San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-23
The Yellow Seven
THE BOX TRICK
Copyright, 1928, NEA Service BY EDMUND SMELL
By EDMUND SMELL

males. 1t was perfectly natural
therefore, that Monica Vine.. ut suci
times when lrr brother was occu
pied with his affairs, was rarely at O
loss for cavalier to accompany her
on her habitual excursions in search
of knowledge, after the sun was down
At these times, however, Pennington
was never available. He came and
went and yet she had never witnessed
either his arrival or departure.
1t was during one of those even
ing walks that she persuaded Dawson
"A local district officer-to talac her
to gambling den.
They chad been strolling leisurely
through the native quarter, stopping
at innumrsable stores and purchas-
| ing an inordinate quantity of perfect
ly useless articles. They halted pres
emily before q long building from
which. Mt intervals, came bursts of gut
tural chattering. At one end door
stood half-open, patch of yellow light
falling on the roadway.
She caught his arm impulsively and
tried to drag him toward the entrance,
but Dawson. cautious and immovable
as granite. waited until there was n
lull in the stream of devOtees. He
guided her through the doorway and
into a narrow cubicle screened from
the entrance hall by heavy curtain.
An elderly Chinaman, hump-backed
and wizened, left the stool on which
he had been seated, nodded to Daw-
son and went out. Her escort placed
the stool in front of narrow slit cut
in the woodwork.
Monica peered cautiously through.
There was long table running the
whole length of the hall. a round dozen
of smaller ones, and the entire walls
seemed to be covered with crudely-col-
Ored pictures without frames. The
whole-atmosphere throbbed with fever
ish activity, the rafting of dice, and
spasmodic, inarticulate grunts that
she could not decide whether intend
ed for sicns of pleasure or despair.
There were clerks in white duck, ma
tive Oversecrs in grrasy suits, coolies
with broad-brimmed hats of plated
cane and wearing only loin-cloths.
A Chinaman. wearing enormous
horn-rimmed spectacles, sat at the
far end of big table before what
appeared to be the inverted halves of |
cocoanut shells. Whenever these |,
were lifted, there arose a repetition
of the discordant babel she had |
heard as they approached. All along |
both sides, orientals of every class |
and distinction thronged the rocking
forms. Every now and then man
rose, seemingly emotionless, and |
left the table.
Monica, the novelty of this
strange scene holding her en-
thralled. allowed her gaze TO wander
round the room. Presently it fell |
upon the form OF an oriental in n
suit, of greasy blue whose face
seer:ed peculiarly familiar. Every
time q player from the top vacated
his seat, this enthusiastic gambler
moved into it. in this manner getting
gradually nearer to the man with the
horn trimmed spcctacles who mani
pulated the shells. Presently he
looked up at the swinging oil lamp
and Monica uttered little cry. In
spite of the elaborate disguise. there
was something in the set Of the mo-
bile mouth. something in the poise of
the shoulders that betrayed him.
She found her lips forming the words
-"Chinese Pennington"
A moment later and he had
reached the apparent zenith of his
desire. His elbow touched the
sleeve OF the man who presided. but
his eyes were staring straight before
Elm at an enormous Chinaman who
sat opposite, both hands resting on
the table, the fingers slightly closed
For come reason that she could
not quite define, a mental picture be-
gan forming in her mind: a picture
that the vividness of Pennington's
description had impressed on her
She saw n glade in the
night-shrouded jungle wastes,
huddled form with a long knife pro-
truding from between hunched-up
shoulder blades-and she who sees
in the dark" struggling for dear life
in the matted underground.
Her vivid Imagination had. already
established the identity of the man
who now faced the hero Of her ro-
nance. Behind her she heard Daw-
son strike match and puff strenu-
ously at his pipe. And then, through
the nebulous smoke-haze. the three
principal figures at the top end of
the long table stood out in bold re- !