The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-04-20

was his custom to send her a
letter daily.
In this self-indulgent languor,
he returned to the town. It
was late when he reached his
house. BY way Of welcome, a
scrubbed note from Jim, saying
that Stephen would find his
mail in his desk. On top of the
pile of mail lay a letter from
Lucy. 1t was in answer to his of
the late summer, and it re.
Elected his mood Of pride and
confidence in the steady ad-
vancement of his work. Lucy
was radiant with the prospect Of
their now not far distant mar
riage, assured, it seemed to her,
by his making good in the Com
pany.
He must write to Lucy. No,
he could not. It was thing i'm
possible. Inconceivable to shock
her with such ugly truth. When
he saw her. but that would be
upon the eve of their marriage.
It would not be fair.
He sat before his desk, his
mouth set in a fine line of pain
and determination. He must
write. He Staked all on her
compassion. To Lucy, the
mother, he addressed himself,
not to Lucy, the sweetheart.
After that night more and
more Stephen turned to his
work, travelling harder than he
had ever travelled before. He
failed to remember the warn
ing experiences of other men.
There was danger to ones per-
sonality in isolation among
the Chinese for any length Of
time. He was caught in the
snare Of his own isolation. In
a slow seepage, inertia again
entered his spirit.
Twice he failed on a bit Of
investigation. No longer did his
mind cut through the suave
evasions of the Chinese. Now
he called these evaSions fineSSe
and the agents found it easy to
pull the wool over his eyes. The
second time he returned with
out the desired information the
boss told him sharply he had
better wake up if he wished to
do business with the Chinese.
II tell you, Chase, a lot Of
men go to pieces in their work
with the Chinese. Can't stand
the gaff. Then comes a time
something happens to them
personally, doesn't matter just
what. Let me tell you Chase,
there's nothing in going Chin.
csc. take it from me! You've
had more than beginners luck.
Don't waste it. Now" he con.
tinued, I'm sending you to
find out about some rebating-
I'm sure it's going on. Lin
claims the British agent is re-
batting and so gets all the sales.
It's my opinion Lin is rebating,
too. He's pretending he isn't.
Don't let him fool you"
Stephen sat with Lin in his
private room. He was maneu-
vering for an opportunity to
ask Lin to show the account
books. The boss said that was
the only way to check up on
the man. At last, with some
reticence, he asked to see the
account books. He implied that
he, himself, felt it unnecessary.
All day he worked over the
involved bookkeeping, by night
he had proof Of the rebating.
When he had finished his
dinner, Stephen went out,
walking along the street, pitch
black except where candle or
floating wick sent a small glow
through the cracks of some
shattered shop-front. He walked
on into the countryside, losing
the road, stumbling over the
frozen burrows of the fields.
There was no comfort to him
in his triumph over the agent;
it was not because he under
stood the Chinese, as he had
liked to believe, that he had
got the necessary information,
but simply because Kin had
bestowed on him a kind of con-
temptuous fathering. It had
awakened him to the fact that
the Chinese despiSed him.
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TOmorrOw'S Paper
Copyright, 1884, by Bobbs-Merrill Com.
pany. Distributed by King Features