Argosy All-Story Weekly, January 13, 1923 — page 97: what you’re looking at

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

THE YELLOW FLAME. shelter after his escape from the destroyer’s crew. The facts were clear and beyond argument. Sentence of decapitation was passed on the pirate, accompanied by an order that the execution should take place immediately within the grounds of the Yamen. He was seized by his guards and thrust with savage force from the court. Odette yawned; so swift had been the proceedings that she hardly divined the ter- rible significance of the judge’s order. The youthful Chiang now fixed his atten- tion on the coolie woman with the baby. Her torn sarong had left her almost bare to the waist. The babe in her arms whim- pered fretfully, its flat, brown face and ‘Mongolian eyes expressing an animal sense of misery its mother could not ease. Chiang appeared to study some papers which a yellow-braided official had placed beside him. He looked at the woman with the curious mask-like indifference which Paula had seen creep into his face before. “Lalu Gan Deth, you are Feng Ho’s ac- complice!” he stated in English. ‘“ You have helped him in the perpetration of many crimes. I shall deal severely with you according to the law of your country.” A fat Mongolian interpreter standing be- side the cage, murmured to the judge that the prisoner was saying that Feng Ho was a near relative, that he had occupied her house on all occasions. Chiang waived the argument, while a court official demanded instant silence on the part of the fat interpreter. An expect- ant hush fell upon the Yamen. Chiang examined his manicured finger nails intently, while Odette leaned nearer her sister. ‘‘ The dear boy will let her go; he can’t help it. He’s just pretending he wants to be severe. I know every phase of the silly kid’s mind. Listen!” Chiang’s voice carried far into the Ya- men; its nasal intonations bespoke the true Celestial. To the expectant Paula it sound- ed like the fluting of a wolf cub. “Lalu Gan Deth, your left hand shall be destroyed as befits the associate of murder- ers and pirates! The penalty will be in- flicted in the ordinary way, by means of fire and the iron glove!” 559 He turned to an official on his right. “Let the sentence be administered without delay,” he commanded. The woman was hauled from the cage and pushed unceremoniously toward the iron Buddha. The crowd in the Yamen rose to its feet, for this form of punishment was the most spectacular and thrilling in the whole Mongolian criminal code. Paula sat still as death, the loud beating of her heart threatening to stifle her. Odette cowered in her seat as though an unseen hand was gripping her throat. The cold brutality of Chiang’s sentence rent the veil of reserve that covered her conventional silence. The officials had dragged the shrinking Lalu Gan Deth to the screen of the iron Buddha, allowing her to retain the baby in her arms. Her left hand was quickly forced into the iron glove suspended from fhe bracket above the idol’s brow. Then Some one touched the leering mouth of Buddha with a lighted stick. A thin jet of yellow flame shot upward toward the iron glove and reached the exposed palm of the coolie woman’s hand. A soft cry pene- trated the Yamen. Odette struggled to her feet, anger and abhorrence flashing in her mutinous young eyes. She faced Chiang tu Lee, and her voice grew steady as their glances met. “ Mr. Chiang,” she said in an audible voice, “1 beg you to stop this inhuman torture! It can satisfy no one but yourself even in this house of crime!” Not for an instant did their glances waver, each looking deep into the soul of the other. Then his soft, dark eyes seemed to become charged with an insatiable cruel- ty inherited through countless ages. He turned sharply to the ushers standing near. “Escort this woman from the Yamen!” he said coldly. ‘‘ And do not allow her to return!” Odette reeled from his menacing eyes as the ushers led her to the door. Turning suddenly she looked back, her lips parted in scorn and anger that swept her like a mill race. *'You—you Chinaman!” she flung out. * Oh, you Chinaman!” Paula passed out with her hurriedly in Comicbooks=