ightly curved, some four or five inches long, and
shaped not unlike the half of a banana, if it were cut in two
lengthwise: that is, round on one side and flat upon the other. I saw
that they were the Chinese luck sticks, which the petitioner casts
before the altar, wishing as he does so, for that prayer which he
desires the god to grant him. If the sticks fall with the flat sides of
both upward, he is lucky--his prayer is granted; if with the flat sides
of both downward, his prayer is refused. If one stick falls each way,
there is no decision and the trial is made again. As the priest took up
these sticks from the altar, a gleam of comprehension passed over the
faces of the crowd about him. Several of their number sprang forward
and, seizing us by the arms, dragged us before the altar. It was
evidently their intention to leave the matter of our fate in the hands
of the Buddha, and, as I glanced at the peaceful and beneficent face of
the image before me, I wondered whether he, or blind luck, would control
our destinies.

McQuade they took first. He was led directly in front of the altar, and
the two sticks, placed with the flat sides, together, were put into his
hands. He was then directed, by signs and a few muttered English words,
to cast them upon the slab before the altar. He did so, not in the least
understanding, I felt sure, what it was all about, and in a moment the
hardwood sticks clattered before the altar. I leaned forward anxiously
and looked at them. The flat sides of both were upward. McQuade was
safe. The Chinamen thrust him aside angrily, and bent upon me their
angry glances. I was pushed forward by many hands, and the luck sticks
forced into my unwilling fingers. I had never thought much about death,
and now it approached me in all its grisly terrors. McQuade had been
spared my agony, for I felt sure he did not know the meaning of the
ceremony through which he had just passed. He had thrown dice with
death, and won, and yet he did not know it. But, to me, the trial came
in all its horrible reality. I knew that upon the fall of those bits of
wood depended my life, that within a few seconds of time I would either
be free, or condemned to die by one of those unspeakably horrible means
that only the Chinese understand and delight in. Their deity had been
profaned and they wanted a victim, and, if his down-turned thumb claimed
me as a sacrifice, I knew that no power on earth could save me. I shook
with nervo