in, with gold and silver
threads. Behind the candles stood a small gold casket, or shrine, the
door of which was standing open, disclosing an empty interior. The altar
in front of the candles was covered with a profusion of dishes
containing flowers, rice and other foods. Before the altar knelt a tall,
gaunt figure, his back turned toward me, bowed in prayer. He wore a
long, dark-brown robe, girdled loosely about the waist with a leather
belt, and his gray hair was confined in a long queue which hung below
his waist. He took no notice whatever of my movements, and remained in
silent contemplation of the picture of the god before him. A number of
sticks of incense were burning in a brass jar upon the altar, and the
room was filled with a thin, waving blue haze, which circled softly
around the great painted silk lanterns which hung from the ceiling. I
felt as though I had been suddenly and mysteriously transported from a
dark and gloomy London street to some wonderful temple in the far-off
city of Pekin. I rubbed my eyes, and moved uneasily upon my hard bench,
but no movement upon the part of the silent worshiper indicated that he
so much as knew of my presence.

I endured the tension of the situation for several minutes in silence,
and had about made up my mind to speak to the kneeling figure before me,
when suddenly a door at my left was opened, and I observed two dark and
forbidding-looking Chinamen enter, carrying between them a limp and
apparently lifeless figure, which they placed upon the bench beside me.
The figure was that of a man, and he was not blindfolded as I had been,
and, as I bent over and glanced at his bloodless face, I recoiled, sick
and trembling. It was Sergeant McQuade.

The Chinamen paid no attention to me, and quietly withdrew. I placed my
hand upon the detective's heart, and was overjoyed to find that it still
beat. I dragged him to a sitting position, and shook him, hoping to
arouse him from his lethargy. In a few moments I saw his eyes slowly
open, and he clutched feebly at his throat. I followed his movements and
found a heavy cord about his neck, so tightly drawn as almost to prevent
him from breathing. This I quickly removed, and in a few moments he was
able to speak. His first words, after a glance of intense surprise at
our surroundings, were to ask me why I had sent for him. I told him that
I had not done so.

"But you sent me a note, asking me to come to this address at once, that
you