Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1925-01-14
The Green Fan
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By CLARISSA MACKIE

L DEAR" smiled Helen's father sad
ly as he babe her open the sandalwood
box that always stood on his writing
desk. Besides the life insurance,
there Is the house and furniture. and
the contents of this box" His weak
fingers inserted small gold key in
the lock and raised the lid. Inside
was small oblong package wrapped
in many folds of tissue paper.
"Open it, dear"
Helen obeyed. The tissue paper re-
vealed at last small green fan Of
Chinese origin. Strange to say, only
half of the fan was there. 1t had
been carefully split through the cen
ter, leaving one carved ivory stick on
one end and cut paper on the other.
The green paper was covered with
small enameled figures that formed
lovely pictures. and there was much
fine gold writing in Chinese ideo-
graphs
what Is 1t, fatherY asked the girl,
more to please him than because she
was interested In the broken fan. She
was trying to keep up her courage in
the face Of the sorrow that was creep
ing toward her. Her father had been
stricken with an unusual malady and
the doctors had given him up. Helen
had hoped against hope. and wondered
If he had felt the end drawing nearer
and had been prompted to have this
last talk with her. "What Is the
meaning of the broken fan, father?'
she repeated
Years ago when l was In China l
had a partner named Kerwin. There
was in our employ a Chinaman who
robbed us shamelessly. He was
trusted man and had large sums of
our money at his disposal. He ap-
propriated the money and fed. 1t
about ruined us, and broke up our
| partnership. Just before l left China
missionary from some distant sta
ton called upon me and gave me the
, sandalwood box with the fan inside
| just as you have seen It. 1t seems
that our man Cheng had been con-
verified and was now Christian. He
had confessed his sin and had sent the
| broken fan to me, while another box
containing the other half Of the fan
had been sent to James Kerwin. The
| whole fan reveals the hiding place of
| the stolen money. and his Chinese
mind evolved the simple plan Of send
ing half of the torn fan to each
partner. Neither half is of any use
without the other"
do you know where Mr.. Kerwin
is, father?" asked Helen after while.
mo, my dear. l suspect he is dead.
| have sought him for years, because
| | wanted to renew our friendship, but
| he was fond of travelling and went
from place to place. l have not much
faith in the hiding place Of the treas
ure. That is why l call it sorry in
| heritance."
Months afterward, when the loss of
her father had become less poignant.
Helen came across the green fan.
sudden impulse prompted her to adj
vertise for the other half Of the fan.
1t must be somewhere.
| "WANTED-The other half of
torn green fan. Please com
municate with Fl. l.. Moore. 2. o.
/ Box 2OO9"
1t was one November Gay that
Helen received her first reply. 1t was
brief note, saying that the writer
owned such fan and would be glad
! to discuss the matter. The note was
signed, "Renjamin Kerwin."
A few days later Benjamin Kerwin
came to see her.
"Your father-is he living?" asked
! Helen.
He shook his head sadly. Before
he died he gave me the sandalwood
box and half of the fan and put
them away among my belongings
have not much faith in Chinese mys-
| teries," he told her.
did you bring the fan, Mr.. Ker-
| VIM" asked Helen.
"Oh, yes" and he drew a small par
eel from his pocket They fitted the
two pieces together and mended it
! with transparent gummed paper.
With the aid of Chinese student
who read the riddle of the fam the
way to the recovery of the treasure
was made very plain. The two young
people studied maps and routes for
many months before Mr.. Kerwin left
| on his next trip to China.
81 have been told that it is a dan
gerous country" objected Helen, who
was dying to go along on the trip for
the romance appealed to her inherited
! love of adventuring.
II am accustomed to going among
the people," declared Kerwin.
Sometimes l am tempted to tear
up my half of the fan 80 that you
cannot 60 into such needless danger"
said the girl Loyalty.
All the way home that night the
young man puzzled over that remark.
"If she knew how l am tempted to
give up the whole thing--even the
purchasing end Of business, SO that l