Evening star., 1922-01-01

rival and very good enemy.
Benson.
Hanecy chuckled as his yellow
bearers swept along with his chair
and he recognized Benson in the chair
ahead. Bensons carriers were not
hurrying particularly.
He's been bullying the boys. has
he?" thought Hanecy. "Then I'll beat
him to 1t easily AS the two chairs
came along side. Hanecy leaned for
ward and spoke. Hello, Mr.. Ben
son! Going up to the Lao-tzu Tenn
pie. are you? Pleasant trip"
Benson, who was always deadly
smooth and who never lost his head.
looked at Hanecy with a viperish in
tensity.
'"The Same to you" he retorted
calmly. yet the words held a deep
fierceness. Hanecy only grinned and
waved his hand as his chair went into
the lead. He knew that Benson would
not dare shoot him in the back
before witnesses.
At the edge of the mountains which
eirdle the historic plain Of Cheng-tu
no three sides lay the Lao-tzu-miao.
a IcIup1C ucQiCdltu " IAdO-lLu,
founder of Taoism. Somewhere in
the vicinity of this temple lived a
man named Tung Ho. who had in his
possession some red amber taken
from the tomb Of the Emperor Ling
ii Of the eastern Han dynasty. Han
ecy knew little about it all, except
from verbal information. Whether
the amber was carved or whether
Tung Ho would sell it he did not
know.
Learning that Benson was setting
forth rather secretly, Hanecy had en-
gagged bearers and started. 1t was
enough that Benson was going, for
anything Benson went after in person
was bound to be unusual.
co scarce are the things of ancient
days now become in China, so
keen is the rivalry among dealers
and agents. that choice things are
noted down from afar and native col
lectors and their collections are listed
and known intimately. Hanecy had
the impression that this Tung Ho was
no collector, but some hillman who
would not know the value of the red
amber. He knew, too, that he might
be walking into some trap set by
Benson-the enmity between the two
men would cease only with death
but this possibility did not worry
Hanecy. 1t was enough for him that
Benson was also on the trail.
1t was the end Of the afternoon
when Hanecy came to the temple
This was not one Of the splendid and
wealthy Buddhist shrines which
abound through the mountains, but a
Taoist edifice built during the Sung
period. 1t was, of course. walled and
nearby had grown up e village Of
respectable proportions.
Hanecy observed that temple fair
was in progress fete or celebra-
tion to which all the mountain folk
had gathered, bringing goods for bar
ter or sale. There were many ped
dlers also in and about the village.
Hanecy went direct to the temple.
He had no baggage. Pistol, pipe and
tobacco and large amount of money
were enough to carry him anywhere.
Paying OF his bearers and bidding
them wait in the village until the
ttOEIO"y AC SulSICu LILO lSIHplS. nc
found himself greeted with the usual
courtesy. and one Of the many guest
rooms was assigned him.
His first inquiry was for Tung Ho
The priests informed him that Tung
Ho lived alone with brother, Tung
Fei, three miles distant in the hills !
1t was now too late to go there and |
return before dark. hence no guides |
could be obtained, for fear Of tigers. !
The mountain2folk stick close to home |
after nightfall. Hanecy perceived |
also from the manner Of his inform
ants that he would be unwise to try |
the trip alone. He concluded rightly |
that the two brothers did not have |
the best of regulations, and reluc- |
family decided to wait until morning. |
"Since I've beaten Benson to 1t, !,
might as well have tho pickings OF
the fair" he reflected.
Hastily cleaning up, he sauntered |
forth. To his qualification. he was
able to pick up a number of small |
objects-nothing Of any great impor-
tance-and he then. turned his atten- |
tion to a small canvas booth outside
the temple wall, where some sort Of
mountebank was holding forth. Han
ecy was attracted to it by the giggles
and squeals Of delight from the crowd !,
around the>booth.
He found the entertainment nothing |
wonderful. A peddler. evidently a
wandering Korean, sat and begged for
money. His display consisted of a
thin glass case, closed with wire at
the ends, in which were q number Of
small birds. The man wheezed at a
mouth-organ. talking between whiles.
"An the years of my life have
spent training these BIRDS" whined
the dirty Korean. Now, see, when I
play they will dance"
Sure enough, when the music be-
gan, the birds began to fiutter and
hop, since the thin glass cage was not
high enough to let them fly. The
crowd shrieked in ecstasy.
Hanecy's eyes grew a bit more
steely, He noted the mouth-organ
and saw that it was Of Japanese
make. He had little doubt that the
Korean was one of the many ped
dlers who were distributing morphia
throughout the country under jap
anese auspices.
Being red-headed, he was impulsive.
Being an American. he detested need
less cruelty to dumb things He
shouldefed his way to the forefront OF
tho crowd and without word Of ex-
PLANTATION produced his automatic pis-
toJ and with 1t smashed the thin glass