r. Wong, the Mystery Man

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

It seemed that one day a strange man just appeared in Lilliland. His name was Mr. Wong. Mr. Wong appeared everywhere in all the shops of Lilliland. If people were buying something they would look around to see if Mr. Wong was there, to help them decide on the purchase. This was rather unusual because Mr. Wong rarely spoke. He would just nod with approval, or be motionless, which meant no approval.

Everyone liked Mr. Wong and thought him to be a very wise old man from the Orient. But as time went by, people began to speculate as to why and how Mr. Wong came to be in Lilliland.

The rumor was that Mr. Wong was left behind from a steamship in a nearby Mediterranean seaport. The oriental steamship was in the Port of Marseilles when he was dismissed because he was too old to do his duties aboard ship. Mr. Wong never talked about his past so the rumor might be just a rumor, without any truth to it.

They mystery man, Mr. Wong, had a small room above an oriental restaurant in Lilliland. The owner of the restaurant said that Mr. Wong was a houseguest. Mr. Wong had a letter of introduction from a member of an oriental royal family that held him in high standing in the Orient. It was a tradition that elderly people in the Orient were held with a degree of respect. Since Mr. Wong had an official letter from a royal family, it meant that he was a most welcome houseguest.

The Baron was asked, from time to time, about Mr. Wong, but he diplomatically refrained from any comment except to say that Mr. Wong seemed like a very kind and polite gentleman.

But one day the Baron asked his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, to inquire about Mr. Wong. The oriental restaurant owner told Professor Hamblin that the letter of introduction for a royal family member in the Orient proclaimed that any place that Mr. Wong would choose to stay for any period of time would be enriched with much love and kindness for the future. Lilliland is just such a place.

The Baron was pleased to receive Professor Hamblin’s report about Mr. Wong.

One day, Mr. Wong was gone, but in his room was a brief note to Baron Von Lodge of Lilliland. The note thanked the Baron for the very fine time that he had visiting among the people of Lilliland, and said that he felt that Lilliland would always be a very nice place to visit and live.