Not far from the entrance of the temple Frank came upon a stone wheel set in a post of the same material. He looked it over with the greatest care, and wondered what kind of labor-saving machine it was. A quantity of letters and figures on the sides of the post increased his thirst for knowledge, and he longed to be able to read Japanese, so that he might know the name of the inventor of this piece of mechanism, and what it was made for.
He turned to the Doctor and asked what was the use of the post, and how it was operated.
Just as he spoke, a man passed near the machine and gave the wheel a blow that sent it spinning around with great rapidity. The man gave a glance at it to see that it was turning well, and then moved on in the direction of the temple.
"I know what that is," said Fred, who came along at the moment Frank expressed his wonder to Doctor Bronson.
"Well, what is it?"
"It's a praying-machine; I read about it the other day in a book on Japan."
"Quite right," responded the Doctor; "it is a machine used in every country where Buddhism is the religion."
PRAYING-MACHINE.