Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
CHAPTER xxxv.

STARTLING NEWS.
o Dagger drove up to the palace
that evening alone, trusting abb
solutely to herself, her ability
~ to read character, her capacity
to handle men and to control
any situation.
The palace guard turned out for her
A handsome, young officer of the Tu-
| chun's staff received her in the court
yard, and conducted her past the mo-
| tionfess sentries into the great hall
very foreign in appearance, despite the
wealth of Chinese ornaments scatter
ed about in careless profusion. Chang
| himself appeared Immediately from a
curtained doorway, austere, proudly
deferential.
1T appreciate your coming" he said
simply. IF you are not fatigued, would
you care to see my collections?"
Dagger assented enthusiastically. She
had heard of the countless beautiful
objects he possessed, spoil Of years OF
unchecked lootings-the most valuable
collection of Chinese curios and art in
the wohle world, men said And she
followed him from room to room with
l affected pleasure. Here we're repre-
sentative pieces from all the several
periods of the golden ages of China S
past Pottery. porcelain, eXquiSitely
painted panels, carvings in ivory, in
wood, in stone, in Jade. All, the jade
this essentially Chinese stone, and
never had she seen such matchless
fades as Chang possessed. Armor, too,
and ancient weapons; garments, lay and
priestly, crusted with gold and silver
and precious stones; jewels in heaps
and trays.
Unperceiving all else, she climbed
with him from floor to floor, passing
Sentries and chamberlains, until they
came to a massive door, where two I'M
mensely fat men mounted guard. These
stood aside at word from Chang,
who paused with one hand on the heavy
bronze handle.
"You have seen my treasures" he
said. Here are my wives"
And he pushed the door open, leaving
a space for her to look through upon a
scene which impressed Dagger as pre-
senting the appearance of a meeting Of
a woman's bridge club in San An
tonio-allowing for the fact that all the
members had come in their kimonoS.
There were twenty or thirty women
in the large room, fat women, thin
women, beautiful women, women with
intellectual faces, women with lovely,
vapid faces. blond women, dark
women, white women, brown women,
yellow women. Some were drinking tea
some were nibbling candy, some were
playing games, some were sewing and
goSsiping 1t was precisely the kind Of
scene which might be going on in thou
sands of homes all over the United
States. There was actually the same
disorderly buzz of conversation, which
was choked off abruptly as Chang
stepped in the doorway.
He gave Dagger the one bird's-eye
view, and closed the door, with grin
of what she interpreted as irony twist
ing his lips. Her mind was spinning
dizzily. Why this revelation, obviously
so dramatically staged? But Chang
gave her no clue.
Come" he said. "I fear I have
bored you. And dinner should be
ready"
Dagger murmurred that she wasn't
bored. and indeed she was enthralled.
The evening promised better than she
had anticipated, although she couldn't
very well say so, and she returned
downstairs, walking demurely at his
side, trying to guess what would happen
next
Chang led her through a series of
rooms on. the ground floor to a terrace
set in the midst of a formal Chinese
garden. The grass was groomed as care
fully as a thoroughbred's hide: the
stars were reflected in pool where
water-lilies grew, and soft wind,
signing up from the war-torn South,
rustled the branches of trees that were
half unseen. Overhead the sky was a
speckled purple vault. The one definite
spot in the clustering shadows was a
small table, appointed in Western style,