Wong

“ Straightway was Wong an habitué of the compound and straightway his education began. Wong was quick to learn.
"Attention, Wong!" the Irishman would say, and Wong would spring to his feet and dash for a bottle of—Tansan.
"Make ready!" Wong would poise the bottle. "Aim—fire!" Wong would fire, and then would come the command, "When!" which meant "cease firing!" and Wong, perfect little soldier that he was, would cease, though his genial hospitality and genuine concern for the happiness of everybody made ceasing very hard. ”

“ Mah Chow Wong, that is to say, "Horse-boy Wong,"—for his true name is Wong Akee,—was first known to the British community as a stable servant;—next, as a small shop-keeper;—and, at length, as a rich merchant and ship-owner at Hong Kong.
It is a saying of the Chinese Mandarins, that "so long as a thief does not leave the empire, he can be traced and caught:—but let him once get to Hong Kong, and you lose him for ever." He settles down under the rule of a Bowring, a Caine, or a Bridges, and, enjoying the protection of the Caldwell of the day, pursues his avocations in peace and confidence. ”

“ Wong, when he arrived within twenty or thirty yards of the camp, slowly put his bag off his shoulder without saying a word, gazed around him for a moment in every direction save that of the Bangerang camp, and sat down with his side face towards his friends, and quietly stuck his spears one by one into the ground beside him, with the air of a man who was unconscious of any one being within fifty miles of him ”

“ Wong’s kites had proved their worth. The means of escape was provided and ready.
“Wong go first,” said the Chinese. Without argument or permission, the intrepid Wong was assuming the risk of proving the safety of the rope. By way of explanation he added to Ross, “You shoulda no stlong. No can pull Missee up, Wong can do.”
Wong grasped the rope in his hands, and with the agility of a cat, feet on the canon wall, passed himself, hand over hand, up the face of the cliff. ”

“ And when Wong Sing doubled-doubled his armies, the Barbarian sent thick letters in which every line told of his long-felt love and respect for the Emperor. He had the audacity to ask Wong for a wife—from the Imperial Palace. Of course, that was purest impudence, in a way, though Wolf Heart probably thought that he was being extremely nice.
The Emperor read in amaze. For a moment it seemed that his face would burst into flame, so red it got. Then he smiled. “A wife? To be sure I will send him a wife. Chancellor, what is the name of that maiden whose picture is so terrible? Radiant Blossom? ”

“ When Wong let the rope down again Ross fashioned a loop in the end of it, which he passed over Virginia Carver’s head and secured it under her arms.
“Now, Miss Carver, if you will take hold of the rope with both hands I think Wong can pull you up safely,” he said. “If you hit against the cliff push yourself away with your feet.” ”

“ If his master ordered a bottle of wine at the table, Wong would pass it to every man. He was equally hospitable in the matter of cigarettes—anybody's; for he could never see that what belonged to one man did not belong to all. Essentially, in that crowd, he was right. But it was rather expensive for the Irishman, until one day he told Wong always to take the chits to "that fat man"—who was not Reggie—and thereafter the fat man got them. ”

“ Wong Get addressed them.
"Mock Hen, Mock Ding, Long Get, Sui Sing—to you it is confided to avenge the murder of our brother Wah Sing. Fail not in your purpose!"
And the four answered unemotionally: "Those to whom it is confided will not fail."
Then pivoting silently upon their heels they passed out of the cellar.
Wong Get glanced round the table.
"If there is no further business the society will disperse after the customary refreshment."
Fong Hen placed thirteen tiny glasses upon the table and filled them with rice whisky scented with aniseed and a dash of powdered ginger. ”

“ We went together the first time, and, having made friends with Sam Wong, I went to see him thereafter alone. I went frequently, for, though the habit of opium smoking is a vile one, it is the hardest of all to break.
Immemorially old, Sam Wong is immemorially wise. His ancient Chinese face, wrinkled like a monkey's, is a comical one, but his small and brilliant eyes reveal a high intelligence. He knows more of the Oriental secrets than any Chinaman it has been my fortune to meet, and though his English is atrocious, his vocabulary is large. ”

“ When, therefore, the all-wisest graciously made a gesture of command, Wong Pao hastened to his side, an unbecoming elation gilding the fullness of his countenance.
“Wong Pao,” said the Illimitable, “the people are here in gratifying profusion. The moment has thus arrived for you to consummate your triumph over Kiau Sun.”
“Omnipotence?” queried Wong Pao.
“The silver that you were to distribute freely to all who came. Doubtless you have a retinue of slaves in attendance with weighty sacks of money for the purpose?” ”

“ The room was a work-shop of sorts, but what instantly attracted attention were two enormous kites leaning against the wall.
"You see?" inquired Wong.
"Yes, I see," said Ross, "only I don't. What's the idea, Wong?"
"Mlisha Beebe kill everybody we go down canon. No can climb out. Wong make klite. Kite climb out."
"Guess I'm pretty thick, Wong. I don't get it yet."
"When Wong little bloy China he fly many klites. Not forget how. Fly klite now. Klite lift lope top cliff. We climb lope. Go 'way."
"By George, Wong, I believe you've got it," cried Ross in admiration. "But will it work?" ”

“ Every one used to ask deferentially, "May I give the little dog this? There is no meat on it." But there was a little meat sometimes, and all the while there was poor Wong begging unnoticed. But, then, Wong was very particular what he ate—he liked some things, disliked others; while as to little Shing-erh, we never found out what he did not like to eat whilst he was well. ”

“ A Szechuen man, a native of Chungking, fifty-nine years of age, Wong is a man of immense wealth, his bank being known all over China, and having branches in capital cities so far distant from each other as Peking, Canton, Kweiyang, Shanghai, Hankow, Nanchang, Soochow, Hangchow, and Chungking. ”

“ So hand in hand they walked back to Sam Wong's apartment on Pell Street. But now the stairs did not seem dark as they mounted. There was a pale blue glow as though a lantern had been lighted.
As Sam Wong pushed open the door of the apartment, Li Po greeted them with a song so beautiful it seemed as though the city had paused and stood on tiptoe to listen.
Barby placed her hand on Sam Wong's arm. "But I thought Li Po was dead," she whispered.
Sam Wong smiled reassuringly. "Not dead," he said softly, "living. Now we are all—living." ”

“ Wonderingly, he shook his massive head as he drew his gleaming needler from his breast pocket and played with it, tossing it from hand to hand while he talked.
"I'm probably the most generous Leader the State has had since the Atomic Wars, Wong, and I never withhold a privilege from someone who has deserved it. But people mistake me when they think that I am weak and will overlook treason."
"Your generosity is a byword, Leader Marley," said Wong. "But some people are incapable of acting for their best interests even when you have defined it for them. Who are these latest traitors?" ”

“ Ah Wong, her amah, adored her.
There was nothing that Ah Wong would not have done for her English mistress. And the story of it is148 this: Mrs. Gregory had never saved Ah Wong’s life or rescued her son from slavery. She had just been quietly and decently kind to her in the little daily ways. Oh! those little ways, the little things—too small to chronicle, almost too small to sense sometimes—but to women they are everything! The big things scarcely count to women; but the little things—they count. ”

“ Wong, that doesn't have to be ready for three months yet!"
"Miss Hachovnik! Please remember Leader Marley's Maxim: Individuals born into Office Category are the bone and muscle of the State; Nature has designed them to act, not to think."
"Yes, Dr. Wong. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry, Leah. We're old friends, so I won't report you. All set?"
He took a pencil from his leather case and tapped it against his notebook as he ruffled the pages, wondering how to begin. ”

“ He unpinned the cross from his tunic and fastened it to the torn, bloody blouse of Kan Wong. "Off to the east are men of your own race, fighting-men from China, Cochin-China. That is the place for a man of the Dragon's blood—and that is the tool that belongs in your hand till we're done with this mess." He pointed to the rifle that Kan Wong still held with a stiff, loving, lingering grip. ”

“ In Chinatown I am a man of mystery. It is right therefore that I should shelter a girl of mystery. Be assured that I am actuated by honorable motives. Sam Wong is but a humble merchant, a merchant who deals in beauty, a merchant of dreams. How then can I stand idly by while beauty is destroyed? ”

“ News of the presence of the unicorn on the farm of Lin Wong spread throughout the province, and though he did not know it Lin Wong had become famous. For does not the unicorn appear only to virtuous monarchs. Perhaps Lin Wong was a prince in disguise. Fabulous were the stories circulated about him. And at last they came to the ears of a notorious bandit, Loo Tak, who called himself a war lord. He was angered. Why should a simple farmer become so renowned? What had he done to merit it? Far better for him, Loo Tak, to own the unicorn. What man in the province was stronger than he? ”

“ We go, venerable head; auspicious omens attend your movements!"
"May the All-Seeing guide your footsteps," responded Wong Ts'in, and with courteous forbearance he waited until they were out of hearing before he added—"into a vat of boiling sulphur!"
Thus may the position be outlined when Wei Chang, the unassuming youth whom the black-hearted Fang had branded with so degrading a comparison, sat at his appointed place rather than join in the discreditable conspiracy, and strove by his unaided dexterity to enable Wong Ts'in to complete the ten score embellished plates by the appointed time. ”

“ Lee Ping could hardly believe that his daughter was seriously opposed to becoming the wife of such a good-looking, prosperous young merchant as Wong Ling. He tried to bring her to reason, but instead of yielding her will to the parental, she declared that she would take a place as a domestic to some Canadian lady with whom she had become acquainted at the Mission sooner than wed the man her father had chosen.
“Is not Wong Ling a proper man?” inquired the amazed parent.
“Whether he is proper or improper makes no difference to me,” returned Fin Fan. ”

“ For some moments Frobisher remained in deep thought. Undoubtedly, this offer of Wong-lih’s opened up a most rosy vista of the future. Captain of a fine new cruiser, with the prospect of a naval war in the near future—what more could any Navy man ask for? There would be chances in plenty to win honour, fame, renown; and his name might even go down in history if he had any luck! It was a tempting bait, indeed, that Wong-lih held out; and, being at a loose end, the Englishman would have been more—or less—than human if he had not jumped at it. ”

“ Sounded like a herd of rats pattering off the wharf and bridge as Wong’s men—a regular army of ’em—snaked that stuff ashore. Took them less time than it would me to borrow a dollar. Then that innocently empty raft goes lazily off out into the stream and the job is off.
“Well, when it comes time for me to jog up the trail home, you can reckon I was mighty juberous. Figured out I only needed a few more like that to start a bank. I gets part-way to my wickeyup when I’m flagged by my old pal Wong, who seems in somewhat of a hustle. ”

“ Thus it had become a habit of Wong Ts'in's to penetrate the Outer Spaces in the hope of there encountering a specific omen.
Alas, it has been well written: "He who thinks that he is raising a mound may only in reality be digging a pit." In his continual search for a celestial portent among the solitudes Wong Ts'in had of late necessarily somewhat neglected his earthly (as it may thus be expressed) interests. In these emergencies certain of the more turbulent among his workers had banded themselves together into a confederacy under the leadership of a craftsman named Fang. ”

“ There are no fripperies in true tragedy, but little romance, no poetry. The rocks of life are hard and naked. Not even a stunted lichen can grow on such soilless barrenness.
But this was a very different reckoning from that with his father, jocund and magnificently indifferent to details. Basil realized, of course, that settling up with his mother must be—very different.
She was dressed for going out, elaborately dressed; for she and Ah Wong had decided that she must be seen about Hong Kong to-day, carefully dressed and debonair. ”

“ The God of Luck had smiled upon his boldness, and, reflecting upon it Kan Wong turned back to the river and the sampan that had so long been his floating home. No sentimental memories, however, clung about it for him. Its freight of dreams he had landed here in Shanghai, marketing them for a realization. The sampan now was but the empty shell of a water beetle, that had crawled upon the bank into the sun of Fortune to spill forth a dragon fly to try newly found wings of adventure. ”

“ Lee Ping shook his head, but gave in.
"You must persuade her yourself," said he to Wong Ling that evening. "We are in a country where the sacred laws and customs of China are as naught."
So Wong Ling pressed his own suit. He was not a bad-looking fellow, and knew well also how to honey his speech. Moreover, he believed in paving his way with offerings of flowers, trinkets, sweetmeats.
Fin Fan looked, listened, and accepted. Every gift that could be kept was carefully put by in a trunk which she hoped some day to take to New York. "They will help to furnish Tian Shan's home," said she. ”