The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-08-03
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deals with the exploits of D"Chinese
Pennington, a detective sent by his
government: TO British North Borneo
to run to earth The Yellow Seven,
| gang of Chinese bandits.
The man with the iron-gray hair
who was writing at !, table under
the swinging oil lamp, looked up and
his eye fell upon the figure of tall
Chinaman who had come noiselessly
to the top Of the steps that led to
the veranda. The intruder was as
dark-skinned as a Dyak, and an ugly
scar ran the whole length of one
cheek. Hyde, glaring at him, classed
him as a member of ore of those
many tribes of fisher-folk created
by fusion of Oriental and Dusun
blood.
He pushed back his chair and con-
frOnted the newcomer.
"Well?" he demanded in fluent
Malay. "What the devil d'you
want?"
The scarecrow's features puckered
into grin.
"As matter of fact, HYDE" he
drawled in good English, T'm in
need of many things. I'm deuced
hungry, for one; my throat's a good
deal drier than l like 1T to be, and
I'd be grateful for a decent suit of
whites!"
The planter scratched his head.
"What the! Who are YOU. any,
Iway?'
Pennington" said the Other
humbly. "Peter Pennington, COM
monty referred to as Chinese Pen
nington."
"Good Lord!" lie scrutinized the
younger mans features. Presently
he extended hand and Pennington
gripped it hard.
A quartersof-an-hour, later both
men sat facing one another, a glass
resting in the aperture made in the
arm of each chair for that purpose.
AS the man with the gray hair looked
across at his guest, he could not re-
frain from wondering at the COM
pleteness of the Transformation. The
swarthy complexion, scar, every
thing was. gone except the one great
asset that made Chinese Pennington
the most dreaded of all detectives in
Borneo-that strange, unaccountable
set of the eyes that made him look
as If his origin had been partly Chi
nese.
there's a hundred-and-o one ques-
tions on the tip of my tongue" he
said, shifting cigar to the corner
of his mouth. What's puzzling me
most, suppose, is the motive that's
brought You here::"
"Chai-Hung!"
The planter almost jumped from
his chair. s.
"But, man alive, / had a chit from
the Commissioner, ages ago, saying
that Chai-Hung was dead!" ,gi,,n- !.
Pennington smiled blandly.
Eve .all thought so-once; but
that was before we realized the Pc
culiar properties of the man with
whom we had to deal. You remem-
Der the Yellow Seven scare, when no
WATERMAN dared 60 out alone, when
we all began digging out firearms,
the very existence of which we'd
forgotten? That was Mr.. Chai-Hune.
He'd organized practically the entire
Chinese population and score of
times / thought I'd run him to
earth, only to discover that the in
herent cunning to his race had sue
ceeded in finding loophole in the
wall I'd built round him."
The planter emptied his glass.
that's all wonderfully interest
ing" he said slowly, "but l still don't
see" 50
why ! chose to invade your
bungalow like a thief in the night,
en-? am on game Of hare and
hounds-a form Of paper-chase that
a schoolboy might be beguiled into!
Only the scent isn't laid in bits of
torn paper-it's blazed-positively
blazed--in Japanese fans"
"Fans?"
Sounds idiotic, doesn't it?-but
it's true enough. The trail led me
here--and then stopped abruptly"
what are they like-these fans e
"Just ordinary affairs-a = flimsy
frame and handle of polished cane
with some sort Of light material
stretched across-and picture on it.
Hyde smiled.
Nothing very wonderful in that"
he grunted. "I've dozen or so. of
'em myself"
II daresay you have. Everybody
buys them--and that's precisely
where the cunning Of the scheme
comes in. Chai-Hung's up against
whites, particularly those who are. in
position OF influence. He knows
most women are superstitious and,
in this instance, his energies are di-
rected in hitting at us through our
womenfolk. A woman wants a fan.
The shopman displays his usual Sc
lection and then, awaiting an OPP
portunity when nobody's looking,
produces one Of the other sort, en-
cased in silk cover. This, it trans
pires, is not for sale. He wishes that
the lady will accept it as q gift. He
pitches plausible yarn about special
occult powers. that are supposed to
be associated with It. All that is re-
quired is for the lady to, look at it
intently every night. She must not
show it to anybody, or even talk
about it, for, in so doing, its proper
ties are lost"
Hyde rose and perchsd himself on
the edge. Of the table.
"Well," he interjected, "and what
do they sect" ,.f
Pennington waved both hands
helplessly in the air.
what d'you make Of it," asked
the planter. s4,
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