BROWN OF MOUKDEN (continued 8)

"Well, Mr. Schwab, I've been turning over the matter, and really I think I'll let things alone. You see, Sowinski is dead, poor wretch! and Bekovitch is degraded, and if the account were properly adjusted, and Jack's damage to the Siberian railway put on the debit side, the balance might turn out against us after all."

"Ach! zat is anozer matter—ja! you muss gonsider ze balance-sheet. Zat is business."

"You are still in business?" said Jack.

"I am in business forever. It is ze bress of my nostrils. Vargorresbondencephotography, zat is not business; it do not bay egsbenses. I am now in beacephotography. I gome here, rebresentative of Schlagintwert, to make bicturebostcardphotographs of ze French and English entente. And zen I return to ze Baltic to make photograph of our Kaiser ven he velgome ze British fleet."

"Hé!" cried Brin with a chuckle. "Welcome! It must be snap-shot—prestissimo! When your Kaiser welcome the British fleet there will need a good camera, and exposure—one-millionth second. Ho! ho!"

Later in the evening Schwab took Jack confidentially aside.

"Mr. Brown, my frient, I have somezink to say. It has been gonfided to me zat you gondemblate a gondract."

"A contract, Herr Schwab?"

Schwab guffawed.

"Zat is my shoke—a madrimonial gondract."

"Who has been telling you that?"

"Ah, I haf it in gonfidence from your sister. Already is she a frient. She tell everybody in gonfidence."

"Then you can contradict it in confidence, Herr Schwab. There is no foundation—that is to say, nothing is settled."

Schwab looked sly.

"No, not settled, of course—but gondemblated."

"Really, Herr Schwab!——"

"Yes, yes, I understan'. Shust so. I also have affair of ze heart." He sighed deeply. "I can symbazise. But viz me it is different. You are lucky dog—ze Fräulein Walewska is kind; vile I am in ze depss of desbair: Madame Bottle—ach, she is gruel. I sigh, she smile; I groan, she laugh; I even make bresentation, she decline vizout zanks. Ah! Mr. Brown, you do not know vat it is to be gross in lov."

Jack looked as sympathetic as he could, while Herr Schwab, laying his hand lightly on his waistcoat-buttons, continued lugubriously:

"Ach, truly it is a terrible zink to lov vizout return. It break ze heart; it shpoil ze digestion;—it is bad for business. No longer can I gif sole attention to ze interest of Schlagintwert. Vy, it is only a few days since I take order from Robinson & Robinson in London; yesterday Schlagintwert return ze order. Vat haf I written?—'Subbly Mrs. Bottle, 68 Crutched Friars, London, 50 casks botato shbirit, last quotation, f.o.b. Hamburg.' Zere is fipence vaste in bostages. Zat show you!"

"Yes, very amusing," said Jack absently. Gabriele had just come in with Mrs. Brown, and Jack was on thorns lest the German's by no means gentle voice should reach the ladies.

"Amusink!" cried Schwab. "Schlagintwert do not see ze shoke. Vy——"

"Of course, I meant annoying. But, Herr Schwab, if you will——"

"Yes, yes," said Schwab, noticing how Jack's eyes strayed to the other end of the room, and how he fidgeted with his watch-chain. "Yes, I see. Only vun moment, Mr. Brown. Ze business I shboke of. Already I mention it to ze young lady——"

"Upon my word, Herr Schwab!—

"Vait, I egsblain. Zere is nozink fix—not nozink at all. Ze Fräulein vill say nozink. She blush; zen she ask me to tell her about my ancestor, Hildebrand Suobensius. But zis is business."

"Well, what is it, Herr Schwab?"

"It is an obbortunity—an obbortunity for Schlagintwert and for yourself. Our firma establish a new branch—bon-bons, gonfectionery. Zey vish to open accounts in zis gountry: you understan'?"

"Understand?—what?"

"Vy, zis—here is ze obbortunity. Schlagintwert zey require advertisement: zey shall make you ze vedding-gake—costprice!"

About six weeks later, Mr. Brown was looking over his copy of the Shanghai Mercury which had come by the morning post.

"Here, Jack," he said, "this paragraph will interest you."

Jack took the paper, and read:

"One of the results of the treaty of peace recently signed between Russia and Japan is that the famous brigand, Ah Lum, has been summoned to Pekin. The military ability he displayed in his operations in northern Manchuria has been recognized by his appointment to a high post in the Board of Civil Office."

There is shortly to be started, in Hong-Kong, a new firm of produce brokers under the style of Brown, Son, & Co. Brown we know; Son we know; Co. at present consists of Mr. Hi An-tzu. Whether it will by and by include Mr. Hi Lo-ch'u depends on that young man's business aptitude: Son thinks it very probable. Brown is to be the sleeping, or as he prefers to put it, the consulting partner. Son will manage the London house; while Mr. Hi in Hong-Kong will open accounts with respectable Manchurian farmers, of whom one will undoubtedly be Mr. Wang.

Some of Brown's friends took him to task for lifting his former compradore from his lowly station to the equality of partnership. To their remonstrance Brown replied with a morsel of political philosophy.

"It's all very well," he said, "to sneer at the 'heathen Chinee', and look upon him as fit for nothing better than to smoke your opium and do your work in South African mines. Believe me, John Chinaman is not so very heathen; and he is waking up: and when he does move he will hustle. For myself, I prefer a colleague to a competitor."

What Brown thinks to-day his business friends generally think to-morrow.

Glossary

C=Chinese, P=Pidgin-English, R=Russian. The Chinese substitute l for r, and add the terminations -ee, -um, and -lo to many words.

ach (R), oh, ah.

allo (P), all, every.

artel (R), a society of workers formed on co-operative principles.

barin (R), lord, gentleman.

batiushki (R) = By Jove!

belongey (P), often equivalent simply to the verb to be.

bimeby (P), by and by, afterwards.

bobbely (P), noise, uproar.

bottom-side (P), down, below.

bozhe moï (R), good heavens!

cash (C), small copper coins carried on strings.

catchee (P), to get, have.

ch'hoy (P), an exclamation.

chop-chop (P), quickly.

chow-chow (P), food.

Chunchuse (more strictly Hunhutze: C), literally red-beard: the name given to the organized bandits of Manchuria.

compradore (Portuguese), superintendent of a European's native staff.

da (R), an exclamation; literally "yes!"

droshky (R), single-horse carriage.

dushenka (R), little soul: a term of endearment.

-ee, a pidgin-English termination.

eka (R), an exclamation: "there now!"

Fa-lan-sai (P), French.

fangtse (C), cottage.

fan-kwei (C), foreign devil.

fan-tan (C), a game: the players stake on the remainder when an unknown number of cash is divided by 4.

fan-yun (C), foreigner.

feng-shui (C), the geomantic influences of the earth, determining the luckiness or unluckiness of places.

first-chop (P), best, excellently.

flend (P), friend.

fo' (P), four, for.

folin (P), foreign.

galaw (P), a common exclamation.

gorodovoi (R), policeman.

gospodin (R), sir.

gráf (R), count

he (P), he, she, it, they, him, her.

Ingoua (C), English.

kopeck (R), silver or copper coin: 100 kopecks make 1 rouble.

kow-tow (P), to bow humbly.

li (C), a Chinese mile: about one-third of an English mile.

ling-ch'ih (C), capital punishment by slicing.

littee (P), little.

look-see (P), look, examine.

lowdah (P), captain of a junk.

Lusski (P), Russian.

mafoo (C), groom.

makee (P), make, do.

Melican (P), American.

moujik (R), peasant.

muchee (P), very.

my (P), I, me, my, mine.

nichalnik (R), station-master.

no can do (P), cannot.

nu (R), well!

numpa (P), number: numpa one, first-rate.

och (R), oh!

one-tim' (P), once.

ph'ho (C), an exclamation.

pidgin (P), business: pidgin-English, English as spoken by Chinese at the ports.

piecee (P), used with numerals: one piecee man=a or one man.

ping-ch'wahn (C), gunboat.

plopa (P), proper: allo plopa, all right.

rouble (R), the standard money (paper) of Russia: ten roubles=a British sovereign.

samovar (R), tea-urn.

sampan (C), a Chinese punt.

savvy (P), know, understand.

side (P), place, direction: this-side, here; that-side, there; what-side, where.

so-fashion (P), in that way.

suttingly (P), certainly.

tael (C), a coin (rarely seen) worth 6s. 6d.

that-side (P), there.

that-tim' (P), then.

this-side (P), here, hither.

tim' (P), time.

tinkee (P), think.

Toitsche (P), i.e. Deutsche, German.

too (P), very.

topside (P), above, superior; in the head.

troika (R), three-horsed vehicle.

verst (R), two-thirds of English mile.

vodka (R), brandy made of barley.

wailo (P), away, to go away, run away.

wantchee (P), to want.

what-for (P), why.

what-side (P), where.

what-tim' (P), when.

yamen (C), mandarin's residence and office: yamen-runners, equivalent to English bailiffs, but a very inferior class.

yinkelis (P), English.

* * * * * * * *

The Light Brigade in Spain

or

The Last Fight of Sir John Moore

By Herbert Strang

Author of "Tom Burnaby," etc.

With a Preface by Lieut.-Col. WILLOUGHBY VERNER.

Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I. 12mo. $1.50

"In 'Boys of the Light Brigade' Mr. Strang draws upon the resources of the Peninsular War, and succeeds in extracting much freshness from well-worn themes, as Moore's retreat to Corunna and the heroic defence of Saragossa. The personal interest of the story is kept at a high tension.... It is a book which no boy will be able to put down when once started. The volume is provided with excellent maps and plans of the scenes in which the incidents take place."—The Standard.

"This author has fairly earned the right to be accepted as the legitimate successor of the late George A. Henty in furnishing entertainment for youth. Like Henty, Strang manages to galvanize the dry bones of history into a close semblance of glorious life.... The present volume contains vivid and spirited descriptions of campaign life in Spain ... with many rare and interesting episodes.... This is good reading for young and old."—Chicago Post.

"The author describes graphically with truth to history the last fight of the British commander, Sir John Moore. It is a stirring military story in the manner of those written by the late George A. Henty, but really with more authenticity."—Philadelphia Press.

"An interesting story, with extra good measure in its incidents and character ... and with some pretty little love passages."—Cleveland Leader.

KOBO

Story of the Russo-Japanese War

By HERBERT STRANG

Author of "The Light Brigade in Spain," etc.

Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I. 12mo, $1.50

"It is a dashing romance for boys, founded on the Russo-Japanese War and worthy of the late Mr. Henty at his best. A story that every schoolboy will enjoy and one that will be read with much pleasure and profit by many older readers as well."—Cleveland Leader.

"The story throughout bristles with adventures, it is well written and the author shows intimate knowledge of Japanese character and customs."—San Francisco Bulletin.

"In one respect Mr. Strang's tale is even better than many of the late G. A. Henty's. It has more dash and dialogue. These are strong points in the work of this writer, who is destined to fill the place vacated by the lamented author of 'Under Drake's Flag,' and 'With Clive in India.'"—The Dundee Advertiser.

"For vibrant actuality there is nothing to come up to Mr. Strang's 'Kobo.'"—The Academy.

"A great amount of actual military history is incorporated with an exciting and romantic plot."—The Westminster Gazette.

The Adventures

of

Harry Rochester

A Tale of the Days of Marlborough and Eugene

By

HERBERT STRANG

Author of "Kobo," "Light Brigade in Spain," etc.

Illustrated by William Rainey, R.I. 12mo. $1.50

"A story full of thrilling adventure."—Newark Advertiser.

"Mr. Strang is a follower of Henty in writing adventurous historical romances for boys, and does his work with even more spirit and vim. This tale gives a good picture of the wars of Marlborough and William of Holland against the French, with a clever and courageous boy hero."—Congregationalist and Christian World.

"Three such successes as Mr. Strang has now achieved definitely establish his position and should fully reassure those who despondingly wondered when and where a worthy successor to Mr. Henty would appear."—Glasgow Herald.

"Mr. Henty's mantle may worthily be worn by Mr. Herbert Strang."—Truth.

"Told with a dash and vigor which mark him as Henty's natural successor."—Notts Guardian.

By ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS

Historic Boys. Their Endeavors, Their Achievements and Their Times. With 29 full-page illustrations. 8vo, pp. viii + 259.

Historic Girls. Stories of Girls Who Have Influenced the History of Their Times. 8vo, illustrated, pp. viii + 225.

Chivalric Days and Youthful Deeds. Stirring Stories, presenting faithful pictures of historic times. Illustrated, 8vo. $1.25

Heroic Happenings. Told in Verse and Story. Illustrated, 8vo. $1.25

Great Men's Sons. Stories of the Sons of Great Men from Socrates to Napoleon. Fully illustrated, 8vo. $1.25

Including the Sons of Socrates, Alexander, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Mahomet, Charlemagne, Alfred, William the Conqueror, Saladin, Dante, Tamerlane, Columbus, Luther, Shakespeare, Cromwell, Peter the Great, Napoleon.

The Long Walls. An American Boy's Adventures in Greece. A Story of Digging and Discovery, Temples and Treasures. By E. S. Brooks and John Alden. Illustrated by George Foster Barnes. 8vo. $1.25

New York—G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS—London

By HERBERT STRANG

The Adventures of Harry Rochester: A Tale of the Days of Marlborough and Eugene.

The Light Brigade in Spain; or, The Last Fight of Sir John Moore.

Kobo. A Story of the Russo-Japanese War.

Brown of Moukden. A Story of the Russo-Japanese War.