Show r 2 varice STO iad ag or by W 0 public tale of the poisoned dagger HIRTY years ago a number of men THIRTY tand and women were murdered in the t suburbs near shanghai it was discovered that most of the victims had been killed by means of a poisoned dagger at the same time chapels and churches belonging to the foreign mis flonary societies were destroyed demands for satisfaction came from state departments in all parts of the world and as a consequence the chi nese government endeavored to as certain the culprits and to them the official placed in charge of the investigation was foo wang who at the he time enjoyed the reputation of being the sherlock holmes of china he was patient he was resourceful and he never went after his man without getting him one of the things he found near the scene of the crimes was a bit of calico stamped with a number of chi nese characters he knew that it was a certificate of in membership ember ship in a famous secret so clety known as the ko lao hut this society was originally formed to battle with chinese officials wh who 0 practiced extortion upon the natives and they were as numerous as the autumn leaves in Vall ambrosia but later its objects became anti antl foreign and anti missionary foo wang went to his home and got out his great pipe and sat down and thought and he finally came to the con elusion that the particular bit of calico that he had picked up belonged to Chenkin chen kin lung who was one of the most conspicuous of the ko lao hul hut leaders china Is a pretty big place but foo wang had plenty 0 of f assistants to rely upon and he sent them to the tour four corners of the celestial empire with instructions to locate t the he supposed leader eventually he discovered that the man he wanted was at an inn near pekin and that with him were about twenty of his followers foo wang decided that it was about abou t time for a round up and he gathered his men together for that purpose he ile found the leader in one of the rooms of the pace place giving an enter tain ment to his supporters the chinese detective was nothing if not original he posted himself upon the veranda of the inn and then sent one of his men in to tell chen kin lung that be he was wanted outside on important busl bust ness the unsuspecting leader excused himself to his friends with true celestial gravity and stepped out on the veranda As he did so a great bag was thrown over his head two men seized him and he was carried kicking and gestick lating to a nearby wharf and placed on a vessel there bound and gagged he I 1 was as taken in the direction of shanghai just before the boat reached its des tI tin atlon the detectives brought the suspect into the cabin and put him through the third degree which means something in china but while chen kin lung might have been down he was far from being out he smiled his inscrutable smile and said nothing they literally put the screws upon him but felled to elicit the slightest information his clothing and effects were now brought to the detective and given a careful examination in the flowing sleeves of one of his kimonos was found a dagger with a poisoned blade it had the appearance of being the weapon with which the shanghai mur ders had been committed also the investigators found a num ber of letters and communications ad dressed to the prisoner in each of them he was addressed as the eighth great prince this was proof positive that he was at the head of the secret society and that he undoubtedly aimed at securing the control of the country among the other things found were a number of the calico certificates in di cating membership in the lo 10 lao hul hut koo wa wang now had more than enough evid evidence ence to send his distin gulshen prisoner to the block but he wanted to get the names of others and be besought the prisoner to make a clean breast of the whole conspiracy but chen kin lin lung was a wise wis chinaman and he knew that he was sure to be beheaded so he remained silent he ile was rt ru turned to the hold of the vessel and told that he would be given until the next morning to make a complete rev elation of his mysterious society but the next morning he was gone mysteriously and nothing was ever heard of him afterward service |