Adventure, December 3, 1920 — page 127: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Worm that Turned of the executioner and then descended with mighty force, the headsman throwing his entire weight into the blow. The head flew off into the ditch, eyes rolling, mouth convulsively opening and closing. The body, still kneeling, retained its position for a second or two and then sank slowly after like an empty sack. A few moments later the other two had joined their comrade. Tong followed the dispersing crowd back to the town through the great red gate crowned by a shining dragon of tin. He walked along in silence, but his blood boiled within him and flashes like those of .the sword-blade played before his eye. His fists were doubled and his teeth set. Suddenly a yell almost in his ear, and he felt the cut of a whip-lash on his bare neck. He nimbly sprang aside, a horse’s muzzle grazing his coat sleeve, while the wheels of an elegant open carriage all but passed over his toes, driving on recklessly, regardless of the swarming multitude in its path. That was the manner of the White Devils! A woman and a child sat within, a large and small cloud of delicate white chiffon and laces; blond, immaculate, a race of another world, and under the pink cheeks and curling ringlets shone the same tempting white throats, like that of the master he had served. All at once there was a shrill cry, the thin piping voice of a child, then a long-drawn whimper. The carriage stopped; the crowd surged about it—something had happened. Tong shoved, pushed and craned his neck. An object was dragged from beneath the grind- ing wheels, a little bundle of humanity but so dirty and bedraggled as to be scarcely recog- nizable as such. It was a street urchin, covered with blood and dust, his thin sticks of legs dangling with a curious twist, the rags of his tattered garment pressed into the wounds of his torn flesh. The little girl covered her face with her hands; the lady, white to the lips, quickly descended and gave orders to place the little sufferer in the carriage. The crowd stood about staring passively, stupidly. But now all Tong’s pent-up feelings, so long held back, broke forth like the rushing waters from a bursting dam. His tongue, usually so sluggish, was suddenly loosened, and he began to speak as never before. What he said he knew not, but his lips moved and he heard his voice rise and fall, clear and piercing. The crowd suddenly gave him their full at- tention and by the fixedness of their eyes and the expression of their upturned faces he saw he was saying something strong, wild and ter- rible, something outside himself that sent a’shud- dering wave through the multitude, and he saw it reflected in the terrified face of the lady, paler still, who quickly sprang into the carriage and gave a hasty order to drive on. 117 Menacing cries arose on all sides; hands were raised, fists shaken. A coolie had already seized the prancing horses by their bridles, but the butt of a heavy whip descended swiftly on his unprotected head and he fell back. Blows rained right and left, the horses were dragged around and the carriage fled through the throng, wheels rattling, pursued by wild cries and flying stones and brickbats. Tong seized an ax which was exposed for sale at a near-by stall and, swinging it high above his head, started off at a run, the surging mob following close at his heels with a roar like a mighty hurricane. Think of the old scores to be wiped out, the untold suffering of the millions to be avenged! It needed a victim for its unthinking wrath, and Tong led it to the slaughter. As for himself he seemed driven by a fiend who possessed him. His head throbbed to bursting, and before his eyes swam a vision of blood and gold, of countless riders galloping sword in hand over an endless plain, of heaped- up piles of corpses with white smooth throats severed from ear to ear! ’ THEY suddenly emerged into an open square, a wide roadway leading from it 44 planted with trees, and behind, large white wooden houses surrounded by low brick walls—the foreign quarter of the town. From ten thousand throats arose a mighty -yell, which was increased still more when the lady they had seen in the carriage showed her- self for a moment at a near-by window. Tong climbed on top of a gate-post and once more harangued the crowd. Every sentence he uttered was greeted with hoarse cries and frenzied gestures. The seething, swaying mass at his feet took fire like tow. Then a great rush was made at the nearest gateway. ‘Tong, who had torn a banner from the hands of a priest, led the van, still brandish- ing his ax in his right hand. The strong iron grating held for an instant, then crashed inward as if it were of glass, and the raging crowd surged into the compound. But see, a puff of smoke from a window and a sharp report; then another and another, and Tong felt a burning pain in his chest as if a wasp had stung him. He took two more strides, then fell forward in a heap, still conscious that the crowd swept on and over him unchecked. Darkness fell upon his vision. He thought himself once more in the dim temple, his glim- mering joss-stick toppled over into an abyss, and he watched it descend, descend, a tiny spark, till at last it vanished in a sooty gloom, An hour later the foreign quarter stood in flames, and within a week the entire land was in revolt. Tong’s little joss-stick which over- turned in the temple had kindled a mighty | conflagration. ‘ : EO PICLOOO (E@)