getting at. They grew angry without apparent cause, and their anger was
always dangerous. They were like wild beasts at such times. They worried
about little things, and on occasion could out-toil even a Chinago. They
were not temperate as Chinagos were temperate; they were gluttons, eating
prodigiously and drinking more prodigiously. A Chinago never knew when an
act would please them or arouse a storm of wrath. A Chinago could never
tell. What pleased one time, the very next time might provoke an outburst
of anger. There was a curtain behind the eyes of the white devils that
screened the backs of their minds from the Chinago's gaze. And then, on
top of it all, was that terrible efficiency of the white devils, that
ability to do things, to make things go, to work results, to bend to their
wills all creeping, crawling things, and the powers of the very elements
themselves. Yes, the white men were strange and wonderful, and they were
devils. Look at Schemmer.

Ah Cho wondered why the judgment was so long in forming. Not a man on
trial had laid hand on Chung Ga. Ah San alone had killed him. Ah San had
done it, bending Chung Ga's head back with one hand by a grip of his queue,
and with the other hand, from behind, reaching over and driving the knife
into his body. Twice had he driven it in. There in the court room, with
closed eyes, Ah Cho saw the killing acted over again--the squabble, the
vile words bandied back and forth, the filth and insult flung upon
venerable ancestors, the curses laid upon unbegotten generations, the leap
of Ah San, the grip on the queue of Chung Ga, the knife that sank twice
into his flesh, the bursting open of the door, the irruption of Schemmer,
the dash for the door, the escape of Ah San, the flying belt of Schemmer
that drove the rest into the corner, and the firing of the revolver as a
signal that brought help to Schemmer. Ah Cho shivered as he lived it over.
One blow of the belt had bruised his cheek, taking off some of the skin.
Schemmer had pointed to the bruises when, on the witness-stand, he had