Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-03-05

4 Ten years. said Hanson very
huskily. what happened to me?"
| you got it," said the mate morose
| ly. you've been bleedin' we'll arsk-
in for it,, amt you? Ten years
huh! A cooiie fetched you aboard
with your cad stove in; that's wotw
Automatically. by sheer habit, the
hand of Hanson went to his belt
and dropped.
/ Huh" assented the mate glumly.
"They got it. all right! It's gone"
A sudden smile broke out in the
face of John Hanson-a smile such
as the old mate had never seen there
| before. glorious and splendid smile.
Get me a boat" said the skipper.
his voice gaining strength. I'm
going across the river"
| mo, you amt" cried the mate.
alarmed. You're off your ruddy
cad, that's wot! And you amt
shaved. Gray airs stickin' out all
/, over your chin"
Hanson made a violent effort. He
swung up. rocked to his feet, stood
unsteadly.
"Confound you-go get me boat"
| Listen ere" pleaded the mate.
! Let me 'teni to it, sir! You amt
in no shape to go after that ere
bleedin' money"
| Damn the money" roared John
Hanson, 30 that his voice shook the
! cabin. He laughed exultantly as he
| swayed there. Damn the money!
Get me a boat, or I'll show you who's
master Of this hooker"
| So John Hanson. gray hairs and
| all, went across the river to find
! the woman he had met and lost ten
years since. And with the next night
| the Nimrod had gone her way.
TT was three nights later that the
L English and American Bar wit
| messed a peculiar scene.
Two men, who had spent the past
| day at tho Samson gambling house.
| and who had won huge sums there,
| left their boat and lurched arm in
| arm up to Lee lungs place. They
were both half drunk. and exuded
koln, the other Houtman.
They came in as though they
owned the place, scattering largesse
rrofusely. To the general surprise
and astopishment. Lee Hung himself
met them and graoiously conducted
! them to a private room.
These two men were vociferous in
stating what they wanted. One thing
they desired was a girl with red
cheeks, a girl who smiled. Lee
Hung informed them, deprecatingly,
that Zomy Sal had gone away She
had gone to Singapore with friends,
and was not coming back.
Now, just what took place in this
private room is mystery. And it is
not wise to speculate in public upon
ANYTHING that Lee Hung wishes to re-
main a mystery.
In any event. upon the following
dawn Houtman- and Koln were put
aboard their own ship by a coolie
boatman. They were stripped naked
and were drunken drugged. How
ever, their captain was delighted to
see them, since he was leaving with
the tide. And SO they pass out of the
story.
! About the time Houtman and koln
| were leaving Bangkok, the estimable
| Lee Hung was mailing two letters.
/ One of these, containing an extreme
" large draft on the Hongkong and
Shanghai Bank, was addressed to
Mrs. John Hanson, care the Straits
Company. Singapore.
The other letter was opened on the
| following day by one Ben Almond.
He opened it with establishment and
suspicion. His establishment became
stupefaction when he found a Bank
of England note for s100. and a brief
scrawl: From Captain Hanson. For
services rendered"
Almond turned the note over and
over, read the scrawl again, scratched
his head.
| Well" he observed, I'm damned!
Never could understand that fellow
What a magnificently tragic and
, horrible story could be made out of
all this by the genius of Theodore
BruntE Yet there is one bet that
Rrunt has overlooked. 1t is found in
the first verse of the fourteenth
Psalm.
Copyright, 1927