The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 24, 1904, Page 2

B —————————————ly) This is the third in- stallment of “The Queen of Quelparte,” a novel of the superstitions of the Koreans and Russia’s secret intrigue in the Far Fast--both of which have led to the present war with Japan. This novel ~ is historically true. It is more fasei- nating than history be- cause of the thrilling love story that runs through it. You yill get it complete " in four installments. That means a $1 50 book for 20 cents—an offer un- equalled anywhere. { IBICESE | Archer Butler Hul- eserved the i war- e P . e West his ndabout, ff journey; there rd before: s more change known for an no one { a—er—at- k. Suppose we go down on our éwn s mw r the coolies quarters and the Little as though the en changed. At o an hasten to we L4 eff ever made so and I doubt if he ke a ger ope again. It a v influenced, r i ¥ that his plan t tha i be adopted at I urged him to i so, and I started E went my old floodtide. “With arked the Little t King, after all? of Tuen's an any living life was at stake! hed through the ntechamber and aich for the King. her eunuch who now, nglish urning chamber,” the I said with a sig- e exclaimed in the ver- worships in the mourn- the march to the He mpatiently. you get my name to one of the g chamber?” the man enswered. Since the King had t and left to recognise and counsel me in ne room, I did not belleve he refuse me a hearing at this time Nor was I wrong, for in a few mo- ments the I went on througk rooms, being o after another man returned and beckoned follow a maze of smaller cted by one official more elaborately until a last door was opened from within. I entered, and there stood the King. When he saw me he turned and waved his hand behind him, and two female inmates of his household went giggling eact dressed than the other. into a further room. The place was thick with cfgarette smoke Thus Whang-Su worshiped in the mourning chamber during the last hours before the imperial funeral! Yet the King's eyes grew serious as he bade me enter, and I knew he had not thought I asked audience for nothing. I decided before I saw him to come straight to the point. There was little time in which to make changes, however great t dispatch. re, i€ the trafl of rth to be laid through the West Gate?” “I believe 80,” he answered blandly. “Through the Chinese quarter?” To this he nodded, while he drew at his cigarette. “What!” he then cried through cloud of smoke; “you laughed at my fears in the throne room and boasted of our strength.” He saw my point quickly, at least! I did t tell him what I thought. It was another kettle of fish now that I knew who wae in that golden sarcoph- agus “But strong as we are, sire, is it not foolhardy to tempt Prince Tuen un- necessarily 7" Then I told the King of the situation in the Chinese quarter and of Dejneff's plan. He seized upon that instantly. “The ruse is good, and it is all we can do; the old palace is on the road to the Littie Gate,” he added; and I real- ized that he could not order the funer- 2l pageant to pass the spot where the Queen was murdered. As I moved away the King looked at thoughtfully; then suddenly he stepped forward. “I. have ordered that your company surround the bler on its journey; be watchful and do not spare the lead.” Then he added with something of his old swagger, and a fresh cloud of ci- garette smoke to frame it in, “There will be promotions for this 'night's work, Martyn. I saluted and went back slowly to the plaza. I had accomplished little or nothing; yet Dejneff's ruse was a good one and must be trusted now. me CHAPTER XIX. THE IMPERIAL FUNERAL. The aspect of the heathen city had wonderful by day. The great g pennons and ‘ban- on a holiday, was a been crowds, more dense as the » the quarter of a was now added a 1g quarter of a million. Cities and were deserted for a space ffty round. The gates of the city had owded all day, the grinning monkeys on their gables admitting gov- ernors and beggars, dukes and mounte- ban sts and criminals, indgflmv nately, from seashore, mountafy and valiey sight presented by this half-wil- ple was indescribable. The ab- »f lights made the appearance of ity doubly significant, for there no lights save the candle each man carried in & lttle pap ntern, for the moon shone only fitful And so there was light—a burning glare, but low down as a man's knee From where I stood on the plaza of the legation it seemed that the city was il- luminated by red-hot pavements, a ruddy glare distinctly marking the di- rection of all the main avenues The sound of this moving host was indescribable. The hard lin streets were covered ‘with which rolied and crunched u r each falling foot. What was the tumuit arising from a million moving feet? It was a sound unknown even to the sea It was not the ceatinual grind of gi- gantic glaclers. It was like nothing that ever met my ears. I stood en- tranced a space, looking on those streets of flame, and listening te the murmur of that million of sandaled feet tone ebbles My orders were to flank the imperial route from the legation to the center of the city, where the great beil hung The crowds had already divir the route, and this avenue was the s center of the city. It was men's for my column to plow thro bel], but they went through My lines once establish the avenue, the crowd temporarily, between them there along the route elegant were suspended from the hard ground. The silken network of each was four feet long with a cen- ter of red and a border of blue at the bottom and top. Within each, thus thoroughly protected from the wind, a candle burned on a sharp ir It may have been 9 o'cl lines were established to the great bell. The fu to the my the legation veral proces- sion was advertised to start at9. I was advised to expect it prcmptly three hours later, at midnight. For three hours—though they were anxious hours—I was an interested spectator of the scene before me. Through my lines surged the countless throng. Now it was brushed lightly aside, as & company of Quelpartien in- fantry trotted down on the double- quick, formidable in appearance and sound. No sooner was it again in mo- tion, in aimless “pursuit of happiness,” than a shrill scream rent it asunder, as a Quelpartien nobleman on a spotless pony, preceded by busy henchmen, paced to his place in the imperial cor- tege. A sackcloth Quelpartien hat cov- ered his netted hair. A rope an inch in dlameter surounded his waist; another, smaller in size, was caught about his hat. Such was the imperial mourner's habit. Beyond, in the plaza of the bell, was the vortex of the surging human bil- lows which were sweeping the city. In that maelstrom, peddlers with trays, supported by strings about their necks, were reaping a rich reward, and thieves a richer. The native soldiers guarding the plaza had broken ranks (their offi- cers were in the neighboring drinking- houses) and were seated on the ground nodding before their fires of sticks and grass, their rifies stacked about them. Gambling being legalized for the time, many were playing games of chance. Thus the hours dragged on. The first sign of the approaching pa- geant was the arousing of the soldiers to clear the avenue. It was soldier's work, too. Plercing the streets in the center, the multitude was crowded back to the houses. The forward lines were pushed out by those behind, and the soldiers pounded the faces of those in the rear with the butts of their guns. Slowly a way was cleared. In some places it was twenty feet in width; here narrowing, there widening. Then, in the center of the opening, was laid a thin line of earth, all the way from the Russian Legation to the imperial tomb —for in Quéelparte it is beneath the dig- nity of the King to walk upon the earth that has been desecrated by other feet. Thus wherever the King goes fresh earth is strewn which no foot may touch until he has passed. The sight of this faint trail had a mi- raculous effect upon those surging thousands. They became quiet and ex- pectant, each suggestion of the coming pageant being greeted with delight. Heads of departments .began flying back and forth on official duties; a Quelpartien general and staff tittupped along the route, inspecting, at a proper distance, the line of fresh earth, to see that it was laid properly to the desti- nation. And when at last the old ringer entered the bell house and the beam was swung twelve times upon the great bell, a hush fell ¢ver the city, and every heart knew the appointed hour was at hand. Instantly a Cossack trum- peter on the balcony of the Russian Le- gation blew his clear signal, and when the echoes of the bugle had died away in the ravines of the mountains the fu- neral cortege was in motion. Believe me, I saw all that I have de- scribed. Believe me, also, there was a moment in which I was not nking of Duleine. * It is also quite as true that in this crisis my mind wan- dered back over the past week and re- called its strange experiences to prove to myself I was awake and not dream- ing. Again I saw Wun Chow and heard the chanting in the temple of Ching- ling, and again the tragedy of the sub- terranean vault was enacted. Now I was running madly down Lywx Island in the dark: now shouting to a tele- graph instrument in delirium; now I was waiking on from a fallen horse through a valley from which the tide had just gome, and bargaining for a loaf of bread from an unknown friend. QOnce more 1 tried to tell the King on his throne that Li and Ling were lost, and that the Queen’s body was still on Lynx Island. 1 talked with Dulcine before the fire; Kim laid the body in the sar- cophagus; I watched the King draw on the great golden cover. If 1 needed more proof, my anxious heart could have given testimony, for I had been subjected to surprises—and no sleeper is surprised in his dreaming. No, this was nct a dream. Betore the great bell struck the hour of mid ht I had taken my station at the door of the King's wing. Within the” King's apartment confusion had reigned during the last hour before the pageant started. But without, behind the legation, where the pageant was formin nfusion was worse confused. dezvous of any circus parade is r compared with what was ere., For blocks in each di- outlandish parapher- —banners, carriages, carts, en- flags, shields, lanterns, horses, e most illustrious collection of es human eye ever viewed; atten- for precedence; coolies enacted t rection s vintain position against men with ‘bannerless poles and men with poleless banners, fight- that which each lacked; horses. d with fear; mules richly capar- braying for water, and super- »f the pageantg, at their wits’ end, reckless of life 'and charging about m this pandemonium of heathen- , I pagsed by the guards at the door ed the throne room. ' All was e. In the dim light I saw the watch, standing moticniess by catafalque. Though I kney they acks, I went no nearer, for e was nothing I could do, however much 1 longed-to make my presence known. And so I, too, stood watch over her. As ight wore on, I became calm and resolute. The trying scene in this room, following immediately upon the receipt of Dulcine’s 'note, had played havoc with my weakened nerves. The cold air and the exercise had strength- ened them. At the first boom of the great bell I went out into the nlaza and mounted my horse. One company in my com- mand which flanked the four sides of the plaza was to surround the bier and guard it. At the head of this com- pany I took my place, as the glittering line of the imperial cortege rounded the farther wing of the legatipn and came slowly by. Two Quelpartien dukes on great white horses led it. Twisted ropes sur- rounded their waists and hats. Men at their sides bore silken banners, some in plain and some in mixed colors, flying on long poles raised high up in alr. All kept wide of the little trail of earth in the center of the road. Even the horses seemed to know it meant death to step there. Then came a host of yellow lanterns— imperial yellow—borne by coglies for whom it was the event of a lifetime, a memory to be handed down to chil- dren’s children. Behind the lantern came prominent Quelpartien generafs. Immense red plumes fell back from their glittering helmets. They wore no sackcloth. Behind them rode a squad of cavalry officers in their flowing scar- let sleeves. The sleeves of their uni- forms are of this color, so that, when charging, sword in hand, the spurting blood of the enemy will not disfigure thelr apparel to sicken the brain. Then came the royal eunuchs of the palace— in heaviest sackcloth. The splendid horses of the cavalry officers were not better than those ridden by these rmpe- rial household officials. 3 All these went wide of the earthen trall. s The great guilds of the land were rep- resented in the pageant of monstrous banners thirty and forty feet in length, borne on veritable masts under which the most powerful men staggered pain- fully but proudly. The banners con- tained tributes to her Majesty, Streamers fastened to the top tended to steady them and ease the labors of the bearers. The coming of the King was heralded by a swarm of yellow banners carried by footmen. Behind them a body of Cossacks surrounded his Majesty, who was riding a white horse with charac- teristic grace and jauntiness. The white stallion walked fairly in the cen- ter of the narrow trail of hallowed earth, and proudly, as though conscious that before hig own dainty foot none other had touched it. Whang-Su seemed as unconscious of danger as his horse. Now and then he talked with Dejueff, wha rode watchfully be- hind him, a hand ever at his beit. Behind the King, at a proper distance, swarmed a host of coolies wearing yel- low coats. On their backs rested a platform made of bamboo poles. Upon this rested the covered chair used by her to whom this raree-show was a tri- bute. I am sure I never saw such a thing on the streets of Washington or on the boulevard to Mount Vernon, but I repeat what the honest Kim affirmed, who stood at my elbow explaining to me the signification of all the insignifi- cance of the passing pageant. The four silken sides of the chair were covered with bangles representing pea i eyes, which in Quelparte are always used to denote the presence of the gen- tler sex. Behind the chair came a crowd of coolies bearing yellow silk paraspls on elongated handles. The fringes of these parasols were of rarest lace, and the spectacle afforded by their bearers the most ridiculous con- ceivable. If Dulcine was enduring a thing no mortal was ever doomed to experience before, she was certainly missing a spectacle no mortal could ever forget. Interest now became intense as the resounding foot-beats on the hard avenue anncunced the coming of the army, in the center of which the royal bier would be borne. Rank after rank passed by and in good order, for in the past fortnight the troops had been drilled hourly for this review. It was plain the resuit was satisfactory to the crowd, if not to the officers. But at last the funeral car was caught sight of, and the soldiers were forgotten. No sooner was this before the door of the King's wing than the sarcophagus was borne to it on the shoulders of many servants. . About it my company closed instantly, and we were on our way to the mausoleum af- ter hardly a moment’s delay. The rear was brought up by the cavalry regi- ments. The funeral car in which the sarcoph- 'agus was placed would have added re- nown in any procéssion. It rolled on two great golden wheels, being drawn by ropes each fifty feet long and in the hands of scores and gcores of coolies in mourning dress. Upcen only those near- est the car did the work fall, fdr a few of those in front on either side drew the venicle, and those behind nearest steadied it on an incline. All the rest marched proudly, holding the slack rope in their hands and gazing to the right and to the left. The car was perhaps seven feet in height. Above it in the center was a great golden ball, an im- posing crown piece. Its length’ may have been ten feet; its width four. At the corners of the fluted roofing, large golden lotus leaves turled upward from beneath, and upon them golden dragon heads were fastened. From the open mouths great silken cords hung down, and heavy tassels at their ends swept the ground twelve feet below. . But all this beauty was not for the vulgar eye, for beside the car (when they could keep up with it) marched tall men car- rying poles, to.which were fastened long silken screens to shield the bler from view. Before, beside and behind came coolies carrying poles with fiying banners on which were inscribed the graces and virtues of her within the car. Some of these Kim translated to me. They were all new to me, though she had graces and virtues unnum- bered, I knew. 7 The pageant was a splendid success. Before we passed out of the gate it was evident that the nation saw and was pleased. Even as we marched breath- ‘net, the legations, and a THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. legsly through the Chinese quarter of the city there was no cutbreak. Dark- ness, an absence of holiday regalia, and hundreds of sober faces only greeted us there. " I breathed more easily wher the city gate was reached. Just beyond, now in sight, rose the mausoleum and the city of a night about it. My heart leaped at the sight of it, reflected in the glare of the thou- sand lanterns. Once safely there, my forebodings and anxieties were at an end. Dulcine would be easily released, and the drama in which we were more prominent actors than was generally supposed, ¢r than we wished to be, would be over. Already I thought of Japan—and home, The inspiration of these blessed hopes gave me strength # play my part to the end. And I needed strength, for the strain was telling on me. Kim, even, ‘spoke of the pallor ¢f my coun- tenance, and I knew my hands and knees trembled. CHAPTER XX. THE SIGNAL OF THE SCABBARD. It the city of Keinning, three thou- sand years old, was marvelous in ap- pearance, the City of a Night, at the foot of the imperial mausoleum, was no less wonderful. Looking from the eastern gate, an avenue of fire led through darkness to an illuminated mountain three miles distant. Here and there in the gloom on’ either side of it little lights shone like will-o’-the-wisps In the paddy- fields, where lonely travelers, coming from the north or south and skirting the crowded city, made their way by candle:light toward the ' great white tomb. The avenue of flame was a mov- ing wall of humanity—a nation going to the grave-gite chosen by the imperial soothsayers. The line of red lanterns and the ‘trall of fresh earth left the main avenue as' it neared the goal, swinging out and around to the mound and the Hall of Spices where the sar- cophagus would rest before being en- tombed. & ; The sight was of bewildering beauty. The army encamped around the out- skirts of this maglic city, the stacks of arms making a glittering wall about it. Avenues were left open between the camping companies, where thousands ‘wandered and warmed themselves by the soldiers’ fires. Nearer the tomb and around it stood the temporary buildings erected by the King, at an expense of many thousands and for but a single night, in which, to house himsélf ard the guests invited to his imperfal wake. Beside the mound and altars were buildings for his cabi- neral guest- house, and\in each building a dining- Toom was ded where elaborate dinners were served immedlately upon the arrival of the pageant. Every per- son was fed, from the embassador to the peorest coolie, who had been freez- ini beside his sputtering red lantern, t the very center of the perfect cir- cle of stacked rifles arose the mound of earthi which I had passed ¢cn my jour- ney with Colonel Li to Wun Chow. This T have described as an oval mound fifty feet high, within which was built the solid granite tomb. On the summit of the cone of earth could be seen the great tablet poised on end; and-on the side of the mound, toward the Hall of Spices, an inclined track of smooth wood was laid, up which the loads of cake and spices and fruits were to be drawn; after them the golden casket itself. My company marched to the Hall of Spices and surrounded it; the sarcopha- gus was borne within, where mountains of cake and spices, which were to be placed within the tomb for the soul to feast upon, arose on every side, flanked by great piles of fruits, Masses of candy and spices were ranged behind the cake and fruits. -1 wondered where all this was to be stored, and, while per- sonally staticning my guards, I entered the staging which held the great poised tablet and looked down. Eight feet be- Jow I saw the mouth of the tomb. This was a round room perhaps thirty feet high and as wide. A low marble pedes- tal was erected in the center, upon which the sarcophagus was to be placed. Arcund about ran a wide mar- ble ledge upon which cakes and candies, fruits and spices, were already being arranged by black-gowned servants. No one was permitted to descénd into the vault but these grim-looking men, who, Kim informed me, built the tomb. They spoke not to eacW other, but sig- naled like dumb men. One yawned in my face, and 1 understocd. Their tongues had been cut out. No one might enter that vault and tell its secrets to another! 1 hastened back to the Hall of Spices. The time was fast approaching now when I could give the signal and re- lease Dulcine. However, the household ministérs were still busy about the sar- cophagus, and the final honors to the dead were not yet performed. The pal- ace women came by, heavliy veiled and moaning loudly. After them came the Cabinet led by Prince Ting. Then fol- lowed the embassadors of the foreign nations, stepping forward one by one, and bowing to the casket which lay be- hind parted yellow curtains. This over, the curtains were dropped. It was still an hofir before suarise, and the tomb was not to receive its im- perial burden until that time. More rites to the dead we-e to be performed by priests in another portion of the build- ing, and goon the dais before the sar- cophagus was quite deserted. The re- leasing of Dulcine behind the yellow curtains would be but the, work of a moment. My time had come. I took the hilt of my sword in my hand and mounted the stens. At that moment a voice spoke my name. I started, frightened, for I thought I was alone. I looked in the di- rection of the sound. On the lowest of the three steps which surrounded the building, and holding back the long silken curtain by one hand, stood Colo- nel Oranoff. In the dim light I thought I must be mistaken. I closed my eyes and then opened them, shadifig them from the Jight of the nearest sputtering toreh. And yet there he stood, dressed in the great coat and silk hat I had seen often on the'streets of Keinning. The face seefned so pale that my throat choked with fear and my heart stopped beating: Did he know our secret? Had others discovered it? That face so changed and altered—oh, what could it ean? X 2 i T was left but a moment in anguish. Then he spoke again. The voice was equally unreal: “She is not there. If you love her, follow me.” 5 If I loved her! Then she was else- where, and in danger? I could not have believed those words from any other lips than those which uttered them. I would have left that dais for no other man on earth than Oranoff. The cur- tains came together. I knew he was a man of few words, and the retreating footsteps were his. “If you love her!™ I hurried after him. I had not seen Dulcine’s father since I marched before the King and virtu- ally told a lie by failing to tell the truth. I had heard. him speak to Dul- cine across my bed when she told the lie I acted, but I looked only at her. I tried to believe he had sought her in the British Legation party, and, missing her, had come to me. But his few words implied that he knew where she was. His face showed he was crazed with grief. I attempted to overtake him, but I quickly perceived he did not desire this, for he regulated his paces with mine and remained in the lead. We passed around the mound. Now I saw he also took the precautiom not to be recog- nized by others and carried himself pe- culiarly, one shoulder being carried higher than another. I dumbly fol- lowed his example, thinking of nothing save the danger which had come to Dulcine. With this fear in my heart I seemed bereft of every sense. At length we reached the soldiers, and Oranoff chose one of the darker avenues or spaces between the com- panies and passed swiftly through the stacks of burnished rifles and out into the gloom beyond I could now see the dim forms of several persons beyond us. There were ponies with them. Now and not until now did I in the least doubt that I was folowing Colonel Oranoff, blinded as I was by my awful fears. I looked again upon those shoul- ders, and suddenly the scales fell from my eyes. It was the man of the crippled shoul- ders. Menin had caught me at last! But even as I turned gnd reached to my side, a blow on the head from some one who was silently following felled, me to the ground. PR Sy | The sun was rising when again I opened my eyes. Perhaps the torture of the cords which bound me to the pony hastened the return of conscious- ness. For a moment I gazed blankly into the valley from which we were climbing, just as the sun was gilding the crest of the far-off. rocks. Below was Keinning, the valley of the Phan, the plain ‘wherein stood the Queen’'s mausoleum. ¢ Then a strange sound came up through the fog. It ram along the cliffs like a roll of tiny drums. At last the echoes beat themselves to death on the rocks and dropped lifeless at their base. The sound was as though a gigantic hammer had struck a mountain cliff. It chilled the, blood in my veins, and started my staggering brain from its dreaming. My reason returned. The great-tablet had dropped forever upon the royal mauscleum, burying Dulcine Oranoff within it, alive! 4 14