Show I I f i c J J A Jw iI ri i I I I c PART II THE TRE fight light was ws over ana amI almost almo t immediately I 1 THE heard the in the bow going a uil ant ami aD I the chain chahi hawsers coming in Vehement t orders ora were Vere frenziedly chattered in Iu a fierce and constant consta t low flow w of monosyllables and from what I was able aIe to un understand I gathered that a part of the pUS ag ang were to tot take t ke the brig immediately to sea 00 eo eoIn In the general confusion I appeared to have been f overlooked and lay ay bound and helpless where I had been dropped Suddenly a shout Rout came from forward the dank clank of the hawser ceased and the fort att began to hap flap lazily A louder order was the poop and the crowd about the deck broke up laU of them harrying to the side Three men en who wore at the main belayed them where they thoy were ero and slipping to where I lay 11 dragged me roughly and antl started to drag me nie to the side I supposed of course couie that I was wae going goinS overboard and had in fact tact become be quite reconciled to the idea and was trying to te get et a ac ald c old ld consolation from the sight of the tha prostrate pro trat bodies that lay about the tile deckhouse but as I saw m ny they were I began boan b n to fear that possibly o tharo might be something warmer in store for me than life mo 1 Mack waters of th the liay h hI I was waz hauled over oer tho the gunwale and dropped heavily into the bottom of the dhow and a 3 few tew seconds later moor McKim was vas laid alongside of me inc He was unconscious scions S and breathing and I got my shoulder der under his head and hauled a loose piece oE r mat matting matting ting up over him with my teeth for the night was cold and his shirt bad had been torn tom to pieces A few fe final orders were shouted from tho deck of or orthe o othe the brig bri which was ws already under way war anti and wo cast castoff ca off and antI headed up the river riTer I was beginning to o feel dizzy dizy and lightheaded for although I did not nt n t it at the time I had bad lost loot a good deal of or blood front from a along along along long shallow slash where some beggar hail had ha wiped a knife across the front of nty my chest petha pe h I simply slept pt at t at any rate rat I have h ve no DO recollection of the first part of the trip When I finally awoke or came cameto to 10 dawn bad had broken and aaI I saw aw by the t e gray gras early n ht that we Were nere w re working up a dint stream Which flowed Bowed sluggishly between Irregular jQ ar Of no great height judged ioie to be e Yon foothills of the te t e range rang that runs niBS northeasterly from the north of g Tung Tong We c chad had probably been sculling by relays all aU night but lt towards sunrise the breeze blew in iu from tho see so no the big square sail nail was ws hoisted hol and we wf w mad nade a o good sailing tailing time The behavior of our captors when they saw that I Ivas Iwas Iwas was vas awake a ake and inclined to take an interest in things rather surprised we iso At inK first I was so stiff and aad sore nore that I could hardly move nove my lr 1 Shoulders felt as a if U they were being racked but my arms arIUS and bands were en ell entirely entirely devoid of all sensation on By aro a ait ait ait it I managed m ed to get et in a sitting T was wasa i s sa a Chinaman on OIl either side aide of me one smoking and h bolher other busy with a 8 wooden bowl of rice and Ad Add d bopped greens gro ns Although I knocked kD kd against i in my effort to rise rine they did not pay me mo tho t attention but a man who seemed to be bea a person peron of authority caught sight of me a few moments moment later r rand and said something to one of or the Ute men bosi bote e who drew rew his knife and cut rut the lashing ai my y wrists wr I i could no doubt have baYe nade myself understood a and ad dt was Aas rather tempted to ask a a some noma questions b bV bitt t dip if rid ed to conceal conce what whet knowledge I had of thOr fen Ji gnage in the hope of learning som something of what was to happen A little later tel however a bowl of ricO rice ri e was wa handed mc me McKim was still unconscious bH but his pulse was WM fairly good and his bis quiet and even y I oJ dId not feel mush much concern about him as u I had a sac sort t of notion that ho might be he in a better state than 1 I was WaL Nevertheless I tore a piece from my rcy shirt sad aad dip dipping dipping ping tt t over oer the side washed the blood away from his Ilia wounds and bound them up No one seemed to te take tae the slightest sUg teet interest in IlL the proceeding and aad it Yell even seemed to me that such glances as were ca casually our way were strangely fre free fro from M in rn indeed deed dd I knew know enough of Chinese character to t appreciate elate date that in their utter selfishness suck such as is bad had Jr r M ed the the night before were possibly lied fled on the whole that we had bad lessened the Ule number among bo the tAe profits of or the ex were td t be bedi divided di As a we worked up p the river ver it kept ke t growing nar Bar narrower narrower rower aaL narrower and aad m It R would loop beep so that it was necessary nece ary to clew dew up the sail nail and scull forIt fora for It a while in the direction whence we had barf come We Vo passed two towns both of which were laid out on OR the same plan plu and deserted They were built u the ue sides sid of or hills that faced the th river r and aJ ar there ran a triangular wan wall with the tile base bue along alon the shore and the apex near the summit Tb e seemed to be b a sort of citadel ded By liy wall wa inside These defenses I supposed ed were built for rot re resistance resistance against the Tartar pirates that used to swoop down along the coast rout and aad ravage the seaboard nt cities The TIle hills hilta on both sides of 0 the river were growing higher and wilder as we proceeded though some of the valleys be somewhat u t I About sundown we e sighted a village Tillage ahead ahe at the HIe has base o Q of a a big mountain and aad a as w W drew near I saw s w that we were to stop there I was glad of it for the thO suspense and pain of my wound woul was wa be beginning e ginning to be bo unbearable McKim was wu regaining n and aDd occasionally muttered incoherently As A we drew p to a bamboo jetty that was WM built out into the stream m I noticed a very old nag maa who was W Win aasin in m the little crowd that had come orne down to meet as m asTie lilt Tie He was wa apparently apP of great age although strong nod aad active and in spite of his round stooping r shoulders and the deep wrinkles that seamed his face there thore was wa something about him that again suggested that bi bizarre h b zarre resemblance to McKim We were carried carded ashore a horo and laid on the near nr a hut RUt the crowd watching us apathetically but beL beLthe the old man I 1 have hare m d drew near neat and ap aJ appeared to ask sOme somo questions of OtIC castain he next moment he be became perfectly and ana when he be straightened out again n I sew saw that his bis face was simply demoniacal with rage HB ita s ta uc ho over r to us with such an uncanny agIlity ag aad J id a look of at such concentrated hatred and malice upon u on his face that I t decided that at last Jut we had bad swung to u end and of our Ope v McKim was the nearest to him and was wa lying on his back hi hip face flushed and aad muttering to himself el b with lips parched from fever feyer As the old OM man ap approached approached apT T him I saw an expression of the tho most molt utter astonishment 38 ni pass over oer 11 his face and Md Iid Ml hi bi h gaze saw that his Ilis eyes were fixed on ow the th rosary rOary r sary off ov amulet that hung about the nerk neck of ray my next moment he be had it In fn his band hand and was tas breaking br kin kinY Y into exclamations ox of and awo He kept glanc glancing riu tug ing from the rosary to McKims and suddenly he darted to him took his between his hands and said a few quick harsh words McKim stared at him him stupidly stu for a moment then answered Annah Annab AnnabI I did not know it at atthe the time timer but have since dis dig discovered discovered covered that word for fr mother of the and Six Nations is Annah which is 1 the same as the Tartar word But the effect on an the old man was magical He fairly capered with excitement and in ina ina ina a moment came rushing over oyer to me and fired a tor torrent torrent torrent rent of questions but I simply pointed to McKim and then toward the east at which he nodded several times I think I had unwittingly answered his ques question question question tion Suddenly McKim began to talk taW slowly at first then rapidly and incoherently The old man dropped on his haunches beside b him and listened with ith the most peculiar expression I ever saw upon a human uman face f ca Wonder Vonder interest awe and aD fear one r successively ively across his features and all aU the time there was the look of ot one listening to a long r m melody At first I 1 th McKims leKi n s m mut t were inarticulate and meaningless but pretty soon noon I recognized the fact that he lie h was talking to him himself himself himself self in a North American Indian dialect many of the guttural sounds of which once on co heard heald are unmistakable tak able and all aU the while the old Chinaman was WitS listen listening listening ing lag with the ecstacy of a parent who almost ron eon contrary to his belief hears he rs the voice of a child whom he has long believed hollered dead de d Soon however the talking taUting McKim moaned and raised a bloody hand to his head bead The old man manoff posted off and a few tew minutes later some noise coolies coolie came caine down d wn with stretchers and we were wore n up p to f a hut hat where whore under the supervision of our r aged friend sOme of the women stripped and amI bathed us and then laid us covering cohering us mis with homespun blankets for forthe forthe the evening was wa chilly I l lay awake a long time partly from the pain Jain iain of tJ my wound and partly because the affairs of the after fter afternoon noon loon had bed suggested something to my mind and the themore themore more I 1 thought it ft out the thELmore more I ma that my m theory waS wa nas a possible if not a probable pro a Ie one ae McKim had once told me that his grandmother was a squaw and that he be had been brought up among the Indians In that case it was more than probable that he had llad picked up lip one oae or moro more dialects to which in his feverish and unbalanced mental con condition di on his mind might naturally rovert raye t tI I knew that there were wore many proofs of ot the Asiatic origin of the Indian tribes of North America Am rica the aim sim similarity of many words the same system m of counting their strong tr mf comparative anatomical aI l resemblance re 1 as aswell aswell aswelt well welt as those the of disposition religions and system sy of hieroglyphics A man who had bad made a study of phil phi philology ol bad had once told me inc that in American languages words have havethe same roots in both con continents Could it not be possible pos that somo one dia dialect dialect lect bet had bad preserved its integrity Then the little in 10 incident eldest of the rosary occurred to me and that suggest suggested ed etl another r train of thought Our captors had not paid J ld any pJ attention to the thing whatever except ex that one onO of r them ran it through his Ids hands bands apparently to toa ascertain a if it possessed any intrinsic value and lad ad dropped it as worthless But B t Ufe tile moment the Ute old man nias bad aad seen it he had become be Ome violently and I thought t a trifle alarmed for he be had bad looked around apprehensively and now that I came tame to think I of or it he was of an entirely different typo from the tho rest of the crowd He seemed scorned med more of a Tartar or I Hun T however made it I t rather difficult c to ac acco account co count nt for Ir his hi presence way in the southeast of Asia Aa This suggested another idea heard rd of of these rosaries being found in and Mongolia but never n ver that toot I could remember in China Evidently dently I Ithe the rosary ary ro had some particular significance to the theold I old man man that Ula it had not to the others And the old man was of distinctly different type tyve Then TheR I re recalled recalled recalled called what I knew about the early history of Asia ia I 1 remembered that toward to the close of o the th twelfth ecu cen century tury one the tb king of the tho southern branch breach of tiffi tn th great tribe of Huns who woo had not Dot shared sh rad radIn in Ute tie great greet southwestern movement of or the northern Milan Haas came caine down from the northern n Mon Mongolia Mongolia golia golla and Mid ravaged the country counti far fer and ami wide He over OVel OVelma overran ran raa China India Poland Hungary Persia ersia and aad Syria Later his grandson grand on K Khan au fin finIshed the lAC conquest of China and for the t e time that we know of subdued that vast empire teis Jais domain was the Ute largest large that ever existed e It reached re northward to the deserts beyond the In Chan Chau mountains westward into Gobi Gob the Sandy Sand desert eastward it touched the river river and to the south I it formed form the shore ebore of the t e Youe see sea A hundred years later Tehon Tchon founded the groat Ming hUng dynasty one of the first acts of which was to t the Tartars Tartar from their domain But the great south Muth era em movement of KhOl would wold I thought t ac account account account count for the tho pure Tartar stock in almost any part of the Chinese empire Might it not bo tm that somo clan had split off from the main horde bord h or army anny and being separated and possibly cut off by b enemies had re ro or pushed southeast to strike sea water To trace Tartar origin was Ws mor more difficult but there t re were a few strong evidences The rosary given him by his Indian ancestress ance his dialect and his undeniable u physical resemblance to t the Mongols J I called to mind an n early writer who had referred the savage enrage and larger portion of America to the north of Asia and the tha civilized families of Mexico and Peru to tOan ancient an lent Egypt and Southern Asia The Tartars who inhabited the deserts of the great groat wall of af China were a nomadic roving race raC and the geographical conformity c of Bering strait would make an eastern migration perfectly possible Once having reached the continent of North America they would naturally turn tarn their faces fares southward finding no resistance and a arich arIeh rich and d fertile country before Themore Tham ro I thought of the matter the more I became bearn bec satisfied with my theory and finally having h reached a stand standstill st standstill n f still I tell foil asleep The murmur of voices me mer and turning over I saw aw that the th room was full fun ol of men who were arguing og excitedly and occasionally casting s looks at McKim who was wan sleeping heavily k But Dul our old friend of the evening before b was the most ox o cited of the lot and apparently app the thA most authoritative for finally the tumult ceased and the tho rabble poured out I rIdd tri tl to get up but he shook hook his head bead and mo ma motioned motioned for mo me to remain r maln where hOro re I was was One of o the V brought blO me inc some somo food too Q a stew S of and antl Mae and a few slices ot raw fish With ViOl tile the old mans permission T moa mat matto to the doorway of the hut but and amused m ef watch o l c i By I BACK ACK B TRACKS TR A Henry C CRowland CRowland CI I Rowland l i il ing ng the fishermen along the river riverbank rIver riverbank I bank Evidently our jailer was |