The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 1, 1904, Page 2

y HIS is the fourth and last install- ment of “The Queen Quelparte,” the most popular $1 50 novel of the day. complete for 20 cents. Next Sunday the first installment of an- other 81 50 nvvel, “By a Hair'’s Breadth,” will appear in these pages and will be completed in four consecutive install- ments, making the cost for the entire book only 20 cents, an offer that has not been equaled anywhere else in mod- ern journalism. The pleasing feature about The Sunday Call’s liberal literary policy is that there are not only no long waits between installments and no in- terminable “continued in our next” cateh lines, but every book publish- ed is of the highest ¢l and exclusively timely. of ass \s a particular in- stanee in point “By a Hair’s Breadth™ Tells of the movements of the Czar and his intrigues in Continental Europe and he 1arded by the dreaded vird Seetion.” In view of the present Russo-Japanese war this book is of ab- sorbing. even thrilling how is safe 1nte ughts bed, their yes fol- hardly rkened up the pitated at f such cruel fettere. Then went off the bed and stood we near by was tacitly mad r me, and I pproached the b quietly, I never took steps before or o regretfully. a full minute I gazed downward and dumfounded upon the ahib Menin! The werewolf had played Ivan Oran- onve too often! r moment I could not speak ad with revenge, I leaned over I knew was watching -closed eyes, and 1 imperial swiftly from g it aloft, I turned nen behind me, say- For eechles: n. wh ed Gentlemen, let me present a hell- nd of Prince Tuen's, Sahib Menin.” - exclamations were lost on my ear , oh! the oath hissed into that pillow did my heart a great good! The daylight bade me hasten, for I could not remain in the legation with- out Dulcine, and Ling must be found or I to the King. - de a fast run to Chefu, Sa- u m Menin,” I said. he growled, “as fast as your sage went there.” e villain was unmasked. He spoke as fierce and domineering as ever ountain hut. It made my But 1 swallowed my anger ined to play with my deflant vou came here, sharpened of your trap, and stuck your n it;”” and I laughed as heart- ough laughter and not groans v whole portion of late. But ghed too—that same hellish I wanted to spring at his Where your lautch?” I asked kly, for I could not beat the bush tell the truth now for once; I se you will pay death for each is At Che he answered calmly Then, sir"—and I had determined iy course icipating this lying r Admiral Holstrem of will have your boat d.” were coals of fire ! find a dead woman in an Then he w s eyes 1 away, but this drove me Lord Ged, T will come t you where you lie till 1 cried and turned on . dead,” is worth more to you The reply, half a reflection stion, unnerved me utterly, on toward the door deter- man ache as I did at that fenin let me go now, it either his men did not re or he Was ready to die 1 ramed (if, as he had said vas worth more to me than nd here he had me. By the my pris r, wag not the out as I strode to the salon but ! back. I and looked door a the dare-devil laugh. Hark! ud, clear, defiant, n an unknown oath! 1 went on. for 1 could not stop with- seing ‘the of his posi- 1 found ting my mes- i wrote and single mes- solved it- e to trust o open the UE @ #ny other signal than e she Tad promised ‘0 ob of e it was,possible (hat Menin had » this sigral of ours accidentally, had long ARes I fegolved not to cen- thisextpwerfinary fatal coinci- ritn i ending tonf sage [ clung desperately t Dulcine * based whoelly upon my faith in her ut it was fooihardy to run useless rigks, and my hand dropped nerveless when I strove'to sign Oranoff’s name to the r I had written, As 1 lay on the table perplexed,. a happy alternative occurred to me. 1 could at ledst prove Menin's words con- cerning the presence of his launch.off Chefu, and in a moment I substituted this query for the order I could not dare to send: 7 Admiral Holstrem ce if two-masted Aun ¥ chored in either U or outer harbor Chefu ORAN( . per MARTYN I quickly reduced this to cipher ar had it sent singing on its way. Then I went back to my mouse. wotild be an hour to my theory sen releaséd nch is-an It before T could nail’ Menin’s first lie. Ahd I thought of other things to ask him “In an hour, Sahib Menin, your lies will be thrown back in your teeth,” I began; “4n the meantime you will do well if yvou teill the truth.” “Jamie! but you are a fool” he growled; “think you Prince Tuan's pri- vate jaunch will be overhauled ahd searched like a pi Junk?” I ignored the wor propertion as they affected me. For the first time Menin confessed Tuen to be his mas- ter! . . “Aye, and sunk at its berth, words prove true,” I retorted “Oh, but you are a fool,” the man snarled, and turned over to his pillow, ignoring my presence absolutely. I began to feel now that T dealt, in truth, with no common villain, and also, with a gust of anger, that I played poor hands as master. However false Menin was otherwise, he was truly genuine in his disgust at my boyish bravado. I had the wit to retire to my own room and sleep until my answer your boy brought it and arcused me; with shaking hand I translated the words one by one and glared at the re- sult: None but Tuen's private yacht, which just put out to sea HOLSTREM. With this in my iand I rushed back to Oranoff's siite. “Your yacht has left Chefu. Sahib,” I ripped out now angrily. - “Because the message it was awaiting was not sent.” The devil drawled the words without taking his head from the pillows or looking at me. ‘Where has it gone?” I demanded, exasperated. “To Shanghai.” “Are you feady to send wor e the prisoner delivered there to tne Rus- sian Minister?” “Arc you ready to go to the King and tell him.the imperial mausoleum 1is empty?” “I'll see you in hell firet,” I burst oyt, crazed by the -beast’s impudence. The man now satap in bed. “Hark, fool; Shanghai is the last Menin had played me for a youth to advantage, but this blasphemous threat Was too{ plainly a desperate der- nier ressort. § 1t chilled the bloed in my veins, but 1 was stgeled against chilled blood now, and 1 sneered: “Bah! you are too much of a coward to face the consequences of that.” With this jcutting thrust—unjust, indeed, for Menin was ds brave a devil as ever- breathed—I laft the room. .1 was wasting time ~there and strength teo. 1 had made up my mind to find Kim before 1 dickered more with Menin. ' Until I was sure Dulcine was not in the imperial mausolenm, I should believe she had kept perfect faith with me, and act on that belief. I left the legation as secretly as I had come, and went back to old Ky- sang. CHAPTER XXVIIL KIM. As T made my way through the wak- ing city, my bright uniform attracted much attention, and 4 was glad enough to find Kysang at the bell house, and in the little room where Kim's uncle lived I found & welcome retreat. It'was evident that I was not safe in Kein- ning now without a goodly body of Cossacks about me. Even thé sly Me- fin, master-trickster, had been at- tacked and would have been killed had not Dejneff scattered his assailants. Worn out utterly, it was not difficult for mé to declde to rest for the day in Kysang's warm,corner; and, anxious beyond telling though I was to reach Duieine, I determined to gain a little of the strength I needed, and then, Kim failing me, I would go that night to the King. I knew I ¢ould not see him until night, and I did not know, I confessed with & sob, whether I could. do so, even at the most appropriate. time. Kysang gave me his softest mat and 1 fel}on it despairingly, for it seemed place I can catch them; if they do not .mear, a crime for me to sleep nows Yet hear from me there, they will go up the river and peddle ‘their freight in th opium dens of the Yangtse.” 4 This was too overdone. there in the conter of the great city, the tramp of huxndreds of sandaled. feet sounding continucusly in my ears, 1 slept, and started into wakefulness THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. WUELPARTE] By Archer Butler Hulbert. with frightened cries, and then fell asleep again, threughout the long day. If possible, my rowing a¥® my waking thoughts. As often as I awoke. 1 found Ky- sang or fgitiuful Pak at my side; Pak was indefatigable in my interest, bring- ing me, among other things, a basket of luscious persimmons which grow twice the size in Quelparte that they do in America, and amply repay one's ef- fort to learn to llke them. Whenever I see this fruit now I remember that dreary vy I spent in the Ilittle bell house Keinning—and Kysang’s watch. Some old-time friend of the bell- ringer at the English Legation had pre- in .sented Kysang with a cast-off watch which renewed the old man's desire of long life. It was a plain, silver, open- cage affair, with a crystal monstrous -thick, but no youth with his first stem- winder was ever so pleased as was Kysahg with this. For the first few days he carried it in his hands, partly through fear that it would suffer acci-. dent elsewhere, and partly because the Quelpartien male attire is innocent of pockets. Whatever a Quelpartien wishes to carry with him goes into a little cloth, leather.or chamois bag which swings ever at his loins. Ky- sang was carrying it still in his hand, but Kim's mother had made him a little pocket in his under-coat, which came early in the day, and soon he was find- ing what a marvelous nuisance pock- ets were. Kysang was continually put- ting in or, taking out his watch, for he could not turn about without looking at it. -He timed himself at all tasks, and became enthusiastic when Ishowed him how ‘to count his pulse, finding that it moved faster after he had been exercising than before. There was a clock in the little brick hotel across the square, and often he would saunter over and compare his wateh with jt. In one of my waking hours- he confided to me gleefully, but in a low tonme, that the clock in the hotel did not “get around as fast as his-watch”—a, fact that elated him im- mensely. Before night he told me that in a week his watch would go around ireams were as har- almost twice clock. “Then they would be just, together again, wouldn't they?’ I asked him. This was a puzzler, and he pulled out his watch and’ sat down, looking at it thoughtfully. Finally he coin- cided with my notion and affirmed that he could, however, keép careful score and be able to tell just how many times around he was ahead of the clock. His idea seemed to be that the fastest watch, like the horse, was the best. I lald him mc. . ..cply in my debt by showing him the regulator and ex- piaining that he could make the wafch 8o taster or slower as he chose. He could uot understand why one could wish to make a watch go more slowly, whereupan I drew on his i{dea of fast horses, and he admitted that it was not best ) keep a herse always travel- ing at hix prettiest speed. Following my ides, he slowed his 7 . or twite a day, though L¥id Miade . nervous, and he went over 1o the siden . as many times as that 1UE WOorRDS 7040 AWFVLLY ay rax IEEIMLBLING— | JTETY, » oftener for fear it would get ahead. Kysang could not understand why there should be an arbitrary rule con- cerning the numbers.on the watch’s face. I once tried to explain the length of the day and the rise and setting of the sun, but he objected so often and with such shrewdness, insisting, for in- stance, that some days were ' much longer than others, that I got out of the argument only by dint of a series of long words which completely si- lénced him. As to having twen'y-four figures on the face, he could not see why this would not be a distinct im- provement. The larger the face, the better Kysang said be would be suited. He was a little put out because the clock in the hotel struck the hours, and his watch did not. Couldn’t they put in a little bell? Another thing which troubled him was that the clock was wound up only once a week, and his watch had to be wound daily; this, on the face of it, was a reflection on the watch. So I found myself delivering a dis- sertation on watch-springs. I told Ky- sang of the American sailor who took his fine watch to a Japanese jeweler to be put in order, and who found after getting it back ‘that it would run in fair but not in cloudy weather. Ky- sang was as puzzled as the sailor; the Japanese_had put in a bamboo main- #pring which swelled when the air was damp. 3 “*Thus tbz day passed in a sort of waking sleep—with ndw and then a new development in Kysang's meving eccentricities. The watch made him forget his legends, even, until the night came. But no sooner had I asked him about the little lake in the palace grounds near by, than he began to tell of the strange Hon-pyung Sa-ryung-bu, or pond, near the Home Department, where the frogs have never croaked throughout the livelong years since Kang Kam-ch'al gagged their mouths with straw. Kang was only a clerk in the Home Department, but he .was so good that even the beasts of the field obeyed him; consequently the highest men in t land feared him. At one time the frogs in the little lake beside the building croaked so loudly that Kang could bear with them no longer He then wrote the following on a piece of paper: “This is a government office, where nolse cannot be tolerated, for it inter- feres with work. Instead of remember- ing this and keeping silence, out of gratityde for our giving you this pond to live in, you keep up this horribly sad croaking, which seems to be the only volce heaven conferred upon you. But « must ceess. do not stop, we shall have to “scipime you.” XKaog threw this istter into the pond, and with it an .armful of chopped straw. Straightway upon reading the letter every frog scized a piece of chopped straw and held it in his mouth, like the Quelpartien boy who is gagged in school when he dogs not re- peat the characters well. - Fi\gm that day to this not a frog has croafed be- side the Home Department, though the pond is'full of them. But poor Kang came to a bad end. Atsthat time the King’s son-in-law, Cho Ta-tim, was a shocking scape- grace who lived inside the south gate under Nam-san. This youth had the eftrontery to ask the King to build him a golden bridge from his house to one of the spurs'of the mountain. Shocked at the profligate’s request, Kang boldly memorialized the throne that he be putito déath. This raised a tempest, and Kang was seized and con- demned to death. He was bound to a cart to be driven to his execution, ac- cording to custom, with his crime pasted in great letters uon his back, “Arch traitor.” But when Cho T rim's friends attempted to start the cart, the bullocks could not move it an inch. More bullocks were ‘yoked on, but to no effect. Then Kang, the criminal, laughed and said, “If yocu will remove this accu- sation from my back and write ‘Arch patriot,” the cart will go.” For a time the angry crowd would not listen, but at last when they obeyed Kang’'s words the cart moved easily to the place of execution, where the vil- lainous sentence was carried out with added zest because of Kang’'s laughter and his magic power. “If. you don't believe, this,” said Ky- sang, as he finished, “go some summer night to the Mome Department and lis- ten for the frogs at Honpyung Sa- ryung-bu."” As the night came on, I thought more and more of my prisoner at the lega- tion, of his b~ld playing and his villain- ous thres. What would Oranoff say when he knew that Menin was in his hands? As I slept a little now and then, I even dreamed of Dulcine as prisoner on Tuen’s palatial yacht; yet when I woke I was trust her pe surer t ever that ours an tly and T felt a g \ing int me 28 the night thickened and the houl of action came n How little T Kk into at sphe: my activ w No word came as midnight 4 watch hurrie planning ax King. I sang’s old alarm tc arose an ity, ) the door wit word. But there stood a woman in whIt Oh, I shall never forget that ficel blanched with the most deadly fear. I looked and saw it was Kim's moth er! I went quickly toward her. Kim pa come! She had brought me the goc news! The one man who must know 4 Dulcine and her condition was Mo within reach, and I knew he would te me of her safety and help me rele her. I breathed a prayer of thanksgivi from a thankful heart. But all the time that stared wildly upon me. that mean? The woman came e then quickly ran round me and enters Kysang's r She fell across th old n was comin subbing her mesage in h te fa What coul m the woman now perfect ith their she maz smoke: A fires chimneys en n ould 1 lered yecasioned by K Might it not be that the had sacrificed himself ar for us? Had he and saved Her? true by any pe have known tk form we tog throne room have read the me: from Dulcir have known that the fall of the great tablet had buried het within the Queen’s mau- soleum. And yet I remembered with a start that Prince Tuen's wily serval bad known all this, at least they had guessed it all and had acted swiftly! and triumphantly on the basis of thel supposition. But while I struggled with these fear and hopes, to Kim's house, where an excited crowd had gatheres Talk ran-high and was sensational I its pature. I told Pak, who follow behind me, to remain without and ls- ten to all that said. we came 1 pushed on after Kysang and the mother. First 1 saw the little siste lying on the floor shrieking loudly There was no one else in the room. Fhe mother led Kysang to a doorway be¥ond, and the two looked through. Soon Kysang turned back with a erri- ble groan. He came to me, and as® came he sobbed pitifully “What you done—what have| you done?™ Isaw he al o:nee asociated my rela- tions to Kim Wjth the youty' condition. 1 was utterly un 1 went forward quiiekly when once th made way for me, and I entered wi out stopping at the @oor. There Kim sat on the floor lean against the wall—and they were ri it was not Kim. His hair ¥as as whif as snow. His eyes were staring dul cut of distended sockets. The find grave face was distorted out of every, original proportion. He had gone away | a sober, manly servant of the King. He was now returned—& white-haired, / gaping idiot! My anguish was of a selfish tinge, buy it was no less genuine. Beside mysell with terror, I fell prostrate at the man’'s feet. He locked up at me, a8 entered the room, with a blank expresion of face. As Isank fore him the head tipped forward have ishly. “Kim, lad, you know me, you know me!” T cried. The boy answered not a wdrd. I grasped his anmkles—and they Wwere trembling. 1 felt his hands—they were cold and were shaxing. teo. . He was trembling all over. Fright had anbal- anced his mind. 1 kept on pleading with him, but to J no purpose. He sat in a tremibling & lethargy, and. I could not arouse the staggered brain. But 1 vemembered my only alternative, and nuf 'll‘