Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-01-08


covery of the ring, or one thousand
for information leading to it's recov-
ery-by me-"
At these agreeable words. the fur
marchant warmed up amazingly.
THAT is something like" he said
approvingly. 1.-The yamen offers re-
ward of fifty taels. Fifty taels for
the murderer of the first scholar in
China" Kiang spit disgustedly. 1T
is better to be a coolie and raise girl
children to sell down the river than
to be a scholar in this degenerate
age"
Further" said Hanecy, who, deep
inside Of him, was bitterly angered
by the brutal murder Of WI LANG.
1.-The dead man was my friend, and
his murder was due to the poor gov
eminent here. Therefore, will sub
scribe five thousand. silver, to your
guild on the day the mandarin Is re-
moved from office and another Chang
chun installed in his place" =
- -r5 .,.i:s ..s+X . III,
KIANG blinked delightedly. Il will
IL report all this to my tong breth-
ren," he said. and Hanecy knew that he
had managed to start something.
These things were before the day of
the Future Welfare Society and kim
dred organizations. Japanese inf1u-
ence was terribly strong at Peking,
and was just starting the morphia
traffic. The old statesmen of the en-
pire were still ruling the new repub-
lie. Graft and corruption were RAM
pant. The one strong power in all
China was that Of the tongs-the
huikuan, or clubs, and the kung-so.
or trade guilds. This power. once ex-
erted, was far-reaching and potent.
Hanecy began to have some hope
not much, but some.
At 8 o'clock that afternoon his hopes
went acknowledgement with a crash.
Hanecy was in an unsuSpicious
mood. His glow of virtuous wrath
against Benson had for the moment
dissipated his natural caution. At 3
o'clock he was on his way across
town, afoot, as was his custom. to the
temple where his partner lodged. He
was hoping to find that Toptit had
returned to the city.
In the Street of Ten Thousand Ex-
cellent Virtuess foul and narrow
lane that led toward the river, Hanecy
was abruptly aroused to danger. At
the street corner ahead appeared a
file of provincial soldiery from the
mandarin's yamen. A cry of foreign
devil" from behind drew his atten-
ton to other soldiers crowding in
from the rear. Trapped!
Jim Hanecy paused to ask no ques-
lions. Time enough for explanations
later! That one glance showed him
there was no avenue of escape. Char
acteristically, he made one for him
self. Putting his shoulder to the
nearest door. he burst it open and
vanished into the darkness.
Out In the Street Of Ten Thousand
Excellent Virtues arose wild turmoil,
confusion Of running soldiers, scream
ing town folk. A pious Mohammedan
who was on his way to the mosque
was stabbed by somebody. A relig-
ious riot followed promptly, and prom
inent in the affair were two minor
members of the kung-so. or guild, of
fur merchants. Presently the tumult
Quilted. The soldiers were not certain
where Hanecy had vanished, SO be-
gan a house-to-house search. Mean
time, the officer in charge Of the
party proclaimed that the foreign
devil had murdered the scholar. WI
LANG, according to evidence presented
at the yamen.
The search was made thorough, but
the foreign devil was not found.
A wealthy Chinese dwelling, facing
south for luck, roughly consists of
four buildings around courtyard.
Benson, who was installed as a
guest in the dwelling of the local
mandarin. occupied one of the hou-
fang. or back rooms. In this instance
the rear wall Of the dwelling backed
up against the grounds of small
temple, giving a very pleasant outlook
by day. Now it was evening. how
ever. Benson had closed the paper
shutters and lighted candles and had
brought forth q flask Of Scotch
whisky with which to regale the man
DARN in strict privacy.
The two men sat in the room, the
Chang-chun slipping his liquor appre-
ciatfvely, and discussed the situation.
There's no doubt that Hanecy muir
dered old w." said Benson firmly.
'T hate to think 1t. even though we
were not friends. but the evidence is
clear" -
Tho sleeh, fat features Of the pan-
DARN smiled in oily complacency3