a^"B!8ji|.i^-.-.irffj—^Ji^ •!

BETWEEN THE TREATY PORTS

By Harriet Welles
Author of "Anchors Aweigh," "Holding Mast," etc.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY 0 . F. HOWARD

NEVER see my waitress gler passed a small basket among his

spreading the embroidered audience and, dissatisfied, handed it
cloth I bought in Hong- round a second time. The money was
Kong but the whole oc- counted and divided.
currence comes back to I remembered my headache and
me, together with the re- thought of the cool hotel. "They seem
membrance of the sights and sounds of to have finished," I said.
that hot May day. "No," she answered, " I rather think
The table-cloth—folded into a neat the best is coming. They're passing that
bundle—was under my arm as I stepped basket again! I'll give them enough to
from the cool embroidery-shop into the hurry them."
blinding glare of Queen's Road. My She dropped a bill into the juggler's,
head ached and I would never have joined hand, and spoke sharply to him in Chi-
the crowd gathered about some itinerant nese.
jugglers if it had not been for a charm- "How splendid to be able to speak this
ingly dressed woman, accompanied by difiicult language!" I said admiringly.
a Chinese servant, who stood watching She smiled. "It's easy to pick up—
them. when you don't hear anything else for
After fifteen months of following my months at a time," she answered, and
husband's ship up and down the Asiatic added: "You're an y^merican, aren't
station, my wardrobe had reached the you?"
state where it was wise, when possible, to I nodded.
ignore it; and the sight of such a dress " I haven't spoken to an American
as that woman wore was, at first, more woman in years," she commented, and
of an attraction than the juggling. And, to my exclamation, "But you're an
upon closer inspection, I decided that she American, too!" she gave an unwilling
justified the gown, for she was very "Yes." ,
lovely. "Look!" she cried hastily; " I thought
She hesitated, then smiling back at so! They are going to do the rope
me motioned toward the jugglers. "The trick."
cleverest I've ever seen—they're really I gasped. Already the two men were
worth watching," she said. above our heads, climbing, hand over
They were. Soon I was completely hand, up the rope that they had thrown
engrossed by their remarkable achieve- into the air where, straight and taut, it
ments. stretched above them. Steadily they
A rose-tree sprouted, grew, and blos- ascended, their arms and legs moving
somed in the middle of the street. A with automatic regularity; soon they were
stork emerged from an egg, flourished, noticeably smaller, as on and on they
and flew away. The basket trick held went, up and up, higher and higher, then
us—loitering ricksha coolies, Englishmen, paused and stopped.
Chinese gentlemen, and a few women— Far above us they hung motionless for
absorbed in the glaring noonday sun- a perceptible time, looking down with
shine, while my new acquaintance and I unwavering scrutiny on the crowd below;
admired and wondered and her Chinese then upward again, until they dwindled
servant watched us with black, unblink- to tiny dots—and disappeared.
ing eyes. I moved my head stiffly about to ease
There came a pause. The older jug- the cramp in my neck.
569

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570 Between the Treaty Ports
" I can hear myself trying to explain —go home and see! If, after you've
this," I commented. "Every one will seen, you cable for me,. I'll go to you—the
say that we were hypnotized. I've heard happiest woman in the world. But I
of this trick and how a photograph only don't want happiness that doesn't belong
shows a blank place where the jugglers to me fairly."
should be." She paused; and, as no answer came,
"Can a hypnotized person take reliable went on.
photographs?" she asked, and turned to " I believe you love me, and that our
the servant. " You hypnotized, Et-san ? " separation will be a short one," she said
she questioned. gently; "but when you tell me that we
The servant shook her head, her eyes can be married in Yokohama, and that
on my face. no one in England will ever question who
" I wonder—what they saw—when they I was—if I hail from a remote enough
stopped and looked back," mused the place in America—I know better and so
mistress. do you!
" Maybe they were wondering if we had "Some one from San Francisco would
enough money left to make a return trip meet me again. First, there would be a
profitable," I ventured flippantly. whisper; then people would stop seeing
She did not seem to hear me. us and asking us to parties, and would
"I've often thought—how fine it would forget to call. Then, if we stood our pun-
be—to get high enough above the fret ishment meekly for two or three years,
and muddle of every-day living—and see and- behaved in a chastened way, your
what really is large," said the woman, relatives would invite us to small dinners
while bitterness grew in her quiet voice. with carefully selected guests who
The crowd'had melted away; we stood 'wouldn't mind meeting us'!
alone beside the narrow street, and I was "Could you stand those probationary
conscious that looking up toward the sun years—alone with me ?
was not a cure for headache. The hotel "You've never been cut or had to
seemed far away. take second place—and you'd hate and
" I must go,'* I said, motioning to a resent it. I want to trust you, Jim, but I
ricksha coolie. "I'll see you again," I know how changeable you are!
called back. "At first you'd be defiant and indepen-
She smiled and nodded. Then, to my dent.—but after a while you'd begin to
amazement, the Chinese servant spoke. think that all your life—the things you
"Ye-es. Ple-ase! Goo-by," she cried, have longed for during your stay out
as I rode away. here—was spoiled because of me. And
when people asked you, without me,
Late that afternoon I, half-awakened you'd go!
from the deep sleep induced by the rem- "You needn't get angry. You have
edies that had routed my headache, lay too much money—too great a position—
stupidly listening to a partially compre- for women not to run after you. The
hended murmur of voices from the world is full of women who are fearfully
screened porch almost outside my win- agile in a case like ours."
dow; the big suite, next to my room, had A man's voice, sharp with exaspera-
evidently just been taken. tion, answered: "By Jove! if any one
A woman's voice sounded- "I've gone had told me that I'd not only ask, but
over and over this, Jim," she said with a beg, a woman to marry me—a woman
tired sigh. "You know that I love you, who had—a woman I didn't have to—
and that this separation will be almost well! a woman who lived by her wits in
more than I can bear. ^ I dare not think a Chinese city, I'd jolly well have smashed
of the days ahead for fear I won't have their head," he said. "Here I offer you
the courage -to let you go. But you've everything. I care enough for you that
been out here for two years, seeing noth- I can't help offering them. What do you
ing but frumpy women—of course, I want, anyhow?
seem attractive compared with them! "You'd love the English places,
"Things in England may have changed Maizie ! Big houses, sloping lawns, great

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Drawn by 0. F. Houaid

A stork emerged from an egg,flourished,and flew away.—Page 569.

S7I

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572 Between the Treaty Ports
trees, and the old flower-gardens—a blaze Look at my pearls—these are only part
of color against the walls and hedges." of them! My clothes'come from Paris;
She interrupted him sharply. my bronzes, paintings and porcelains are
"Yes, and when our great-grandson finer than the viceroy's; and the money
showed visitors around the picture-gallery that bought them I made by my own
he'd get them past my portrait as quickly efforts."
as possible ! Can't you see him ? " Her "Yes—but how?" he muttered.
voice rose. " I won't spoil your beautiful "Honestly!" she answered with sharp
future, Jim! I can bear staying here defiance. "No one has ever tried to say
that I wasn't honest. And I can't begin
to spend all I earn—it rolls in!"
"You talk like an idiot," said the man
N ^
roughly. " Either you can't or won't un-
SftJ derstand what I'm offering you. If I'm
^ .^s
willing to take my chances with the fu-
ture, you ought to be."
%.- #
His voice changed. "Be reasonable,
Maizie! I can't understand you, but I
know that you're too fine to be hurt by
apparent circumstances here. I love you
because of qualities I realize you have—
and can't describe. If you only knew
how I've pictured you in my house—and
coming along the garden walks. I'm
thankful that my term of duty here is
over so that I can take you away."
There was a sound of muffled sobbing.
"Don't cry, Maizie. This time to-
morrow we'll have sailed. Et-san can
send your things after you. We'll wait
for them in Japan and go home by the
Trans-Siberian," he said.
"No," answered the woman unevenly;
"don't try to make me change my mind.
But if you send for me I'll come."
"You'll never get the chance," said the
From his perch by the steps a gaudy tethered man with grim emphasis. " Why do you
macaw blinked solemnly in the lieavy want to stay behind ? Is there some one
sunshine.—Page 574. else here ? • I might have guessed it!" he
added with sudden suspicion.
She answered with spirit, "You know
until you really know your mind; but if that's not true!" whfle exasperation grew
I went with you now, and you tired of me, in her voice, "Can't you understand
and filled your life with things that left what I'm trying to save you from? Go
me out, and stopped caring for me " back among your own people—your
His voice was sulky. " I won't admit mother, your sisters—get a perspective
that I could stop caring for you. I've on me, on my life; then, if you still love
tried hard enough! For days after you me, say so."
told me that you'd lived with a Chinaman The man's voice was ugly with jeal-
—I swore I'd never see you again. But ousy.
I can't help myself—and if I should? " Of course there's some one else ! I've
You'd have three topping houses, and been a fool," he said.
position and money " "Don't, Jim," pleaded the woman.
"My house and position here suit me," "I'm trying to do right by you—to the
said the woman dryly. "As for money— best of my judgment'^" Her voice broke
I have more than I can possibly spend. in a sob. "If I only knew'! To-day on

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 Between the Treaty Ports 573
Queen's Road I saw some jugglers do ippines, where the battle-cruisers were al-
the rope trick. When they were high in ready engaged in the autumn target-
the air they stopped and looked back at practice.
us, and I wished with all my heart that "There won't be a passenger-steamer
I could get far enough away from the to Manila for six days," the agent told
muddle of my life to see what is really me, and, .the thirst for Oriental sight-
large. I've made so many mistakes. seeing still waxing strong, I left directions
I've been so bitterly unhappy. Your for my mail to be forwarded in care of the

"She sat at one end of that—a revolver in reach of each hand! When any one tried to cheat
or argue—!"—Page 576.

home, the peace and security of the life American consul and went up the river
you offer me, seem like heaven! But to "see Canton." •
they must be heaven for you, too. I "What are the most typical Chinese
must be sure! What was that ?" she sights?" I asked the consul when I went
whispered. for my letters.
" Some one in the next room," answered He suggested various temples and the
the man coldly, as I, aghast at my eaves- nine-storied pagoda.
dropping, hastily pulled down the win- "This isn't my first native city. I
dow. spent last spring in the Yangtse valley,"
I reminded him.
The Asiatic squadron cruised unap- "The feather-jewelry makers," volun-
proachably along the Korean coast that teered the consul, mentally searching for
summer, while I, not being able to follow novelties.
them, spent the hot weather in the moun- " I want to see a collection of porce-
tains of Japan. October found me in lains, or an old garden, or an official's
Hong-Kong again—en route for the Phil- yamen," I admitted modestly.

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574 Between the Treaty Ports
The consul ran his hand through his stones of temple compounds, over which
hair. "The sophisticated tourist—heaven the great bell's reverberations echoed
help me!" he said, and hesitated. : " I ceaselessly; but I evidently showed my
don't know why not—now," he mused- disappointment when we drew up be-
"How would you like to see an A-num- fore a narrow door in the long blank
ber-one gambling-house—that is a pal- wall.
ace?" he asked. The consul laughed. "Don't judge a
"Why—yes," I agreed, without enthu- Chinese palace by the hole that you get
siasm. into it by," he advised, and knocked with
The consul was nettled. "Hundreds vigor.
of people would jump at the chance,'' he The gate opened silently and closed
said shortly. " If you had come a month with uncanny quickness behind us.
earlier—or later—you couldn't get iii for Ahead a white, marble-paved courtyard
love oi: money, and neither could I ! ! No ended in the vermilion lacquer of a great
foreigner was welcome, but Americans door. Above rose aconfusion of massive,
were absolutely debarred. There's been curving eaves, on which bronze dragons
a murder there; I have to go officially? to writhed and twisted. Only the shrieks of
inventory some things and to question coolies and venders in the street outside
the servants again." echoed across the brooding stillness and
"Why didn't they want Americans?" stirred the glossy leaves of.the tall, blos-
I asked with resentment. soming gardenia hedges, while from his
The consul shook his head. " I never perch by the steps a gaudy tethered ma-
knew," he said. " I tried going there caw blinked solemnly in the heavy sun-
when I first came here—took a p^rty shine. ,
of tourists one afternoon—American^ of "Oh!" I cried with fervor. " I
importance they were. Well, say! It wouldn't have missed this for anything."
wasn't necessary to order us out; those The lacquered door swung ponderously
people fairly fell over each other getting, back; several servants appeared. We
away, and the principal tourist said he went down a wide hallway paved with
wouldn't have gone for a thousand dol- marble to where a heavy carved screen
lars—if he'd known ! He seemed pretty shielded a doorway. The consul spoke to
upset and inclined to be snappy," com- an official stationed there and beckoned
mented the consul. us into the great apartment beyond.
"Didn't you tell them that they \7efe "AUee same-ee gammel-ing-room," an-
going to a gambling-house? Perhaps it nounced the interpreter.
recalled unpleasant experiences at home; "How beautiful!" I cried with enthu-
I've read of several voluntarily nomadic siasm.
careers caused by the investigators," I The room was panelled in soft fawn-
said, smothering a yawn. colored wood that shone like dull velvet
"Maybe so," ruminated the consul between brocade-mounted paintings by
dubiously. masters of the T'ang and Sung dynasties.
"Anyhow, unless I can get a clew or Bronze incense-burners and sacrificial
pick a flaw in one of the servant's stories, wine-jugs alternated with monochrome
I'll have to turn the place over to the I old bowls on the old lacquered chests and
woman mentioned in the will. The; in- cabinets. Long strips of mellow em-
terpreter and I are going there now; you broideries framed the windows and re-
can come if you like. The place is worth peated the color of the great sheaves of
seeing," added the consul. lemon lilies and feathery eremurus massed
Conversation between ricksha passen- in high jars on the wide sills. Only the
gers in a crowded Chinese city is impossi- long, bare teakwood table made a dis-
ble, so I succumbed uninterruptedly to cordant note.
the fascinations of color, outline, and The" consul nodded. "You'd know
sound as we jogged along the narrow that a person who could own and run a
streets with their enticing open shops place like this would be a mark for some
and swinging, vivid, scarlet and gold sign- one! One of the servants must have
boards, or passed the incense-haurited done it, but I can't catch them in a single

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 Between the Treaty Ports 575
misstatement. The interpreter will ques- hall that ended at a massive door hinged
tion them again to-day. And we have to and studded with copper. I t was
verify the list of these antiques—they are locked.
willed to a man in England. Do you I knocked, waited, and knocked again,
want to walk through the place while we feeling all the time that some one, unseen,
are busy ? And if you see an old Chinese was watching me. Then came a little
woman servant ask her a few questions. sharp whisper of surprise and the sound
She's the one to whom the place is left— of a heavy bolt being slipped back. The

For the first time in my life . I have more money than I can use. Et-san lectures daily on
my need of new dresses.—Page 578.

and I think she's the gtiilty person ! She door opened and a Chinese woman stood
looks it—but sticks to her story," com- against the light from windows beyond.
plained the consul. I felt abashed and apologetic. "I'm
I hesitated. " You spoke of a murder. so interested—may I see these rooms?"
Where is the—body?" I asked. I faltered.
"Buried—two weeks ago," stated the • The woman nodded, and stood aside to
consul, and turned to the interpreter. let me through the nearest door into a
Like all old Chinese palaces this was small library furnished with simple
on one floor; behind the large room chintz-covered furniture.' Around the
smaller rooms, furnished with magnifi- walls the book-filled shelves rose to the
cent antiques, large bare tables, and ceiling, and the overflow was piled on
heavy chairs, opened on a long, wide desk and tables. Psychologists, philoso-

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576 Between the Treaty Ports
phers, realists—peopling an entire world She gave me a startled glance. " I —
of books. And all in English! no can—juggle," she answered sharply.
The dining-room came next; then a Then, as we turned and passed out, she
tiny bedroom, bare as a cell, with its bowed, her eyes, heavy with tears, fixed
clean, painted walls and floor. on my face. "Goo-by," said Et-san,
The Chinese woman had followed me with a little sob.
and, as I looked up from the puzzling Hardly waiting for the door to be closed
effort of forming a mental picture of the behind us, I faced the consul and voiced
dead owner of this amazing house, I found my bewilderment.
her black, unwavering eyes fixed on my "You said that this was a Chinese
face. gambling-house^what is the American
Where had I seen her before ? woman who wears those dresses doing
As if in reply to my unspoken question here?" I demanded.
she opened the door of a closet behind her The consul seemed surprised. "Doing
and beckoned to me. I followed her, and here? Nothing-*-at present!" he an-
there, first in the orderly row of gar- swered with dry emphasis. "When she
ments, hung the lovely, .unforgotten gray was here she ran this gambling-house,"
dress of my admiration on that May day he added.
in Hong-Kong! I caught my breath. "'Was here'?
"Why, yes!" I cried. "And you— What do you mean ? " I asked sharply.
your name is Et-san! I remember, be- "She's dead—murdered, / think," an-
cause it was the first Chinese woman's swered the consul.
name that I had ever heard ! And your "But how did she get here?" I ques-
mistress—^where is she?" tioned abruptly.
For answer she hid her face against her We had reached the door of the large
arm, while the difficult tears of an un- gambling-room and stood looking in.
weeping race stained the sleeve of her blue The heavy scent of the lilies blended sud-
linen coat. denly with the waves of noise from the
The consul's voice sounded in the dis- street outside, and the consul raised his
tance. voice to answer.
"There really isn't much that I can " She came here, eight or ten years ago,
do," he complained in loud discontent. with a rich old Chinaman who had made
, Quickly the Chinese woman lowered his pile in San Francisco. He left' her
her arm and, turning, opened a narrow this place when he died," said the con-
drawer. From beneath the neat piles of sul with a reminiscent attention to details.
gloves she took a small book, bound in "She was the prettiest woman I have ever
limp leather, and put it into my hand. seen—but hard as iron and cold as a
"You take—^keep—allee time," she stone! I tried once to ask her a few
whispered. " My missee—talk and laugh friendly, personal questions. She never
—-with you! Very lone-lee and sad—my answered; just looked at me and, after
missee. You keep!" I'd repeated the questions a couple of
The book was under my arm when the times, I realized that she wanted me to
consul came into the room and glanced at mind my own business," asserted the con-
the open door. sul with grieved amazement.
" Now isn't that like a woman! Comes "But a young American woman! How
to see a Chinese palace and ends up at a could she. run this gambling-house
closet full of French dresses," he said with alone?" I cried.
disgust, and turned to the woman. The consul pointed toward the long
"I'll never believe you hadn't a hand table. "She sat at one end of that—a
in this murder—^but I can't prove it," he revolver in reach of each hand! When
said severely. any one tried to cheat or argue— I
She did not answer. Only rich Chinese were admitted. Of
" I supposeHhe steward and you will course I don't approve of gambling," said
try to go on running this establishment— the consul virtuously, "but if an Ameri-
juggle it around between you ? " asked the can is going to do a thing I like it done
consul. like this!"

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 Between the Treaty Ports 577
"Why do you think she was murdered mind came at last face to face with its
by the servants?" I asked, remembering ordeal and cowered unreasoningly before
Et-san's mute misery. the engulfing loneliness of the years—that
The consul was instantly belligerent. stretched ahead.
" She was shot with one of her own gam- The first entry was made seven years
bling-table revolvers," he said. "The ago.
servants say it was still in her hand when
they found her. But she came to me "April, igio.
a while ago about her will—left every- "Cheong-li died to-day.
thing to that servant you were talking to! "How curious it is that what seemed
You'll never get, me to believe that the the final step of my downfall is to end in
old woman didn't knov/ that she'd profit wealth, leisure, and independence! I am
by getting her mistreis out of the way," to take over, and run, this gambling-
asserted the consul with irritable empha- house for myself. Cheong-li secured it
sis as he made for the door. to me months ago. I am unspeakably
In the courtyard the interpreter grateful to him.
stopped us. " Mail come—England side. " I am ordering books, and books, and
One piece—for dead missee," he said, books!"
holding up a letter with a London post-
mark and the address "United Service 'January, igii.
Club " on opposite corners. " I wonder if my mother ever thinks of
The consul glanced at it. "Take that me? My cheap, silly mother! All my
to the British consul and have him return life, as a child, was spent with servants,
it to the sender," he ordered. while my mother went from luncheons to
But he did not notice the little book bridge parties, from dinners to the the-
held close under my arm because, as we atre. Anything—anywhere—that could
went through the narrow entrance, we keep her from her real duties at home, and
found the street blocked by a dense stand between her and one moment of
crowd, and the consul, returning from a honest self-communion; and always bills
protracted view of the cause of the con- —and lack of money.
gestion, urged me to stop and watch the "Only when I—a young, inexperienced
performance. girl—attracted the admiration of a man
"Some wandering jugglers—the best who was entirely unsuitable in every way
I've ever seen! You shouldn't miss but a financial one, did she ever show any
them," he declared with enthusiasm. interest in me.
But I, pleading a proclivity for headache, "And after the inevitable crash I never
refused, and left him standing enthralled, thought of appealing to her. How could
while above his head the jugglers, hand I expect her to understand my running
over hand, started on the initial stage away from a man who could provide me
of their unexplainable achievement—the with automobiles and money to spend on
rope trick. all sorts of amusements? How prepos-
I have it yet—the little book, holding terous she must have considered me in
on its small pages the records of quaint, objecting to his diversions when I was so
preposterous transactions—procedures amply provided for!"
filled with so guileful an ingenuousness
that they leave you divided between "December, igi2.
amazement and amusement. Business " The Viceroy entertained a party here
transactions; itemized lists of bribery and last evening. I was notified that he
"squeeze" moneys paid to the dignitaries would honor my establishment and a
of the district—all the great names of the room was made ready. The Viceroy's
province flaunted across the narrow pages. losings v/ere small; but his friends, among
And also, in scattered, isolated para- them, parted with three thousand taels.
graphs, it holds the meagre history of a "Early this morning a coolie came,
soul's growth from the days when com- bringing a carefully worded message
fort and leisure were suificient to the which, when deciphered by my steward,
hour when, through suffering, her dazed disclosed the Viceroy's -unabashed re-
VOL. LXIV.—45

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578 Between the Treaty Ports
quest for the money his friends had 'ac- "June, 1915.
cidentally left behind.' "If I could live my life over I would
"Added to this my diplomatic steward not leave my husband. Youth finds un-
advised me to contribute an extra thou- faithfulness and disillusion intolerable—•
sand as a mark of appreciation for the while experience is only amazed that it
honor shown me by his excellency. could be deceived again—and laughs at
"And yet they say China is carelessly its own credulity."
governed! I am glad that there is only
one Viceroy allowed to each province." "July, 1915.
"All life—excepting that of civilized
" M a y , 1913. man and a few animals temporarily do-
"The steward was right. What might mesticated for his use—ends in tragedy.
have been a serious blow to us was The day that the most ferocious lion
averted by the Viceroy's intervention. passes the zenith of his strength he goes
down before some stronger animal; the
lack of humanity with which a savage
" I t is pleasant to feel that when you treats a wounded or stricken comrade
shut a door no one has a right to open it. has always been a matter for criticism
" But why is it that success is so disap- among observant travellers.
pointing ? FQJI the first time in my life I "Outside of civilization nothing dies a
can do as I like; I have hundreds of books; natural death.
more money than I can use. And now I "But who is wise enough to know just
find it tiresome to read or spend! Et-san where civilization begins—and ends?"
lectures daily on my need of new dresses."
'' November, 1915.;
"February, 1914. "Englishmen are, of all men, the most
"Books are cheerless things; when I amused, interested, and attracted by that
read I am increasingly disillusioned. All quality in a woman which they call pluck.
of them tell you of mistakes and their "My running this gambling-house has
bitter aftermath—but not of a better or- struck one of them as an amazingly
dering of life and the avoidance of errors. sporting proposition."
"And for life's achievement I find in
them but two ideals: The dash for the "April, 1916.
open sea—The Great Adventure! Or the "Never before has it been as lovely
peace of a landlocked harbor. here as it is this spring. I neither read
" I will not have either." nor write."
"November, 1914. "June, 1916.
" I have never known affection; it must "Jim sailed for England yesterday."
be a warm and comforting thing to gather
close to you. The shadow of a great "July, 1916.
rock "I've been fretting because I am idle.
" I have only known love." To-day I arranged with workmen for de-
signs for a large wing. I ordered some
"November, 1914. dresses from Paris—saw an old painting
"Was it even love that I knew?" that Huang has for sale."
" M a y , 1915. "July, 1916.
" Without asking permission that blun- " Of all cheats love is the worst! What
dering American consul brought a crowd is it ? Can you see, or touch, or hear it ?
of tourists here to-day; it was in the af- And the pitiful, futile gains of love, what
ternoon and the unsuspecting gate-coolie are they ? The intonation of a voice—a
let them in. My ex-husband and his smile—a whispered word! For these
newest wife were in the party and their veriest trifles we forget all else, to gather,
embarrassment was diverting; but such a as a reward for our pursuit, a dull ache of
thing must not happen again." heart and mind—and nothing else !"

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 Between the Treaty Ports 579
"August, 1916. " I can see them now! Daffodils and
"I did expect you to write—but the hyacinth, lilacs and iris—^yellow and pur-
mails have come in from Shanghai, Kobe, ple against the old gray walls. Shady
Yokohama, Darien, and London—many rock-gardens, with maidenhair ferns;
times. I know, now, that I never ex- hovering butterflies and blue larkspur;
pected you to take me at my word. I darting dragon-flies; the drowsy hum of
overestimated my power over you by im- bees; the cold, sweet fragrance of Ma-
measurable miles. donna lilies, ghostlike in the moonlight;
"Knowmg you as I did, Jim, I am in- the white sweep of rain scattering the
furiated that I cannot rid myself of this roses. And larks—singing of endless
degrading sense of loss. Already, no summers—for how are they to guess that
doubt, you are wondering at your amaz- summer is soon over ?
ing recklessness, and thanking your pa- " I never wanted your houses or money
tron saint that I hadn't sense enough to —but most deeply I longed for your
take advantage of my opportunities. gardens."
"Truly—a man loses his idea of pro-
portion in the Orient—is it not so, Jim? "August, 1916.
"Why, if money is so easily plentiful
to me, do I not buy and enjoy an Eng-
" How pleasant a belief in idols must lish garden?
be! One could beat their fists against "Because, even to myself, I am a liar!
the pedestals of bronze or stone or lacquer "The flowers would be just a back-
gods and be greatly comforted thereby! ground/or you; the old walks a pathway
" I know that the ruin of my life is of bringing you back to me. I am hungry
my own making—and I can neither im- for the sight of your face and the sound
plore—^nor blame. of your voice."
"September, 1916.
"Did you ever picture to yourself my "Poor old Et-san cannot understand
life here, Jim? Even with high walls, I why I spend no more week-ends in Hong-
can never forget that I am in the centre Kong. She assures me that the steward
of a Chiaese city, and the noise of it beats manages well in my absence, and tries to
like a monstrous pulse through all the bribe me by promises of chance meetings
hours of my day. Sometimes it is the with a pleasant American woman I talked
shrieks of venders—the shrill command with. And in the back of her stumbling,
of a mandarin's bearers and coolies clear- devious mind Et-san blames the change
ing the way before his chair—the wail of to the machinations of some jugglers we
hired mourners in a funeral procession— saw—that day.
the hopeless call of men staggering under
crushing loads; and above it all the echoing
boom of the temple-bell, and the clanging "The Chinese are the greatest gam-
crash of the priest's cymbals—shattering blers in the world; but when Cheong-li
the heavy air like splintering glass and I started this place I made the rigid
"At night—before me, around me—the law that no one should be allowed to play
monotony of clicking dice—the hideous who could not afford to lose. And I
wasp-like whirring of the wheel really believed that such a rule could be
" J am so tired. I long for deep quiet applied and enforced!
•—and never find it. How can I bear the "Now I look with sick distaste at my
long years—that stretch ahead?" paintings, my clothes, and my books.
They are mine—but at what cost to some
spendthrift who, perhaps, stumbled
"August, 1916. blindly through my door—into the night."
"You will never know how near to
yielding I was, when you spoke of your "September, igi6.
English gardens I Only by pulling you "At dawn this morning, when the last
away from the subject could I go on. table was cleared and I had dragged my-

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580 Between the Treaty Ports
seK to my room, I sat by the window and ingly—or the scent of the gardenias
watched the light slowly grow in the sky seemed so deadly sweet—
behind the hillside pagoda—and realized
quite suddenly, and clearly that I need
not go any farther. " I have juggled with life and happiness
"How stupid—how unbelievably stu- •—and lost. When the game is over who
pid I have been, not to know—that I cares to sit and look at the clean-swept
need not suffer, or go groping on table?
"Every night, I have sat with the keys
to my deliverance at my hand—and
never noticed! It is too funny! "Will it be cold? Will I suffer? Can
" I laughed—until Et-san awakened, I look back? I should like it to be very
and scurried in to look at me." still, and then—never any more to think
or feel."
"September, 1916.
" I have put my house in order to-day, This was the last entry.
with the making of my will; but I cannot And so, when I see my waitress spread
think of any way by which I could give the embroidered table-cloth, I find myself
people back their remembering that hot
money. Perhaps the day in Hong-Kong
bitterest thought con- and the jugglers who
n e c t e d w i t h such looked back.
money is that—I do " I t oughtn't to be
not know whom I possible for folks who
may have taken it have brains to waste
from." their lives on things
like this—to be used
"October, 1916. so commonlike-—^"
" I wonder if any says Janet, with grim,
one else facing their Scotch-Presbyterian
last day of life was y^--^^JV disapproval, as she
ever as ludicrous as smoothes the cloth
I? into place.
"To the end l a m a "Maybe they are
predestined daughter forced to—by circum-
of h a v o c , and this stances," I suggest.
day, which should be But Janet, with a
given up to great snort of righteous un-
deeds and thoughts, belief, relegates cir-
is sliding by, punctu- c u m s t a n c e s to the
ated by the usual increas ngly large
small a n n o y a n c e s . company of conditions
Et-san—poor old soul about which she has
— i r r i t a t e s me by no curiosity.
hovering about. And I am not so sensible.
never before have I shall always wonder
the street venders —what was in that letter
shrieked so unceas- the consul sent hack ?

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 T H E REGULATION OF FOOD PRICES
By John Lambert Payne
Comptroller of Statistics, Department of Railways and Canals, Canada

H E R E are many angles activity and interest, are the numerous

from which the food prob- agencies of distribution and all the com-
lem may p r o p e r l y be plex machinery necessary for the opera-
viewed; but, in the final tion of those agencies. Within the
focus, it is reduced in very boundaries of operation by these agencies
large measure to an issue this whole problem with respect to food
between producer and consumer. All prices has arisen. This is not written in a
considerations are practically compre- spirit of reproach. Middlemen are indis-
hended within that aspect of the matter. pensable. They render a useful and es-
The community at large is sharply di- sential service. But we shall always
vided into these two classes—^producers flounder in a morass of mistakes in dis-
of food and consumers of food—and it cussing the so-called law of supply and de-
has always seemed to me there would not mand, unless we clearly see that human
be any problem, nor need of special and beings like ourselves make market prices,
elaborate measures looking to regulation, impelled always by the desire to gain. It
if these two classes could get together. is my life-work to analyze the problems of
Having got together, they would at once transportation, and for a long time I held
realize that their interests were mutual. to the notion that a freight rate was fixed
They would, by the impulse of common on scientific principles of accounting. I
sense, agree to co-operate and to treat now know that it turns wholly on what
each other in a fair, friendly, give-and- the traffic will bear. The same crude and
take spirit, which is the supreme lubri- unscientific law regulates—in so i a r as
cant of life. there is even the suspicion of regulation—
the fixing of food prices. It is an error to
Left to themselves, they would proba- assume that the relationship of supply to
bly come together upon a sound and satis- demand is studied by those who control
factory basis of exchange. What would the channels and agencies of distribution
be that basis? Leaving aside the details, for the purpose of starting in motion those
which would readily be adjusted between forces which are believed to fix, automati- .
friends recognizing mutuality of interest, cally and inexorably, the market charges
it would inevitably be this: that the con- for necessaries of life. The measurement
sumer should pay to the producer the cost of supply is merely a part of the process
of production plus a reasonable profit. by which the probability of profits is
There might be a conflict of judgment as gauged; and, of course, the primary pro-
to the actual cost of production, and there ducer and the ultimate consumer, both of
might also arise a dispute as to what whom are vitally concerned, have practi-
should be regarded as a reasonable profit; cally no voice at all in the matter.
but if these two classes met in the proper
disposition, each earnestly trying to be There has been much speculation as to
just to the other, there is no reason in the the salient cause of prevailing high prices
world why they should not come to a for food. It is a popular belief, it might
working agreeiuent of the character in- be observed parenthetically, that these
dicated. prices are without parallel in history. As
Producers and consumers, however, do far as accurate data are available, it is cer-
not get together. They have not met tain that for some staples still higher
since the primitive days when the words prices obtained in 1809 and the years
"market" and "barter" had a definite which intervened up to the battle of
and local meaning. Between them, hold- Waterloo. Then came a ruinous reac-
ing them so far apart that they to-day tion. The causes which operated then
represent two distinct spheres of human were precisely the causes which are oper-
581

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