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Show Secrets liy FAYE McGOVER.N McClure Syndicate WNU Features. "DLEASE," Chu Teh begged her 1 old neighbor, "do not take the children away." He looked at her imploring face In consternation. "But they might reveal re-veal to the enemy where their elder brother, San, is hidden. We had no time to burn his wrecked plane. Hardly was there time to secrete him here. Only after dark will it be safe to move him." "No. No. They will not speak. And I have heard the enemy will not harm us so long as we remain peaceable." peace-able." Her neighbor sighed deeply. "Very well. I will go lest my presence make them suspicious." Chu Teh turned quickly back to her baking. With her husband dead her children were her whole world. She could not bear to have them away from her especially with the foe so near. She went to the rear door of her small cottage and called, "Chan! Lotus!" A boy of eleven, and a small girl appeared from behind a ramshackle stable. Both were incredibly dirty. The boy carried a length of hollow bamboo, and Chu Teh knew he had been playing his favorite guerrilla warfare game again with small Lotus. Lo-tus. But there was no time for reprimands. rep-rimands. "Guests are coming," she said with feigned brightness, "and we are going to play 'secrets.' Rememberevasions, Remem-berevasions, yes, but no lies. And the one who fails gets not one sweet cake. Now do all of you understand, my little ones?" Covetously the children eyed the delicacies cooling on the table. Seldom Sel-dom were they allowed even a taste, for their mother sold them for a living. At the sound of approaching steps Chu Teh said quickly, "The question is, 'Where is San?' " Young Chan's eyes sought hers so swiftly she realized he appreciated the significance of the question, and felt a pang of fear. In his intense desire to prove how clever he could be in outwitting the enemy he might easily blunder into revealing San's hiding place. She looked at him pointedly. "Even when we are asked, 'Where is San?' we will not tell, will we?" "Noooo," said small Lotus. Young Chan reached toward the table, then turned abruptly toward the rear of the house. Chu Teh stiffened as five Japanese soldiers entered without knocking, their glances darting everywhere. "Where is the one called San?" demanded the leader, with typical Jap curtness. , But there was only a deathly silence. si-lence. "You his mother," he shot at Chu Teh. "Where have you hidden him?" 1 "My son is with his ancestors," she said with gentle dignity, and put refreshments before them. "Then where is the body?" the spokesman sneered. "You there, small girl. Tell us lest I cut off your ears." He took hold of Lotus roughly. The child's frightened eyes sought hers, and quickly Chu Teh held up the largest cake. "Yes, small Lotus," Lo-tus," she said brightly. "Where is San?" The little girl vaguely flung out a small hand. "They took him away." Suddenly Chu Teh realized Chan was not there. If he had run to the ancient graveyard over the hill to warn San he would surely be seen, he thought. "Enough! We will search the place!" Pitchfork tines prodded deep into the rice-straw rick. Seeing See-ing soon that the tiny house afforded no hiding place the soldiers headed for the rickety stable. Behind the barn, thatch missing from its roof, a shallow pit told his mother that Chan had practiced breathing through the hollow bamboo bam-boo while buried beneath straw and dirt. The soldiers held a hasty consultation. consul-tation. Then Chu Teh was told they were satisfied and would leave. With horror she saw that they took the path toward the ancient cemetery. First they would make certain that she had told the truth. Why had she mentioned that San was with his ancestors! With only caved-in graves to hide in they would undoubtedly un-doubtedly discover him, she thought in horror. She waited for an agonizingly long time, then crept after them, and almost al-most fainted at the sight of a freshly covered grave. They had found him and Chu Teh moved nearer. But wasn't it odd for the enemy to make food offerings? There was one of her own sweets. "So this is where you lead us!" It was the sneering voice of the soldier sol-dier behind her, and she realized they had deliberately left her alone in order to follow her. She burst into tears and rocked back and forth. "Aye, and here my son is buried. You can see I did not lie." The man looked at her huddled figure, then spat contemptuously, rasped an order, and the unwelcome unwel-come visitors stamped off toward the town. Chu Teh sat motionless for a while. Then very carefully she leaned over and whispered, "San, my son, are you a!l right?" "Yes, Mother, thanks to my clever little brother," answered a muffled voice from a barely perceptible protruding pro-truding stick of hollow bamboo. |