TANG-U— THE RAT smelt By LAWRENCE E. ADAMS {(@ by Short Story Pab, Co.) MONG the most Interesting souvenirs that Marston, - the naval officer, brought frqm the Orient ywas a eurious portrait, evidently the work of a native artist, painted In brilllant colors on a panel of foreign wood. More striking than thesworkmanship of the portrait, how- ever, was its subject, a small Chinese boy, apparently not more than ten or twelve years of age, but wearing the uniform of a high Japanese naval of- ficer, and adorned with a whole string of jeweled decorations: Here is the history of the portrait: When the Japanese flagship steamed out of the harbor of Canton on the day that war was formally declared between Japan and China, it carried one human being whose name was not on the ship's rolls—and he belonged to the enemy. He became a passenger under the following circumstances: Just before the ship weighed anchor a small steam launch was sent back for the commander and superior officers, who had been detained until late. Among these officers were three Amer fcans, all graduates of the Annapolis neademy, had been engaged by the Japanese government as advisers during the coming hostilities, As the little launch wormed its way through the maze of picturesque craft and sampans—the little houseboats crowded the eves of the American officers were riveted by a curious sight of a wooden stake to which who curious Chinese which the bay, fl sampan was moored a little Chinese boy clung, swaying to and eyeing delightedly the launch it through the In his anxiety to see the fun, he had the weakness this reedlike support, sampan col fro, as shot disregarded which, lided piu passing ildenly broke off short le chap into the water rst Iaunch’s it attention to the accident, Know- ng that little much in shore, Indifference, the ell these natives are at home the water however, as ory for help rang through the alr, fol lowed by the mad sampan ma y sight to drowning instead of now that had become entangled In of and that f a few sec matter of efforts of got away to the from the him. t was little fellow a floating coil boy, evident rope, his drowning was a onds ; yet not one of the Chinese boat men but watched in strug Mon a distance and franti the little from hero's Indeed, gilence the small already disappearing the bay when the t} ae veered In its course, and a body smmpan rescue . little for the ched the As watched Rtrong from the men, arm 8sna waves, the they with cries of amazement. This was because of the curious law existing in certain provinces of China that whosoever saves a life, the rescued one may law. fully look to the rescuer for support forever after. It is plain that this barbaric edict virtually puts a pre miom on death: but the explanation Hes In the fatallstic religion, which holds that whenever a man falls into peril it is by the express wish and will of the gods, and that to rescue him is to obstruct their just decrees. Meantime the officers, who had ar rived on shipboard sith thelr protege before it had occurred to thém to plan for his disposal, were examining thelr find as though he had been a new and curious toy. To send him back to shore was impossible, as they were al- ready steaming out of the harbor. The only course, then, was to keep him on board, at least during the voyage to Japan, a plan rendered all thé easier by the fact that the little heathen was, according to his broken Japanese, both homeless and friendless, But if the had seemed a nul sance in prospect, he was anything but that in reality, Shrewd as any Bow. ery ragamuflin, the little fellow's alert ways and quick wits were the unfail- ing delight of the three American offi- cers. More imitative, even, than the Japanese, he picked up their language and customs with such Incredible ease that in a few days he was more Japa- nese than any subject of the mikando Indeed, before many weeks had passed, the entire crew was accus tomed to the curious spectacle of one of the enemy enjoying the most marked attention and hospitality that the ship could afford. But, besides his imitativeness and shrewdness, the little Mongolian had one accomplishment that gained the awestruck admiration of his oriental friends. That was the power of dis covering objects at incgpdible dis tances as easily by night as by day. a power due partly to Inheritance, and partly to his profession. The lad was an Interesting specimen of the orfentsl «lass of beings known ns rat catchers. This means more than the word lm plies. They are not rat catchers by «vocation alone, but, strangely enough, sthey are born to the trade. In addi tion to many other talents which he had inherited from a long line of rat. watching” ancestry, little Tang-u-the “rat” as the boy was called, had the power of seeing his way clearly in al: most the dead blackness of night. Sometimes, Indeed, it seemed as though die Kas endowed with a sixth sense In ily wutter, belong able to walk straight w boy into a dungeon-like room and to bring forth any object without the least hesitancy, Courage, he had de- veloped to a rare degree, for the rats in the docks of China, and in the un- derground passages from warehouse cellar to cellar, and sewer to sewer, where he plied his trade, are the fat- test and most savage of the rodent tribe the world over: so large, indeed, that the skins of two of them will make a palr of gloves, and the carcass will supply a family with dried fillet de rcdent for a week. These rat catch ers spend days and weeks in the un. derground passages, and day and night are almost the same to them, Now that he could no longer exer- clse his strange gift in his accustomed way, Tang-u would often amuse him. self by standing for hours on the deck, peering out through the mist or the darkness In search of things hid den to common eyes, Indeed, among the Americans he soon became known as the “kid with the telescopic eyes” while the commander, on various oc eagions, allowed him te accompany fhe men In the lookout, where he dis covered objects often in advance of the fleld glass. Even the dark waters of the ocean were not proof against the vision of the little heathen, whose bright eyes would detect curious fish as they swam around the ship, many feet below the surface; while a fog that blinded the ordinary eye proved no obstacle to his keen sight, long every one came to the conclusion that a boy whose eye was equal to a combined fleld glass and searchlight valuable addition to a modern warship; and on more than one occa- sion during the months of the war the little Chinaman's discernment was ap- pealed to as gravely as though he had been thirty years old and a Japanese officer, Instead of a ten-year-old China man, On indeed, Tang-u's sixth sense made him for five minutes nlso, was a one occasion, the ship's commander, It was Inte in the evening hefore the memorable engagement of Port Arthur The flagship, which, scathed assy d un f war, had Wi this having nths o ordered through me been recently to hold, had just and preparations were making for the f ng strong it's defense been lowered, the with the bt and hurry of preparations for what every felt the battle of but resounded stile would ha War, near the most decisive the stood alone bow, peering out through the darkness. as was his ens upon arriving in a strange in search, for some new and ing sight, Suddenly, above there tom place interest rang out a 1 little eves shrill scream, and Tang-u, with his yalging from his head, Imiral, and, lly rushed tint ’ i il n toward + the a ont tO sea, fratic shrieked: *“Torpeetq! tor pee-to!” Instantly ev of unruffled. by could ery the tiny finger eye followed the Al The Not a soul on straining his vision to verify Tang-u's cry Yet so occustomed had they become to upon the little sight that the admiral g fo rection gen fooked deck, the utmost, the even keen ive instant net. In a moment there was a sound of hurrying feet, a hands roller . relying fellow's or ders lower the hundred were raised to ! lefore the splash of the falling to stern. It was indeed a torpedo that But swiftly as it came, the boy's mar- velous vision had been swifter in a moment more would have de stroyed the flower of the Japanese navy, had, in coming In contact with the netting, exploded harmlessly, flooding the deck with water. The souls had been saved from annihila- tion-—and by one of the enemy. A few months later, when Tang.u's exploit was brought to the notice of the mikado, that upon the little Chinese rat catcher the rank of honorary admiral In the Japa- nese navy. And It was In this way that a heathen nation furnished the youngest naval hero in existence, Whistler's Architect Denied Immortality Whistler's house in Cheyne walk, Chelsea, London, on which a memorial tablet is being fixed, recalls the epi sode of tfe artist's proposed residence in Tite street. He had acquired a piece of ground adjoining Chelfea hos pital, and after prolonged wrangling with a long-suffering architect, depart- ed for the south of France until the bullding operations were completed. The result to Whistler on his return was agony. He stormed, he fumed, he attempted to repudiate the contract, but the architect was obdurate., He must accept possession and he must pay. Whistler would not for a single day live in the house ; but before selling it be had placed above the dood a stone tablet with the Inscription: “Unless the Lord bulld the house, they labor in vain that bulld It. Mr. X (the architect) bulit this house.” Nobody seems to know how or when the inscription was got rid of, but al though the house still stands to offend the eye—a monstrosity in whitewash, the stone tablet above the door has been carefully razed and a no doubt wholly respectable profession is ex cluded from that particular class of the Immortals whose Immortality fe none the less real for resting on the abuse of the great.—New York World VA PL Eg mA RAFFY FINDS HIS TONGUE NE warm sunny day, Cheerups was sitting on the ground in the Jungle and looking lazily up into the great trees, He was looking to see If any frult were growing handy. “I'll send Softfoot or Brighteyes up to get it if I find some,” thought he. Then suddenly he spled a long gold-colored face, all with brown spots, and two big solemn eyes looking down at him, Cheerups was most astonished to breathe. “Gracious, that's a’ new kind of fruit to me!” covered too You, Raffy 7 as his traveled down, and Then, even slowly down, over feet of about about eight ten feet he had the along more and leg, surprise fe. “It's an animal!” eried Cheerups out “But it must be the the world.” Then the funny head at the top of nod. down nodded and nodded “Well, 1 thing that time,” m “But noddi tallest one in the long neck began <o it have sald the urn why doesn't he in that thinks 1 must right ured Cheerups talk, fashion? instend silly enn't far away What he needs is a telephone.’ “That's Raffy Giraffe, Mr probably hear BO wlio in the “He can hear can't talk. Raffy, and in Australia, a animals in the world who 1. Funny the ‘ ye gmbh animal about: dumb animals, up tall palm tree what He Boomer but he hasn't YOi0e., x INEAroo the can't who lives only make a soun Was isn't 11? fenses men nobody in his right me that" chattered chuckle “So . with = Jacky you've Raffy 7’ lost your tongue, you, inquired Cheerups kind ly. “That's a pity!” Then, quick Raffy's mouth shot mest tongue Cheerups It was sq twisty and slender that it looked if it could wrap around anything and tie In a bowknot, Cheerups just couldn't help laugh. ing. . He laughed and laughed. To think of having the longest tongue in out slim #8 Nn the Laie flash, longest, had ever seen as It was too funny. Then he apd realized that what “I'm sorry,” sighed Cheerups “Something is wrong somewhere, and “I can tell you” chirped Jacky Monk. “I have watched Rafff a lot, Iie has the longest neck in the world There isn't a reacher anywhere who trees, there are always a few just a ought to Raffy nodded his head, switched his tall and swayed his long neck back and forth. It was evident that Jacky had told his difficulty exactly, Cheerups was thinking very hard indeed. Then joyfully he shouted: “Why, of course, it's your tongue that enn it. If you ean't talk with it, it ought to be good for something. Your tongue is long and slender, and you can stretch it out for those leaves, It has prehensile or grasping power, too, like the talls of the South Ameri. can monkeys, y Qn You can pick a single leaf or even a blade of grass with it Now isn't that a gift to be about? There's another thing, Sometimes the you feed rough and and hurt tender nose, close to protect You it, I know." Raffy looked delighted his nostrils Immediately Then trees thorny so just them, ure He Bee his closed to he ran out up Breadfruit he Cheerups kicked the tree, Then at eyes full 1 with up his ran through ‘But remember,” him, “that the reach at } 1 the Jungle, called Cheerups after things which are out of those just I hope he heard by Little. Brown & Co.) ¥ SE . Before she entered the “movies” handsome Alice Terry resided in In. diana. She was induced to accept em. ployment as an extra in a studio. She into a prominent part picture that she was given the lead, honors with other stars, By H. IRVING KING APPLES AND SEEDS the pr are i feuin Dy v n by ap They are 3 Bro get is, perhaps, the thros fects,” eral of apple paring o it thr i the be hape of the in ww husband of ee tinfe lief tl iDen appie seeds of an apple at midnight before a glass the {rue rhyme with ones expecta; of seeing love Deep aver one's shoulder: and the “1 Allhalloween recall Doubt many more in all its for ex" on render can apple superst its root so far back In my that its primal origin is but mystic qualities have always been appl jess the The forms thology i tion has lost ften found regarded t emanation of Tammuz. Perhaps its origin io the fact that the appie tree Is the tree upon which the mistietoe is most A LINE o' CHEER By John Kendrick Bangs Rola relhafefenlrnlimfny THE LIGHT FT-TIMES I find | cannot see my way With perfect clearness to the Hght of day, And then 1 sit In patience, lently, And walt for light of day come to me; And never yet through all vales of doubt Hath it once falled to come and seek me out, And ease me of the burdep of my siress With its unceasing warmth and friendliness {@ by McClure Newspaper Syndicate) nl. to the Belebddedl tld bbb i 8 2 8 5 3 2 2 8 & FTI ITT TIammmmamamaamamaTmTsTaTesT~s was derived; sign ; meaning: whence it y day a Tucky jewel ? JEANETTE HOUGH originating in France, from where most of our saucy little feminine names come, Jeanette has peen formally naturalized and Its oirthpiace is generally forgotten, It means “grace of the Lord” and has its earliest origin in the old Hebrew Joanna, a .name bestowed upon the holy woman of the Gospel. When Joan eame into fashion In England and named the daughter of Edward II and other members of roy- alty, France formed Jeanette In ac cordance with their inimical habit of making a diminutive. Jean had al ready been popular there and Jeanette and Jeanne, which seem: to have been used almost interchangeably, became instantly In vogue, Jeanne or Jeanette of Flanders, as she was called, was the famous hero. ine of the Henbonne, while Jeanette La Pucelle of Orleans ranks with the great of France. Jeanne de Valols, daughter of Louls XI and disearded wife of Louis XIL was another famous woman bearing the name. The French went one step farther and have a - ¥ Jeannetton, but it was never imported from Gaelic soll, The diamond is Jeanette's tall manic stone, It Is believed to bring her wealth and power and love, If she wears it on her left arm. Wednesday is her lucky day and 7 her lucky num- ber, (® by Wheeler Syndieate.) The Safer Way Two Highland farmers met at mar- ket, and one said to the other, “Whad's come over Donald lately? 1 haven't seen him for weeks" “Och, have ye no’ heard?’ replied the other. “Pulr Donald got three months In Jail for stealin' a coo!” "Och, the big fool! Why did he no’ just buy it an’ no’ pay for ity — Tit-Bis, ' semmsmennll Prinisisncsis Safe Walk Rub—Whenever 1 see one of my creditors I always cross to the oppo site side of the street to avold meet. ing him. Dub--I tried that plan once and war arrested for walking down the middle of the street Our moder: in love form irom of the apple es directly the who the given goddess to Juno, the recovered from den the Hes the wrides gol apples by Earth- patroness of mar Hence an ap- sacri wus often been ringe, at he nuptials, ple instead ficed to Her hence 1 we Ia y ¢ or face of our le seeds and app Newspaper Syndicate ) £) ure ceAmong the OTABLES LA VALLIERE A VALLIERE, favorite of ties of pictured liberate the French court is so fs an adventuress and a Coquette, La Valilere. Her mother brought well educated and as a child, rietta, who was Louls’ sister-in-law. There was some scandal about these other woman--since a princess must about her, pure-minded, religious girl, willing to serve her mistress by Involving her own good name. Louls, at first forced to pay her attention, soon developed a real love for her, and she, too, fell very much In love with him. Al through the time of her connection with him, she refused to tell what she knew about the Princess Henrletta and her love affairs. La Valliere had many enemies and one of them-—Montespan--finally took Louis away from her. A little later, she was allowed to enter the Carmel. ite convent, where she spent the rest of her life, and we ean imagine her ea. tirely satisfied that her life of turmoll and Intrigue was at an end and the peace of the convent hers until defth, For, the court fe of Louis XIV was artificial and hectte, and poor La Vai llere, like many other women of her day, was a victim of the times, rather than an example of them, (® George Matthew Adams.) =} R @® by MeClore Newspaper Syndicate.) Just Litt Co ot +" Ca , = Ah e o " DEAFENING Mrs. Newly-Rich was recounting to an ance the thrilling events if the evening before, when the house had been bu “As n matter of fact” were eat ” “Then, of course | eandid friend, p i froer ™ | thing." acqualn rgled, she sald, “w- Ig our soup- * interrupted the “none of you heard any- Tit-Bits His Size Saved Him » girl was interested in the yarn He had experiences 1 sallor was telling d relating his l and ¢ Ratives didn't harm you, she sald: na” Ww the reply. & saucepan uy as IT BREAKS "EM, ALL RIGHT New Kind I heard And sald, 1 Ww nd ho will lest of Contest the ie din filled the alr win there!” To a Fle BASE METAL, INDEED “1 should think bile maker would | of being arrested “How's that?” “Hasn't he made every one of his millions of dollars out of tin?" that great automo be in constant fear as a counterfeiter.” “Man’s Extremity” | He had expressions fit and meet And used them with Impunity— | He aways called his hands and feet ! Each one “God's opportunity.” Tact ls Essential “Tact,” sald the lecturer, “is essen- | tial to good entertaining. I once dined | at a house where the hostess had no tact. Opposite me sat a modest, | quiet man. | “Suddenly he turned as red as a lob. ster on hearing his hostess say to her hushand, Charlie! Brown better. to everything.” “How inattentive you are, You must look after Mr. He's helping himself Household Necessity Butcher—You want some brains madam? Housewife—Yes, please. My hus band basn't had any for a long time. Progressive Grocer, oo Much Catnip Pussy®. Why do you suppose Miss Mouser makes such catty remarks? Tabby-She eats too much catnip, Before—and After She's dear. She's doggone dear, But, oh, what a difference! Man and Woman Equal Mra. Benham~—Man and woman are equal. Benham-—Then how Is it that, when it takes nine tallore ta make a man, it takes more dressmakers to make a woman? To Check His Appetite “I'm afraid, my dear, you'll have t¢ do the cooking again “Why sot" “The doctor says I am eating toe muh,” i)
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