Evening star., 1925-03-08

had refused to give up the woman.
Her husband and his family had fol
lowed Number One down across the
Yangtze Kiang, and -
Number Two would say no more
WheE he had falteringly told me this
tale he implored me not to divulge
any of the information to a soul !
promised.
THE week end passed. my leg still
afiame, and on the Monday morn
ing following thought il was Sun
day, and somehow was a day out OF
my reckoning rode out to the scene
of the murder. The battered door
was there. the ropes that had bound
the unfortunate fellow were there,
and in the gutter l noticed a human
skull, but the body had been inferred
to make up the number of 267 ap-
pearing in my dirty little notebook.
A few evenings later I was called
to the telephone.
Hello, hello. Are you coming to
see me off tonight" was all l heard
who are you?" I asked.
who am /? Oh, / am 1T Is Not
Necessary for You to Know Whom
1 think you had better come down 10
Tuckwo-9 o'clock. Righto. Ill see
you at Sat the Tuckwo at 81
And then the fellow rang off. So |
tumbled intC~~a rickshaw and went
along to the Bund, lettering near the
wharf until 8 o'clock, when suddenly
hand was placed upon my shoulder
and well dressed Chinese spoke TO
me.
Don't be alarmed" he said smfl
ingly. Il have wished to see you for
some time. 1t is not necessary for
you TO know who ] am. All want to
do is to deliver a letter to you. Here
it is. Goodbye, and the best of luck
l watched him down the gangway,
hoping that he would turn when he
approached the brilliant lights of the
steamer and that / should see his
face. He did not turn, however. So
far as | knew, l had never set eyes
on this individual in my life The
long letter that he handed me, writ
ten in Chinese. showed that he knew
all about me and my ways OF living,
and in it I was told to hold my tongue
The message was written three times
to impress me with its Importance. l
smiled to myself. but at my feet there
fell from the envelope a small folded
sheet, addressed to me. which, when
opened, l saw contained this Chinese
proverb, meaning that no matter how
strong my desire might be to report
the affair 1t would not pay me TO do
So
Before fathers and mothers, uncles
and aunts. itch as ye may, ye must
| not dare to scratch"
i \ = 4
WEARS passed. Last Spring, back
in Shanghai, l was in my private
office when l was handed a card This
bore the name OF one of the high off,
cials of the Chinese Government.
hny,
the smile of the hybrid-he was the
| hybrid.
| ~ es." he said when he had talked
the thing over. since l saw you last
you and l have had a good deal of
! correspondence. But / was the man.
1t was my. wife whom your Number
| One had stolen, and as | love her dearly
determined that / would not only
recapture her, but that ] would get
Number One. I simply had TO get
him, and could think of nothing else
| Il therefore became coolie to your
cook for three weeks to get TO know
your habits. 1t was | who waited on
your table when your boy was sick
1t was l who then arranged that the
| fellow ! was after should be put in
| charge of your gang. Your Number
Two Che is secretary of foreign af-
fairs now at -) was employed by
me.
| 1T was l who was responsible for
! the lan1ing of your pony. II was I
| who arranged with your boy that
| he should doctor your drink, for you
| slept practically 36 hours without
| moving. The person who handed YOU
the letter at the boat on the Hankow
| Bund was none other than myself 1
was also one of your burying coolies
for three days, but neither you nor
| the Number One knew anything about
| 1t. Ha. ha, ha! But l simply had TO
| get him."
| / was nonplussed.
| But you don't mean to say"
| Yes, ! do mean TO say that I was
also the man who saved your life, for
| in the first arrangements made it.was
In the cards that you should be got
! rid of at the same time, for dead men
| tell no tales, But you treated the
Chinese so decently that put my foot
| down.
Anyhow, I have my wife now. I
saved half the ransom money. and the
scoundrel who ran off with her is now
out of sight. ] question whether any
| one else will try to steal from me
again the woman / love-for that's
the way we Chinese do things in
China, you know"
And the German?" 1 asked.
| "Oh, poor old Fritz! He was shot
in the war in France. He married
| my eldest sister when we were study
| ing together in Germany, years be-
fore
Copyright 1921