Evening star., 1921-01-23


Saw dik-' cried the hotel boy who
was acting az guide to the party OF
three Americans-C'To the Dutch
Asiatic Bank! To the Dutch -Asiatic
Bank! Hurry up! Hurry up!) The
coolies increased their already rapid
pace and in a very few moments more
deposited their burdens at the gate
way Of a NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. building,
from the flagstaff Of which fioated the
tri-colored flag of the Netne rlanos.
~All three piecee man can Waitee ms
side little time" said DR.. Wlliams oi
the China Navigation Companys med
ical staff, quite ready to exhibit ms
knowledge of pidgin- English to the
later arrivals, and. turning TO the lady
and gentleman who accompanied MN;
added: Here Her d,s,tds WE are; the n9~ snoilss WI"
They passed up the steps and an
tered the bank. where the assistant
compradore COR native casnler) re-
ceived them at the counter ana TOOK
their cards into the mana gers ONCE
i.That looks all right, doesn't 1t said
the surgeon as he pointed Significant
ly to a handsomely framed notice on
The inner desk
TICKETS
of the
Royal Dutch Lottery OF BATAVIA
cashed here.
.Now the only question is. shall we
take it in sovereigns or bank notes or
silver? Let me see-slO.000 dlvidea
among three. that makes about s3,Sa3
apiece, with little extra change
thrown in. doesn't lit
Olivia Spencer, who, with her brother
Jack, formed the remainder OF the
trio, land 1 congratulate you on the
excellence of your mathemaucs.
notes and half in gold-you know l
lust love the sight and feel OF Eoid'
/ can't help it, 1 caught it in Cali
fornia-but none of those aw1ui cnop
dollars for me. if you please. why.
IL would take an extra jinrikisha 10
carry the load. and then the very
thought of all the people that have
been handling them is enough to give
YOU the creeps. anyway.
And you, Jack? what snail we say
for you?"
want to have that old-fashioned
American feeling of fat roll In
my pocket, you know
11ARRY wAGENPOOL. the genial
IL Dutch manager. appeared at this
moment and greeted his customers
with real East Indian courtesy. FIRST
of all, ladies and gentlemen" he said.
knocking the ashes from his Sumatra
cigar, Il want to extend to you my
hearty concentrations on winning
TIE third prize, and to assure you that
the directors of the Royal Lottery
will be especially pleased to know
that it has gone to q group OF Amer
leans We are anxious TO nave ou.
institution better known in your par.
of the world. where" he smiled
broadly as he spoke the words. 9!
believe there still fingers little OF
the old fashioned prejudice against
raising a governments income by
these means. Please step into the
inner office and we will call the head
compradore at once" When all were
seated he touched a bell. and the long
gowned Celestial Immediately re-
sponded. "Talkee Compradore come
This side Just now!" The vision bow
ed and vanished as silently as ne
You have the ticket with you. Of
soh. yes,v answered Miss Spencer
promptly. its right here in my little
@And the number is-w
''Thirty-six thousand and one AND
here il the special telegram from Ba-
tavia. which reached US before the
papers ,s, ,sosn1nS announced fhe lppsh3 HPq"0ers
Quite right. quite right. and the
third grand prize is yours" Then. ad,
dressing the native cashier who hao
just entered in answer to the sum
mons: "Compradore. please cash this
order for ten thousand dollars ior the
visitors"
"Velly. good" bowed the corpulent
Ching Pow, "wantchee all notee!
sS%s $. :: soldee' some s'''''sr' how fash
"Oh, only about a hundred dollars In
silver" spoke up pr. Williams, the
rest in notes and then'-pointng sig
nifcantly toward the vault behind the
glass partition-"you might give US
three Of those nice little Dags OF new
sovereigns you always keep in there for
your special friends"
Ching Pow withdrew to the inner
sanctum. where his brother Celestlals
were chinking the coin. He was gone
hut an instant when he rushed back
with a look Of surprise and anxiety
on his usual placid countenance. ana
startled the manager and mis- guests
with the exclamation: dis ticket MIN
no good, my have pay dis money one
piecee Chineyman dis morning: S,posee
some man he hab makee stealee.
What on earth do you mean:
cried Mr. wagenpool. rising from his
seat and snatching the ticket ana
order from the oompradore's hand.
number? Go back there and get me
the other ticket at once! Then, calm
ing himself, he turned to the party:
There may have been some serious
mistake here on the part OF the
native staff-although they are al
ways overparticular with their GUS
tomers-but We will have 1t cor
reoted at once"
why. what can II possibly be- ex-
claimed the lady; there certainly are
no duplicate tickets and these people
with all their cunning ingenuity. are
surely not able to forge one?'
Ching Pow reappeared with a book
and two pieces of paper, which he
laid on the aStonished managers
desk. Sure enough. There was the
unmistakable evidence before them:
ticket number thirty-six thousand and
counter fully three hours before; the
cash had been duly paid to the holder.
Ting Sang and the bird and the prey
had vanished together!
my friends said Herr Wagcnpool.
after he and his customers had ex-
amined the papers. Il am bound to
confess that we are the victims of a
very clever forg1y-the very first in
all my experience here-we will sum-
mon the police department at once"
"A pretty serious AFFAIR. this" re-
marked DIR. Williams. as the party
rose to take their departure. And
who. may / ask. has to bear the loss
in the case. We or the Royal Dutch
Lottery? That's the all-important
question for u.s.
Ny the consul when the police make
faeir report. The bank can pay only
Afe ticket and the evidence must de-
toFmine which is the genuine one
and which IL the forgery"
"And are We to leave our ticket with