Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/84

 to chuckle comfortably to himself. Soon he spoke again.

"I remember once, when I was for the moment rich with the spoils of war, I gambled all the evening in that same gaming-house at Klang, and lost four thousand dollars. It mattered not at all on which quarter of the mat I staked, nor whether I went ko-o, li-am, or tang. I pursued the red half of the die, as one chases a dog, but never once did I catch it. At length, when my four thousand dollars were finished, I arose and departed, and my liver was hot in my chest. As I came out of the gaming-house, a Chinaman whom I knew, and who loved me, followed after me and whispered in my ear: ' Hai-yah, Ungku! You have lost much to-night. It is not fitting. That wicked one was cheating you; for he hath a trick whereby he can make the red part of the die turn to whichever quarter of the mat he chooses."

"'Is this true?" I asked. And he made answer. 'It is indeed true.'

"Then I loosened the 'Chinese Axe' in its scabbard, and turned back into the gaming-house. First I seized the Chinaman by his pigtail, though he