Adventure, June 1911 — page 177: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Emerald Buddha tween himself and part of the Chinamen on the one hand and the remainder of the crowd on the other, the subject of which, I could plainly see, was the fate of the detective and myself. At last they all turned back to the altar, and the priest took from it two pieces of wood, slightly curved, some four or five inches long, and shaped not unlike the half of a banana if it were cut in two lengthwise. 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 up- ward, 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 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 di- rected, by signs and a few muttered English cast them upon the slab, and in a moment the hardwood sticks clattered be- fore 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 for- ward 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 de- pended my life—that within a few seconds of time I should either be free, or condemned to die by one of those unspeakably horrible Ee 363 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 nervous dread, not so much through fear of death itself as of the manner of dying. My hands trembled—I could scarcely keep the sticks from falling to the floor. Presently I pulled myself together and determined to put a brave face upon the matter. The Chinamen about me were enjoying my sufferings keenly, as I could see from the diabolic grins upon their dark faces. I threw the sticks from me with a quick nervous movement, and then almost feared to look upon them. At last I did so, and what I saw was almost as bad as what I feared to see. Instead of the two flat sides of the sticks being uppermost, they lay one each way, and I was forced to throw again. The Chinese were evidently delighted. Any method of torture which is prolonged seems to please them beyond measure. I have heard that one of the most terrible they have invented is that of keeping a prisoner awake. For days and days sleep is pre- vented, and the victim ultimately goes rav- ing mad. My nerves were too much shaken to pro- long theagony. I cast the sticks again upon the altar-slab and bent over them with a prayer to God. One stick fell at once with its flat side uppermost. over and over until it rested almost at the Buddha’s feet. At last it trembled, half turned over, then stopped. It, like the other, gave the favorable sign! I was saved! In the sudden relief from the nervous ten- sion I almost fell, but the Chinamen, cheated of their revenge, gave me no time for any such exhibitions of emotion. McQuade and I were seized and in a few moments our arms were tightly bound behind us and heavy bags placed over our heads. We were then roughly hurried through a series of rooms, once crossing what seemed to be a brick- paved court, undoubtedly in the open air, - then for an interminable distance through what seemed to be dark narrow lanes and muddy streets, until at last our hoods were removed, our feet bound, and we were thrown into a narrow: area-way, some cotton-waste being jammed into our mouths to prevent our making any outcry. CONMnicloooks.cG© The other rolled .