l^he Days of a Man 



C1900 



The "Old 

 Buddha's' 



trick 



The young people paid little attention to the note, 

 for the "General" was never taken seriously by his 

 former associates. Two of them/ nevertheless, offered 

 to go with me if I cared to accept the invitation — 

 which I did. During the meal Lea told us wonderful 

 stories of his adventures in China as commander of 

 "sixty thousand men." 



If he found any general false to him — "off with 

 his head!" But he "made the mistake of his life" 

 when he left China for Tokyo in a vain effort to 

 induce the Powers to take up the young Emperor's 

 cause, for during his absence the tricky "Old Bud- 

 dha," Yehonala, invited his officers to a conference 

 under a flag of truce, and then seized and beheaded 

 them all! He therefore found it quite impossible to 

 reorganize another army, and so returned to the 

 United States. As to "The Vermilion Pencil," he 

 prophesied that its approaching publication would 

 produce a violent reaction and put an end to mis- 

 sionary work in China. 



With the outbreak of the Revolution in 191 1 Lea 

 proceeded at once to Shanghai with Sun Yat Sen, 

 who became temporary President of the Chinese 

 Republic. He was, however, taken ill there and died 

 in 191 2 at the age of thirty-seven, after a stormy career 

 of his own creation. One could hardly help a kindly 

 feeling for the ambitious little romancer trying to 

 make the most of his short life, limited physique, and 

 boundless imagination. 



Leaving Nagasaki with rich booty, we went north 

 Kawatana to Kawataua on the glassy Bay of Omura. Here the 



' Dr. Paul A. Adams and Henry Z. Osborne, Jr. 



C 34 : 



