this third party belonged to that peculiar race immortalized by bret harte. he was a heathen chinee! his face was smooth and bland, and wore an expression of childlike innocence which was well calculated to deceive. ah sin possessed the usual craft of his countrymen, and understood very well how to advance his worldly fortunes. he belonged to the advance guard of immigrants from the central flowery kingdom, and with a companion, ah jim, was engaged in mining in the immediate neighborhood. his gains had not been great thus far, but then his expenses had amounted to little or nothing. he and his friend had brought two bags of rice from san francisco, and they were well satisfied with this solitary article of diet.
ah sin, from a distance, had seen john miles[pg 66] encamp for the night, and, impelled by curiosity or a more questionable motive, had approached to take a view of the stranger. before reaching him he caught sight of bill crane, and his almond eyes straightway watched the movements of that gentleman, while he himself kept sufficiently in the background to escape observation.
when he saw crane stealthily remove the bag from under the sleeper's head, he became very much interested, and a bland smile overspread his face, while his cue vibrated gently with approval.
"'melican man very smart," he murmured to himself. "he steal his friend's money while he sleep."
my readers are probably aware that our mongolian visitors find a difficulty in pronouncing the letter r, and invariably replace it by l.
"suppose other 'melican man wake up, he make a low," continued ah sin, softly.
but the other 'melican man did not wake up, and bill crane got away with his booty, as we already know. cautiously the chinaman followed[pg 67] him, and ascertained where he intended to pass the night. it was at a moderate distance from the cabin which the two chinamen had selected for their mining camp.
bill crane jumped from his horse, stretched his limbs, and gaped.
"i'm powerful sleepy," he soliloquized. "i can't go any farther to-night. i don't like to rest so near miles, but i can be on the road before he wakes up. i guess it will be safe enough."
crane, having made up his mind to rest, rolled himself up in his blanket, and stretched himself out, first tying his horse to a sapling. the place was retired, and he felt moderately confident that, even if he overslept himself, he would not be discovered.
"i'd like to see miles when he discovers his loss," he said to himself, smiling at the thought. "he'll be ready to tear his hair, and won't have the least idea how the gold-dust was spirited away. you excel me in brute strength, john miles, but one thing i am pretty sure of, you[pg 68] haven't got my brains," and he complacently tapped his forehead.
"there must be at least two hundred dollars' worth in that bag," he reflected. "it isn't a great haul, but it will do. it will last me some time, and perhaps start me in something in frisco. bill crane, you've done a good stroke of business to-day. you are entitled to a good night's rest, and you shall have it."
first, however, he concealed the bag. he did not think it safe to place it under his head as miles had done. he scooped a hole in the earth near by, deposited the bag, replaced the dirt, and spread a few leaves over the top.
"no one will think of searching there," thought crane. "even if miles himself surprises me here, he won't suspect anything."
bill crane felt that he was unusually sharp and crafty, and felt great contempt for the stupidity of the man whom he had overreached. the time was not far off when he had occasion to doubt whether he had not overrated his own artfulness.
a pair of almond eyes, lighted up with mild[pg 69] wonder, followed closely all the movements of william crane. when the bag was concealed, and crane lay down to sleep, the chinaman nodded blandly, and remarked softly, "all light! me go find ah jim."
ah sin had to walk but half a mile to find the partner of his toils. ah sin and ah jim, though not related to each other, were as like as two peas. the same smooth face, the same air of childlike confidence, the same almond eyes, a pigtail of the same length, a blouse and loose pants of the same coarse cloth, were characteristic of both.
when the two met, they straightway plunged into a conversation in which ah sin had most to say.
ah jim listened attentively, and was evidently well pleased with what his companion said. i am afraid my young friends are not well up in the chinese tongue, and would not understand the conversation, however faithfully reported. they must infer what it was from what followed.
the two chinamen bent their steps towards the resting-place of bill crane. ah sin carried a bag[pg 70] of about the same size as the one crane had stolen, which he carefully filled with sandy earth. with stealthy steps these two innocent heathen drew near the spot, and looked searchingly at the recumbent form of the eminent representative of american civilization.
ah sin turned to ah jim with a pleased smile.
"all light!" he said. "'melican man asleep."
a similar smile lighted up the face of ah jim. "'melican man sleep sound," he said; "no wake up."
quite unaware of the honor done him by the special chinese embassy which had taken this early opportunity to call upon him, bill crane slept on. there was a smile upon his upturned face as if he were dreaming of something pleasant. he should have been a prey to remorse, if his conscience had done its duty, but bill's conscience had grown callous, and gave him very little trouble. it was only when he was found out that he became sensible of a kind of mental discomfort which came as near to remorse as he was capable of feeling.
reassured by the deep, regular breathing of the[pg 71] sleeper, ah sin and his friend proceeded to their work. the former drew a slender stiletto-like knife from a fan which protruded above the collar of his blouse, and, stooping down, began skilfully to remove the dirt which covered the bag of gold-dust. from time to time he stole a glance at the sleeper to mark the first indications of returning consciousness. it was well for crane that his sleep continued. a chinaman does not set a high value upon human life, and the long stiletto would have been plunged into the 'melican man before he was well aware of what was going on. bill crane's good genius saved him from this sudden exit by continuing the profound slumber in which he was repairing the ravages of fatigue.
the chinamen therefore met with no interruption in their work. they drew out from its place of concealment the buried bag, and emptying the contents of their own poured into it the combined treasures of miles and poor tom. then they filled the first bag with the worthless dust which they had brought with them, and carefully reburied it in the ground.
[pg 72]
they did their work so carefully and well that no one was likely to suspect that the bag had been tampered with.
having done their work, ah sin and his friend smiled upon each other in bland satisfaction, which was further expressed by a low guttural chuckle.
"all light," said ah sin, with a nod.
"all light," chimed in ah jim, nodding in return.
a consciousness of lofty virtue could not have produced a happier expression upon any face than appeared on the mild countenance of the chinamen.
"'melican man much supplised when he wake up," remarked ah jim.
"chinamen make much money," returned his friend.
the two enterprising visitors returned to their quarters, and concealed their booty in a safe place. then they too lay down and slept the sleep of confiding innocence.
bret harte has not told us whether the heathen chinee has a conscience; but if he has, neither[pg 73] ah sin nor ah jim experienced any inconvenience from its possession. neither they nor bill perhaps can fairly be taken as fair representatives of the different religious systems under which they were trained. bill crane could hardly claim any superiority over the heathen chinee in point of honesty.
