H. Bedford-Jones

“ Ignorant or clever, scholars are scholars the world over. This yellow man with the horn spectacles saw what the boy was playing with and realized that no real cicada would last ten minutes at such a game; also, that this cicada seemed to be petrified or carved from stone. He called to the boy, and the cicada changed hands for a matter of two coppers—cash.
Examining his purchase, the scholar found that the cicada really was carved from stone—a stone resembling jade, but like no jade that he had ever seen. On the belly were cut two characters of some ancient script which he could not read. ”

“ The soldier glanced around, saw that his comrade had not yet arrived with Benson, and touched the arm of Hanecy.
"Heavenborn, come with me to a place of waiting. Then I will return and speak with my comrade. It is necessary to avoid suspicion from the others——"
"Very well," said Hanecy grimly, thinking of the trap.
He followed the soldier to a house a hundred yards distant. His pistol ready, he entered and was guided to a vacant room. This was a gambling house, he perceived. His guide seemed to be known here. Once in the room, the soldier asked bluntly what the cicada was worth to Hanecy. ”

“ The poor scholar read these notices with gaping jaw. All thought of the wise maxims was stricken from his mind. He realized that Wang had been murdered en route home from the temple, after buying that green cicada from him. Aghast and incredulous, the scholar stood there gaping at the notices like a man dazed, forgetful of all around him. His single-track mind was centered wholly upon Wang, the green cicada and the murder.
Thus stood the situation when Benson, accompanying the soldier who had summoned him, came from the nearby yamen to buy the emperor's amulet. ”

“ Now, there were a number of things about this cicada which the poor scholar did not know and probably never would know, since he was a mere learner of words and not an ethnologist.
In ancient China a body was not embalmed. Instead, it was stuffed with jade—for jade was the essence of the yang, or male principle of the universe, which would keep the body from corruption by the yin or female forces of the earth. ”

“ He looked at the green stone insect resting in his hand. He noted the clear quality of the stone, its leaf-green color, the deftness with which the artist had made dark spots nestle like natural insect colorings in the wings of the cicada. Wang, who had studied much, knew that this was not the ordinary jade, fetched in from Turkestan by the hundreweight. It was genuine Chinese jade, such as had not been found in China except very rarely for about 2,000 years. ”

“ A few moments later Jim Hanecy came from the house, frowningly. After all, Benson had told him the truth—probably had discovered it through the local mandarin or from official sources. The emperor's amulet had disappeared some days previously while the man lay sick. Now the man was dead and the amulet was gone.
"Touch luck," murmured Hanecy. "Old Toptit will throw a fit when he finds it's been lost. One of Benson's crooks may have stolen it—but I rather think not." ”

“ The one who offers most will get it."
The two mulled over this scheme for half an hour. There were no flaws in it when they had finished.
With his wax impression, one soldier betook himself to the mandarin's yamen, not far from the south gate. Here he obtained audience with Benson—a private audience—and gave his very good reason for keeping the mandarin out of business. He told all about the cicada, which, according to his story, had been found in the belly of a fish taken from the river, and bought by his comrade, who was waiting. He described it exactly, and Benson began to get excited. ”

“ The poor scholar lay dead. Benson shrugged his shoulders at questions, pretending he did not understand. A good many precious minutes were wasted while the officer in charge of the gate was eliciting from the throng just what had taken place. Finally it was realized that the scholar had been wantonly murdered by a soldier, and from the description the men recognized their comrade. ”

“ Seek the white man, tell him that I have this Han yu, and will meet him just outside the south gate if he wishes to buy it. Meantime, I will go to the other white man, tell him that you have the Han yu, and get an offer on it. ”