Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-05-23
THE WILL OF
NJ SHOU-LIEN

mination. An in vain, its symbolism es
capped him as day after day he pore
over It.
Your story teller, perhaps deliber
ately enjoying the suspense, VIII Oh
serve in passing that virtue repaYs It
self, wisdom Is but one facet IN tn
| jewel Of success, and to the patien
4 luck must eventually Smile-8Of Wha
cannot be achieved by wisdom ant
patience must certainly come OF It
own accord. This by way of tliusfrat
ing the accidental nature Of T'engi
discovery. For the man had worn him.
self out with effort He sat at q table
the scroll spread before him and helC
open at its corners by teacups. one Of
which contained portion Of the hot
beverage which he slipped from time tc
time
AS though impelled by some unseen
hand, the official accidentally unset the
cup OF hot liquid. It spread over the
portrait OF Nj, and as he bl0tted the
scroll he observed q slight IooSening
of its corners. Gently lifting the fragile
silk from its light mat, hts asso1ish
ment knew no bounds when he dtscov-
cred strip Of paper upon the backing.
1t was, obviously, the genuine VIII OF
Mr. M, and the man had set out his
wishes In no uncertain language. Teng
read:
This is the win of an old official
holding the rank of project. / hold en-
nifty for no one. Shameful, my younger
son, now being one year old. win long
be OF tender years. My elder son, Shan
Chi, is completely without filtal piety,
and since am convinced that he will
do the child some great damage, have
Dequeathed my entire estate to him.
However, l have buried by the left
wall in the garden ten jars, each con-
tanning thousand taels OF silver, and
one jar containing one thousand taels
of gold. wish this all to go to Shan
chu and his mother in compensation
for the estate that should have been
r1ghtfully theirs. When some astute
official has adjusted this matter salts
factorily, let my son give said official
in reward for his services three hun
dred taels Of silver" The document was
signed, mi Shoh-lien, his true sigma
ture"
Now, though T'eng were virtue per-
taels Of silver for the official who
would satisfactorily adjust this strange
situation was an added incentive. and
with no undue haste did he attempt to
rush IN and rescue the lady and her
son from INSCRIPTIONS hands. There !
we're several peculiar angles to the mat |
,er, he realized at once. What ne did |
10 Immediately was to summon the /
elder son, Shan-chi, having mapped
)ut his campaign beforehand.
With no hint Of what was going on
within his mind, the magistrate ad-
dressed his formal questions to Nj
5han-chi There is an allegation
Drought here before me by your step
mother, Mel Shih, to the effect that
'ou have usurped the entire property Of
our father, Nj Shou-lien, leaving the
widow and her child in poverty. What
10 you reply to these charges?"
Shan-chi, though horribly angered
y what he considered Mel Shih's de-
berate treachery, appeared quite IN
erturbed, thinking Of his foresight in
aving made an ostensible division a
hort time before. THE very least /
an say" said the man, as though with /
n effort 70 speak nagnanimOusly, lis
hat the charge Is compounded of jeal-
uSy, contumely, and lies. For by her
wn consent, and with the approval OF
u our relatives, she has accepted land
nd buildings In precisely the manner (
I'D down In my fathers written VIII"
1T is complained" said T'eng, that !
ne estate Is an immensely valuable
ne in money and things Of rare work ]
Ianship. shall examine the will Ia
Dur possession In order to ascertain
1t Is genuine though you under
and am merely carrying out my oath
office to administrate justice, and
ave no desire to embarraSs q member
family Of high rank Therefore, IL g
"a viii be good enough TO procure the i
III in question, shall be happy 20 {
me and examine same in order to b
dge Of its authenticity"
by all means" said Shan-chi. MY {
'use win be honored for all poStertty
your august presence"
Returning home, the elder son felt =
tie OF the confidence that his Lam !,
age had implied. For while there was Z,
question about the validity Of the =
II, there really had been no honest y
vision OF the property, and it was for y.
e purpose Of calling those relatives 4,
his moral support that he now sent -
esents of silver to them all, request -
: them to be present at the inquiry. - -
lev must perforce testify that the Il
Vision had been made to the satisfac- =.
a of each OF them. -
IN the meanwhile runners arrived IA
resummon Mel Shih to the magis- er
ties presence. She imagined that fs
!, OF his reputed wisdom he must IA
Ike some decision in her favor, sol in
hurried TO the yamen to hear NJ
az the announcement of Teng fh
yht be. ~
What he said was, Naturally my ba