f it, before the little stool where the brother
in yellow had been kneeling till that moment, and took the string in her
hand, as if she were well accustomed to it. I could see that the abbot
gave the cylinder a surreptitious push with his left hand, before she
began, so as to make it revolve in the opposite direction from that in
which the monk had just been moving it. This was obviously to try her.
But Hilda let the string drop, with a little cry of horror. That was
the wrong way round--the unlucky, uncanonical direction; the evil way,
widdershins, the opposite of sunwise. With an awed air she stopped
short, repeated once more the four mystic words, or mantra, and bowed
thrice with well-assumed reverence to the Buddha. Then she set the
cylinder turning of her own accord, with her right hand, in the
propitious direction, and sent it round seven times with the utmost
gravity.

At this point, encouraged by Hilda's example, I too became possessed
of a brilliant inspiration. I opened my purse and took out of it four
brand-new silver rupees of the Indian coinage. They were very handsome
and shiny coins, each impressed with an excellent design of the head of
the Queen as Empress of India. Holding them up before me, I approached
the Buddha, and laid the four in a row submissively at his feet,
uttering at the same time an appropriate formula. But as I did not know
the proper mantra for use upon such an occasion, I supplied one from
memory, saying, in a hushed voice, "Hokey--pokey--winky--wum," as I laid
each one before the benignly-smiling statue. I have no doubt from their
faces the priests imagined I was uttering a most powerful spell or
prayer in my own language.

As soon as I retreated, with my face towards the image, the chief Lama
glided up and examined the coins carefully. It was clear he had never
seen anything of the sort before, for he gazed at them for some minutes,
and then showed them round to his monks with an air of deep reverence. I
do not doubt he took the image of her gracious Majesty for a very mighty
and potent goddess. As soon as all had inspected them, with many cries
of admiration, he opened a little secret drawer or relic-holder in the
pedestal of the statue, and deposited them in it with a muttered prayer,
as precious offerings from a European Buddhist.

By this time, we could easily see we were beginning to produce a most
favourable impression. Hilda's study of Buddhism had stood us in good
stead.