he ordered the bearers to take
him to the British consulate. Sir
rutherford" he said. as the consul
bade him be seated in his private office.
there is one leading question / forgot
to ask you"
And what may that be. pray?'
The arrow that held the card-was
It in the coolies hand. or was it lying
by his side"'
Il, was really lying a little distance
away from him"
80 it might have been thrown in
there afterward might it not?'
quite so, Mr.. Wang"
That is all, sir. l must apologize for
having disturbed you"
X X X
once back in his room. he replaced
~ the official dress in the hocskiu
trunk. and putting on again his light
blue gown. sat down and lighted his
pipe. Hardly had the first puff of
smoke curlcd upward when he jumped
up with a start and in a tone OF self
rebuke exclai imed. u might have saved
myself all the trouble and chair-hire
OF going to the tao tai. OF course,
it was the work OF a foreigner and
not of a native, for no Chinese ever
says or writes north -west'-he always
says and writes IL the other way,
'west-north! Now. my little foreign
friend. we will proceed to get after
you" And get after" him he did.
with very astonishing results, as the
sequel shows.
He took the little bamboo arrow with
him to the leading toy store in the
British concession and asked them If
they had any like it. Il regret that
We haven't u set left in the store: we
sold the last one to Lady Cockrill
few weeks ago" said tho affable Eng
lish clerk. Wang Foo started. but said
nothing.
Why. after this. did he walk through
II" consular grounds morning and
afternoon and scan the ground and
the lawn so carefully? What was ii
that he picked up and took home un
der his gown, while no one was look
ing? Nothing of any possible value
except to him. And why did he say
to himself with intense satisfaction
Evening star., 1921-03-06
A Wang Foo Story by Sydney c. Partridge

% Who. last and most important
of all. threw the card over the con-
sular wall?
Outside Of all this. but really under
lying II all. and absolutely necessary
to any solution, was the greater prob
lem of the criminal or criminals them
selves. Who. what and where was the
| Society of the Northwest Eyes, and
why had they killed the coolie and
thrown him into the consulate?
The next morning he arose early and
excusing himself from the morning
meal. put on his official dress of honor
and, ordering a sedan with three bear
ers. set out FOR the native city to in
terview his old friend the tao tai
/, truler of the circuiD in his va men,
which answered to very dilapidated
city hall.
Down the broad Nanking road.
over and across the French conces-
sion they hurried. seeming to grow
happier and happier as the streets
grew narrower and dirtier. Down to
bridge of the beggars--still in this
day and generation swarminG with
tn lem and with all the loathsome
things that go with them-under the
double arches of the old city gates
twisting and turning through the tor
tuouS alleys until at last they put
down their burden inside the va men
court. His excellency was at home.
and after the large red card had been
sent in, Wang Foo had but a short
time to wait before he was received
in the inner sanctum. The attendants
were all ordered out and the two con-
ferred for an hour together on the
subject of the murder and the mystic
rious cards that were linked with It,
The name and history of every secret
society were carefully gone over. but
nothing gave clue to the North
west Eyes"
"Shi tzi yang jim tie shi tsing, poo
kwai pen II jin." said his excellency
r'It Is unquestionably the affair of the
ocean man. the native son OF the earth
is not in it," lie. "it is entirely Eu-
ropean, not Chinese"), as he bowed his
Evening star., 1921-03-06

that night. yes, 1t belongs to the
very same set" Why. simply in order
that he forge another link in the chain
that was drawing closer around the
guilty one.
And why did he sit for three long
days. in the disguise of a vender of
cakes, and listen to the boatmen's
tales under the HonSkew bridge. and
why did he grow confidential and offer
to drink with the toughest looking
character among them all and draw
out of him a story that made his blood
thrill? Why all for the very same
reason. namely, that he might ferret
out the doinSS of the Secret Society
of the Northwest Eyes and bring their
wicked deeds to the light. Now all
was ready and he was prepared 10 ex
pose them to the authorities OF JUS
tice.
III. lsied Sir Rutherford to assemble
III Interested parties in his Office and
then ne began the great denouement.
And this was the substance of II all.
First, We cannot expose the per-
sonnel and the place of meeting and
the doings of this dangerous society,
for the simple reason that the society
has no existence whatever except in
the imag nation of the consul and the
police,
Second The coolie who was thrown
over the wall was not murdered by
any band of revenge. but WAS killed
in a boatmans fight late one night
under the bridge near the consulate.
Not knowing how to dispose of the
body. they concluded that the easiest
way to get rid of il was 10 throw il
over into some neighhoring yard,
which happened to be that of the con-
sui. All Ling. the boatman. who stab
bed him in the forehead with a boat
hook, fell overheard two nights ago
and was drawn under by the swift
current 10 a watery grave-so justice
cannot lay hands on him.
Third. The card which was found
by his side was shot into the yard
several hours afterward by another
party. and happened TO fall by the side
of the body: it had no connection
wha ever with the murder
Fourth The card which Mr.. ALI
ston's coolie picked up in the mud
and which he thought was Miss King
mans, was one of series of four.
made out by the culprit, and happened
Evening star., 1921-03-06

to have been dropped in the street Just
beyond the wharf.
Fifth The card which Capt. Nc
Williams found in his hat WAS placed
there inside the lining (as a joke).
while 1t was hanging on the consular
hat rack that morning. While the hat
was rolling over into the gutter IL
fell out from its hiding place. and
| that accounts for his surprise on find-
ing IL where he did.
Sixth. The card which Lady Cock
rill found in her mail was tucked
away in the package of letters on the
breakfast table by the culprit, while
| the table boy was out in the kitchen.
And now. who was the culprit. Mr..
Wang" arose in chorus from his lis
tcners, pray do not keep US any
longer in suspense"
The culprit. ladies and gentlemen.
] now have the honor OF presenting 20
you" and reaching under the table.
which was covered with n heavy cloth.
he cried. waving his hands after the
.lanner of the nagicians. VILLAIN, ap-
pear" and out from under the table
TO the utter astonishment of all. crawl
Cd the Cockrill's little son Egbert. who
stood up and bowed and smiled TO the
audience
He wrote out these four cards. get
ting the idea from story in The
Boys Magazine. and thought he would
have a little joke on the family with
them. He mailed one OF them TO mis-
dear mamma: he accidentally dropped
one in the street; he tucked the third
i'll Capt. McWIlliam's hat, and the
fourth he shot out of the window at
night on one OF his toy arrows. in
tending it to go through the house
boys open door. but he missed his aim
and it landed by the side of the nur-
dered coolie. Such. ladies and gentle
men. is the innocent ending Of story
which had a most somber beginning,
As the great master said.
d" To shoot the arrow straight and far.
How few there be that do &"
The tension on Miss Kingmans
nerves had been SO great through IL
all that Mr.. Allston had held both her
hands till the close. which led Wang
Foo TO lean over TO the inspector and
quietly remark:
..You sec. as you said in your once.
He still il holding the dueen!'
Evening star., 1921-03-06
BEWARE OF
THE NORTHWEST EYES!

After long conversation with Dep
uty O'Keefe at headquarters. Inspector
Macarthur had about come to the con-
clusion that the mystery OF the secret
organization was something that was
beyond the European mind to satisfac-
torily solve. and so. with the approval
Of Sir Rutherford. II. B. NJ. consul. he
decided to cable to Hongkong for
Wang Foo. and to put the whole case
in his hands.
Sitting in the "Glade Of Quiet Re.
lection as the great detective loved
to call his little upper room At No.
5-5-5 in the Red Cloud alley. Wang
loud knocking at the outer gate. and
the startling cry "Tien pao lai! Tein
Pao Lai" cThe lightning g-message
has come! The lightning message has
come" i. e.. telegram. Old Chang has
tened to unbar the gate. and. receiv-
hurried upstairs with IT to his sover-
eign lord. The little piece OF yellow
paper contained the following words:
"Inspectorate Of Police,
Shanghai.
Wang Foo. s-5-5 Red Cloud alley.
Hongkong:
SERIOUS crime here connected with
secret organization. Can you come
and assist the department? Answer
"McARTHCR."
He Immediately wrote out a reply
and took it himself later to the office.
He picked up the daily paper and.
glancing at the column Of proposed
saiIings for the north. said to himself:
Let me see. there doesn't appear to
be anything until the day after tomor-
row. The French mail leaves at day
light Thursday. think that will have
to do" After signing the receipt for
the message-cooiie and ordering old
Chang to give him a cup OF hot tea. .
smoke and a handful OF brass cash
often forgotten by the Europeans. who
consequently are accused Of mean
ness. Wang Foo summoned the aged
mstron OF the establishment.
Venerable grand one" he said, II
| am going away again to the upper
sea" tShanghaD.
The elder born speaketh well!"
| was the dutiful answer. when does
| the august departure take placer
| After the morrow at sunrise. but
! everything must be ready on the
| brighting day ttomefrow). for 90
| aboard the ship in the evening"
'It is already done as the master
| wishes. May the fre-vheel boat
! l(steamer) be good and strong and may
the lucky stars guide it on its way.
Evening star., 1921-03-06
THE NORTHWEST EYES,

lead. isn't it?-but. good gracious
he exclaimed as he glanced at the
Enelish and not in Chinese! You
never once mentioned that fact. and
yet to my mind that is one OF the most
significant Of all. Well. now I'm on
to the consulate and we will meet
again in this self-saIne pond. as the
one little goldfish said to the other"
X X
MISS KINGMAN had certainly kept
A'L her promise and Mr.. Allston had
enjoyed the quite unusual voice
more every time he heard 1t. AS a
matter of fact. his desire to hear the
voice was not confined at all to the
time of the singing, but entered the
Evening star., 1921-03-06

music school. perhaps may give you
"a chance won't do want a def
mite promise"
We'll. as we are a pair of little
'gritfins. both Of US. and entirely apart
pose we shall have to stand by each
other. 50 young Mr.. Tea-Taster. of
Jardine & Co.'S ofhce-here's your
promise!"
TN the excitement Of the landing and
parting at tho wharf the next
morning the saying Of "good-byes"
was almost impossible. In fact. they
would all have had to take the inten-
ton for the deed. had not young ALI
ston's coolie. in his effort to dodge the
bamboo OF a native policeman. locked
his wheel right in with Miss King
mans. The disentanglement gave him
just time enough to reach over to her
little carriage, and. though he nearly
upset them both in the effort. he seiz-
ed her hand and said, mot goodbye.
but au revoir. and don't forget the
PROMISE"
one tTieo 70 HAn0 nam heI CAIo' U0t
it slipped out Of her fingers and drop
ped out into the roadway. Never
mind: never mind" he cried after her
disappearing jinrikisha. I'll pick
it up! Ill pick it up" And, poking
his runner in the back with his um-
brella, he said Man. man tslow. stop)
go catchee dat paper lady have makee
drop" The coolie put down the shafts
and. hurrying back. picked up the card
and placed it in his masters hands.
Young Allston rubbed of the mud and
saw, to his utter astonishment. that II
contained neither name nor address,
but simply these mysterious words:
Evening star., 1921-03-06

Shall it be told to the honorable guests
who ask. OF doth the master wish US
to remain in precious ignorance?"
simply say. to one and all. the lord
of the mansion is not within"
So at daylight on Thursday morning
Wang Foo was rocked in the cradle
Of fhe deep"
Arrived at the northern port. he
made his way to the old basket
makers home, where he received his
usual cordial welcome from all the
household. and promptly next morning
started out for Inspector McArthurs
office.
"Glad to welcome you again to
Shanghai" said the chief ms he rose
and gave him a most cordial hand
shake. I'VE always have to send for
you, Mr.. Wang, when we get into
these native troubles. and you Ger
Evening star., 1921-03-06

~
A no papers or documents Of any ny,
La kind. by which he might be
identified. were found on him."
inquired Sir Rutherford Cockrill, Brit
sh consul at Shanghai, OF Inspector
Joseph Macarthur of the police.
Nothing whatever. sir. though the
bative sergeant searched every rag on
bis body"
(The foregoing question and answer
had reference to n mysterious murder
la the settlement. the solution of
Which was at present battling the
minds of the authorities. The body of
b coolie had been found. very early
IN the morning. in the courtyard OF
the consulate, where it had apparent
By been thrown over the rear wall on
ithe edge of the river. 1t bore no
marks of violence whatever except a
deep triangular wound right in the
center of the forehead. such as would
have been made by a bayonet thrust
land the opinion of the surgeon who
made the examination was that he had
been killed only a very few hours be-
fore.)
"And this card which was found in
the split bamboo by his hand" said
the consul, as he examined it carefully
with his eyeglasses, you think was
INTENDED as a warning TO the native
officers to keep out of the case''
Most likely, sir. You see that their
way of using all kinds of superstit!ous
scares to avoid being caught. There's
nothing on II but just:
Evening star., 1921-03-06
College Spirit.

CCOTT FITZGERALD. the youthful
~ author. said at a luncheon in New
York: r..'
college spirit is always the same.
1t is exemplified in the dialogue OF
the two juniors.
What shall we do tonight" said
the first junior.
I'll toss up a coin for it, the sec
ond junior answered. II it's heads.
We'll go to the movies: II it's tails.
go to the Palais de la Danse. and u II
stands on edge Wen study" ,
Evening star., 1921-03-06

Nicholas Callan and William 3. Van
zandt, justices Of the peace.
The. deed of trust executed by Gen.
John Mason and his wife, Anna Maria
Mason, on November 20, 1929. sets
forth that: Whereas the said John
Mason is indebted to said Bank of
the United States in sundry sums OF
money as the endorser of the notes
of John w. Bronaugh, John Cooke,
Brent and Cooke, William Brent, jr..
ard Edgar McCarty, and it hath been
agreed between the said Bank and the
said John Mason that the said John
Evening star., 1921-03-06

Of the friendship and confidence with which
you have so long honored me. wish IL were
more worthy OF the favored daughter OF the
illustrious Washington.
have great regret that the dimculty OF
communication has prevented me from pro.
curing other specimens Of the birds and In
sects OF this District, which would have en-
sbIed me to complete the nomenclature CT
objects of natural history. 1t will give me
pleasure to see this deficiency supplied BY
another, and the errors into which / have
fallen corrected with the same spirit which
guided my researches.
A publication Of this kind is now called for
Evening star., 1921-03-06
THE RAMBLER TRACES THE HISTORY OF
ANALOSTAN ISLAND FROM EARLY DAYS

erty to his friends, John Marbury.
Robert ?. Dunlop and John Kurtz of
Georgetown, and authorizes them to
sell certain securities with the con-
sent of his wife Eleanor and my
daughter Ann L. O'Neal. the wife of
Thomas O'Neal. Esquire" He makes
provisions for the children of his
daughter Ann. should she have any.
and, in the event of her dying before
her husband. leaves certain trust
funds to his nephews, Charles ).
Reese and John c. Reese. Although
he mentions executors" he names
Evening star., 1921-03-06
BEWARE OF
THE NORTHWEST EYES!


and handing it back to him said. in a
voice Of perfect sincerity. Il never
saw that before in my life."
to doubt the "qpite unusual voice."
but he couldn't help asking, why.
isn't that the card you dropped out OF
your rickshaw and my coolie went
back and picked up?"
Never in this world! gave you
my own visiting card with my full
name and the music schools address
on it"
Good heavens! Then he must have
left your card in the mud and picked
up this other by mistake"
That's exactly what the stupid fel-
And here I've been wasting all this
time racking my brain about who the
Stns! %a1s q" f!!' was that l was to be-
lous that they both had a hearty laugh
over II. and finally the quite unusual
voice" said. Northwest eyes. north
west eyes-well. the only thing l can
, think OF is that as that is a slanting
direction up into the corner of the
map. and Chinese eyes are known to
be slanting. it must be an indirect or
poetical way Of bidding you to beware
OF these fascinating little celestial
maidens. over whom not a few Eu-
ropeans break their hearts"
Such good advice is entirely un-
necessary for Beverly" he replied.
'the fascinating little maids of the
slanting eye don't affect him one bit.
He likes his eyes as level as the equ-
tor. every time
(getting a little more unusual to Bev-
erly every minute). We'll, to tell you
the truth. Emily does. too" And be-
fore they realized it they both turned
around and gazed into the mirror on
the wall behind them. to see--silly lit
tie creatures!-just how nearly on a
level line four human eyes could be.
He put the little card Of advice"
back into his wallet, and there 1t would
probably have passed into oblivion
had not Inspector Macarthur OF the po-
lice astonished him beyond measure
by calling at his room on the very
next day and asking for the loan OF
the very same card Ito assist the de-
partment in securing evidence against
a dangerous Chinese secret society"
X y X
WHEN Wang Foo laid the four
w cards out on the table the next
evening and started to examine them
uinutely. it didn't take his trained eye
very long to decide that they were.
one and all. the work OF the very same
person. and that the writer was not a
skillful penman. Recalling the inspec-
tors little pleasantly, who had named
them ace. king. queen and jack" he
marked them in this way for future
reference. He put a tiny "A" in the
corner Of the first. a ''B" in the corner
Of the second. and &C" and a ID" on
the third and fourth. respectively.
Thus he had four problems before
him, viz:
U Who dropped Mr.. Allston's card
in the street?
(0 Who placed the captains card In
| the empty hat?
81 Who sent the card in the mail
! to Lady CockriIl?
Evening star., 1921-03-06
When the Bit of Land
In the Potomac Was
Mortgaged to the
Branch Bank of the
United States-Will
of John c carter.
Lack of Information
on Certain Points
About the Island.
An Old Book.

ME history Of Analostan Island
has been traced by the Rambler
from the grant to Capt. Ran
aelai, REardt in 1870. through