Short Stories
steamer poked her nose seaward through the coral reef.
But the little old man was not bound for Canton. He knew
his own country too well, and the squeeze of the Mandarins, to
venture into it with the tidy bulk of wealth that remained to him.
He went to Macao. Now Ah Chun had long exercised the power
of a king and he was as imperious as a king. When he landed at
Macao and went into the office of the biggest European hotel to
register, the clerk closed the book on him. Chinese were not per-
mitted. Ah Chun called for the manager and was treated with
contumely. He drove away, but in two hours he was back again.
He called the clerk and manager in, gave them a month's salary,
and discharged them. He had made himself the owner of the ho-
tel; and in the finest suite he settled down during the many
months the gorgeous palace in the suburbs was building for
him. In the meantime, with the inevitable ability that was his, he
increased the earnings of his big hotel from three per cent to thir-
ty.
The troubles Ah Chun had flown began early. There were
sons-in-law that made bad investments, others that played ducks
and drakes with the Achun dowries. Ah Chun being out of it,
they looked at Mamma Ah Chun and her half million, and, look-
ing, engendered not the best of feeling toward one another. Law-
yers waxed fat in the striving to ascertain the construction of
trust deeds. Suits, cross-suits, and counter-suits cluttered the Ha-
waiian courts. Nor did the police courts escape. There were an-
gry encounters in which harsh words and harsher blows were
struck. There were such things as flower pots being thrown to
add emphasis to winged words. And suits for libel arose that
dragged their way through the courts and kept Honolulu agog
with excitement over the revelations of the witnesses.
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