Evening star., 1923-09-09

raid the villages of the other Filipinos
in search of slaves and loot. Even
the Spaniards. although they built the
walled town, seldom ventured be.
yond its walls, and never completely
subjugated the pirates.
The Moros. who thronged the city,
were strong, agile men. rather short,
but well built. Nowhere in the whole
Icolorful orient had I seen such a
blaze of color for even the lowliest
f1shmonger in the marketplace was
apt to be dressed in bright green
trousers lined with silver buttons,
and perhaps in a purple jacket. with
a brilliant handkerchief tied in
turban fashion about his head and
blazing scarlet sash about his waist.
From each sash protruded the shin
ing steel blade OF a bolo, and there
was something in the demeanor of
these Moros which suggested that
they might not hesitate long about
using the weapon II a stranger pro-
voked them.
When we had passed through the
city to the wall. the old-timer stopped
US.
"If you 60 outside the town." he
said. you go at your own risk"
II have my automatic" objected a
fellow passenger. an English major.
"Then don't go. A Moro can slice
your head of before you can draw a
gun--and II he sees the gun and
wants 1t, he's more likely 10 do It."
l had planned to point out to my
English companions the superiority
of American rule in the Philippines
to that of the British in Borneo, but
this information put slight damper
upon my intentions.
Through the moonlit tropic night
the Selangor steamed northward amid
another fairyland OF atolls. In Bor--
neo, which was operated by a COM
pany for profit and not for progress,
scarcely a lighthouse had graoed the
dangerous coast: here in the Philip
ernment as a philanthropic hobby, a
light cleaned from every rock. =.
| 1 was entering the Philippines
through the back door. but II was the
most attractive entrance, for Zam-
boanga, where the Selangor dropped
me the following morning. was the
garden spot of the entire archipelago,
If not the entire orient.
I might have spent an enjoyable
twenty or thirty years in such a place
as Zamboanga, but the poet had to
lasted, and after a couple of days
an interisland steamer-an aged relic
of the Spanish days-carried me
northward toward Manila, rambling
upon the way among the many
strange islands that compose the
Philippine archipelago.
Manila might be described as
Spanish h-Asiatic- c-American.
| n \ n
WHAT impressed me most in
| w Manila, however, was the dem
ocratic relationship between Amer
| leans and natives.
In the British colonies an Eng
lishman would give but a curt order
| to his waiter; in the Philippines the
American was inclined to drop into
his seat with friendly greeting OF
Hello, Juan, how's every little thing
4 today?'
s! AS a result, the Filipino had little
of that respect for the Americans
which the others Asiatics had for
their European rulers. The American
Is not designed by nature to COM
mand native respect. II his manners
are not too familiar, they are too
brusque. He lacks that superior
| aloofness which makes the English
man a little tin god.
And gtilI, I like the Filipino.
think also that while he respects us
! less. he probably likes US a little
more than the natives OF the Eu-
ropean colonies like their rulers
In Manila I found no trace OF the
poet.
Evidently he had mot disembarked
In the Philippines. but had continued
| to China or Japan. AS I had ex-
i ,hausted the funds saved at Kwong
| Bees resort, 1t appeared that 1 must
bring my narrative to a thrilling
| conclusion by swimming northward
from port to port through shark in
| tested waters to capture him in the
final chapter.
| I did nothing of the kind. A much
forwarded letter overtoolS me in
Manila, bringing a check from a
magazine editor at home. 1t was not
| q fortune, but IL raised me tenn
porarily to the status of tourist
and 1 completely ruined the thrilling
conclusion by embarking in ordinary
passenger style for Yokohama 1t
| seemed useless to hunt that poet
| throughout all the main cities OF tho
orient, but such was Smy intention.
I was determined to catch him in the
last chapter.
! Early one morning the steamer
crept into the harbor OF Yokohama.
y y ~
IAIE1THER in Yokohama nor in
IN TOXIC could find any trace of
the poet, although I consulted news
paper files. hotel registers. steam
ship records and police reports
I must start back toward China.
seeking him at the other ports.
hunted the poet from city to city
throughout Japan. from Yokohama to
| Kobe, but he was not to be found.
Evidently he was somewhere in
China, perhaps In his original stamp
Ing ground at Shanghai. and while
my new funds held out 1 caught a
steamer westward.
Our steamers course led through
the Inland sea Of japan. 1t was 800
miles In length, but It's width varied
from three TO thirty miles. and since
1t is this sea which has been the in
aniration Of the Lananasa Gardeners