Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1937-04-03
On her death bed She had said to

B on her death bed she had said to
I him:
This jewel was presented to your
-great-grandfather's great-gTeat-
great-gTandfather by Nurhacnt, the
, prince 1t is symbolical of the pride OF
our clan. Keep it unsullied. o my sonl"
Well-he shrugged his shoulders
he would pawn 1t today. He needed
the money desperately. His dead moth
er would understand and forgive. So
would all his honorable ancestors. Be-
sides-he tried to persuade himself
1t was not as If he were selling 1t.
Nor was he giving 1t away, as Gwen
dolyn Kang Hi had wanted him to
give It away-to her. It meant merely
a temporary loan that would help him
TO reconstruct his life. starting humbly,
as he had three decades earlier when.
financially ruined by the Civil war. he
had left China ana come to America.
a poor immigrant. PreSently-no doubt
OF it-he would get back on his feet;
and, first thing he would redeem the
pledge
He was about to cross the thresh-
! hold and open negotiations with Mrs
| LevinSky. But, suddenly, he reconsid-
cred. He slipped the bracelet on his
!
as he saw three men coming round the
| corner Of Mott street, as, at the same
moment, a willy notion flashed through
his brain.
Start in humbly. as he had 30 years
as No. MOI
He stared at the three men, who
stopped, stared back. They we're en-
barraSsed. He was not.
He caressed the jade trinket with |
his right hand. "SymbOlcal of the pride |
of my clanl" he thought; and he bowed /
to the others; spoke quickly, before
they had chance.
Nine years since I have seen you"
he addressed Yung Long the whole
sale grocer, whose vanity was a by
word throughout Chinatown. "And do
you still braid silken ribbons into your
cue to lengthen it? Do you still, on
high feast days, gid your fingernails'
as If you were coral-button man
darin?"
And to Nag sen-yat, the misery
banker:
You have not changed the least !
little bit. So lean and shriveledl Tell 6
it true that, three times a day.
you starve your belly to swell your
money bagS?"
Then, while the other stammered for
a rejoinder, Ia Chen peered question
lngly at the third the youngest. g
And you are?'
"Chi Min. i
How old are your"
twenty-five" S
That's why I remember you but
vaguely. You were l6 when T." Ia
Chen hesitated slightly went away. Z
And your father v
"Chi Pao, the soothsayer." c
us he still amongst the hving?" F
HE is old and feeble. But his soul v
las not yet jumped the Dragon Gate" s.
emit Lord Buddha," came the slurring Q
comment. For doubtless, in the here e,
.fter, your father would succeed in Ct
heating the Buddha himself. I know G.
our father well. Twice he read my o.
ortune with the panty ivory sticks 81
nd twice he lied. Had he read my for q
une once more, he would have lied y
hree times" CT
Chi Min was intensely Mongol in his 81
ilial generation for his aged if dis u
equitable parent Of
"Hayahl' he exclaimed shrilly, an 10
rily. did he lie to you when he pre- pl
icted that al
He interrupted himself at the sug-
estion Of Yumg Longs thumb boring az
ito his ribs. He was silent. So were the w
ther two. Ia Chen-here was the az
ane thought in all of them-was w
lined today. Poor he was, powerlesS. ST.
ut-would he always be poor and OF
Owerless? They recalled the past an
I'd wondered-and feared. They feared rs
I'M as their ancestors, the humble, u
coolies, had feared his ma
lcestors, the naughty Manchu aris- pa;
Gratis. Ah-they reflected-the tongue
hich Is yielding, endures; the teeth "a
hich are stubborn, perishl And they Cn
cked their breath; they blushed as az
ey saw the expression on Ia Chens en-
ce-cynically amused, as If he were Snl
aiding their minds. 40
He tapped Chi Min on the chest. un
You were going to remind me-" ne va
Id him, that was sent to prison no no.
Well-that was the second aps
ne your father lied to me. For, when ?.
tossed up the painted sticks to read ~ "
? future he spoke of millions of dol Is Is
-s-not Of nine long years behind n Ten
Chi Min bit his lips; and Yung Long era
lghed.
T." he said quite sincerely, "am &C
Ty" ma
so am l." echoed the banker. "The INC 40
III" a little less sincerely. indeed q
lie maliciOuSlv-"tbe fIie0raca - LIS