A Fatal Initiation.

A Fatal Initiation .

I § 7 % ^? sj /| GME years ago , before the Secret Societies which then jiM ^§§^\ honey-combed the Chinese communities of tboStraits f ;| W 2 ^\ 9 Settlements had been brought under government I ' ^§| / J control , a neat clipper , called the "Laughing Wave , " £ > £ ii ? iarTg ^ 3 -i lay at anchor one pleasant evening at Singapore .

As was , and still is , customary on board vessels trading in those waters , a portion of her crew consisted of Chinamen , more especially those employed as stewards , cooks , and servants ; and our story deals with the fate which befell one , Kwong Tai-Chee .

As the sentries' rifles of tbe men-of-war in harbour fired the sunset signal , and the flags of the various craft came gentl y down , a Chinaman ' s head became visible above the companion hatchway of the clipper . About forty-five years of age , strongly built and dressed in the neat costume of a Cantonese servant , Kwong Tai-Chee , to

give him his full name , invariabl y impressed students of physiognomy with a sense of latent power unusual amongst Chinese of his class . His dress was perfection , from Jiis neatl y whitened thick-soled shoes to his cleanly shaven head , whence depended his queue ( vulg . pigtail ) , artificially lengthened by strands of black silk . As with all of his

race , tbe hottest sun seemed to make no impression on the smooth cranium , which , guiltless of any covering , glistened in the li ght . While his high cheek-bones bespoke his Mongolian descent , ho had , for a Chinaman a remarkabl y aquiline nose , which feature it was that so marked him out from the majority . It may have indicated

a touch of Jewish blood in his family at some long by-gone epoch , for there are Chinese Jews , just as there are Chinese Mahomcdans . The former are , however , so few as to justify the suspicion that they have reversed the well-known rule in Europe , and for the most part become absorbed into the ordinary population .

Be this ns it may Ah-Cbee , to which his name was conversationall y contracted , though more commonl y addressed as " Boy " ( a survival apparently of the term applied to negroes by their English or American masters before slavery was abolished ) was a fine specimen of his tribe . Quiet and deferential in manner , he was a great

favourite with both the Captain and officers . His first arrival in the Straits had seemed to him anything but an unmixed blessiii " , having been kidnapped from his home while very young and sent down on board one of the trading junks for sale on a plantation . Most of the well-to-do Chinese then resident in the Straits

Settlements and Singapore owned or bad shares in plantations of pepper , gambier , nutmeg , etc ., and the one great want was labour . To supply this , all means lawful and unlawful were resorted to and few junks arrived without a few involuntary passengers . They did not

exactl y become slaves , but were compelled to labour for a term of year . i on a trifling pittance . Fort y to fifty dollars would be charged for each immigrant by the headman of the gang , and this would ba c-edite I to the labourer at the rate of one or perhaps two dollars ii month , thus requiring from two to four years to cletu it off .

Ali-Ghec was loo smart a lad to give way to despair . He reflected that if he himself had conic against his will a large number of his companions were very willing exiles . So he worked heartil y at whatever was set him to do and soon won good opinions . His ambition , like that of all Chinese coolies , was to set up for himself

in trade and no sooner was he free than ho commenced as a hawker . He was sharp enough to see that if he could get articles first-hand in China with nothing to pay for freight or duties , Singapore boiii " a free port , he could do a very profitable business . To this end ho offered Jiis services to one of the numerous opium ships toncl y ' ng at

Singapore and before long found himself installed as cabin boy . From this in a very few years ho rose to the position of Captain ' s Steward , and , as he never allowed anybod y to cheat his master but

himself , soon gained bis entire confidence . After serving in two or three ships he at length found himself with the Captain of the " Laughing Wave , " who had received with him tlie hi ghest recommendations from his last employer .

Meanwhile Jus commercial matters had prospered immensely . He was the principal partner in a first class native Hong and frequently shipped largo quantities of go ids both b y Jiis own and other vessels , no one suspecting that the mild mannered Steward owned n considerable share of the nierclnnidizo on board . Frei"Jtt

was comparatively cheap , as the opium ships had to return either in ballast or with such cargo as might offer . With his growing importance in a mercantile way Kwong Tai-Chee bad greatly risen in position amongst his countrymen . Before lie had left off Ii ; twkin » - nickiiiieks he hud become a member of the Suncr Pei Kwan secret

Society . Ali-Chee very soon saw the advantages whic-li would attend ii leading position in the Society , and bent all his energies to gain that cud . At the lime he is introduced to the reader lie was one of

the I sum hiea or Councillors , and would have held even greater rank did not Ill ' s enforced absences oblige liiui to often neglect attendance at the Lodge . But he had full y made up his mind to become , if possible , its master as soon as he had settled down in Singapore .

'J he Sung Pel Ivwiin Society to which Ah-Chee belonged was one of ( hi : nine branches into which ( he Ghee hin ( by which title ( he while were collectivel y known ) was divided . Each branch possessed its Lodge , the officers comprising a "General Manager , " "Master of the Lodge , " "Vanguard , " "Executioner , " and a certain number of " Councillors " and "District Headmen , " about 35 in all . TJie

A Fatal Initiation.

lodges were hold in tho recesses of the forest to avoid prying eyes and many a tragedy was enacted beneath the silent stars in these mysterious encampments . The Sin Seng or Master of Ah-Chec ' s Lodge was a man of considerable influence named Ban-Lo-Kwau . The fact that any man held office—especially high office—in the Society at once proclaimed the fact that he carried much weight

amongst bis countrymen . That be was very often feared and hated , as well as envied , was not surprising . And , despite the solemn oaths of brotherhood taken by his fellow members , he was by no means exempt from dangcrons intrigue on the part of those over whose heads he had been placed by the vote of the majority—always ]) rovidcd that tho removal of an obmxious chief could be effected without giving rise to suspicion .

Amongst tliose wlio ardently desired tho dcatli of Lo-Kwan was our friend , Ah-Chee , and this for two reasons . His removal would g ive the latter a chance of succeeding him , and Ah-Chee had vowed revenge for the way he had been treated by Lo-Kwan in a business transaction some time previously . Amongst Frenchmen one asks

" Who was the woman ? ' when a tragedy takes place . Amongst Chinamen tlie question is " What was the sum in dispute ?" Lo-Kwan was pretty well aware of Ah-Chec ' s sentiments towards him , but being both courageous and secure in the fidelity of most of his brethren , did not greatl y care . He was safe against open violence , and trusted to Jiis own wits to defeat treachery .

As regarded recruits to the organization , there were many ways of securing them . Persuasion was of course the principal means employed , but when this failed it was not uncommon for a person to receive at his home , or on the road , a slip of paper ordering him to appear in a certain locality on a given date . Disobedience he knew ( or at all events believed ) meant death , and it was seldom practised .

In such cases he would be met on the out-skirts of the jungle b y one of the initiated , who would safely convey him to the spot indicated . Sometimes down-rig ht force was used . A brother would pick a quarrel witli and assault an intended victim , and run towards some isolated spot , near which were l ying in ambush a number of members . Tho unsuspicious outsider would follow , shouting , it mig ht be , for

police , who never turned up . In the twinkling of an eye , at a given signal , four or five men would rush upon him , knock him down , and bundle him into a bag , in which he would be immediately carried off to the lodge , at the outer portal of which the trembling wretch would be deposited more dead than alive . Vengeucc was often

taken in this way on suspected spies or informers who were coolly murdered and their remains hastil y interred within a few minutes of arrival . In any case it was a ' bad quarter of an hour" that such involuntary passengers usually passed as their captors trotted along with them to initiation or death .

On the evening already referred to , Ah-Chee requested leave to go ashore , and dressing himself in his neat Cantonese costume was speedily ferried to the landing steps in a native sampan . After visiting the hong , in which he was a partner , and spending half-anil our in smoking a few pipes and drinking tea , he sent for a gharry , or native cab , and , directing the driver lo go to the Tanglin district , seated himself therein .

In tliose days the present Orchard Road extended only as far as tho Tanglin barracks or Lines as they were generally termed . The extensions , under other names , which now render locomotion easy in that part of the colony had not then been commenced . Jungle paths alone led the adventurous explorer to the as yet virgin forest lying

beyond the " Lines " which , after the pattern of Indian Cantonments , were widely dispersed buildings thatched with attap or nipa palm leaves . Though fairl y rain and sun-proof these sheds left but a slig ht , margin for comfort . But the native Indian troops found them . sufficiently commodious and troubled themselves but little that

beyond them lay a yet almost unknown jungle frequented by tigers and snakes , and along whose unfrequented paths it was scarcely safe to stray even at mid-day . It was in this locality , almost whore now stands the Wayang S : itu police station , that the lodge of which Ah-Chee was in search was about lo be held . The motives which impelled its hr . ulmen t-j

choose such a spot may easily be surmised . Mystery has from the days of Menimon exercised a peculiar fascination over the human mind . To a great extent secrecy and mystery could be easily secured at any of the detached houses which then , at a very short distance , surrounded the town proper . But it will readily be grante : ! that the ceremonies of initiation into a society which in those days , made

every acolyte swoar , by drinking the blood of his brethren , to be true until death in befriending them against all foes , whether private or official , could b-j nude much more imposing under a star-lit canopy amongst the ancient monarch ¦ > of the forest , than within four while washed walls with dingy oil lv . ii ; is as the sole lighl-givei-. s . Such , at , all events , was tho though ! , that cr . is . sjd Ah-Chee ' s mind as he leisurel y descended from the ghtirrii and struck into one of tlie

jungle paths aforesaid . Jleha-luot proceeded very far ere he was ch illcnged by a yoicj in front . This was m-.-rcly a precaution adopted b y the Ghu Jiins to warn off unintentional intruders . Standing before him was an ordinary coolie holding a small lantern in his liaud who h i I p htc-rd himself in such a way as to bar the path . Old and feeble as he looked he had plenty of help within call .

" This is a dangerous path , " he said . "Not forme , " replied Ah-C'hce . These remarks were merely such as might be addressed to any chance wayfarer . So giv . it , was ; tli-- terror felt by tho uninitiated at