The Seekers

by F. M. Parker

  Levi checked four other jobs scattered about the city, and at the end of that time found the day ending. He felt restless and decided to explore the city and take in some entertainment. Errin, from his search for employment for their contract workers, knew the city quite well. Levi on the other hand, had much to see for the first time.

  Hungry as only young men can be, he ate a huge meal at a German Wirtschafi on The Embarcadero. Then he walked uptown to the Bella Union Theatre and caught a troupe of Boston actors performing a three-act comedy play, one he found enjoyable. At the conclusion of the play, he left the theater with the laughing, happy patrons.

  Levi, with no particular destination in mind, drifted through the city. He watched the night fall, filling the narrow streets and cramped alleyways. A cold sea breeze carrying fog crept up from the bay and stole in among the buildings. He smelled the fog and his tongue tasted it, tangy and heavy with salt.

  A lamplighter came into sight on the cross street ahead of Levi. The man reached up with his flaming torch to touch off the gas jets of the streetlamp at the intersection. The light cast by the impure gas distilled from asphaltum made only a dim yellow pool in the growing darkness.

  The sound of a flute and cymbals playing an alien, Chinese piece began on a balcony above the street. Levi saw two Chinese men with the instruments. With the men was an old woman wrapped in a shawl. She started to wail a Cantonese lament of sadness and to rock to and fro. Levi stopped to watch and listen. The homesickness of these people in a foreign land so far from home must be even deeper than Levi’s. He breathed in the multitude of pungent smells of San Francisco. He liked the city’s location on the ocean and the bustling waterfront, the mix of races of peoples, and the thriving businesses. Best of all, he appreciated the opportunities the city had given him for a new and interesting life.

  He left Chinatown and walked three squares along Church Street and came out on Jackson Street. He passed a brightly lighted house with a sign naming the bottom floor half sunken in the ground as Blind Annie’s Cellar. He had been told of the place and that it was an opium den. He saw a man leave the street and go down the steps and into the cellar.

  The fog had become more dense, forming droplets on Levi’s eyebrows. His cheeks were wet with moisture. He tried to brush it away with his hand. Never had he experienced a fog so thick and clinging. Maybe the drippy, foggy night should be left to the people who better knew their way around the city.

  He came to the streetlight haloed with the wet sea vapor and halted to get his bearings.

  * * *

  Chun Quang trembled with uncertainty. Was this the moment for her to try to escape?

  The inside of the swaying carriage was totally dark for it was night and all the leather curtains had been pulled down over the windows and fastened securely. Chun and the other twelve Chinese girls sat jammed hip to hip on the four seats of the horse-drawn vehicle. She had deliberately hung back during the loading and climbed aboard last so that she would be nearest to the door.

  The Americans had closed the door of the carriage and tied it shut with a length of rope. However if she was given the right opportunity, that would not hold her captive. She drew the sharp, two-edged knife from its sheath inside her clothing and held it against her leg.

  A short time earlier, Chun and the other forty-eight girls had been brought from the cabin of the steamship that had just arrived from Canton, China, and ordered into the four carriages that had been waiting on the pier. Several Americans, giant men to Chun, now escorted them through the streets of San Francisco. She must escape before their destination was reached and she would be locked away behind strong walls.

  She began to saw on the coarse hemp rope with the knife, making her movements slow and short, so the girl next to her would not become aware of what she was doing. The strands of the rope parted one by one and then the door was freed.

  She shoved the door partway open and looked outside. The shadowy figure of one of the Americans paced beside the front wheel of the carriage. No one was visible to the rear. She took a deep breath and jumped down to the ground. Immediately she hiked the tail of her long dress to her knees and darted away into the night.

  The guard near the front of the carriage heard Chun’s feet striking the pavement. He whirled and caught a fleeting glance of her, fast disappearing into the darkness. He shouted, “Cranson, one of the little bitches is getting away. Help me catch her.”

  Chun heard the shouted warning and ran faster. They must not catch her. She sought the deepest shadows, hugged the walls. Always there were the echoes of racing feet behind her in the foggy darkness. She began to try the doors in the sides of the buildings facing the street. She hoped desperately to find one that was unlocked so she could get off the street. But no door was open and she was being slowed by her search.

  She sprinted ahead fearing she would fail to elude the men for they would know this foreign city while she had not one whit of knowledge of which direction to run to escape.

  She ran on and on at the top of her strength with her breath coming hot and scalding in her lungs. She knew the long-legged Americans would soon catch her unless she found a place to hide. She plunged headlong into the black mouth of an alley and prayed it wasn’t deadended. She must not be caught and sold to be a slave of some man in America.

  The alley ended and Chun veered off along a narrow street. She went but a short distance when she broke out into a lighted intersection. From the opposite corner of the street, a man pivoted to look directly at her. She slid to a stop with a moan of despair. How had one of her pursuers gotten ahead of her? But no, she had never seen this man before.

  * * *

  Levi saw the Chinese girl run out of the side street and stop in the light of the streetlamp. She was a slender, elfin figure with long, black hair hanging wild and loose down over her shoulders. The tail of a red dress was pulled up in her hands to free her legs for faster running. She flung a look behind her and then twisted to stare through the fog at him.

  “Please, sir, help me,” Chun called. She must trust the man, and hope he would come to her aid. “I’m being chased by men who will hurt me.”

  The girl was breathing heavily and her words were accented—still Levi understood them. She was exceedingly lovely even with the frightened expression on her face. He looked into the darkness from which she had sprung. He heard the thud of rapidly approaching footsteps.

  “Who are they?” Levi asked.

  “They want to sell me to be a slave,” she replied hastily. The man asks questions when we should be running, thought Chun.

  “Come with me,” Levi said. “Maybe we can get away from them.”

  Chun hurried close. Levi took the Chinese girl by the arm.

  Just as he started to hurry off with her, two men erupted from the darkness and into the intersection.

  Chun cried out at the appearance of the guards. She gripped her knife and held it hidden and ready in a fold of her dress.

  “There she is, Cranson,” one of the men said.

  “It’s a damn good thing we caught her,” Cranson replied. “If she’d gotten away from us, the boss would’ve broke our necks.”

  The men moved toward Levi and Chun. “Come here you little moon-eyed bitch,” Cranson said.

  Chun moved partly behind Levi. “Don’t let them take me,” she begged.

  “She doesn’t want to go with you,” Levi told the men.

  “This ain’t any of your business,” Cranson said. “She’s bought and paid for.”

  “That’s not true,” Chun cried out and gripped Levi’s arm. “No one bought me. They forced me onto a ship in Canton and brought me here.”

  “She says she’s not been bought,” Levi said. “And anyway, one man can’t own another.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Cranson said. “Get out of the way.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Then you’re going to get the worst beating a white man ever had,” Cranson sa
id.

  Levi’s spine turned cold. He could not whip both of the men, maybe not even one of them. But he would try. He pushed the girl out of the way against the wall of the building abutting the street.

  The men attacked more swiftly than Levi had anticipated and were already within striking range when he turned back. Cranson was closer and his big fist lashed out and walloped Levi in the mouth.

  The smashing fist sent pain ricocheting around inside Levi’s skull. The taste of blood was suddenly salt and copper in his mouth. He stepped toward the man, taking a hard blow to the body as he pounded aside his defense. Then Levi was inside and he struck Cranson fiercely with a left and right. Cranson backed up, shaking his head.

  The second man lunged in and hit Levi a solid blow to the side of the head, spinning him part way around. Then both men were upon Levi, pummeling him savagely in the ribs and back.

  Levi fell, the breath knocked out of him. He rolled away from the men. He must get to his feet before the two kicked the life out of him lying unprotected on the ground. His empty lungs sucked starvingly at the air as he struggled to his knees and on up to his feet.

  His head spun. His mouth was full of blood. He spewed it out in a spray of red. He was no match for the men. He was going to get the beating they had promised him.

  * * *

  Errin was extremely tired as he walked along The Embarcadère. But he couldn’t rest for he was worried about his young friend Levi. He had been searching for him since shortly after nightfall. He hoped Levi hadn’t been shanghaied. Errin was familiar with crimps. They were plentiful in London where they plied their vicious trade. San Francisco was said to be worse than London. A man’s body was a valuable piece of merchandise, and it was free for the taking. He had seen whaling ships, and ships that hunted seals, and others that hauled cargo at anchor in the harbor. More than likely several of those ships’ captains were waiting for crewmen, shanghaied or not, to work their vessels. Captain Griffith of the Huntress could be one of them for he had many disgruntled seamen.

  After leaving Louden at the Wells Fargo place of business, Errin had gone to his office to tell Levi about the gold and the promised reward. Isaiah Green informed him that he had not seen Levi since early morning. Nor did Errin find Levi at their rented house when he went there. He had set out to search for Levi.

  He turned and climbed away from the waterfront. He soon found himself on the Barbary Coast. He checked several saloons, gaming parlors, and billiards halls and still no sight of Levi.

  Errin entered a street several blocks long crowded with older buildings. An unusual number of windows and doorways opened onto the sidewalk. A low musical chant of the voices of women filled the dark canyon of the street. Though the litany was an announcement of bodies and sensual delight for sale, he heard a mournful, unhappy core to it. The place could only be the “Street of Slave Girls” that he had heard about. It was one of the infamous crib areas and the place of the cheapest whores. Each Chinese woman had a window where she sat to display herself to the men passing on the street. The Chinese men called the women Chinonise, “daughters of joy,” and the white men “singsong girls.” Their life expectancy was short, five years or less. Death usually came from disease or by their own hands. Several men lounged about with guns and knives in their belts. They were the protectors who kept the drunks and cruel men from beating the women, but they also forced the women to stay and sell themselves. Errin quickened his pace, the meanness and the human sadness of the place driving him away.

  He felt his deep exhaustion and knew he must give up his search. The city was large, and with the streets steeped in fog and darkness, it would be nearly impossible to find Levi.

  As he made his decision to return to his house, he saw three men fighting with swinging fists under a street lamp a block distant. It seemed that two of the men were pounding the third. That poor soul resembled Levi. Errin broke into a swift run. If the man was Levi, he was taking a hellish beating.

  Errin shouted a shrill cry to try to stop the fight. No one paid him any attention. As he raced closer, he saw a young Chinese girl huddled against the wall of the building near the battling men. Was she the cause of the fight?

  Closer now, Errin saw it was Levi being beaten by the other two. He shouted at the top of his lungs, a cry full of anger and challenge. The men heard him and whirled to look.

  Levi recovered quickly, and using the break in the attack, backed away from the two men. The figure of a man was rushing along the street through the darkness at them. Now there was three of them, Levi thought.

  Errin ran into the light under the streetlamp and stopped beside Levi. He threw a fierce look at Levi’s opponents and then reached out and took his friend by the shoulder. “You still got all your teeth, partner?” he asked Levi.

  “Just barely. I think some have been knocked loose.”

  “We’ll make them pay for that,” Errin said. He faced the two men and coldly measured them. “Now it’s an even fight, two against two. Let’s see how you like that.”

  He sprang at the larger of the men, Cranson, and hit him a hard blow to the chin. Cranson struck back and faded to the side and came in at Errin from the right. Errin twisted to meet him and they traded a flurry of blows. Errin felt the jarring impacts of his fists crashing against the man’s body and that was damn fine. Cranson covered himself with his arms and back-pedaled away. From that first tangle, Errin knew he was the stronger. Cranson knew it too. His arms dropped and a hand went to the knife in his belt. He leapt at Errin and his arm swung.

  Errin whipped his head back as the knife blade swished past his neck. He blocked Cranson’s reverse swing of the knife with his left hand and drew his pistol. He slammed Cranson’s hand with the gun barrel, and felt the bones break. The knife fell with a ring of steel on the street.

  “Go to sleep,” Errin said. With a backhanded swing, he cracked the man on the head with the pistol.

  Cranson sagged to hands and knees. To Errin’s amazement, Cranson shook his head and coiled upward on a knee.

  “Hard-headed bastard,” Errin said. He didn’t want to hit the man again with his pistol and risk damaging the weapon. He drew back his booted foot and kicked the man powerfully in the face, knocking him down flat on his back. Cranson lay crumpled and still.

  Errin spun quickly to go to the aid of Levi, but then stopped. Levi was holding his own with the second man and Errin decided to only watch. Now was a good time to discover what kind of man he had taken on as a partner. How brave and how tough was Levi?

  “Help him,” Chun shouted at Errin.

  Errin only shook his head and continued to observe the fight.

  “Please help him,” Chun pleaded and clutched at Errin’s arm.

  “No,” Errin replied and pulled free of her hold. He fully believed she was the cause of the fight. If he hadn’t happened upon them, Levi could have been badly hurt, or even killed.

  Chun hesitated but a second more. She brought up her knife and stole toward the struggling fighters.

  Errin came up behind Chun and grabbed her by the shoulders. She twisted in his grasp and stabbed out viciously at him with the knife. Errin almost failed to catch her arm as the knife drove at his throat.

  “Damnit, girl,” Errin growled, and roughly wrenched the knife from her grip. The Chinese girl was as dangerous as the men.

  “Let me go,” Chun said angrily. “I will cut the man.”

  “I believe you would. But Levi’s winning. Stay clear of them.” Chun started to struggle and Errin shook her once to emphasize his order. “Stop it!”

  Levi pressed his opponent, blocking a blow, and sending another glancing away. Now his adversary was open. Levi waded into the man, hammering him in the gut, then raised his aim and slugged him on the chin. The man collapsed unconscious.

  “There, see, the fight’s over,” Errin said to Chun and released her.

  Levi breathing hard and smiling victoriously through the blood on his lips, called out. “E
rrin, damn glad you showed up.”

  Errin nodded. “So am I. Let’s get out of here before one of the Fearless Charlies comes along. I don’t want to try to explain this to them.” He pointed to Chun. “What’s the story with her?”

  Levi finished wiping the blood from his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. “All I know is she came running out of that street with those two chasing her. They said she had been bought, but she said that was a lie. She asked for help and I tried to keep the men from taking her.” Levi saw the girl edging away from Errin and him. She seemed almost as much afraid of them as she had been of the other men.

  He spoke to Chun. “What’s your name?”

  “Chun Quang,” she said and stopped moving away and stood still.

  “Well, Chun, my name’s Levi Coffin and that’s Errin ScanIan. Do you need a place to stay tonight?”

  “No. I will be all right now.”

  “Let her go on her way,” Errin said. “I think she’ll be nothing but trouble.”

  “I don’t believe she has any place to go.”

  “Oh hell, Levi, do what you want, just do it quick.”

  “Miss, for the last time, do you want a place to stay? You’ll be safe with us, I promise.”

  Chun looked searchingly into Levi’s face. Yes, she could trust him, she thought. She sensed something much different about the second American who watched her icily. Without the slightest expression of caring, he had only watched as his friend fought desperately against a very strong opponent. And he would not allow her to go to his friend’s aid. Errin was one of those hard men.

  “I will go with you until it is daylight. Then I will leave.”

  “All right,” Levi agreed.

  “That’s finally settled so let’s go,” Errin said. He led off into the night.