Part 10 (1/2)
”Much, O magnificent judge, for thy slave's father was destroyed by the chief officer of the rebel Li-Kong, whom this worthy war-tiger unfortunately resembles, both in the wound on the cheek, and the length of his hair.”
”If thy words are not false, then thou art a worthy but unfortunate servant of the holy lord our Emperor,” said the mandarin; ”but who will a.s.sure us of this?'
”Truly will I, O learned judge,” cried out Nicholas.
”Who is this dog, that speaks without prostrating his mean person at the feet of justice?” said the mandarin.
”A thief and a rascal, who is awaiting to be tried,” cried the porter who had accused Nicholas.
”By the beard of Confucius, this is daring; give the dog a dozen strokes,” said the mandarin.
”Stay thy command, O running fountain of justice; let not thy celestial ears be profanely filled by the tongues of dogs,” shrieked Chow with fear, as soon as he saw that his master was a prisoner.
The mandarin would have visited this daring interruption with a heavy punishment, but for some words whispered in his ears by the merchant Yang, and which caused him to smile and say, ”The honorable merchant Yang has answered for thy truth boy; but that for the future you may not be liable to such mistakes, we will give thee a fatherly correction.”
The mandarin then pulled fifty reeds from the case, and threw them upon the floor, whereupon two of the footmen caught hold of Chow, took off his robe, and held him on the floor, while another administered fifty blows, after which Chow got upon his legs, made a very wry face, and twisted and writhed about like an eel making an effort to walk upon the tip of his tail.
”Leave off twisting and twirling thyself out of nature, thou dog, and return thanks to his high justices.h.i.+p for his kindness in correcting so miserable an affair as thy mean self,” said one of the footmen.
With one eye glaring upon the footman, and the other smiling upon the mandarin, Chow held his hands behind his back to a.s.suage the pain, and made two or three attempts to bend his back, but failing, dropped suddenly on his knees, and bowing his head to the ground, said, but with a twist of his back or grimace between every word, ”Thy correction--O father--and mother--of justice, is beneficial, but like physic would be----”
”What, boy?” said the mandarin, laughing.
”More agreeable if it were tasteless, yet thy mean servant thanks thee, n.o.ble judge, for this care of his mind;” and Chow hopped among the bystanders.
When Chow had been disposed of, the porter formerly charged Nicholas with entering the mansion at night for the purpose of robbery.
”Who art thou boy; thy name, surname, and from what province?” said the mandarin kindly.
”The mean name of thy unworthy servant is Nicholas, of the province of Fokien, from whence he has traveled on special affairs to a worthy merchant of Pekin, named Yang.”
”So far thy words are truth,” said the mandarin, to the astonishment of Nicholas; ”but what answer can the youth make to the charge of this man?”
”That it is vile and false, and that the dog is a traitor in league with rebels, who happening to meet with thy servant last night at the same house, are fearful that he may have discovered their plots, and so hope to destroy him.”
At that moment there arose a great bustle in the court, and a cry of ”Make way for the ill.u.s.trious deputy-general of the nine gates,” and a military mandarin, with a tiger painted on his breast, a gold b.u.t.ton and a peac.o.c.k's feather in his cap, both of which bespoke his high rank, entered the tribunal, and testified to the guilt of Nicholas, who recognizing in him the man who had been addressed the previous night by the t.i.tle of general, exclaimed, ”Behold, O Mandarin, one of the traitors.”
Great was the effect of the new comer upon the judge, for, not paying the least attention to the exclamation of Nicholas, he said, ”Truly falsehood will not flow from the lips of the Heaven-appointed deputy-general. As for thee (turning to Nicholas,) vile dog, as thy guilt is now clear, thou shalt receive one hundred blows, and be banished for life.”
Now, while the mandarin was speaking, Chow happening to get a full view of the general's face, rushed through the crowd, crying, ”It is the villain, it is the destroyer of my parents,' and in another moment he had clutched the general by the throat, thrown him upon the ground, and would have strangled him, but for the help of the footmen, who speedily seized him, bound his arms, and carried him with Nicholas to the prison.
”This fancy, that every officer you meet is the destroyer of your parents, will prove thy destruction, my poor Chow,” said Nicholas, as soon as they were alone in the prison.
”There can be no doubt it is the villain, for saw you not the wound upon his cheek? but, alas! my trouble is the greater that I slew him not before we were shut up in a cage like two dogs for fattening.”
”Thy liberty at least was secure, but for thy foolish attack upon the mandarin of war.”
”By the vermillion pencil itself, Chow cares not for liberty, if they ruin his n.o.ble master.”
Then Nicholas began to think upon his miserable position,--sentenced to be beaten with the bamboo to him worse than death, for, being born upon the coast, unlike most Chinese, he had never been subjected to such a degradation; and then to be banished for life, at the very commencement of his career,--it was horrible. Greater, however, was his anxiety for the safety of his father's letters. Could he but send a message to the merchant Yang,--alas! that was impossible. Should he give it to Chow?
No; for he knew not what punishment awaited the boy for a.s.saulting so great an officer. He was indeed at his wit's end, and he prayed to the Almighty for aid.