Evening star., 1921-12-25

below Chengtu. He was Yankee.
palpable Yankee, long and loose
jointed and earnest, with a twinkle
lurking in his eye which bespoke
many unguessed possibilities in that
fertile brain of his.
Toptit was on a dangerous errand
He was undoubtedly being trailed by
yellow skinned hands, and he had
half-healed knife wound under his
left arm But all he thought of as he
gazed. over this historic plain, over
the sweet tree-lined river, with its
gorgeous pleasure craft and its
crowded trading junks. was of suit
able rhyme for "Chengtu." Need
less to add, he found none.
Toptit was a poet-> You shall not
be bored with examples of his art.
Suffice it to say that he made known
everywhere that he was poet. This
was good for business, and he was in
China on business only, and was con-
Quoting 1t along original lines. Chi
nese gentlemen have no particular re-
gard for dealers and agents who seek
antiques old rugs. or fake Han
UTOHZeS, Dul tueS nave di
respect for poets. whose nature they
understand thoroughly. Toptit was
in the enviable position of making
poetry pay.
At the present moment Toptit was
travelling down-river in search of
certain object taken from the grave
of Ling til, an emperor of the Eastern
dun StI
partner, Jim Hanecy, back in Cheng
tu, and was wandering forth on his
own.
wv dering" is the correct word.
He WIS seeking the floating home of
a river pawnbroker and pirate by the
name of kang Ho, who was in pos
session of a tiger hilt. Toptit had no
idea what this tiger hilt was: he was
operating on purely verbal informa-
ton. Whatever it was. he wanted it.
AS an authentic possession of the En-
peror Ling Tt 1t was worth fortune
to any collector
* i x
TITS boatmen. who were quite reli-
= able. would locate the craft of
NdHS no dHu put MIN oi oo<'l u. -hASSt
that his fate was in his own hands.
"At the best my fate is none too
good. Business isn't what it used to
be-" reflected Toptitt with sigh. after
failing to find any rhyme for Cheng-
tu "The interior decorators back
home have educated the public up to
relish being faxed. The real stuff is
going out of fashion. Fortunately, we
always have markets with museums
and collectors. | hope this kang Ho
clap will appreciate poetry. l must
have an ode to the river all ready to
paralyZe him with"
He set to work translating his
verses into the local dialect, which,
luckily, required no rhymes at all.
Toptit ignored the fact that agents
of a rival dealer were after the tiger
hilt; he also ignored the fact that the
mandarin of the province was after
1t for himself. and after Toptit as
we'll. Little things like these did not
worry Toptit at all
About fifteen miles down the river
from Chengtu his boatmen located
kang Ho.
The trading junks, after the usual
river custom, were all huddled to-
gether, irrespective of the fact that
the river was wide. Pleasure craft
darted about here and there. Gentry
of uncertain business. like kang Ho,
went anywhere their houseboats could
dnd enough water.
1t was not hard to locate kang Ho;
It would have been hard not to locate
him. His craft was a huge house
boat, almost floating fortress. 1t
lay by itself near little promontory.
Alongside it lay the official revenue
cutter of the mandarin. Above the
two craft hung haze of black pow
der smoke, and muskets were bang
ing gayly. AS Toptt's little barge
drew near two revenue men were
flung from the deck of the houseboat
and the official cutter withdrew.
Toptit gazed curiously at the gi-
gantic figure of kang Ho, firing
musket after his late assailants. The
riverman was a huge ruffian, nearly
seven feet tall, and built in propor-
tion. What his face lacked in refine
ment it made up in force. Observing
the approaching barge, Kang Ho bel
lowed to his men-a choice lot of
scoundrels-and prepared to repel
boarders anew. Toptit's head boat
man hesitated and came to him for
orders.
Go ahead" said Toptit with a
smile.
Kang Ho regarded the foreign devil
with a scowling suspicion. Ten feet
from the floating fortress Toptit or
dered his rowers to back water. He
stood in the bow of his craft and
started to paralyze kang Ho with his
river ode, which he recited fuently.
x x X
voU must not think Toptit crazy.
L Quite the contrary! kang Ho
learned great deal from that ode,
which Toptit had composed with cum
ming skill.
He learned that his foreign devil
was a poet, spoke the dialect fairly
we'll. and was under the ban of the
law besides. A powerful appeal in
this last.
The humor of it struck Kang Ho.
The Chinese, and particularly the
lower classes, have a strong and
rather Rabelaisian sense of humor.
Perceiyfng there was nothing to fear
from this foreign devil, feeling quite
satisfied with his own recent exploit,
and entertaining that fatal sense of