Held by Chinese Brigands

pitable valleys, through which flows the unnavigable Hoang-Ho, the turbulent Yellow River that thra

north were wont to recruit the majority of their soldiers--wild, raw-bon

t--than which there is no more dangerous beast in all the world. He lived by his wits, his great strength and cunning. He had established such a reputation for himself in the provinces of Kwang-si and Kwei-

herwise he relied upon his Malay kris, or his great hands, with which he could strangle the

hich the candidates could be numbered by the thousand. He was learned in the classic books: Spring and Autumn

of the sages; and he could always, by twisting the meaning

, adding: "As there are no good on this earth

g in his loud, boisterous manner, quoting from the writings of Confucius, Mencius, and the learned Lao Tzu, the founder of the Taoist religion. It must be remembered that China is a country in which everyone minds his own affairs. The sages have taught the

med; he was childishly vain of his learning, and in seven dialects he scattered his knowledge broadcast. At

ngued Cantonese; and the whole world across, from San Francisco to Yokohama by way of Port Said, there is no more capable and fluent liar than the lemon-skinned, almond-eyed Chinese who hails from the provinc

em behave like imbeciles. They knew that if Ling gained knowledge of the presence of Mr Hennessy K. Waldron upon the upper reaches of one of th

lsehood, you may be sure, but it was not good enough to deceive Ling, who, however, professed that he believ

m, in the opium den, in the little room beneath the stairs, an atmosphere of tension--a feeling that a great typhoon has passed, which by a miracle had caused but little damage. The three conspirators continued to discuss

gantic Honanese had believed a single word of what they had told him. In consequence, they feared him all the more. The tiger was

ch went by. If their destination was the North River, Yung How was to place his left hand upon the shaven fore-part of his head. If it was the West River, he was to raise his right hand. In either case, Men-Ching was to take horse and

some discussion in regard to what sum it would be possible to obtain; but in the end it was decided that

rew themselves down upon the soft matted couches in the outer room, and slept and dreamed--as Chinese will--of things celestial, transcendental, such as can

the judge, "did you see

hout moving a muscle of his face.

he edification of Mr Waldron, "tha

not like that he smok

wry face. "A nast

Yung How; "only ba

s eyes. The pupils were shrunk

re right, Yung How; on

the engineer of Sir Thomas's river-launch. It is not pleasant to watch lower-class Chinese eat rice. They hold the bowl about two inches from their mouths, whi

he engineer, "has the judge

said

said Yung How

hotel, where he encountered the comprador

or the judge?" asked Yun

prador. "He himself took th

ay," said Yung

stand," sai

etters will

letters and parcels are to be forward

id Yung How, "I

of the dressing-table he discovered the millionaire's cheque-book; and since he could read English tolerab

, "what are yo

s," said Yung How, witho

wn grip-sack. When I want a slit-eyed son of Satan ha

with his head held proudly in the air, and his eyes

on the West River, and is not so far--as the crow flies--from the