THE COURIER.
The Tale of the White Oriole
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The street of the Black Cat runs past
the monej -changers and bends between
the markets of the fruit-sellers, and
bends again until it joirs that of the
Three Crows; which latter is the etieet
of the tea booses. Clme by the tea
houses are tied the flower basts, and
here in the evening the towns men rome
to drink their tea. I come to the little
boat of lug Tu. You may tell it by its
yel ow stripe. There are rive.
leg Tu picked a low nota on her Tzee
and eang me the Peacock'e Love -Song.
Have you ever heard it? It is a wonder
ful acng. But it is well if jou do cot
know ir. She opened and closed her
eyes slowly and sang. Sighing rottly
the last words she watched the smoke
freaa soy cigarette floating up among the
lotus blossoms tnd water lilliee; and
nibbed her el bo meditatively.
"Many tales have you heard, but
sever the tale of the white oriole," mur
mured leg. Then s'ipp'ng a water
melon teed bet we. n her black-painted
teeth, she began and thus she spoke:
"When the rice buds burst and blossom,
the tellers hung their curtains and the
fishermen lowered their nets. All went
to the temple to worship, fo- was not
the flowering of toe rice good? I went
with Kung Ung,- my father, he whom
the governor cast into the well.
'The Mountain of Scow raised its
head and hid the face of the sun; then
the priest lit the lamp of life and
burned the pure kernels in it. Later,
when they sarg the hymn to Mi, I sang
with them. But lo! and the swan's
voice rose above a1!. I was silent. See
Ling was the swan, and his melody was
like apple-b'0;8oras falling.
"A day for every finger. I went to
the temple and then be cime to the
flower boat of leg Tu by the tea houses.
While the shadows stole along the street
and slipped among the bamboo porches,
the tea cups clinked; as the tire fl'es
glowed. See Ling 6acg bis swan notes.
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Drs. Everett, Managing Physicians.
And when he sang I listened to the
water ripple, to the gold fish splashing
oi the surface; when he sang, I closed
my eyes, and his voice sounded like the
sighing of the wind in the reeds. After
wares, be shook peach blossoms into my
face. Turtle dove he called me, and
made a song of it.
"As I looked, the woman rode on me.
Laughing, she rode on me. See, here
is the scar on my breast. 'White
Oriole' they called her, and her l.ugh
was like it singing at day dawn. All
thought me dead. Like theirs was my
thought.
"When the Mountain of Snow turned
bright and glittered, day bad come
They were gone and none remained.
The smoking houses.emelled bad, and
people cried to Buddha for vengeance.
"Before my flower boat saw me, many
days had passed. In the tea houses, the
townsmen clinked their teacups, for
they had forgotten. One day the swan
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on.
n:rtn
We
make
them
in
all
st3'les
and
sizes
and
sell
them
on
monthl-
payments
and
g-uarantee
them
in every
particular.
Call
and
see
them
before
you
bu
RETAIL STORE -
1028 0 STREET.
gucfetaff B., W. o. Makers.
came. He sat in my little boat and
whispered to me. He could not talk.
But 1 only laughed, I did not care for
him any more. When I played en my
Tzee I saw the tears on bis cheeks, but
I thought of the White Oriole and only
laughed.
Soon he came no more."
The boat was more beautiful in those
days. The roof was roses, the bottom
of moist lily leaves. Ah! Where is the
swan alas! where floats the broken
wil'ow? The days of a month had
passed from the bursting of the rico
buds, and See Ling brought me a new
song and sang it. Thus he sang:
"A loitering butterfly
knew nothing of love
Till on a chrysanthemum,
he saw one day
Such a bright colored one,
so charming, so gay,
That downward he floated
beside her he lay
Brunei' he cried."
"Folding slowly her wings,
The maid butterfly
Drew gently beside him,
and wmspered a word
No person was near them,
the word was unheard
Except by a poor
little bidden bird
Tm thine.' she sighed."
"Because it was the night before
Yarool, I remember it. Yarool means
Night of Dread, for Yarool was the
time when Hong Lee Tzee, the Mogul,
swept out of the west, crossing the
great wall into the flowery lands of Sang
Koo. the lands of our fathers.
"We knew it not though, and the
nights flew by until they were five; but
on the sixth, Hong-Lee-Tzee, with all
bin Tartars, rode down the Mountain of
Snow through the fields of rice into the
town streets, even up to the temple,
where they tied the high priest of the
sacred Black Cat to one of the right feet
of Buddha, and left him screaming in
his beard.
"I was secretly pleased at the tying of
Tee zoo, the high priert. Once in the
temple as I looked at the Swan he said
I should be made the bride of Buddha
what that means, I will tell you another
time.
"Then, the priest howled Aya Oo!
Aya Oo! and the Mogul spit in his face
and pulled his beard, crying Cat! Black
Cat! And likewise his men cried with
him Cat! Catland spit on him. All of
which things were sacrilegious.
"Hearing the hoof-sounds on the
street, the people rushed to the temple,
where still the priest screamed, for part
of his beard was gone. When the town-
people had gathered in the temple yard,
the Tartars began to strike them down,
and take the silver and gold from them;
not alone fron them but also from
the houses throughout the town. When
money was not to be found, other things
were taken, and many houses burned.
In the Governor's house, they found
Yeekand drank it till they were drunk;
then they rode away and with them took
money and women.
"On the night of the robbing, Swan
sang his last notes; and for the reason
listen
Now, know you, with Hong-Lee-Tzee,
the Mogul, there came a woman: whiter
than your coat of linen, was her face.
Whes all the people were in the temple
yard, the white woman Eat beside him
on a horse and watched it all. Seeing
the Swan, she rode to us where we stood
together and spoke some sweet honey
words to him.
"Because she wae very beautiful, the
Swan loosened nry hand and turned to
go with her. When she smiled, her
Btnile was like Ka-pen-yen-see, the Black
Smoke, which makes one drunk and
dream of all heavens. But as the Swan
turned, I sprang and threw my arms on
his neck; yet he shook me down and
started to follow on. Quicker than the
light was my little almond pick, and it
stuck in his throat.
GEORGE SHEDD.
HOME SKtKERS" EXCURSIONS
via BURLINGTON ROUTE.
August, 3rd and 17th. September, 7th
and 21st. October, 5th and 19th, the
Burlington will eall round trip tickets at
one fare plus 8200 to all points in Ar
kansas, Indian Territory,.Oklahoma and
Texas and to certain points in Louisiana
Missouri and New Mexico. Full informa
tion regarding limitB, stopovers etc at
B. & M. depot or city ticket office, Cor.
10th & O streets.
Geo. W. Bonnell,
C. P. & T. A.
Mrs. Brooks Does your husband's
snoring still keep you awake nights?
Mrs. Crooks Not as it did before he
joined the club.
"Now, girls," said Mrs. Teeters to her
daughters, "we must stop talking, or
we shall never get through this pile of
darning."
"Does talking make any difference,
ma?" asked the youngest.
"Of course it does. Least said soonest
mended, you know."
Lochinvar (from out of the west)
Will you be my wife?
Elaine (just from Vassar College)
Homo, hominis, homini, hominem
Lochinvar Er excuse me, but I
don't quite understand.
Elaine (freezingly, as she turns her
back upon him) Indeed! I am sorry
for you. I was just declining man.
That iB all.
I
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