Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-08-09
OHeA .ssMsc- 'uc.Aqgs

This unusual series Of stories
deals with the exploits of Chinese
Pennington, a detective SEN by his
government to British North Bornec
to run to earth The Yellow Seven
a gang of Chinese bandits.
James Varney's bungalow was a
landmark. 1t stood on the summit
of a hill at the foot of which the
turbid Tembakut riyer-sweepina
from some mysterious point of origin
in the Borneo hinterland-swerved
abruptly and, leaving in its wake a
muddy delta infested with croeo-
diles, continued its onward curse TO
the sea.
Varney knew that river and had
charted 1t as accurately as it was
possible to chart anything in the
slesser-known regions of a perplexing
Orient. He understood the habits
and customs of the Dyak villagers
whose dwellings clustered along the
paIm-girt banks. 1t was possibly for
these reasons that a discriminating
syndicate in London-that exploited
the cocoanut from its outer husk to
the oil that lurked beneath its hard
exterior-had seen fit to entrust him
with their interests.
Varney was thirty-seyen; He was
short, moreover, and stockily built,
with a rugged, kindly countenanee
upon which the tropical sun had
set its unmistakable sign and super
%scription. He had a dog-a sham
bling, friendly animal OF unknown
breed-an extensive library of faded.
~cloth-bound books, and a marked
preference for Dutch tobacco. Var
ney-who despised all other forms
of personal adornment-had from
time to time solicited the aid of the
most skilled tatooer on the island
n Zara-Khan-and, excepting for
a space the size of a dinner-plate on
his broad chest with a corresponding
vacancy between his shoulders, his
body was covered with the grim
masterpieces of Zara-Khana
Before the cyclone came, Varney
had been worrying over those two
blank spaces. Zara-Kahn-a tall,
slim, brown-skinned scoundrel. with
an in~gratiating smile. a gaudy tur-
ban, and a suit Of white duck-had
looked in on one of his periodical
visits to Varney's area. He had
passed on to a neighboring rubber
estate, hoping on the return journey
to and his lucrative client less ex-
ercised in mind. Coming swiftly on
the heels of a perfect tropic after
noon, the storm-dend had spread its
cloak over the entire
1t seemed hat nothing short of a
miracle could have spared Varney's
house; but, as luck would have i,
the frenzy of the gale had merely
lifted the sage-thatch until it stood
on end. allowing the ensuing deluge
to pour in; had deposited Varney's
dog in the river a couple of hundred
yards away, and left the crockery in
he bungalow intact. The more
sheltered buildings-offices, clerks
quarters, store-houses, ,dnd the like,
had crumpled like Rpaek of cards.
: Chapgs~the doc had crawled
BACK TO eAe~veranda and crouched in
q corner over a chunk of raw meat
pillaged from a ruined store. Var
ney, returned from a preliminary
investigation of damage. was greet
ing the imminent fall of darkness
through a tumbler of amber fluid
wherein countless silver bubbles
scurried merrily upward. a half
dazed Chinese boy-bare to the waist
underworld from a complete pack
ct of matches to discover one tina
would serve to ignite the wick of
the oil-lamp. Something sputtered
feebly, then lept into flame and the
servant gave a grunt of satisfaction.
The Chinaman shuffled beyond the
of the lamp; the dog growled
with sudden ~ierceness and bounded
the entrance, where the ira
der intercepted it skilfully-and, a
If tossed by an Unseen hand over
the veranda-rail, a piece of paste
board fluttered through the crowd
of humming insects that encircled
the lamp and came to rest on the
sodden boards almost at Varney's
feet.
Varney raised his voice.
'tChong-Hee! Come here! Go
down and see who's prowling around
outside"
He stopped and picked up the
card. 1t was as long as his middle
finger-a narrow, flexible thing with
rounded He turned it over
curiously between his fingers-then
back in Mortified amazement.
1.-THE yellow Seveni"
A second later he was turning over