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Ragged Edge |
Harold MacGrath f
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CHAPTER IX
The IIong-Kong packet lay
alongside the warehouse front
age. Ah Cum patrolled the
length of the boat innumerable
times, but never letting his glance
Stray far from the gang-plank.
This was automatically rather
than thoughtfully done; habit,
llis mind was busy with a resume
if yesterday’s unusual events.
The young man desperately ill
ind the girl taking care of him!
■Jf course, there could be only
one ending to such a bout with
liquor, and that ending had come
perhaps suddenly but not sur
prisingly. But the girl stood
outside the circle of Ah Cum’s
knowledge—r a lit or profound—
of human impulses. Somehow
logic could not explain her. Why
should she trouble herself over
■that young fool, who was nothing
lo her; who, when he eventually
sobered up, would not he able to
recognize her, or if he did, as
Something phantasmagorical t
Perhaps lie should not apply
tho term “fool”; “unfortunate”
Blight ho the more accurate ap
plication. Besides, he was a Yale
plan. He might be unfortunate,
but he would scarcely be a fool.
fThc Yale spirit! Ah Cum smiled
whimsically. After fifteen years,
to find that peculiarly Occidental
/attribute—college loyalty—still
Alive in his heart! A Western
idea that had survived; an idea
that was -merely the flower of
youthful enthusiasm!
With his hands still in his
sleeves, his chin down in specula
tion over this phenomenon, he
continued his patrol.
‘ ‘ Hey, you! ’'
Ah Cum stopped and turned.
Framed in one of tho square
ports of the packet was a fuce
which reminded Ah Cum of a
Japanese theatrical mask. One
si le of the face was white with
foamy lather and the other rud
dy-cheeked and blue-jawed
“Speak Englisht” boomed the
.voice.
“Yes; I speak English.”
“Fine! I’ll be wanting a guide.
Where can I get onet” asked
O'Higgins.
“I am one.”
“All right. I’ll be with you
In a jiffy.” Quarter of an hour
later 0'Higgins stepped off the
gangplank. lie carried a small
bag. “This your regular busi
ness!”
“For the present. Will you be
wanting me alone!” asked Ah
Jum. “I generally take a party.”
“What’ll it cost to have you
all to myself for the day!”
Ah Cum named the sura. He
smiled inwardly. Here was one
of those Americans who would
make him breathless before sun
clown. The booming voice and
the energetic movements spoke
plainly of hurry.
“You’re on,” said O’Higgins.
4‘Now, lead me to a hotel where
I can get breakfast. Wait a mo
ment- I’ve got an address here.”
O’Higgins emptied an inside
pocket—and purposely let the
battered photograph fall to the
ground, lie pretended to be un
aware of the mishap. Politely
Ah Cum stooped and recovered
the photograph. He rose slowly
and extended it. An ancient
smile lay on his lips.
' i ou iroiped this. sir.
“Oh. Thanks.” 0’Higgins, bit
ten with disappointment, return
ed the photograph to his pocket.
“Victoria; that’s the hotel.”
“That’s but a short distance
from here, sir. ’
“O’Higgins is the name.”
T “Mr. O’Higgins. Let me take
the satchel, sir.”
“It’s light. I’ll tote it myself.
Say, ever see any one t rembling
that photograph I dropped!”
“So many come and go,” said
,Vh Cum shrugging- “Few stay
i lore than a day- And there are
other guides.”
“Uh-huh. Well, let’a beat it
to the hotel. I’m hungry.”
“This way, air.”
“What’s your namet”
Ah Cum got out his black
bordered card and offered it.
“Aw Come. That sounds kind
•of funny,” said O’Higgins. Smil
ing, the Chinaman gave the cor
rect pronunciation. “I see. Ah
doom. What’s the idea of the
9
black border!”
“My father recently died, sir.”
“But that style isn’t Orient
al.”
“I was educated in America.”
“Where!”
“At Yale.”
“Well, well! This part of the
world is jammed full of sur
prises. I met a Hindu a few
weeks ago who was a Harvard
man.”
“Will you be taking a pole
chair!”
“If that’s the racket- I
naturally want to do it up in
proper style.”
“Very well, sir. I’ll be outside
the hotel at nine-thirty.”
Ten minutes’ walk brought
them to the hotel. As O’Higgins
signed the hotel register, his
keen glance took in the latest
signatures.
“Anywhere,” he said in
answer to the manager’s query.
“I’m not particular about
rooms. Where’s the dining room!
I And, say, can I have some eggs!
Thisjam-tea breakfast gets my
goat. ’ ’
“Come this way, Mr. O’Hig
gins,” said the manager, amused
ly
U Higgins followed him into
the dining room. That register
would be easy to get at; com
forting thought. It did not mat
ter in the least what name the
young fellow was travelling un
der; all James Boyle O’Higgini
wanted was the letter H. There
was something fatalistic about
the letter II. The individual
twist was always there, even in
the cleverest forgeries.
The eggs were all right, but
nobody in this part of the world
had the least conception of what
the coffee bean was for- Always
as black and bitter as gall. Cof
fee a la Turque wasn’t so bad;
but a guy couldn’t soak his
breakfast toast in it
Two women entered and sat
down at the adjoining table.
After a while one began to talk.
“The manager says there is
still some doubt. The change
will come to-day. Ah Cum had
no business taking him into the
city last night. The young man
did not know what he was doing
or where he was.
O ’Higgins extracted a cigar
from his pocket and inspected it.
Henry Clay, thirteen cents in
Ilong-Kong and two-bits in that
dear old New York. He would
never be able to figure out that:
all these miles from Cuba, and
you could get a perfect© for thir
teen cents. He heard the woman
talking again.
“I feel guilty, going sway and
leaving that ignorant child; but
our days have been so planned
that we dare not change the
schedule. Didn h understand me
when I said she would be compro
mised! He won’t be able to
leave his bed under four weeks;
and she said she hadn’t much
aoney. If she had once known
him, if he were some former
neighbor, it w’ould be compre
hensible. But an individual she
never laid eyes on day before
yesterday! And the minute he
gets up, he’ll head for the publio
bar. There’s something queer
about that young mas; but we’ll
never be able to find out what
it is. don’t believe his name is
Taber.”
O Higgins tore free the scar
let band of his porfecto, the end
of which he b't off with strong
white teeth, and smiled. You
certainly had to hand it to theso
; Chinks. Picked up the photo
graph, looked at it, handed it
back, and never batted an eyel
The act was as clear as daylight*
but the motive was as profound
ly mysterious as the race itself*
He hadn’t patrolled old Pell
Street as a plain clothes man
without getting a glimmer of the
ancient truth that East is East
and West is West. He would
have some sport with Mr. Ah
Cum before the day was over,
slyly baiting him. But what had
young Spurlock done for Ah Cum
j in the space of twenty-four hours
that had engaged Ah Cum’s
| loyalty, not only engaged it but
: put it on guard? For O’Higgins,
S receiving light from the next
table, had no doubt regarding
the identity of the subject of this
>
old maid’s observations.
A queer game this: he could
not move directly as in an or
dinary case of man-hunt. He had
1 certain orders from which on no
account was he to deviate, llut
this made the chase all the more
exciting. What was the matter
with Spurlock that was to keep
him in bed three or four weeks?
He would dig that out of the
hotel manager. Anyhow, there
was some pleasurable satisfaction
in knowing where the quarry
would be for the next three
weeks.
There was now a girl in the
picture, so it seemed. Well, this
was the side of the world where
things like that happened. The
boy would naturally attract the
wojnen, if the women were at all
romantic. Good looks, with k
melancholy cast, always drew
sentimental females. Probably
some woman on the loose; they
were as thick as flies over here—
dizzy blondes. That is, if Spur
lock had been throwing money'
about, which was more than like
ly.
“As long as I live, I’ll never
forget that dress of hers,” Pru
dence declared.
“Out of a family album, you
said,” Angelina reminded her
sister
O’Higgins struck a match and
lit his Henry Clay, thereby draw
ing upon himself the mutual dis
approval of the spinsters.
“Beg pardon,” he said, “but
isn’t smoking allowed in the din
in or room?”
“It probably is,” answered
Prudence, “but that in no wise
mitigates the odiousness of the
procedure.”
“Plumb in the eyel” said
O’Higgins, rising. “I’ll tote the
odiousness outside.”
He was delighted to find the
office deserted. He inspected the
formidable array of rifles and at
length walked over to the regis
ter. Howard Taber. From his
wallet he brought forth a yellow
letter. Quickly he compared the
Hs. They were so nearly alike
that the difference would be due
to a shaky hand. But for perfect
satisfaction, he must take a peek
into the bedroom. Humph. A
crisis of some kind was toward.
It might be that the boy had tak
en one drink too many, or some
one had given him knock-out
drops. The Oriental water-fronts
were rank with the stuff.
But that Chink, Ah Cum!
O’Higgins chuckled as he passed
into the hall and rested his hand
on the newel-post of the stair
case. He’d have some fun with
that Chinaman before the morn
ing was out.
O’Higgins mounted the stairs,
his step extraordinarily light for
one so heavy- In the upper hall
he paused to listen. There was
absolute quiet. Boldly he turned
the knob of a certain door and
entered. The mock astonishment
of his face immediately became
genuine.
The brilliant sunshine poured
through the window, effecting an
oblong block of mote-swimming
light. In the midst of this light
stood a young woman. To O ’Hig
gins—for all his sordid business
he was not insensible to beauty—
to O’Higgins she appeared to
have entered the room with the
light. Above her head was an
aura »f white fire. The sunshine
broke across each shoulder, one
lance striking the yellow face of
a Chinaman, queueless and dress
ed in European clothes, the other
face of the man he had journey
ed thirteen thousand miles to
find. He recognized the face in
stantly.
There came to O’Higgins the
discouraging knowledge that up
on the heels of a wonderful chase
—blindman’s bluff in the dark—
would come a stretch of dull in
action. He would have to sit
down here in Canton and wait,
perhaps for weeks. Certainly he
could not move now other than
to announce the fact that he had
found his man!
“I beg pardon,” he said. ‘‘Got
the rooms mixed.”
The young woman laid a finger
on her lips, cautioning 0 ’Higgins
to silence. The detective backed
out slowly and closed the door
without sound
Outside in the hall he paused
and thoughtfully stroked his
smooth blue chin. As he under
stood it, folks saw in two or three
days all there was to see of Can
ton. After the sights he would
have to twiddle his thumbs until
the joints cracked. All at once
he saw a way out of the threaten
ing doldrums. Some trustworthy
Chinaman to watch, for a small
bribe, while he, James Boy I)
O'Higgins, enjoyed himself in
llong-Kong, seeing the spring
races, the boxing matches, and
hobnobbing with Yankee sailors.
Canton was something like w
blind alley; unless you were na
tive, you couldn’t get anywhere
except by returning to Hong
Kong and starting afresh.
Satisfied that he had solved
his difficulty, he proeeeded to
his room. At nine-thirty he
climbed into the chair and signi
fied to Ah Cum that he was
ready.
“You speak English better
than I do,” said O’Higgins, as
the coolies jogged across the
bridge toward the gate. “Where
did you pick it up?” ,
“I believe I told you; at
Yale.”
O’Higgins laughed. “I’d for
gotten. But that explains every
thing.”
“Everything.” It was not
uttered interrogatively; rather
as though Ah Cum did not like
the significance of the word and
was turning it over and about in
speculation.
“Ye-ah,” said O’Higgins, jovi
ally. “Why you pretended not
to recognize the. photograph of
the young fellow you toted
around these diggings all day
yesterday.”
Many wrinkles appeared at
the corners of Ah Cum’s slant
eyes— as if the sun hurt—but*
the rest of his face remained as
passive as a graven Buddha’s.
(TO BE CONTINUED) ’
Fullest Consideration.
Prom the Wichita Eagle.
Pussyfooting as the republican,
were in Cleveland on the League of
Nations and half-hearted as were
the democrats in New York, the
people of the country wlw know the
Importance of the League to the per
sonal fortunes of every boy in this
land should Redouble their efforts
in behalf of the League. Just as
sure as the sun is to riae America
can not permanently occupy a place
of dominance among fhe nations of
the world, and we do, and at the
same time hold aloof from the ma
chinery set up for keeping peace In
the world. It can not be done. And
it is appalling to think that this
nation will wait for some catas
trophe to prove it, appalling that
one m«r^ American boy should be
slain gbcause the nation failed to
act in time. Newton Baker sounded
a clarion note to America in New
York, when attacking the scheme
for a referendum on . the League he
said; "So you see, the congress is
first to provide for the referendum
after full consideration; then the
people are to vote after full consid
eration; and then after the vote,
the Senate and the president are to
take it up again for fuller oonsld
ation, or perhaps fullest consider
ation; and then, some day, when my
son is dead on the battlefield that I
have been trying to keep him from
going to, they will have reached
fullest consideration. And somebody,
somebody will put up a tombstone
over that boy's grave and over the
graves of the other boys—your boys,
and on them there will be: ‘Died In
battle after "fullest consideration”. ’ "
Prehistoric Man in Asia.
From the Ohio State Journal.
The evidence of prehistoric man in
Northern Asia so far obtained by the
Roy Chapman Andrews expedition
consists of a collection of flints which
is now on its way to America. "It has
not been established how old they are,
but from a report I have received
from our paleontologist I am of the
opinion that they are about half a
million years old, or about the same
age as the Pithecanthropus Erectus,”
Mr. Andrews said in a recent visit to
Columbus, Ohio. "They are highly
Important to science, no matter how
old they are, because they constitute
the first evidence of the existence of
prtmeval man lh that portion of the
world.”
The expedition, conducted under
the auspices of the American Museum
of Natural History, Asia Magazine
and a group of New York philan
thropists, has produced more than
10,000 fish, reptiles and batrachians,
some fifty cases of fossils and about
two thousand mammals, including
ing the fossalized skull of a baluchi
therium, a sort of glorified rhinoceros,
the oldest mammal that ever roamed
the earth.
High Taxes to Prevent War.
From the Mining Congress Journal.
There seems to be little hope for
any substantial reduction in taxes for
many years to come. Already an
alarming percent of our people are op
the Government payroll. The admin
istration of the Adjusted Compensa
tion Bill will require a substantial!
army. If Senator Oddle’s conclusion!)
concerning the Veterans Bureau are
correct, as they apparently are, we
need another small anmy to watch
those who are called upon to admin
ister these laws.
Years ago Dr. David Starr Jordan,
then President of Leland Stanford
University, published a book giving a
mathematical demonstration that a
great war between any two of the
stronger nations was impossible be
cause o the impossibility of raisng
money enough to finance suoh oper
ations. Senator Rrookhart, of Iowa,
seems to share the same general Idea.
He regards the bonus victory as
“really a great victory of genuine
Americanism over the sordid princi
ples of a doll&r.-a-year capitalism ”
The Senator also regards the expend
iture of public money as a potent
cure for war and says “the lovers of
peace also should rejoice, because
there is no cure for war so potent as
to compel those who profit out of war
to pay for it. I hope it will be the
forerunner of a liberal pension syst
em that will strip the war fortunes of
all their lllgotten gains.”
The public will alwayB approve and
willingly pay whatever tax may be
necessary to do full justice to its
soldiers, but it will hardly approve a
plan to so impoverish the country
by taxing It for unnecessary purposes
that it will be unable to defend it
self against possible encroachments
upon its liberties as a nation.
1 ---- Mt _
Some Folks Are Natural
“Murderers,” Her Theory
London.—"There seems to be a race
#f human beings who lay themselves
out to be murdered—they are, to coin
a word, ‘murderees.’ ”
This striking original point of view
Is put forward by Miss Tennyson
Jesse In a book she has Just pub
lished on ‘‘Murder and Its Motives.”
She advances the theory that ‘‘when
the laws of attraction and repulsion
are more fully understood than they
are at present It will be discovered
that murderers and ’murderees’ send
out wave-lengths that correspond as
do the wave-lengths of wireless be
tween two stations.”
Miss Jesse divides the motives for
murder Into six classes:
Murder for gain.
Murder for revenge.
Murder for elimination.
Murder from Jealouy.
Murder from lust of killing.
Murder from conviction.
RADIO HORN
DOOMED, SAYS
Loud Speaker of Future Will
Be More Compact, En
gineer Predicts
New York,—“The radio loud
speaker* of the future will not have
a horn, nor other ‘sound box* and will
be so compact that It may be carried
In in the pocket conoealed within
the average receiving set Itself, or
disguised as some unobtrusive bit of
fric-a-brac on the living-rooih table.
The horn Is not onl ugly, but It la
sc!entl.’!cally unsound," says Ilarry F.
Tapp, consulting engineer for the Ra
dio Research Corporation.
"Most of the distorted sounds em
anating from a radio set ipay be at
tributed to the ‘loud-squawker* rather
than to any fundamental shortcom
ings of the set Itself,’’ says ’i’app.
"Experiments toward this end
which we have made in our labora
tories prove beyound doubt that it
will be possible before long to design
a simple mica diaphragm, with soft.
Iron center, wbtoh, supported betaeen
two synchronised coils, will Impart a
mellowness to radio muslo thus far
considered Impossible.
“A device applying these general
principles has been built, on a larger
scale, but bag not yet been employed
for the privately owned radio set.
“The average horn actually con
tributes nothing to the volume of
sound originating In tho diaphragm of
the loud-speaker. It merely concen
trates and. Incidentally, distorts,
these sounds In the same way that
a megaphone appears to magnify and
twist lno almost unrecognisable
squawks the sound of the human
voice.
"Physicists know,*’ declares Tapp,
"that you can’t get out of any me
chanical device any more energy than
Is Imparted to it. You merely change
Its form. That’s what the horn does
—changes the form of the found until
It bears little resermblance to the
original.
Paris Must Have Jazz;
Want American Players
- t
Paris.—Paris cannot do without
jazz!
The threatened expulsion of sev
enteen American jazz musicians on
the ground that by working they
were contributing to breaking the
quota law, by which only ten per
cent, of each orchestra may be for
eigners, aroused such a storm of
protest that the expulsion orders
were withdrawn.
American jazz was introduced In*
to Paris by the White Lyres Orches
tra of demobilized American soldiers
Immediately after the Armistice.
Since that time dozens of French
orchestras have vallently striven to
acquire the peculiar talent required
to interpret Jazz rythm, but their ef
forts, according to Americans who
have tried to dance to them, have
been unsucceessful.
There are at present eleven Am
erican orchestras In Paris. The or
ganizer of the White Lyers, Bill Hen
ley, who recently took a jazz-band
Into Asia, Is called the "Paul White
can of Europe." He has a number of
bands playing In various smart es
tablishments of the city.
Remarkable New Blood
Discoveries Are Made
London.—Remarkable and far
reaching discoveries about the hu
man blood hav been made as a re
sult of recent resarches, according
to scientific authorities.
It is stated that tests Initiated
Bhortly after the World War have
conclusively proved that the human
race is divided into, roughly, four
main blood groups, and that this
discovery will have a vry Import
ant bearing on blood transfusion, an
operation which 1s becoming more
and mor frequent In cases of dire
necessity.
Scientists also believe that the
new discovery may throw fresh
light on the ancestry of man, and
will also possibly hav some bear
ing on the proving or disproving of
Igltlmaoy. __
TKACH LAW IN HEBREW
Jerusalem.—The Government Law
School—the first school where mod
ern law is taught In Hebrew, the
language In which the ancient laws
of Judaism and Christianity were
promulgated, held Its first com
menoement here recently with Im
pressive exercises. There were 4¥
graduates. 80 Jews and IB Arabs
Addresses were delivered In Hebrew
by Sir Herbert Samuel, British High
Commissioner, and Colonel Norman
Bentwlch, Chief Juetloe of Palee
Bne.
IRELAND WANTS
FEWER SALOONS
Public Is for Reasonable Re
duction, Sponsor of Bill
Declares
Dublin.—Because there are 15,000
saloons in the Irish Free State—
Otherwise, one saloon to every 200
of the population, men, women and
children—the Irish Free tSate Gov
ernment believes that the time has
come when there might well be
some reduction In their number.
Kevin O’Htgglns, Minister of
Home A-ffalrs, has Introduced a bill
Into the Dali dealing lw the ques
tion and has delivered a strong
warning to the liquor Interests. He
said that he Is not a prohlbltlonst,
hut that It Is obvious that publlo
opinion Is running strongly In favor
of reasonable temperance reforms,
end If these suggestions are not
met in a reasonable way by the
liquor Interests, then more far
• reaching measures might be brought
forward.
The bill now under discussion doe#
not meet, for the moment, the wish
es of the Temperance Pcrty that
there should be a drastic cut In the
number of licensed saloons, although
the Government admits that the de
mand le a reasonable one. At pres
ent the Government Is going no
further than proposing to appoint a
commission to Inquire Into the
Whole situation, at the same time
pointing out that there Is a salooon
In Ireland to every 200 of the popu
lation, as against one to every 400
In Kngland and one to every 69b In
Scotland.
Without doubt the government
will pass the present bill—as a
forerunner to further legislation—
quite easily. But the debate In the
Dali showed disparities of opinion
on the subject.
John Daly, Independent Laborlte,
said that under the bill they were
asked not to taste a drop of liquor
at all upon St. Patrick’s Day, and
"oar fathers would turn In their
graves If they heard It!"
Major Bryan Cooper demurred to
the Implication that everybody on
®t. Patrick’s Day “by custom be
came partly ’boozed’." It was a
general holiday, and he thought It
X hardship U a naan could not get
a glass of beer unless hs went to a
hotel.
The hill Is scheduled for further
debate in the Dali.
4 Ford touring car from G. C. Holn
ley. __
College Graduates Will
Have to Hunt for Jobs
Syracuse, N. Y.—Eight hundred
Syracuse university seniors graduat
ed in June will not be handed posi
tions on a platter this year, but will
have to get out and hustle for their
jobs, it was announced recently by
the university appointment office,
under the direction of Mrs. Minnie
Partridge.
Thirteen hundred letters sent out
to manufacturing and business con
cerns throughout New York, New
England, Pennsylvania and New Jer
sey brought only mediocre responses.
The few replies received were largely
In reference to positions as sales
men. \
Unsettled business conditions
throughout the east is believed to
be the cause of the slackness in the
demand for university graduates.
That Syracuse is having no harder
time than other schools to place Us
graduates in good positions, is the
belief on the Hill.
Teachers for high schools, public
schools and preparatory schools are
In demand, but few members of the
male sex are interested in this type
of work.
*
New War Rocket Rains
Molten Metal on Foe
London.—A new terror to the air
raider of the future is revealed by the
announcement of the invention of a
new incendiary rocket, which it is
claimed, will spread a rain or molten
metal over an area of five to eight __
miles on bursting.
The inventor, Ernest J. Welch,
declares that the bursting of the
rocket would destroy any aeroplane
or anything else in range, penetrat
ing even steel or asbestos.
At a test in which the rocket on
a small seaie was used, privileged
onlookers saw bursts of molten lead
scattered far and wide Immediately
after the rocket burst, giving a grim
Indication of what rockets on a larg
er scale would be able to accomplish.
Fuller tests on behalf of the Brit
ish Government are to be made in
the near future. It Is stated that the
British, American and French Gov
ernments are Interested in the In
vention, and that a definite offer has
been received from the United States
DIVERS FOR SEWER JOB.
Los Angeles.—Ueepsea- divers are
being employed here to lay down the
end of ! his city’s new $12,000,000
■ewer system. In placing the sewer
pipe in the ocean a deep trench la
being dug by huge “clam-shell’'
dredges, and the divers are assisting
in this task.
Says Civilized Nations
Are the Best Fighters
London.—Nation* that are the
most highly civilized are the best
fighters, according to Professor Gil
bert Murray.
‘It Is a strange thing,” Professor
Murray said in an address at a
conference of the League of Nations
Union, “that on the whole the races
that have come to the top In civiliza
tion and which have produced the
greatest contribution to the nobler
life of mankind, are tfee pugnacious
races.”
