Page:Weird Tales Volume 4 Number 2 (1924-05-07).djvu/99

 his narrow eyebrows above slits of eyes and frowned at Soo Bong, as if he were now aware of him for the first time. Bunny was not accustomed to taking a back seat; not he, son of Bun Poy, who was the richest restaurateur in Chinatown and half-owner in Grant Avenue's largest curio shop. Also, Bun Kai was very fond of the girl and considered himself a suitor for her hand. Hai! And why not? Her father looked upon him with much favor and Sin Ping treated him with far more consideration than any of the other of her eligible suitors who ever hovered so attentively about her. Bun Kai would have asked Sin Ping to become his bride long ere this day had he not been anxiously and impatiently awaiting his twenty-third birthday, at which time he would come into sole possession of a snug inheritance from his deceased mother.

Sin Ping stood smiling at Bunny bewitchingly, reading his thoughts. Then with a laugh, she took her position at Soo Bong's side. But Bunny wasn't so gracious, however. With a sneer on his lips, and an unmistakable emphasis upon his words, he said:

"That's the proper spirit, of course. New Year's makes all equal and—"

"Oh, that's not the reason at all, Bunny, old top," she called back to him over her shoulder as she and Soo Bong stepped away. "You flatter yourself too much."

Bunny watched the couple with a deepening scowl. Turning to a girl who stood near he said something which caused them to laugh rather contemptuously while their eyes never ceased to follow Sin Ping and Soo Bong. The latter flushed vividly under his yellow.

"Don't you mind," Sin Ping murmured. "It's one thing to be born with a gold spoon and another and greater achievement to acquire wealth by your own efforts. Remember, always, Soo Bong, that the purchasing power is in the actual gold—and that no amount of money can buy perpetual happiness." And in these words and in her own way, unconsciously, she had translated Confucius.

He pondered over this, and was more than pleased to be able to decipher the meaning between the lines. It revealed to him the breath-taking intelligence that he had as much chance to win this bewitching maiden as Bun Kai—that is, if he were not too long a time in acquiring his chest of treasures.

There was no fourth dance; just at the end of the third the announcement was made that the feast was served. Soo Bong, searching for his name written in Chinese characters, was at the far, lower end of the table when he heard a feminine voice call:

"You won't find it there, Soo Bong—it's right here, beside me. Aren't you glad?"

Without looking up the youth knew that the words were Sin Ping's. And when he did look, his heart leaping, he saw that Bunny was seated on the other side of her. Sin Ping was delightfully impartial; for once Bunny and Soo Bong were equal.

FTERWARD, the men, Bunny included, sought the smoking den for the purpose of gambling. The game most popular was the ancient favorite, mah jongg. Soo Bong, not having any money for the purpose of wooing the goddess of luck, was compelled to remain away from the tables. Yet presently Sin Ping was again beside him.

"All the others have found something to do but us," she said. "I'd enjoy going to the movies or out to the beach with you this afternoon. What do you say?"

"Whichever you prefer will be my highest pleasure," he replied.

"Then it's settled—it's such a fine day I think I'll decide in favor of the beach. We'll walk to Beach Terraces, then follow the car tracks past Land's End to Sutro Heights, and then down on to the sand. You wait here and I'll be ready in a jiffy."

Soo Bong looked at his clothes with ill-concealed embarrassment; then at the girl's dress with admiration. She was dressed in the latest American mode; his clothes were the usual garments of an humble Oriental.

"Don't let that bother you any," she told him, divining his thoughts. "If I don't mind why should you?" And with these words she vanished, only to reappear in five minutes. Hai! Transformation! She was now clad in the flowered silk of rich Chinese maidens.

His eyes formed a query.

"Oh, yes," she laughed, "I love to dress this way—sometimes. Why, there's no better fun than walking down Market Street in these. We girls do it at least once a week. Gee, it's as much kick as a movie thriller or watching fire engines responding to an alarm! The way the tourists stare!"

Parked at the curb as they left the bungalow were several expensive automobiles. One Soo Bong recognized as the property of Yuen Gow. Another was Bunny's.

"I'd much rather walk than be stuffed like a mummy in a limousine. And especially on such a fine day. Isn't it glorious?" she said.

"The happiest I've ever had in my life," he agreed with a warm ring in his voice. And in his eyes there was the light of unquenchable love.

At the beach they found a secluded nook, sheltered from the wind.

Digging with her hand in the sand, and looking far out to sea, she asked in a dreamy voice: "Do you ever vision being rich?"

"It is so. Yet not so much for the wealth itself as for the happiness it can bring me. In reality, my dreams are the best part of me, the only part that seems to count."

"And what is that best part?" she queried, permitting her hand to stray very close to his.

Soberly he answered: "I cannot tell you—yet. But some day—"

"And why not now? Am I not worthy of your confidence?"

"Oh, indeed you are—and it is partly for that reason that I cannot now enlighten you."

Her hand almost touched his as she asked: "Has any girl anything to do with it?"

"That's the answer. She has. But in this land of freedom real happiness is only for him who is blessed with riches."

"You'll tell me who she is, won't you? Because, if you do, perhaps I can help you." And, it seemed unconsciously, her hand hit his. Nor was it withdrawn when his fingers closed over it.

"Why ask when you already know?" he whispered, allowing the pressure of his fingers to become a caress.

"You mean that I am the girl?" she breathed.

He nodded. And the next moment, without thinking of the consequences, forgetting his penury, he had taken her in his arms and kissed her. And as she did not struggle, but remained nestling there contentedly, he put all his pent-up dreams of love in the ardent kisses that followed.

Dusk was descending when they reached Yuen Gow's. Soo Bong left her at the gateway. In the hallway her brother, Yuen Moy, was waiting.

"Where have you been, little sister? The guests have departed without your good wishes. A breach of etiquette."

"Oh, I was out to the beach. Talk about a fine day and I'll say this New Year's was the greatest ever."

"You were with Soo Bong?" It was more statement than que: