The Blue Dragon: A Tale of Recent Adventure in China
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CHAPTER V
THREATENED VIOLENCE
The next two months passed quickly, and were full of interestinghappenings for our lads. Although the academy was closed, and many ofits students were away for the summer, there were a number of Rob'sfriends left in Hatton, and these promptly taking Jo's side as againstthe muckers, became his friends as well. In fact, it is doubtful ifanything could have advanced him so speedily in the estimation of thebetter class of Hatton boys than his ill treatment at the hands of theiravowed enemies. It alone was sufficient to induce them to make much ofhim from the outset; but in a very short time they learned to like himfor his own good qualities.
He always was a gentleman, polite, courteously attentive when spokento, and invariably good-natured. Then, too, his taper fingers weremarvellously deft in making things out of paper, wood, or clay, such asdragons looking fierce enough to eat one, puzzles at once simple andbaffling, flutelike whistles, and other instruments for the productionof sounds more or less musical. He also constructed innumerable kites ofgrotesque animal forms, and he always was willing to show his boyishfriends just how these wonders were produced.
They, in turn, taught him the things known almost instinctively byevery American boy, and especially by those who live in the country,but of which our Chinese lad had no knowledge--such as swimming,boxing, rowing, how to camp out like Indians, and, above all, how toplay the distinctively American game of baseball. To these fascinatingnovelties Jo took as readily as a young duck takes to water; for, withhis hair cut short, instead of hanging in a braid down his back, andwith a radical change of apparel, his whole character seemed to haveundergone a transformation, and he now entered as heartily into therough-and-tumble sports of his new associates as though to the mannerborn. To be sure, he was ridiculously awkward at first, and made suchfunny breaks as to excite the uproarious mirth of the other fellows; buthe didn't seem to mind this a bit, and always joined heartily in a laughat his own expense.
The thing they teased him most about was his wife, for the fact of hisbeing married had seemed too good a joke for Rob to keep to himself.Even this, however, did not appear to annoy the young husband, for aChinese marriage is so entirely different from one in America that thereis no trace of sentiment connected with it. The most important featureof Chinese life is the worship of one's ancestors, and this worship mayonly properly be performed by the head of a family. Thus, to provide forthe suitable worship of their own spirits, in case of untimely death,parents are anxious to have their sons married as early in life as ispossible. Such marriages are purely business transactions, arranged bythe elders, and with which the young people have nothing to do except tobe on hand at the appointed time. Even this is not essential in the caseof the bridegroom, so long as the bride is delivered, as per agreement,at his father's house. He may be on a journey, or undergoing a scholar'sexamination, or engaged in some other important business that may notbe interrupted for so trifling an incident as his wedding, which,therefore, is allowed to proceed without him. As he never is permittedto see his future wife or to learn anything concerning her during theirbetrothal, he cannot be expected to take a great personal interest inher, or she in him. Thus it happened that Jo was quite as willing toaccept, good-naturedly, teasing remarks concerning his marriage as hewas those called forth by any other customs of his people that struckhis new companions as ridiculous.
He had one possession that excited their sincere admiration, not to saytheir envy, and this was a wonderful memory. Having been trained fromearliest childhood to commit to memory columns and pages of Chinesecharacters, and not only pages but entire volumes of the Chineseclassics, our young scholar now took up the acquisition of English as amere pastime. The alphabet was conquered in a single day; several pagesof short words, together with their meanings, in another; and by theend of a week he was reading easy sentences. Rob was his first teacher,and, of course, his knowledge of Chinese was of the greatest assistanceto Jo in gaining the meanings of the English words that he so readilylearned to recognize by sight and sound.
Thus it happened that when the time arrived for his trial in the countycourt he was able to give his own version of the fracas on Hatton commonin intelligible English without the aid of an interpreter.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Hinckley had employed able counsel todefend the boys, the case was decided against them, and they weresentenced to pay heavy fines in addition to the costs of the trial.
"It is an outrageous and unjust decision," said Mr. Hinckley to hislawyer, "and I will never submit to it so long as there is a highercourt to which the case may be taken. I desire, therefore, that you movefor an appeal, and continue to give it your most earnest attention."
"Very well, sir," was the reply; "of course, I will do so; but I mustwarn you that there is little hope of such a suit as yours being won inany American court. It is prejudiced from the outset by the existingstrong feeling against the Chinese. For them it is almost impossible toobtain justice, even with the bulk of evidence in their favor, which, inthe present instance, even you must admit is not the case."
In spite of what the lawyer said, Mr. Hinckley was determined to carrythe contest to a higher court, and, the motion for an appeal beinggranted, the case of State _vs._ Joseph Lee _et al._ was carried to asuperior court, in which the earliest date set for a hearing was fourmonths from that time.
In the mean time the muckers of Hatton and their friends were wildlyjubilant over the victory already gained. During the evening of theday on which the decision of the county court had been rendered, theygathered about a great bonfire at the lower end of the village, wherethey listened to incendiary speeches against the Chinese and all whobefriended them. These were received with yells of applause and ominousthreats of violence.
While this was going on at one end of the village, a number of Mr.Hinckley's friends were discussing the situation in the parsonage atthe other. All at once Rob, who had been doing some scouting on his ownresponsibility, broke into the room where these gentlemen were sitting.
"They're coming, Uncle Will!" he cried, breathlessly, "and they swearthey'll run Jo out of the village. They are talking about tar andfeathers, too."
Mr. Hinckley sprang to his feet. "My friends," he said, "if you willstand by me in this emergency I think the evil may be averted; butif you cannot see your way to so doing, I must hasten to remove theinnocent lad committed to my charge beyond the reach of danger. What doyou say? Speak quick, for there is not a moment to lose."
"We will stand by you," replied one and another, "and there are plentymore who will do so, too. Our village must not be disgraced by scenes oflawless violence."
"Then," said Mr. Hinckley, "hasten and gather the neighbors. Let eachman be back here within five minutes, bringing another with him. I willtry to find Constable Jones, and urge him--"
"Here I be, parson," interrupted a voice from the doorway, "and I'vetelegraphed the sheriff that there's a show for trouble. He's answeredthat he'll be here inside of an hour, and for us to try and keep 'ementertained till he comes."
"Good!" exclaimed Mr. Hinckley. "I rather think we can."
Five minutes later, when a noisy throng of men and boys came surging upthe street, the lower part of the parsonage, opposite which they halted,was so brilliantly lighted that they could see a numerous company ofgentlemen assembled inside. They barely had time to realize that thehouse thus was occupied, when, suddenly, every light was extinguishedand it stood in silent darkness. For a moment the new-comers, just nowso valiantly loud-mouthed, waited in silence to see what would happennext. Then they began to murmur, and the murmurs grew into shouts of:
"Fetch out your Chinee!"
"We'll teach him English!"
"Down with the rat-eaters!" and a confusion of other cries, at oncederisive and threatening.
As the mob, inflamed by these utterances, and urged on by itsself-constituted leaders, crowded about the entrance to the front yard,it was met by Constable Jones, who leaned negligently again
st one of thegate-posts.
"Hello!" he exclaimed. "What do you fellows want here?"
"We want to see Parson Hinckley," answered a spokesman.
"Well, you'll have to call again to-morrow, or some other day, for he'sbusy just now and can't see you."
"Oh, he carn't, carn't he? I rather guess he'll see us before we gitready to leave. Come on, fellers!"
"Stand back!" shouted the constable as the crowd surged towards thegate. "I have instructions from the owner of these premises not to admitany one to them this night. As this is private property, and I'm boundto protect the owner in his rights, the first man attempting to enterwill be arrested for trespass."
This announcement was greeted with howls of derision, and it seemedas though Constable Jones was about to have on his hands the job ofarresting the entire mob, when another halt was called by the voice ofMr. Hinckley, who came from the house to the front gate as though toinvestigate the trouble.
"What is going on here, Constable Jones? Who are these people, and whatdo they want?" he asked, loud enough for all to hear.
"Want to see you, parson; so they say."
"Well, my friends, what is it? I am too busy for an extendedconversation; but if you can tell me in a few words what you desire, Iam ready to listen."
"Yes, we can," answered one of the leaders, gruffly. "We want themurdering, heathen Chinee that you're a-keeping in your house agin thelaw. We're agoin' to have him, too, an' run him out er town."
"Against the law!" repeated Mr. Hinckley. "What do you mean? I am notharboring any person against the law, that I know of."
"Yes, you be, fer the law says all Chinesesers must be excluded, andwe're going to enforce it, by excluding the one you've brought to Hattonin spite of the law."
For ten minutes Mr. Hinckley held the crowd at bay by his arguments,and his exhortations not to disgrace themselves, their State, and theircountry, by committing an act of lawless violence; but finally theywould listen to him no longer, and again a rush was made for the gate.
This time it was checked by a new voice, the stern tones of which werewell known to all of them, for it belonged to the owner of the greatshops in which so many of them earned their daily bread. "Hold on, men!"he cried, "and listen to me. I don't think I need tell you who I am,or that I will do as I say, for you all know me, and you know that Inever yet broke a promise. For many years you and I have lived in thisvillage of Hatton. In all that time we have carried on business togetherin orderly fashion, to my satisfaction, and, I hope, to yours. We havehad differences, but always have managed to settle them without callingin outside aid. Now, however, you are threatening me, as well as thisentire community, with something to which I cannot and will not submit.You are threatening this village with mob rule, a condition under whichno community can exist and no business can be conducted. Therefore Igive you my solemn word that if a single act of lawless violence againstlife or property is committed this night by a man or woman, boy orgirl employed in the Hatton shops, those same shops shall be closedto-morrow, never to be reopened."
"That's all bluff!" cried a voice from the crowd, as the speaker utteredthis threat.
"What do we care fer him or fer his talk?" demanded one who hadconstituted himself a leader. "There's a-plenty of us here as don't workin his shops to see this business through; so come on, lads, and don'tfool away any more time talking. Hurray for American rights, and downwith all Chinese scabs!"
At this the mob uttered a howl and leaped forward, not only putting toflight the little group holding the parsonage gate, but tearing down thefence and swarming up to the very door of the house.