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Show successful. Late Sunday afternoon however, as I returned from the above search, coming thru the men's chapel, I spied a spent bullet, behind the kindergarten table boards. That comforted beyond measure, as one of the bitter attacks made upon us by the "tang pu" had been that the man was killed in cold blood. This was the only bullet fired in the building, and the one that injured him entered low in the back and lodged somewhere in the abdomen. So we had this conclusive proof of Dr. T.'s statement and intention.-that he fired low, and to one side, "to alarm and stop him from running, not to kill." The bullet had struck the cement floor, and snubbed one face flat, then ricochetted striking the underside of the chapel table, falling dead, and presumably dragged over to the wall where I found it by the men when they put away the kindergarten S. S. tables and stools. So that accusation was proven false, and our hearts were much comforted. But those keys! On Tuesday afternoon as I sat in the office talking with a reporter from the local Chinese newspaper, trying to get him to see the thing in its true light, our laboratory technician burst into the room, and threw a bunch of keys into my lap, saying, "There is your missing link of evidence". I picked them up, and on the ring were a master key to practically all the door locks in the hospital, an American mastered series, a long skeleton key which will open most of the old fashioned outside storeroom locks, several padlock keys to single doors, AND THE SECOND KEY TO THE INNER DOOR OF THE SAFE, which had been missing for several months. So the mystery of how he got into the safe and numerous stock rooms was solved. You will recall that I said the thief fell in the middle of a cotton field. Next to that was a field of millet. That very day this last ground was hoed, and we had been regretting this fact, fearing that it might conceal further evidence. But it proved to have been a blessing in disguise for in turning up the land, this bunch of keys was found. The finder was afraid to make himself known, lest he get into trouble, and so we had these two extra days of anxiety which might have been earlier relieved. However, he let it be known secretly, that such keys had been found, and if we would promise not to reveal his identity, he would give them up. He refused the reward of $100 (G. $25) we had offered for the keys. The consul at that very moment was on his way to the city to interview the magistrate and mayor, and we sent this final evidence post haste after him. To your minds, as to all of the Chinese here who love and trust us, and who wish to believe good of us, these facts would suffice, and my tale would end. But alas we have still the "tang pu", and the Chinese government yet to satisfy. A big political mass meeting was planned for on Wed. afternoon, a huge matshed erected to house the same, and posters giving the subjects for discussion, widely distributed,-the substance of which I will not deign to translate to you, For some reason not wholly known to us then, the meeting proved a fiasco, and few attended, so we were saved the agony of seeing a demonstration parade such as we experienced a year ago last Christmas at the hands of the tang pu." I now know that the governor of Shantung, at Tsinanfu, called the meeting off. As the local officials promised adequate protection for Dr. Tucker, and prevention of any further trouble by the local party, to our consul, he had returned to Tsinan. As I was much in need of my vacation, I left Tehchow Thursday for Tsingtau, hoping that the thing might be'adjusted by the consul with no further trouble. The anxiety and memory of the affair only time could erase. But on Saturday a representative from the government at Tsinanfu arrived in Tehchow, and requested that Dr. Tucker go to Tsinan, the capital of this province. Dr. T. scented trouble, but acquiesced, merely asking for a delay until Monday, that he might arrange financial and other affairs at Tehchow. In the meanwhile he telegraphed the consul and a friend in Tsinan to meet that train on Mon. They did so, but as soon as they were off the train this plain clothes individual who accompanied Dr. T. handed sealed orders to the R. R. police. He was invited to municipal headquarters nearby to "register." While there, by ruse, the consul was invited into an adjoining room to talk to the mayor, and Dr. Tucker was very rudely and forcibly hustled into an auto, and taken to the police headquarters and locked into the detention room, closely guarded. Here he remained until Thurs., depite the consul's efforts to have him released, and turned over to him. The governor claimed he must have orders from Nanking ere he could release him. Whether such orders came is a question, but at anyrate Dr. Tucker was freed Thursday noon and taken to the consulate, whereat writing, he is still in detention. The consul and his wife are fine folk, and all physical comfort possible is afforded him, but the mental strain is beyond my pen to describe. It is something of a comfort to know he is away from the vermin-infested quarters where he spent those three days. Aside from such discomforts he had no especial cruelty shown, and his personal guard thawed out immediately, under Dr's friendly genialty. But sleep or quiet of mind were nigh impossible. The United States District Attorney from Shanghai has been sent for by the consul, and he will arrive this morning,-Sunday, July 26th. It is needless for me to say that my week at Tsingtau was far from restful. My imagination, born out of these years' of experience with war, Chinese prisons, and banditry, gave me too much food for thought to make me at all "rest my heart". So on Friday I came back to Tsinan to "stand by", and give my witness. |