Chinatowns -- Pacific States -- Fiction; Chinese Americans -- Fiction; Short stories
“Very good,” commented Tian Shan. He picked up the gifts and hurled them
into the street.
A scene of wild disorder followed. In the midst of it the father of Fin
Fan, who had been downtown, appeared at the door.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
“Oh, father, father, they are killing one another! Separate them, oh,
separate them!” pleaded Fin Fan.
But her father’s interference was not needed. Wong Ling swerved to one
side, and falling, struck the iron foot of the stove. Tian Shan, seeing
his rival unconscious, rushed out of the store.
* * * * *
The moon hung in the sky like a great yellow pearl and the night was
beautiful and serene. But Fin Fan, miserable and unhappy, could not
rest.
“All your fault! All your fault!” declared the voice of conscience.
“Fin Fan,” spake a voice near to her.
Could it be? Yes, it surely was Tian Shan.
She could not refrain from a little scream.
“Sh! Sh!” bade Tian Shan. “Is he dead?”
“No,” replied Fin Fan, “he is very sick, but he will recover.”
“I might have been a murderer,” mused Tian Shan. “As it is I am liable
to arrest and imprisonment for years.”
“I am the cause of all the trouble,” wept Fin Fan.
Tian Shan patted her shoulder in an attempt at consolation, but a sudden
footfall caused her to start away from him.
“They are hunting you!” she cried. “Go! Go!”
And Tian Shan, casting upon her one long farewell look, strode with
rapid steps away.
* * * * *
Poor Fin Fan! She had indeed lost every one, and added to that shame,
was the secret sorrow and remorse of her own heart. All the hopes and
the dreams which had filled the year that was gone were now as naught,
and he, around whom they had been woven, was, because of her, a fugitive
from justice, even in Canada.
One day she picked up an American newspaper which a customer had left on
the counter, and, more as a habit than for any other reason, began
spelling out the paragraphs.
A Chinese, who has been unlawfully breathing United States air for
several years, was captured last night crossing the border, a feat
which he is said to have successfully accomplished more than a dozen
times during the last few years. His name is Tian Shan, and there is
no doubt whatever that he will be deported to China as soon as the
necessary papers can be made out.
Fin Fan lifted her head. Fresh air and light had come into her soul. Her
eyes sparkled. In the closet behind her hung a suit of her father’s
clothes. Fin Fan was a tall and well-developed young woman.
* * * * *
“You are to have company,” said the guard, pausing in front of Tian
Shan’s cage. “A boy without certificate was caught this morning by two
of our men this side of Rouse’s Point. He has been unable to give an
account of himself, so we are putting him in here with you. You will
probably take the trip to China together.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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