The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-08-01
:1NG yEGl0W SEVEN:
y The Bronze Jar c.
BY Edmund Smell,

Chai-Hung, paid to do his bidding. 1t
il to further carry out his wishes
that / have come to you tonight.
There is n boat leaving for Singa-
pore tomorrow, tuan, and it is de-
sired that the remains of my late
master should be conveyed in it to
the tomb of his ancestors"
The Commissioner gasped. y
1.-THE remains of Chat Hung?" ne
echoed.
yah, tuan."
"Where are they?"
"There, tuan." He pointed long
finger-nail toward the garden, indl-
eating the case Hewitt had already
seen. n
The Commissioner drummed on
the woodwork of the table with the
tips of his fingers. He found it diff
cult to reconcile the enormous figure
of the Chinese bandit when alive
with the ridiculous box that was sup
posed to contain all that was left of
him when dead!
"How do you mean-there he
demanded presently. what does
that case contain?"
1T contains a bronze jar" said
Lien-Yin calmly, land in the jar alc
the ashes of Chai-Hung."
Hewitt sprang to his feet and be-
gan pacing the veranda.
what nonsense is this?" he
jerked out over his shoulder "Since
when have you commenced burning
your dead?"
For the first time yLien-Yin smiled.
His evil, pock-marked, face .puckered
up into innumerable wrinkles, and
he CROPPED in the depths of volumi-
nous sleeve. He produced a yellow
document, wound on rod of black
wood with tassels of red silk at either
end.
"These are the last wishes of the
great ChaiHung," he said.
State them briefly" commanded
Hewitt.
"That, because I have lived both
in the West and in the East and havs
seen customs that are bad and some
that are good. I would wish my body
to be disposed of in a manner that I
believe to be good. That, in the
event of my death in. any place out
side China. my body shall be burnt
and the ashes placed in an urn made
by my people and suitably inscribed,
and shall be transported with as lit.
tie delay as possible to the home OF
my ancestors"
II see," broke in the Commission
er taking the scroll from his hand.
you will come to me ip the morn
ing. Lien-Yin, for my decision. In the
! meantime both this and the package
must remain here. Do you under
stand"
The Chinaman appeared to hest
tate.
"They are the ashes of the Dead"
he reminded the Commissioner.
Precisely" agreed Hewitt. "But
you forget, Mr.. Lien-Yin, that / still
hold a warrant for the arrest of
Chai-Hung-dead or alive!"
He stuck the thing on the top of
the safe in his office.
| Captain John Hewitt had long ago
/ given up collecting curios, and yet
this great bronze jar fascinated him.
If indeed the ashes of the great Chat
Hung repOsed within. his own trou-
bles were at an end, Pennington was
free to return to Singapore, and the
whole of the scattered white com.
munity of the island were at liberty
to retire TRANQUILITY to rest. More
over, it seemed as if within tho
funeral urn of Chai-Hung lay the
key to Monica's happiness.
He rose presently and, lifting the
jar from its perch, turned it round
and round in his hands. The thing
was masterpiece of Oriental crafte-
manship, and the lettering that he
had believed to be painted on the
bronze surface-was inlaid, q process
that must have taken years of pa
tient toll to accomplish. And yet
Chai-Hung had only been dead for
matter of days! He found himself
wondering what the inscription i'm
| piled, and wishing that Chinese Pen
ninHten-who could have speedily
enlightened him-had chosen any
other time but this to be away. For
some reason or other, he began to
feel dissatisfied with the way in
which the trophy had come. into his
| possession. It was perfectly. ma
tural sequence of events after all,
and perhaps it was that which wor-
ried him most.
Hewitt flicked the ash from his
| cigar. Turning abruptly, he saw
Monica standing in the doorway. She
was wearing thu same kimono as
when Pennington had surprised them
in the office, and the Siamese kitten
was tucked snugly under one arm. 1t
seemed to the Commissioner that she
was unusually pale and there were
dark lines under her eyes that he
not had noticed before.
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