The War Tiger

by William Dalton

  CHAPTER XVI.

  THE BOYS AGAIN IN TROUBLE.

  Smarting with indignation at the accusation, which had evidently beenmade for the purpose of getting him transported to the penal province,Nicholas was taken before the police mandarin like a common thief. When,however, they reached the tribunal, they found the magistrate engagedexamining witnesses on the part of a military mandarin who had beeninsulted in the public streets. "Let the worthy officer state hiscomplaint," said the mandarin.

  "Know, O fountain of justice," said the officer, joining his hands abovehis head, and bowing nearly to the ground three successive times, "thatas thy servant was riding through the great square, a young man,possessed either with demons or samshu, jumped so rudely before me thatI stumbled and fell to the earth, and when he stared me full in the facelike a hungry wolf, I remonstrated, but the rascal held me down,continuing to stare with glaring eyeballs; he then tore the plaster fromthis wound which I received on my cheek in fighting the rebels ofChen-si, and began to dance round me most frantically with a drawnsword, crying, 'Thou villain, slayer of honest folks' parents, I havefound thee at last, and will cut thee into pieces small enough formince pies.' Alarmed at this violent rudeness, I could but say, 'Hold,dog, I am a soldier of the Emperor.' 'Ah, ah! I know thou art, thouvillain,' said he. 'I have received a wound,' said thy servant. 'Ah, ah!I know thou hast, thou villain,' again said the madman. 'Begone, dog,what wouldst thou do?' said I. 'Slay thee, and burn thy house, even asthou didst my parents, villain;' whereupon the rascal would have slainthy servant upon the instant but for the timely aid of this goodmerchant Yang," said the soldier, pointing to a stout elderly man whostood by his side.

  Now, guessing at once that this terrible prisoner must be Chow, Nicholasfelt no surprise when he saw the poor fellow, with his arms tied behindhim, dragged before the mandarin, who said, "What says the murderingthief to this charge?"

  "What can the unfortunate Chow say, most beneficent father and mother ofjustice, but that it was all a mistake, and that thy unworthy slave hasever been taught that no man should exist beneath the same heaven withthe murderer of his parents?" said Chow, as he cast some comical glancesat the bamboo canes.

  "What words are these? What has this most wise maxim to do with thycase, fellow?" said the mandarin.

  "Much, O magnificent judge, for thy slave's father was destroyed by thechief officer of the rebel Li-Kong, whom this worthy war-tigerunfortunately resembles, both in the wound on the cheek, and the lengthof his hair."

  "If thy words are not false, then thou art a worthy but unfortunateservant of the holy lord our Emperor," said the mandarin; "but who willassure us of this?'

  "Truly will I, O learned judge," cried out Nicholas.

  "Who is this dog, that speaks without prostrating his mean person at thefeet of justice?" said the mandarin.

  "A thief and a rascal, who is awaiting to be tried," cried the porterwho had accused Nicholas.

  "By the beard of Confucius, this is daring; give the dog a dozenstrokes," said the mandarin.

  "Stay thy command, O running fountain of justice; let not thy celestialears be profanely filled by the tongues of dogs," shrieked Chow withfear, as soon as he saw that his master was a prisoner.

  The mandarin would have visited this daring interruption with a heavypunishment, but for some words whispered in his ears by the merchantYang, and which caused him to smile and say, "The honorable merchantYang has answered for thy truth boy; but that for the future you may notbe liable to such mistakes, we will give thee a fatherly correction."The mandarin then pulled fifty reeds from the case, and threw them uponthe floor, whereupon two of the footmen caught hold of Chow, took offhis robe, and held him on the floor, while another administered fiftyblows, after which Chow got upon his legs, made a very wry face, andtwisted and writhed about like an eel making an effort to walk upon thetip of his tail.

  "Leave off twisting and twirling thyself out of nature, thou dog, andreturn thanks to his high justiceship for his kindness in correcting somiserable an affair as thy mean self," said one of the footmen.

  With one eye glaring upon the footman, and the other smiling upon themandarin, Chow held his hands behind his back to assuage the pain, andmade two or three attempts to bend his back, but failing, droppedsuddenly on his knees, and bowing his head to the ground, said, but witha twist of his back or grimace between every word, "Thy correction--Ofather--and mother--of justice, is beneficial, but like physic wouldbe----"

  "What, boy?" said the mandarin, laughing.

  "More agreeable if it were tasteless, yet thy mean servant thanks thee,noble judge, for this care of his mind;" and Chow hopped among thebystanders.

  When Chow had been disposed of, the porter formerly charged Nicholaswith entering the mansion at night for the purpose of robbery.

  "Who art thou boy; thy name, surname, and from what province?" said themandarin kindly.

  "The mean name of thy unworthy servant is Nicholas, of the province ofFokien, from whence he has traveled on special affairs to a worthymerchant of Pekin, named Yang."

  "So far thy words are truth," said the mandarin, to the astonishment ofNicholas; "but what answer can the youth make to the charge of thisman?"

  "That it is vile and false, and that the dog is a traitor in league withrebels, who happening to meet with thy servant last night at the samehouse, are fearful that he may have discovered their plots, and so hopeto destroy him."

  At that moment there arose a great bustle in the court, and a cry of"Make way for the illustrious deputy-general of the nine gates," and amilitary mandarin, with a tiger painted on his breast, a gold button anda peacock's feather in his cap, both of which bespoke his high rank,entered the tribunal, and testified to the guilt of Nicholas, whorecognizing in him the man who had been addressed the previous night bythe title of general, exclaimed, "Behold, O Mandarin, one of thetraitors."

  Great was the effect of the new comer upon the judge, for, not payingthe least attention to the exclamation of Nicholas, he said, "Trulyfalsehood will not flow from the lips of the Heaven-appointeddeputy-general. As for thee (turning to Nicholas,) vile dog, as thyguilt is now clear, thou shalt receive one hundred blows, and bebanished for life."

  Now, while the mandarin was speaking, Chow happening to get a full viewof the general's face, rushed through the crowd, crying, "It is thevillain, it is the destroyer of my parents,' and in another moment hehad clutched the general by the throat, thrown him upon the ground, andwould have strangled him, but for the help of the footmen, who speedilyseized him, bound his arms, and carried him with Nicholas to theprison.

  "This fancy, that every officer you meet is the destroyer of yourparents, will prove thy destruction, my poor Chow," said Nicholas, assoon as they were alone in the prison.

  "There can be no doubt it is the villain, for saw you not the wound uponhis cheek? but, alas! my trouble is the greater that I slew him notbefore we were shut up in a cage like two dogs for fattening."

  "Thy liberty at least was secure, but for thy foolish attack upon themandarin of war."

  "By the vermillion pencil itself, Chow cares not for liberty, if theyruin his noble master."

  Then Nicholas began to think upon his miserable position,--sentenced tobe beaten with the bamboo to him worse than death, for, being born uponthe coast, unlike most Chinese, he had never been subjected to such adegradation; and then to be banished for life, at the very commencementof his career,--it was horrible. Greater, however, was his anxiety forthe safety of his father's letters. Could he but send a message to themerchant Yang,--alas! that was impossible. Should he give it to Chow?No; for he knew not what punishment awaited the boy for assaulting sogreat an officer. He was indeed at his wit's end, and he prayed to theAlmighty for aid.

  "Let not the noble Nicholas be so sad, for truly the gods can neverdesert the innocent and unfortunate," said Chow, while tears ofaffection wetted his cheeks; adding, "I will pray of them to take myworthless life in exchange for thy liberty."

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bsp; "I can not, do not doubt thy affection, my good Chow, but place not myfaith in these foolish deities; there is but One true God, whose Sondied on the cross to save mankind, and in Him I trust in my hour ofdifficulty."

  "My master is of the religion of the Fan-Kwi (foreign devils.) Willtheir god aid him in the hour of his troubles?" replied Chow,despondingly.

  "Thou wilt see Chow," replied Nicholas, angrily.

  "Truly, but in the mean time the bamboo will cut us into strips like anumbrella in a storm," said Chow, making such queer contortions andgrimaces, that in spite of his troubles Nicholas could not helplaughing. "Then," he added, "thy servant has a scheme that will savethee, my generous master."

  "Open thy lips, O wise and prudent youth," said Nicholas.

  "The noble Nicholas has a father?"

  "Truly, a noble one."

  "Then, as Chow has neither father, mother, nor aught else, but hatredfor his father's slayer and gratitude to the preserver of his life----"

  "What words are these?" said Nicholas, impatiently.

  "The good Nicholas has money; let him give it to Chow, and he will bribethe mandarin to slit him into ribbons in thy stead," said Chow,seriously.

  "Silence, Chow! this scheme of thine is offensive," said Nicholas, notwithout a tear at the boys devotion.

  "Alas! of what use is a friend if he will not be serviceable in the hourof need?" said Chow.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the opening of the door.

  "It is the illustrious Yang himself, who spoke good words to theboy-correcting mandarin; may he be turned into a bamboo himself in thenext world," exclaimed Chow with a writhe of remembrance.

  "Thou art the son of the good merchant, my correspondent?" said Yang.

  "The face of the worthy merchant, is welcome in the hour of difficulty,"said Nicholas.

  "That difficulty is past, for thou art released," replied Yang, leadinghim to a covered vehicle, into which Chow followed, and all threeproceeded to the merchant's house, where they found a substantial mealawaiting them, a portion of which Chow carried with him to anotherapartment.

  "Will the venerable Yang say by what fortunate chance he was enabled toconfer upon the son of his correspondent such an everlasting debt ofgratitude!" said Nicholas.

  "Know then, my nephew, for my nephew thou art, being the son of myadopted brother, that when the comical ape Chow brought thy message, Iwatched for thy coming till evening, when knowing that you could notpass through the gates that night, I lodged Chow in my house. Thismorning I went to meet you, telling Chow to follow close behind mychair. Passing through the great square we met with the military officerwhose affair took us to the tribunal, where by means of a small presentsecretly conveyed to the mandarin, I succeeded in getting the foolishfellow off with a mere fatherly correction, which the dispenser ofjustice was compelled to give him for form's sake. This affair beingsettled, judge my horror at finding you charged with so fearful a crime.However, I was prepared; for Chow, while listening to his own accuser,had seen you in the custody of the yah-yu, to whom I went, and by meansof a bribe made them tell me the reason of your being in that plight.When I had learned the particulars, I whispered to the mandarin that Iwould present him with a handsome sum in silver if he would treat youleniently. But when the favorite general of the Prince Li-Kong appeared,the affair took another turn, and for fear of losing his own head, themandarin was compelled to condemn you. Yet, sad as this was, it was tobe managed with money. So by giving a handsome sum to an alreadycondemned criminal, the poor wretch agreed to suffer in your place."

  "How! what rascality is this? Surely the innocent shall not suffer. Themandarin must be sought," said Nicholas.

  "Hist, hist, my good nephew! it is all over; for, foreseeing yourobjection, the money was handed over to the man's family and he himselfdispatched at once to the penal settlement for condemned criminals."

  "It is a vile practice, O Yang," said Nicholas with disgust.

  "It is a common one," replied the merchant; adding, "but what brings theson of the great merchant to Pekin? he is young to be entrusted so greata journey."

  "Are then the special secrets of my noble parent of so little value thatthey may be wafted about the very air of this vile city of Pekin?" saidNicholas.

  "Pardon thy servant, O noble youth, who seeks to know thy affairs thathe may help to render them prosperous."

  "The worthy Yang must forgive the haste of a boy who so far forgets hisduty to his elder," said Nicholas.

  That night the boys slept at Yang's house.