Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1914 — Page 2

The Brother of the Moon

An Audacious Hazard of Nikolai, Independent Agent, as Related by His Lieutenant, Summers

“That vase,” said Soltykoff, stopping before a bit of pottery some five Inches high, placed in a teak-wood cabinet, “is worth one hundred thousand dollars. But if I could find its companion, and smash it, this one would then be worth a half million. But the chances are, I would be so enamored of their beauty that I would place them side by side in my collection and never sell them at all. "It is a peach-blow vase, made during the reign of the- Ming dynasty. There are only two in existence. This one was stolen from the emperor’s I palace at that city is owned vn as the palace is w-lun. He ■d of conyon about l to have dowager you still undertakyself narchest collual sales We were Pekin, in 1 he had /as, in efotherwise from the nvey it to us fifty t through ime alone So —what —...— t lg, iridesed behind et —which roof and ent. Not ihatter it, he boards ans. And , winding le cabinet ' •omptly. "To gain he prince low he is ions and agents of him the scope, for ou all his attention and lodge you in his palace. But where he hides the peachblow vase nobody knows.” We set out for Ling Kow-lun that afternoon. Half the distance was made by the new railroad; thence we procured pack-mules and jogged along easily from inn to inn. It was a part of China much frequented by Europeans, and the populace paid us no unpleasant attentions. Two days afterward we were knocking for admittance at the palace of the prince. During our stay in China, Nikolai had mastered enough of the commercial dialect to enable us to dispense with the services of an interpreter. Thus we proposed to have a distinct advantage over the other commercial travelers whom we expected to find. We had our gyroscope model with us; a little thing, slung upon. lny~ back—for, as usual, Nikolai assumed to be the lord and I his servant. I often think of the subservience into which I seemed to fall naturally when in his company; sometimes, when I judge him harshly, I try to believe that it was that unnatural deference which betrayed him into his act of treachery. To our astonishment, the court beyond the entrance hall was empty. There was no sign of anyone but ourselves. The little Chinese boy who had opened to us ran away in terror, and everywhere I saw evidences of a hurried flight, and of looting. Rich rooms, opening out on either side, had been stripped of their hangings and the more portable articles; costly furniture had been toppled overfund thrust here and there pell-mell. There is one room in a Chinese house of the better class, wherein the owner of the house alone can sit—the host’s room. Not even his wife, or wives, dare enter there until he summons them. To this room we came at last —and stood still in amazement upon the threshold. ■ ■- ■ . For there, in the middle of the rich carpet, seated cross-legged, surrounded by half a dozen weeping women, sat the Brother of the‘Moon, wearing his mandarin’s cap with its yellow button. His claw-like fingers were stretched out in his lap, and between them ran something with which he toyed—a slender; cord of saffron silk. As we entered, the women looked up for an instant, and then fell to wailing and beating their breasts; but the Brother of the Moon sat impassively Upon the floor, and rim" the cord through his fingers. Nikolai approached, stooped, and bent his forehead to the floor. I followed suit. Then he unpacked the gyroscope. But the Brother of the Moon paid not the least attention. He gat impassive as a statue of Buddha, god ran bis fingers back and forward through tbe stuff of his gown, twinin. them around the cord of shimmer-

By H. M. EGBERT

(Copyright, 1513. by W. G. Chapman l

ing silk. At last, looking up, he addressed Nikolai in a slow and unimpassioned voice, to which Nikolai responded. As he spoke, the women stopped wailing; I saw their faces light up for a moment, and then the impassive oriental calm fell upon them as a mask. But the Brother of the Moon and Nikolai were now in earnest conversation, and presently the prince signed to him to come upon the carpet and sit down at his side. Then he pointed one of his claw-like fingers at me, raising his eyebrows. Nikolai responded with a nod and poured forth a flood of impassioned speech. After five minutes of this, Nikolai called to me and began to translate their conversation. “You know, my dear Summers,” he began, “that China 1s the land of contrasts. It appears that we have come here at a most fortunate moment. The prince, who was somewhat out : oi favor with the empress, has been completely forgiven and promoted. Henceforward he is to have, the privilege of wearing two yellow buttons instead of one.” “He doesn’t look as though it pleased him any,” I said. “That," rejoined Nikolai, “is part of the Chinese system of etiquette. By all this lamentation it is the prince’s design to show how wholly unworthy he considers himself of this honor that has accrued to him. Well, Summers, I’ve taken the bull by the horns and told him about the object of our “mission —the vase. And he will give it to us—upon one condition.” "What?” I exclaimed eagerly. “That we go to the empress’ palace at Pekin and, as a deputation, thank her for the honor which she has bestowed upon him.” “Why should he select two foreigners?" I asked suspiciously. “Because,” answered my companion, “we are to go in the guise of emissaries from the British government. You must know that it was the favor of Great Britain alone which has prevented him from having been put to death long ago. , Now the yellow cord is the symbol of promotion, yellow being the royal color of China, and we are to take, back the cord as a symbol of the prince’s gratitude, at the same time conveying a quiet hint that the British government finds the promotion peculiarly pleasant.” I began to see. Twisted as it was, the Chinese mind seemed, at the bottom, much the same as ours. I could imagine an American, under such customs, resorting to much the same strategy. “Yes, our presence will he at once an acknowledgment and a threat,” said Nikolai. “I, of course, shall be the leader of the deputation and you my subordinate.” “And the vase?” I asked. “The vase?” asked Nikolai of the prince. The Brother of the Moon looked up and gabbled off something. “He says it will be here within three days,” said Nikolai. “I have told him frankly that we must have the duplicate of Prince Soltykoff’s. We shall remain here until its arrival —and take it with us.” On the fourth day the vase arrived, and with that my skepticism departed. For this was, in very truth, the duplicate of the peach-blow vase which Soltykoff had showed us. Surely none but the skilled Chinese artificer' could have made two vases so similar. There was the same iridescent surface, the same delicate dimensions, the same fading, appearing, translucent glow. Indeed, had the two been placed side by side, I doubt whether I could have told one from the other. And with the arrival of the vase came a couple of magnificent palanquins and a whole retinue of servants. We were attired in silken robes; costly gifts were showered upon us, and at last we set off again along the road to Pekin, in very different style from that which we had displayed when we departed. The report of our mission had evidently spread among the natives, for everywhere we found crowds lining the roads, strewing them with flowers, laughing and kow-tpwing and beating drums; the whole countryside was en fete for us. But little did we care for these things, for in an inside pocket of Nikolai’s superb sable cloak reposed the peach-blow vase. Thus, In royal state, we entered Pekin, and lodged In the west wing of the empress’ palace. It was a city in itself —a fair city set among splendid gardens, through whose blossoming cherry 'trees I saw the maidens of the- court strolling among rustic bridges and little trout brooks. “Well, Nikolai,” I said that evening, “at last we have achieved fame and riches. That w f as the oddest experience I ever encountered —and we semed to happen in at the psychological moment.” He flushed a little and loqked at me guiltily. “Did you notice that they seemed to make more fuss over you than over me?” he asked, in tones of evident annoyance. “Well, you got honor enough,” I

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

retorted/ jumping into bed —for, at Nikolai’s -request, they -had assigned the same quarters to both of us. He made no answer. I spoke to him once or twice, but, though I knew from his uneven breathing that,he was not asleep, I could not ,draw a word from him. At last I fell into an untroubled slumber, from which I was awakened by a servitor, who brought me a golden ewer in which to wash my hands. Then I received my first surprise. In place of the silks and furs in which I had been attired, I saw beside me a plain, low-necked linen garment, whiter than snow. And white, I knew, w’as the color of death in China. I looked around for Nikolai. To my surprise; his bed was empty. It was impossible to make the servant understand my questions. To all my attempts to frame them In the smattering of the Chinese tongue that I had acquired, The only bowed and smiled, until at last, resigning hiy impossible attempt, I dressed myself. Then, .feeling uncommonly like a man In a nightgown, I followed the yellow man out of the apartment, which was on the ground floor, along a passage, to where a closed conveyance much like a sedan chair awaited me. I stepped in, the door was closed upon me, and four unseen runners took up the poles and hurried me through the streets of the imperial city within the walls. By this time Nikolai’s absence had begun to alarm me. I fidgeted within the stuffy chair; I was upon the point -of- attempting to leap out when we stopped and the door was suddenly flung open. I stepped down—into a

wide courtyard that seemed to form part of the Chinese quarter of Pekin. All around me, thronging and jostling against the Chinese soldiers who kept them back, were thousands of the lowest rabble in Pekin. And in a long line that stretched from one side of the square to the other, were kneeling men, their faces turned to the ground, their hands bound behind their bajcks. Even yet the significance of /this scene had not begun to dawn upon hie. But while I still hesitated beside the chair I was seized from behind and flung violently forward upon my face. In a trice my hands were bound behind my back, and my ankles were fastened, so that I was as helpless as the wretches whom I had watched the moment previously. Then, while I ■still knelt there, I saw a man step swiftly forth from among the crowd, a sword in his. right hand. He raised it aloft one moment, brought it down —and at a blow severed the victim’s head from his shoulders. Before the body had fallen he had wiped the weapon and taken up bis stand beside the next victim, After that I looked no more. There had been nine men between myself and the executioner, and now there were but three. Hitherto I had remained In a condition of .paralysis Terror had completely unnerved me, and I was conscious only of the gaping crowd that preßßed nearer and ever nearer, driving in upon me—of their cruel eyes and evil screams, of the dreadful, hißslng sword, of the cold and mechanical advance of tbe man who wielded it. But now all at once I lifted up my eyes and saw that a little group had formed before me.

And one of them I knew, clothed though - be was in Chinese silks and furs. „It was Nikolai himself! I knew him, and he knew that, I recognized him. Then the rage that rose up within my breast impelled me to make one last, supreme effort for life. The executioner was only two victims away. With a wild, convulsive, desperate attempt I snapped the bonds that hound my hands, half rose, fell over, rose again, and, still hobbled around the ankles, stumbled, hopping, toward the crowd. And the executioner was only one victim away! They broke before me. Then they turned back. They surrounded me, mocking and gibing, pushing me with their heads and shoulders back toward where the executioner, having disposed of hls last victim, stood calmly waiting. But at that instant I saw a disturbance among the mob. Heads of men appeared, high above the rest; then horses, plunging and struggling through, their chests heaving, their heads tossing beneath the reins. A moment later I saw the most welcome sight that has ever crossed my visioji—a squadron of armed and mounted men. Even as the sword flashed over my head they rode* the executioner down and, forming round me, held me within their ranks, swooning, but still conscious that Death’s hand had been stayed. The next thing that I remember was finding myself upon a straw bed inside the prison hospital. At my side sat a police officer —the same grhom I had seen riding between me and the sword of the executioner. “Feeling better?" he asked kindly.

"The magistrates will grant you a private hearing before sending you for trial.” “Trial?” I cried. “Are you going to put me on trial for having escaped being murdered? Let me tell you one thing—the sooner I get out of China the happier I will be.” “Have you an attorney?” he asked quietly. “I must caution you that anything you say will be used against you by the prosecution.” He waited a moment and then burst out: “I can trying to steal the vase, but what In thunder Induced you to offer yourself to the executioner In place of Prince Tsin Tsai? Tell me, for the love of heaven, and not a word shall pass my lips.” “Either you are dreaming or I am,” I retorted. “Suppose you tell me what I am accused of.” “Well,” said the officer, dryly, “after stealing the vase " “What vase? The prince’s vaße?" “What prince?” the officer replied, passing his hand wearily across his forehead. “I mean the peach-blow vase of Mr. Soltykoff.” “Steal?” I yelled. “I never had an opportunity to steal It.” "Now let me tell you the facts," replied the officer soothingly. “Mr. Soltykoff sent you and your companion upon some to Prince Tsin Tsai’s palafie. Four days after you had departed he discovered that hls peach-blow vase, which he values at an - impossible amount, had been stolen and replaced by a substitute. The authorities, were Informed, and I was commissioned to take a squad of troopers ahd follow you Into the

Interior, and not to come back until I had'you. You know the government never lets up on criminals-in China—they can’t afford to. We tracked you to Prince Tsin Tsai’s palace, and there we discovered, to our amazement, that you had voluntarily offered yourself as a substitute for the heads"man.” ~ —-- “What?” I cried in amazement “Why—how r?”' “The prince had just received the yellow, cord, signifying that he was expected to commit suicide at the earliest convenient moment. While he was sitting in his house, the fatal dagger hidden in his sleeve, surrounded by his weeping women folk, you and your companion broke in in some mysterious way, and you offered to suffer the death penalty in his place, as the Chinese law allows. Why, your heroism is the talk of China. It Is rare enough' in these days to find a Chinaman who is willing to die for his prince—but you, a foreigner! They talked of erecting a temple to you. They put you in a palanquin and conveyed you to the empress’ palace, that she might gaze upon this prodigy, and I believe she looked on you through a hole in a screen as you were taken out. I believe that the court Gazette has ennobled your family for three generations back. But I concluded that you were crazy. However, my duty was to follow and apprehend you, because you had stolen the vase. It was no task of mine to Inquire into your motives. “Well, they lodged you in the palace and paid you the highest honors possible. Then, when your time came, they took you to the public execution

ground for the decapitation. But all this while I and my troop were hurrying into Pekin to stop the spectacle, because, under the treaty, English justice takes precedence over Chinese. \‘You seem to have behaved admirably until you saw the executioner, and then, the natives say, you became scared. It was a sad throwdown for them. Many a worthy citizen had brought hls offspring to the execution ground to impress them with a lesson In fortitude. But you spoiled It all by struggling. However, that prolonged matters a trifle, and I got there in the nick of time and rescued you. After you’ve done your time you can go back and be put to death If you want to.” “But I don’t want to,” I shouted. “I thought I was going to Pekin upon a private mission from the Brother of the Moon, and that the yellow cord was the sign of honor, and he gave me his own peach-blow vase as a reward.” "Tell that to the said the police officer, dryly. "Now, If you are ready, we will appear before him In his chambers.” He led me across the prison courtyard to the hall of justice, and, enter ing by a side door, ushered me up two flights of stairs to the magistrate’s rooms. When we entered I saw a short, stout. Jolly-looking man upon a chair at a desk—and, at "hls side — Nikolai! He started forward and grasped me warmly by the hands. There was nothing upon his face but a friend’s welcome. -■ "I have explained all to the magistrate,” he cried. “And mow, Summers,

he has given me permission to repeat the process with you. —+ —• T “I own that I deceived you as to the nature of our mission to Pekin. Yes, the truth is that I bargained with the prince to receive the peach-blow vase in exchange for your life. I sold you as a substitute to the executioner. But all the while I knew that troops were upon our path and that we would be rescued. I own" I ran my calculations close. But I succeeded—and let the measure of that success serve to restore our friendship." “If you had failed I should he dead," I said bitterly. I knew he lied. I knew that he had sold my life for the peach-blow vase as cheerfully ‘as though I had been no more to him than the old prince whom I had seen working hls clawlike fingers among the rich stuffs of his gown and playing with the silken cord. “Well,” said the magistrate cheerfully, “you gentlemen ran your calculations fine, but you forgot one thing. A, Chinaman is as good as a Caucasian at a horse-deal, and especially in swapping vases. As you may see by now, he never gave you his vase at all.” “I saw It,” I cried. “I handled It.” “You handled Mr. Soltykoft’s vase,” said the magistrate, laughing. “Ab soon as you had described it he sent for the most expert thief in Pekin and had it stolen and brought to him. He bought his life with Mr. Solty koff’s property. However, the vase has since been restored. Let me suggest that when you go bargain hunting again beware of Chinese princes with yellow cords.”

TEACH RULES OF CONDUCT

Bureau of Education Has Far-Reach-ing Aims in Instructing Children of the Philippines. 'The'latest publication of the Bureau of Education at Manila is an elaborate treatise on “good manners and good conduct for use in primary grades.” It represents an entirely new colonial experiment—-an attempt to use the rules of etiquette as a civilizing force. Filipino children are learning not only the English language, reading, writing, geography and the other branches; they are not only forming a first-hand acquaintance with American history, the Pilgrim Fathers, Abraham Lincoln, the Constitution and such accepted authors as Longfellow and Hawthorne; they are learning also the proper way to raise their hats to ladies, to go up and down stairs in the most approved fashion, to sit and stand and walk according to the accepted code, to behave with dignity and courtesy in all the social crises of life. Though the parents of most of the children dispense with table utensils at their meals and convey food to their mouths with their fingers, no Filipino boy or girl can go through the primary grades without acquiring a complete education in the use of knife, fork and spoon. A graduate of this department, if he profits by his instpiction, will never use toothpicks intpublie, never tuck his napkin into his posom, never reach across the table for the salt, nor emphasize the strong points in his conversation by wild gesticulations with his knife. He will always say “please” when making a request, respond “don’t mention it” when thanked for a small personal attention, never leave a room without asking to be excused, always rise when a lady enters, and never pass in front of people without a polite “pardon me.” All this Instruction is given, not academically, but graphically and concretely. Good manners are taught in the form of set dialogues and little one-act plays. Selected children enact the several roles of father, mother, teacher, son, daughter anti the other everyday social characters. —The World’s Work.

Problem of the Debutante.

... ■ 1 ' ' o „ At this time of the year many parents are making arrangements to introduce their daughters in society. The long and costly period of incubation is ended, says the Philadelphia Ledger. The girl has returned from a fashionable “finishing school” or from a tour abroad, and she is now ready—albeit With trepidation—to cross the threshold into the scintillating ballroom and beyond that into a world of pleasure and of pain, of singular follies and sad sincerities, of false friends and true counselors. But what of the immediate process of initiation? Is the present exhausting ordeal, from the autumnal housewarming to the sackcloth of lenten penitence, anything more than a nerve racking, sleep destroying charivari of vulgar ostentation and a hectic, frantic flurry to keep pace with- the procession? What yseful end is subserved by this mad rout of overlapping gayetles tbifit burns the candle at both ends and reduces a maiden, who should be buoyant and radiant and beautiful In Bpirlt and In health, to a shadow —blase, anemic and lethargic—of her former charming self?

Fastest Speed Made by Man.

Undoubtedly the fastest speed on the earth was made by Burman in an automobile at Daytonia, Fla., April 23, 1911, when he went a mile in 26.4 seconds. Ninety miles an hour has been approached by several In both automo. biles motorcycles. Aviators have exceeded 100 miles an hour. But such speed Is insignificant when we consider that we are all traveling at the rate of 1,000 miles and moire an hqur by the daily revolution of the earth, and that, too, is insignificant when we consider that the earth is traveling through space at the rate of 376,000.000 miles a year, or nearly 48,000 ah hour.