■fi
I**!
■noRD series s* By SYDNEY C.
Copurtaht, 1921, hy
. The McClure Newspaper Syndicate.
m
IL—THE ENCHANTED BASKET
R ATTLE, rattle, rattle dbwn thi
beautiful Shanghai water-fron
went the jin-rickshaws, over th<
Hong K>w bridge and along the Burn
toward the long row of foreign banks
near the Nan KinS road. “Ho Lan Yir
jj011g: Ho Lan Yin Hong! Aw Saw
(1jk, Aw Saw Dik!” cried the hotei
b01. who was acting as guide to th<
par(v 0f three Americans—(“To tlx
putch-Asiatic Bank! To thq Dutch
Asintic Lank! Hurry up! Hurry
The coolies increased their al
ready rapid pace and in a very few
moments more deposited their burdens
t th(, gateway of a pretentious looking
building, from the flag-staff of which
floated the tri-colored flag of the
Netherlands. “All three piecee man
-an waite’e this side little time,” said
pr -Williams of the China Navigation
fompany’s medical staff, quite ready to
exhibit his knowledge of pidgin-En
„lish 10 the later arrivals, and turning
j0 tlll. indy and gentleman who accom
panied him, added: “Here we are, now
we Win all go in and divide the spoils.”
They passed up the steps and en
tered the bank, where the assistant
•ompradore (or native cashier) re
i-eived them at the counter and took
,heir cards in*o the manager’s oflice.
'That looks all right, doesn’t it?” said
(he surgeon as he pointed significantly
10 a handsomely framed notice on the
inner desk— »
TICKETS
of the
Royal Dutch Lottery of Batavia
cashed here. '
"X0W die only question is; shall we
lake it in sovereigns or bank-notes or
silver? Let me see—ten thousand dol
lafs divided among three, that makes
about three thousand, three hundred
and thirty-three apiece, with a little
extra change thrown in, doesn’t it?” --
•It certainly does,” answered Miss
Olivia Spencer, who, with her brother
jack, formed the remainder of the trio,,
and I congratulate you on the excel
lence of your mathematics. I think 1
will take mine half in bank-notes and
half in gold—you know I just love the
sight and feel of gold; I can’t help it,
I caught it in California—but none of
those awful “chop dollars” for me, if
yon please. Why, it would take aii
extra jin-rikshaw to carry the load,
and then, the very thought of all the
people that have been handling them
is enough to give you the creeps, any
way.”
"And you, Jacll? What shall-we say
for you?”
“Notes, old man, and notes only; I
want to have that old-fashioned Amer
ican feeling of a ‘fat roll’ in my pocket,
you know.”
Harry Wagenpool, the genial Dutch
manager, appeared at this moment and
greeted his customers with rqal East
Indian courtesy. '“First of all, ladies
and gentlemen,” he said, knocking fhe
aahp3 from his Sumatra cigar, “I want
to extend to you’my. hearty congratula
tions on winning the third prize, and
to assure you that the directors of the
Royal Lottery will be especially pleased
to know that it has gone to a group of
Americans. We are anxious to have
our institution better Known in your
part of the world where”—he smiled
broadly as he spoke the words—“I be
lieve there etill lingers a little of the
old-fashioned prejudice against raising
a government’s income by these means.
Please step into the inner office and
we will rail the head compradore at
once." When all were seated he
touched a bell, and the long-gowned
Celestial immediately responded.
'Talkee Compradore come this side
just now!” The vision bowed and
vanished as silently as he came.
“You have the ticket w'ith you, cf
course'.’”
“Oh, yes,” answered Miss Spencer
Promptly, “it’s right here in my little
bag.” .a . ,
“And the number is—?” • ■
“Thirty-sixrthousand-and-one. And
here is the special telegram from Bata
via, which reached us before the papers
announced tho lucky numbers this
morning.”
“Quite right, quite right, and the
third grand prize is yours.” Then, ad
dressing the native cashier who bad
just entered in answer to the sunty.
mons; “Compradore, ple&se cash tnis
or:'T for ten thousand dollars for the
visitors.”
“Velly good,’’ bowed the corpulent
Ching pow, “wantchee all notee? Some
foldee, some silliber, how fashion?”
'Oh, only about a hundred dollars in
Sl'ver,” spoke up Dr. Williams, “the
r«t in notes and then”—pointing sig
Pificantiy toward the vault behind the
ttl,! glass partition—“you might give
three of those nice little bags of
tew sovereigns you always keep in
'here for your special friends.” ,
Ching Pow withdrew to the-'inner
tt’where his brother Celestials
i were chinking the coin. He was gone
: but an .instant when he rushed back
with a look ofsurpriseand anxiety on
• his usual placid countenance, and
startled the manager and his guests
with the exclamation: "Dis ticket him
no good, my have pay dis money one
piecee Chineyman dis morning. S’posee
some man he hab makee stealee! ”
"What on earth do you mean?” cried
Mr, Wagenpool, rising from his seat
and snatching the ticket and order
from the compradore’s hand. “You say
you’ve already paid -this number? Go
back there and get me the other ticket
at once!” Then, calming himself, he
turned to the party: "There may have
been some serious mistake here on the
part of the native staff—although they
are always over-particular with their
customers—but we will have it cor
rected at once.”
way, wiiiix can it possiDiy Der ex
claimed the lady, “there certainly aie
no duplicate tickets and these people,
with all their cunning ingenuity are
surely rot abl' to forge one?”
Ching Pow reappeared with a book
and two pieces paper which he laicf
on the astonished manager’s desk.
Sure enough! There was the unmis
takable evidence before them: ticket
number thirty-six-thousand-and-ooo
had been presented at the native
counter fully three hours before; the
cash bad been duly paid to the holder
Ting Sang and the bird and the prey
had vanished together!
“My friends,’’ said' Harr Wagenpool,
after he and his customers had ex
amined the papers, “I am bound to
confess that we are the victims 'of a
very clever forgery—the very first in
all my experience*her,e-—we will sum-,
mon the'Police Department at once.”
“A pretty serious affair, this.” re
marked Dr. Williams as the party rose
to take their departure, “And who,
may I ask, has to peajr the loss in the
case, we or the Royal Dutch Lottery?
That’s the all-important question for
us-” - l; "
“Ah, that will have' to be determined;;
by the ■ Consul when the police make5;
their report. The bank can pay only
one ticket and the evidence must de
termine which is the genuine one and
which is the forgery.” [
''" “And are'five to leave our ticket with
you now?”
“Yes,. the police must have posses
sion of them both.” ^ ’.j
“Well,” remarked the surgeon^Til'
order to make sure of future iddnmlca
tion I will just put my private, jpark'
on ours,” and drawing a little ,vial of
iodine from his pocket, before the man
ager could stop him, he painted with
the little brush' in the cork the initials
“A. R. W.” right across the face of the
ticket. | ;
*****
Right across the wide N an King
Road with its twinkling lights, and up
toward the north where the Tea House
of the Ancient Sages entertains its
hundreds' of nightly guests, there
passed that same evening a solitary
figure clad in the long- blue gown of
the scholar and followed by a coolie
bearing on his bambco- twt> common
place bundles of matting. They turned
at the corner by the Tea House and
elbowed their way through the narrow
Alley of the Genii until they came to
the rear entrance of one of those hand
somely-gilded shops which front on the
Ho Nan Road, and which are known
all over China as places where lottery
tickets are bought' and sold.; There
were no lamp-posts in the alley and
.they had almost to feel their way
along. There were no distinguishing
signs or numbers on the doors and each'
house looked exactly like its neighbor.
When they stopped, the leader felt with
his hand across the stone lintel and
muttered to himself: “No, not here, it
must be next door.” He went a few
paces further and felt the stone again.
This time his fingers went into a crack
and out of it he drew a long brass key.
“Ah, it is here!’* *
“Put'" the bundles down and I will
carry them in,’’ he said to the panting
coolie, who was mopping his-brow with
a very ragged piece of white cloth.
“The venerable master speakith
well,” was the reply, “and, now as the
night is dark and' the ‘way is long and
the burden is heavy, I know the mas
ter will not; begrudge his servant a
few extra cash.”
“We bargained for a hundred and
fifty, did we not?” ,
“The mister’s words are truth itself,
but the extra pipe and bowl of tea a.ie
riot amiss.”
“Hold out thy hand! Behold the
extra ten—and now begone!”
He waited until the coolie had dis
appeared, and. then placing the. bras.s
key in the ancient lock hi opened the j
door and dragged the two bundles into
the courtyard. Leaving them there, in
safety, he ascended three small wooden
steps and knocked upon a closed
: . v . ► - ■ • .
wooden shutter: first, three knocks,
then ti^o, then one. He waited a mo
ment and then he heard the bolt drawn
from within.1 ■’"The shutter was opened
cautiously. "Have you brought it?”
asked a mysterious voice. "It is all
here,” he replied, ..“come out and help
me Carry It in.” A small door opened
and A figure emerged (bowed over with
the apparent weight of years, he was
really physically afflicted—none other
than "Cripple Ching,” the well-known
vendor ot chances) he attempted to rft
one of the bundles, but it was too much
for him, so he untied it and took out
carefully twenty rolls of rough brown
paper and carried them, five at a time,
into the house. They closed the door
and the shutter and both sat down at
a table. A small and very smoky
kerosene lamp shed a dim light from
a shelf above them. Cripple Ching be
gan: "All went well as I directed?
You took three thousand in gold, three
thousand in notes and the rest in
silver?”
“Exactly so.” replied the faithful
confederate Lang Shin (“Twin Stars,”
so called from two star-like frost bYes
that adorned his cheeks). "Here is the
gold and the notes,” placing the bags
and rolls upon the table; "and here are
the forty packets of a hundred dollars
each.”
“And the compradore3 suspected
nothing?" ,
“Nothing at all—they simply over
whelmed me with .congratulations and
thanked the Buddhas that -I had woi»
it and not the white man.”
“Ah, that is as it should be,, but it is
fortunate that you got there early, for
some miserable foreigner is almost sure
to bring the other ticket before1 the day
is over. And you took it all to the
Baptist Mission and hid it in the store
room until night?”
'“Yes, exactly as we planned.”
“Then, by the aid of all the Buddhas,
we will count it all over once more
and place it in the Well of Heavenly
Blessings for safe keeping.”
Suiting tha action to the word. Twin
Stars and, Cripple Ching'went over
every coin and note and then, wrapping
them all carefully up, they lifted a
worn piece of matting from the floor
and opening a trap-door concealed by,
the dupt, deposited the treasure In a
deep hole in-the ground and covered
up all traces of their crime.
“Now that all is successfully accom
plished,” said the Cripple' with a sigh
of relief, “what do yoii say to a fresh
bowl and a pipe at the Tea House of
the Ancient Sages ?”
“It would be I most refreshing after
this hard and dangerousday’s work,”
echoed Twin Stars.
“Yes, we will drink the health of
the Royal Batavia Lottery—and then -to
happy dreams overour new-found
Wealth.” : i ‘ • ' > »
,, So they passed out together, through
the living-room", into the gilded- shop
wi,th its \ mirrors and carvings and
scrolls and all;the paraphernalia of the
lottery' dealer-—out Into the street un
der the great golden sign of the estab
lishment—
. “MIAO I^tN TZE"
(The Enchanted Basket)'
* * • *.< 4 *
Inspector Joseph McArthur of the
Shanghai police looked across the
table at his deputy. Captain O’Keefes
ag they sat in secret conference in the
private room at Headquarters, and
pointing his finger significantly at two
lottery tickets that lay before, him,
said; “Well, Cap, it’s a mighty- clever
piece of work and no mistake. Now
the first question is: Were they made
here or abroad?”
“Oh, sir, you can take my word for
it, they were made right here in the
Settlement, and what’s more, they
were made by their own people. You
see they’re so sly and secretive and
suspicious that they wouldn’t let the
tickets go out of their own country for
fear they’d never get them back." ■
“X believe you’re right—and now the
very first thing is to Search every
printing house in Shanghai and find
Out whether they have, any,press that
will do this kind of work.' Put Ah
Sam and his brother at it; thej^re our
best native officers, and they’ll ferret
it out quicker than ever we could."'
“Beg pardon, Chief, I. put them at .it
yesterday morning and they report
that there’s only one possible place
where it could be done, and that’s up
Happy breams over,, ^
Qur neW-Jour>& wg*jth 1'
at old Dr. Donaldson's. He’s just fitted
out his place with a lot of ■ new
machinery from home,’’ .
“You mean the Baptist! Mission
Press up by the French Bridge?’’
“The same, Sir.”
"Well, I think you and I had better
Just go up there quietly this afternoon
and have a private interview with the
old gentleman before the natives be
gin to get suspicious ana hide things.
Come around at two o’clock and we’ll
hire a, couples of public jin-rickshaws
on the Bund, and mind—no- uniforms,
Just Citizens’ clothes.”
“Right you are,‘Sir.” - - ■/'
Early • that afternoon ,the two- ■ of -
fleers-called at the Mission Press and
were courteously received by Dr. Don
ildson in his study. They explained
:he object of their visit and ended by
isking if It was possible that thef
:ickets could have; Ween';- ^®nted—
;ourse without his knowledge^-at- hist'
sstablishmen-t. , i
He looked the- papers over very care
fully by a strong .light’ and finally
said: ‘Well, gentleman, it is an excel
lent piece of lithographic work, a,nd we
have,' X believe, the orly new press- in
Shanghai that.-is capable of it; but yo»
must remember that _ there ' is some-'
thing even more necessary than. si press
for doing this kind of thing, .and that—
pointing to a group of workmen in the
courtyard—that i3 the printer! There
are only, two1 men in our whole outfit
who are really what you could call
skilled lithographers, and I know them
so well that I wouldn't suspect them
for a moment. Besides this, I superin
tend all this‘kind of work in person
and it Would be impossible for them
to put'any matter on a stone without
my knowing it at once. No, gentle
men, the Baptist Mission Press is not
responsible for ‘ this fraud; you will
have to. look elsewhere.”
Inspector McArthur, however, was
far from being satisfied with this
statement of the manager and insisted
on accompanying him to the pressroom
and in putting him through a regular
third degree, and, evidently to his
great annoyance, included his two
native assistants in t-he ■ .process.
“Where did they spend their night3?
Who kept the keys to the pressroom?
Was it not possible for them to dupli
cate the stone?” etc., etc., until his little
note-book was quite filled to overflow
ing with memoranda; then he and the
deputy respectfully took their leave.
“Well, CUptain, what do you make
out of It?” he asked when the two
officers once more returned to the se
clusion of the Chief’s private room.
“Believe me, sir, that “Charles” and
“James” as he calls them—(the mis
sionaries being accustomed to give
English names to their employees, j
especially if they are converts)—aro a
sly and tricky couple. I think it would
pay us to inquire a little more deeply
into their whereabouts and various
doings.-, You see the old gentleman will
believe anything those fellows tell him,
and how does he knowc but that they
have false keys and get into the press
room at night and Work this sort of
game while he is asleep?” So for the
next two weeks a careful watch was
kept over Charles and Janies,-but their
comings and goings were as innftcent
as those' of any Chinese lambs, and at
the end oH that time the police were
reluctantly obliged to confess to Harr
Wagenpool that they were as much in
.the dark as Ut the beginning. “Well,
gentlemen," he said, -you have evi
dently come to: the end of ydfcr rope.
Have "you: nothing else whatever to
offer?”
"Nothing except Waftg Poo,” was the
inspector’s reply. ^
~v*‘“Wang Poo? And who if he, prUy?”
1 "The famous detective at Hong
Kong/’
"You mean the one who recently re
covered the Governor’s stolen jewels?”
"The same, sir.”
"Please wire -for him to come at once.
Make him the most liberal offer you
please'and tell him to spare no ex
pense.” 1
That same evening Old-.Chang, the
gatekeeper at No. 6-5-5 in the Red
Cloud Alley handed a piece of yellow
paper to his master' - in ' the room
above. "Tien pok, ,tien pok, chiu lien
kwai, ehiu lien kwai!” (A lightning
•message,, a lightning message, please
read quickly!) The man of mystery
opened it. perused it. carefully, .then
rang the bell for the Venerable Grand
One and said: “Prepare the honorable
baggage—I sail in the early morning
for Shanghai!” ' ■ ?'
' * * - * , * -
“Now, Doctor,” said Miss Spencer, as
she added another dump of sugar1 to
his dainty little teacup which he held
out beseechingly beford her, “you really
must control your trembling nerves or
you will be dropping your cup and
saucer and decorating • this hotel
verandah 'with fragments of Canton
porcelain nnd’V-she added with a sig
nificant temile-i-"that would be worse
than losing the'lottery-ticket, wouldn’t
1 ■ ■ ■ • v..,' ■ - ... ..
it? Perhaps you are drinking too much
China tea;-they say. you know, that it
is apt to make new comers a trifle
shaky at first” ■
"Miss Olivia,” answered the blushing
young man, as he promptly steadied
his arm and .so avoided the threatened
crash of the porcelain, “do you really
notice that I am a little nervous to
day ?”
"You most certainly are.”
“And do you really, in your heart of
hearts, think that it is nothing more
than the Batavia Lottery and the
China tea that causes it?”
“Why,” she added, with that sweetly
innocent but very deep look that has
played over 'the countenances of the
daughters of Eve since the very first
day of a mortal man’s proposal, "why 1
what else can it be?”
“What else? What else?” he re
peated as he drew his chair nearer to
her side—arid inwardly thanked the
gods that her brother would be gone
at least another ten minutes—"why
nothing else, of course, except just my
own foolish self and, a-n-d you.”
"And me? Oh. yes, I see. Of course,
it was all my fault. If I hadn’t said
half-jokingly to you and Jack that
night, when the hotel-clerk offered us
the ticket, ‘Let us all three taka a
^share in it!’ why we shouldn’t have
gotten into all this entanglement,
should we? And you wouldn’t have
beep obliged to run over here every
afternoon to tell me how the case* was
going on, would you?’'
"Oh, i really didn’t mind that at all.
In fact. I’ve actually enjoyed it, so
much so that I’ve mustered up courage
fo come over here today and ask you
to share—” »
Another lottery-ticket with you?"
(Did he notice that she very deftly, as
she said' these words, slipped a*littie
doyly'over a paper novel that lay on
the table beside her,, and just in time
to prevent his reading the title if he
had looked- that way?) "Another lot
tery? Why, that would just even-up
the account, wouldn’t it. I inveigle
you and Jack into the Royal Dutch
game and then you turn around and
suggest a similar risk to me. Fir't
Eve tempts Adam and then Adam re
turns the compliment by a similar
temptation, on his part—isn’t that it?”
‘Well, yes, it does look a little that
way, but this isn’t that kind of a lot
tery. I m-e-a-n it isn’t that kind of
a risk, don’t you see?”
"And where does poor Jack come in
on the risk? We couldn’t leave hiih
out, you know.”
"Oh, he won’t be left put, but he
won’t have exactly the same kind of
a share in the game that you and I
have. He will come in all right”—and
he actually did so that' very instant as
he burst into his room and called out
to the verandah to save him a hot cup
of tea. " :
“Miss Olivia,’’ said the young sur
geon, making a desperate effort to save
the last” few moments before the
brother’s’ appearance from his room,
“you really didn’t give me time to
finish my sentence. What i tried to
say to you—in fact, what I have been
trying to say to you ever since we first
met, is simply this: I want you to
share my life and my home and my
future with me, and to take me for
whatever risk I am. Are you not will
ing to venture it?”
She did not answer at once, but
reaching over to the table she ge^ly
withdrew the white doyley that ctv
ered the novel and pointing to the
illuminated title on the cover said,
after a moment: "Perhaps it would be
well to settle the lesser before at
tempting the greater.” He picked up
the book and read the words carefully.
They were startlingly clear and dis
tinct: ‘Marriage, the Great Lottery of
Life.”, *
Jack’s appearance on the verandah
at this moment turned the conversation
into the commonplaces of the day, ami
after a few moments the surgeon rose
to depart, more determined than ever
to secure the two great prizes of his
life, viz: Miss Olivia and the Batavia
gold!
When the China Merchants’ Packet
"King Loon” (or Golden Dragon) dis
charged . her passengers at the Hong
Kew "wharf, among them was a dig
nified native gentleman who created
somewhat of a sensation by the fact
that both the English Captain and the
First Officer came down from the
bridge and shook him cordially by the
hand as they bade him good-bye.
"Here’s hoping to have you with us on
the next trip, Mr. Wang.”
“Thank you, gentlemen; it is always
a genuine pleasure to travel with you."
He hailed a Jin-rickshaw and also a
wharf-coolie. “Nan King Loo. Pak
,Yuin Kai, Tien Loo Miao, Hong Kong
Lah Tze Poo!’’ (Up the Nan King Hoad
and the White Cloud Alley to the
Shrine of the Heavenly Gong and the
shop of the Hong Kong basket-maker.)
After a cordial greeting from his old
fellow-townsmen and a quiet night’s
rest under their hospitable roof, he
started oift early the "next morning to
find his friend. Inspector McArthur,
and from him and the1 deputy he heard
the full story of the double ticket- and
the consequent loss of the third grand
prize of ten thousand dollars. He also
had lengthy interviews with Harr
Wagenpool and with Miss Spencer and
Jack and the surgeon, and then he and
the Department went out with a drag
net to try tp find the criminal.
By the ehd of the week their mutual
investigations seemed to point more
and more directly to the combination
of Charles and James at the "Mission
Press. There was no doubt that they
were skilled workmen and 'perfectly
capable Of lithographing' a duplicate
ticket, but the.difficulty was to estab
lish the proofs of this particular crime.
Nor had any trace whatever been found
of -the mysterious person by the name
of Ting Sang who had actually taken
the money away ' from the bank; ;
Scores of wheelbarrow coolies had boon
Arrested and questioned, but none
conid give any account of the disap
pearance of the treasure. At last the
sing link in the chain was discov- *
sd, and this is how it happened:
Late one night Wang Foo was return- ;
ing from Headquarters, and being worn ,
out with the work of the day, he Sell
asleep on the seat of his jin-rickshaw
and only awoke when the coolie de
posited him at the door of “The En
chanted Basket’’ in the Ho Nan Hoad.
"I tojd you to take me to “The Temple ?
Basket,” he said to the runner, that i
being the sign of.the shop of his friend. '
>|
;■
Vg
“Miao Lan Tze, Miao Lan Tze!” Then ; j
it suddenly dawned on him that the ‘
words for “temple” and “enchanted”
being almost identical in sound, hia • ■
runner had qtlite naturally mistaken ^
the one for the other. Recognizing the Y
shop as one where lottery-tickets were v
offered for sale, he decided to enter and
interview the proprietor. The door-' ! Y
keeper ushered him to a seat and in %
moment the form of Cripple Ching ap
peared. "A., v
There was -an unmistakable some- fa ;
thing in his face' that immediately,
aroused the detective’s suspicions and
he decided to take the chance of an- :
evil conscience and boldly accuse him.V
of the theft. After the formalities of ;
the tea and pipes he turned suddenly - \
upon him and siezing his arms with
both hands, he lifted him bodily to his !
feet, and looking him through and y S
through with his piercing eyes, said:
"Cripple Ching! Lead me instantly to „
the place where you concealed the o5?
money!” - -
“What money?” askea the astonishec
proprietor of The Enchanted Basket: '
struggling to free himself from the iror. , ,'t
grasp.
“What money ? What money ?” re- .
peated Wang Foo, feeling the power ol
his threat beginning to work, “why the '
ten thousand dollars that you cashed /
on ticket No. 36001. of the Dutch Lot- -f f
tery. Give it to me instantly or we <•%
will summon the police and tear up * ■
every board in your floor.”
“I didn’t forge the ticket! I didn’t*
forge the ticket!” cried the terrified'
Cripple, “it was genuine and I bought -
it and paid for it.”
“Never,mind that; we will prove ail
that later—show me the money or in
come the police, and straight to jail. %
you go!” '
He led the way into the inner room,
lifted up the torn piece of matting, un
covered the “Well of Heavenly Bless
ings” and there lay the notes and the
gold and tire silver just as he and Twin
Stars had hidden them! The latter ,
individual entered the room just at this * .,
moment, climbing down the ladder
from the loft above. Wang Foo veil
tured one more chance. “Ting Sang!’’ ?;
he cried, and the luckless Twin Stars,
looking into the barrel of the detect
ive’s revolver and seeing that escape *
was impossible, surrendered himself as .
his prisoner. y ,
‘It looks very much as if The Bn- i
chanted Basket was like a magician’s t' ;:j
hat,’’ remarked Inspector McArthur to
Wang Boo, as they compared their final .
notes in the office. ‘‘It contains ail the r
goods we are looking for, and more be
sides. We’ve got both the villains and »;
the money, and now all we want is tne -
man who forged the ticket; perhaps «
he’s hiding down somewhere in tho \
basket, too. You can guarantee Ting ;
Sangj belongee all same Twin Stars?”'
he asked of the native officers whom he; ,
had summoned into the room. . t; ;
“My can seclure all >loper,” was the i“ ? ■:,
answer; “dat bank compladore hab •
come dis side two thlee timee talked
he.” , •
“Then,” he added, turning once more"
to Wang Foo, “let us summon all our;
friends and proceed to Mr. Wagenpool’s.'1 ,
at once.” •
When all the party were assembled ft;
in the manager’s'office, including Dr.
Donaldson, as well as Dr. Wiliiams
and the Spencers, our Man of Mystery
arose/and tightly grasping a piece of’
yellow paper in his hand, thus ad-.
dressed them: “Ladies and gentlemen,;’
it has been a pleasure and a privilege,
to me to work in connection with In-*
spector McArthur and his splendid De
partment in unraveling this most in
teresting case; and I now present to.
you my report, which takes the form oij
three rather startling surprises, viz:,
First, and perhaps most 'important o,
you who were losers, we have recov- s
ered every dollar of the ten thousand!, St
Second, our suspected villains are en- Si
tirely innocent! Cripple Ching bough a*
his ticket honestly from the regular
agency and Ting Sang cashed ifl. >■
honestly for him! Third, we have no$' /
found any trace of the forger—for the, i
simple reason that there has not beau
any forgery—and Charles and James* -
must be freed from all suspicion at th<*
Mission Press! This telegram from
Batavia will give you the needed in
formation as well as, the closing sur
prise/’
^e unfolded it and read as follows ;i
“To Harr Wagenpool, Manager, 4# y
“Dutch Asiatic Bank, Shanghai.
“Just discovered that by curious
_ accident the numbering machine!
printed duplicate of ticket No. thirty
Sik-thcusand-and-one. If too late to
call them In, the Royal Dutch Lot- 4
tery will have, in honor, to pay them?
both. Kark Kringleson, * 'f,!
Government Agent.’*” -
It of course goes without saying that
Dr. Williams did not allow any delay
In the matter of interesting Miss Spen*. ;
cer in the larger "Lottery in Life"—as
an actual fact, the exchange of the ,
tickets, if such we may call the pro** Sij
posal-and acceptance, took place on
the steps of the bank and, as Wang ,
Poo smilingly remarked, "they bclth > ;
drew prizes!" ^ ;v|
- And when, a lew days after the wed*
ding, the bride wished to select a name '
for .their little bungalow on the Peals, ;
to whom should she. more naturally
turn than to <nir famous detective, and, s
what.could he—or you or I or anyone*. 5*
say, but to tell her to christen it J:
‘"Ph*i Enchanted Basket." J’i%*