Chinese Crystal Ball

Story Overview

This is a story about predetermination, and whether it is human nature to avoid a bad future or to take advantage of a good future. John Cardomen, a young Irish stockbroker from New York, acquires an ancient Chinese crystal ball that is supposed to be thousands of years old from the Chin dynasty. He purchases it from a Chinese merchant in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, for a few hundred dollars.

The Merchant's Warning

The merchant warns John that the crystal ball has magical properties, but John does not believe the merchant.

The Turning Point

The story follows how the Chinese Crystal Ball changes John's life, making him rich, only to have him run from some ruthless members of the Chinese Flying Dragons Gang from Chinatown, New York.