Ralph D. Paine

“ In the sight of the great university of Yale and of its scholars and friends throughout the land, he, Sung Wu Chen, had committed an unpardonable offense and dragged its banner in the dust of humiliation. It was no other sage than Mencius who had written: "Although I love life, there is that which I love more than life." ”

“ Sung Wu Chen smiled, and, not to be outdone, replied with a maxim of Confucius: " 'Knowledge produces pleasure clear as water.' "
"It is well said," gravely spoke the governor, "but the old knowledge is passing and the world is turned upside down. What the Western mind calls the awakening of China is a process painful, disturbed, darkly uncertain. We are trying to run before we have learned to walk, my son. I myself am unable to acquire this new civilization with clear understanding. ”

“ Sung confided his ambition to be a Yale athlete, at which Jerry commented with a weary shrug:
"That Harvey Gray person who tutored you was an evil influence. This college runs so largely to muscle that it is both refreshing and valuable to have a brilliant scholar in our midst. Forget this delusion."
"But I intend to be a first-class Yale man," amiably persisted Sung.
"Then go and try for the 'varsity crew," scoffed Jerry. "They are shy a Number Four to tip the scales at a hundred and ninety."
"Is it not as great an honor to steer the boat, to be coxswain, in the race against Harvard?" ”

“ They are your servants. A bet? Yes, I have wagered my last tael with the cook of Harvard, who is a black man from Africa. It was in my mind to offer him money to put poison in the food of those boat-row madmen, but fear of your disfavor restrained me."
"I would have tossed you in the river to drown," Sung told him. "You believe Yale is strong and ready?"
"There is one man of these eight servants of yours who is not to my liking," the other gravely imparted. "I have known this pattern of man in our own Shansi. ”

“ It was the unregenerate Li Hwan that thundered this, the man of brawls and forays, who may have once worn the red sash of a Boxer and screamed destruction to all foreigners in the streets of Taiyuen Fu. Sung spoke sharply and he subsided, permitting Dollibare to stammer:
"This d-damned murderer was laying for me. He must have followed me across the campus. I was turning on the lights in my room when he jumped on my back. What's it all about?"
"One guess should be enough," replied Sung Wu Chen, his intonations precise. "My servant is not as great a fool as he looks. ”

“ A truculent ruffian, his brawls with the police were notorious, and Sung Wu Chen had found him more or less of a nuisance. On this night he was subdued and downcast as he said hoarsely, in one of the Shansi dialects:
"I have beaten the chief cook and kicked two stable-boys for the lies they told me. Of course it is not true that you go to the cursed land of the Yankee foreign devils, there to live for many years."
"It is the truth, Li Hwan, and you must behave yourself hereafter, for I shall not be present to save you from jail. I go to become a great scholar." ”

“ It had been the amiable purpose of the captor to extort a confession by means of a knotted cord about the temples or something of the sort, but Sung Wu Chen was wiser and he saw that nothing more was needed to achieve the end desired. Physical cowardice had utterly broken Dollibare, who believed that the barbarous Li Hwan would not hesitate to slay him where he stood.
"You will not deny that you failed to pull your share in the race?" smoothly queried Sung. "You know this was why I could not steer the boat away from the eel-grass?" ”

“ Sung Wu Chen looked disappointed, but he resolved to be as fine a pattern of a Yale man as Mr. Gray, nevertheless. They spent the rest of the day together, and the exiled American fought down the hungry homesickness that would not be denied. News travels fast in a swarming Chinese household, and that evening there came to Sung Wu Chen a burly, battered retainer with a scar on his chin. On the breast of his blue blouse was stitched a device to indicate that he belonged to the retinue of the governor, and he wore it with swaggering pride. ”

“ The coxswain was aware, however, that in their opinion he alone was responsible. Every man of seven of them had been too intent upon his own tremendous task to read the soul of Dollibare and find him culpable. It was forbidden to Sung Wu Chen to reveal the truth and shift the guilt. Even should he stoop so low as to be a tale-bearer, Dollibare would deny the charge and there was no manner of proof. The coxswain made haste to leave the quarters nor tarried to say farewell. Li Hwan waited with the skiff and rowed him across the river to find a train. ”

“ It was worth noting that he was recognized for what he was by those of his own kind, the leaders of the campus, who were likewise sure of their own position. The men who affected a dislike or contempt for him as a "Chink" were of a coarser grain and less nicely schooled in refinement.
Jerry Altemus, the polished, easy-going young cynic, admired Sung Wu Chen at first acquaintance, which soon grew into a congenial friendship. Here was a real philosopher, declared Jerry, who knew Confucius from soup to nuts and appreciated the art of conversation. ”

“ The sulky Number Six submitted, however, when the coach concluded to drop Watterson from the squad and to replace him with the abler Chinese. The latter was icily courteous, and Dollibare was conscious of an inward reluctance to force the issue. His enmity found no allies among the crew, and he contented himself with nasty little flings, studied insults clumsily masked. In the eyes of Sung he was a boor of peasant stock who knew no better. American democracy was a fine ideal, but he discerned the caste marks of birth and breeding as unmistakably as among his own people. ”

“ Two days before the race with Harvard the coach took Sung over the four-mile course in a launch for final instruction in the marks, the current, the tide, and the channel. There was more eel-grass on the western side than usual, and it was important, if Yale should chance to draw this course, that the first two miles should be steered with cunning care, for the race was to be rowed down-stream.
"A cross wind will tend to set you over," cautioned the coach, "and if you once go wide of the flag and into the shoal water the drag of the grass will hold the boat back as sure as guns. ”

“ Promptly thereafter he vanished from the governor's compound and was seen no more before the departure of Sung Wu Chen. The latter ordered a search, but it was futile, and in the excitement of preparation there was little time to remember the troublesome, devoted Li Hwan. It was assumed that some vengeful coolie whom he had maltreated took occasion quietly to slip a knife into him.
A journey half around the world and Sung Wu Chen became a sophomore at Yale. Inwardly bewildered, he displayed a perfect poise and seemed older, more mature than the others of his class. ”

“ What's the answer? It's never too late to eat. Come along, and we'll make you forget it over a few mugs of ale."
Bob Sedgwick looked questioningly at Dollibare, who seemed oblivious of their presence. Young Mr. Altemus studied the bruised cheek and let his glance rove to the bellicose figure of Li Hwan. The latter sidled past the table and slid the pistol into his sleeve with the skill of a juggler.
"Can I help you in any way?" drawled Jerry. "I'm afraid we broke into something."
"Dollibare can tell you what it is," said Sung Wu Chen. "He has just confessed that he lost the race for us." ”

“ The men in his boat respected his ability and were too manly to resent him because his eyes slanted and his skin was of a different hue from theirs. In the 'varsity shell, however, as tentatively selected from the veterans of previous years, there was a sentiment less friendly. It was stirred up by Watterson, the coxswain, a waspish little chap, who foresaw that his place might be endangered. Jealousy of Sung Wu Chen became bitter dislike, which was shared by the Number Six, a hulking, over-muscled giant named Dollibare. ”

“ What counted even more in his favor was a fact which Jerry Altemus had overlooked. The young Chinese was accustomed to command, to speak with the voice of authority, to bend other men to his will. He was the son of his father, who ruled as an autocrat over millions of human souls. ”

“ Did I not revile him when we spoke together in the evening of yesterday?"
"Number Six?" murmured the coxswain with a shrug. "The mighty Dollibare? It is foolish to revile. They who respect themselves will be honored, says the Chinese proverb which you learned at school. You will find me here in the morning, Li Hwan. ”

“ There are many of us, and it is important that we should be trained aright. Four thousand years of Chinese culture and tradition and precedent have been tossed to the rubbish heap. Only the foundations remain. ”

“ Altemus. "Do you ever think of anything but athletics? Your development ceases at the neck. And you are base enough to bet on a sure thing."
Sedgwick was a shrewd prophet. During the winter the head coach of the crew met Sung in a social way and discovered that he took rowing seriously as a science, studying to master it as a problem in applied mechanics. This was a novelty, for coxswains were apt to be flighty young rascals. When the oarsmen were once more upon the water, in the blustering days of March, Sung was promoted to the third 'varsity shell. ”

“ And when the crew of which Sung Wu Chen was coxswain swung into the lead, or nipped another eight in a driving spurt at the finish, there came over the water a shrill and prolonged "Hi-yi-yi-yi-yi."
In May Sung was given a trial in the 'varsity boat and the wrathful Watterson glowered from the landing-stage. The Chinese rival had been getting on his nerves. His temper was erratic and his steering faulty. He damned the men incessantly and they were tired of him, excepting Dollibare at Number Six. ”

“ I desire to learn how to build according to the methods and the sagacity of the West."
"Then you should not learn at second-hand," declared the elder man. "It is best for you to go from among your own people. he ways of the foreigner are already familiar to you. ”

“ In gratitude certain writings, sealed and properly prepared, may have been granted me."
"Proclaiming you as a scholar entitled to travel and study in this country?" demanded Sung. "You are a gifted liar. You paid gold to other Chinese to smuggle you in, as you once smuggled salt across our own province. If you have not the documents to show this government will find you and send you back, with heavy penalty."
The unterrified Li Hwan tapped his blouse but refused to show what was hidden therein. ”