In this set there are two hooks, for separating the pieces one after another without shaking any of the bunch. The long, slender "straws" are four inches in length. There are eight that are carved to represent Javelins, and eight carved like Spears. They count, respectively, one and two marks if taken from the rest of the pile without shaking. Then there are twenty Straws, counting ten apiece, that are delicately carved, each one entirely different from any of the others. There is a Spade, a hooked Spear, an Arrow, an Axe, a Flag, a Standard, a Halberd, a war Hammer, a Javelin, a Sabre, a Lance, a Sword, a Trident, and a Pitchfork. These all seem to be intended to represent weapons familiar in the antiquated warfare of China. The five European implements are a long-handled Shovel, a pair of Tongs, a Bodkin, a Pen, and a Musket. The skillful player who captures the Tongs counts twenty, since it is twice as difficult to disentangle as any of the other Straws, that are valued at ten marks apiece. CHAPTER XVIII FORTUNE-TELLING THROUGH THE CARDS Without in the least crediting that cards that are derived from ancient mysteries are able to reveal the incidents connected with human life, many people consider the trial an interesting amusement. What were the methods used by the ancients for divining the wishes of the gods? Truly this opens a vast field of inquiry that ranges through every device and symbol ever invented by man. Within a few years various plans have been suggested for reading the fate through the hand, as is done by the Gypsies, or by the cards, as practised by the priests of Mercury; but these are only a few hundred years old, and probably have but little relation to the actual rites that have left no authentic record and now can only be guessed. Consultation of the cards serves to amuse the idle, the curious, and the credulous, so a brief recapitulation of the two methods most in vogue may interest readers, who can try for themselves to read what the divining tools say through the interpretations used by two of the most celebrated fortune-tellers of the past century, namely: Etteila and Mlle. le Normand. The latter used modern French cards, while the former required a complete Tarot pack that is not easy for most people to obtain. Cardmakers have not been unready to invent for their customers various fantastic packs with weird symbols, and to bestow on these modern creations various significances that have no relation whatever to the old Tarots; therefore they are valueless in the eyes of those who believe in the ancient mysteries, which have been implicitly credited for ages, and have a significance that is not difficult to understand, although the different shades of meaning attributed to them by the Initiates have been lost.