THE FIGHT IN BUDDHA'S CALDRON.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12538, 8 May 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE FIGHT IN BUDDHA'S CALDRON.

(By Willi;im Ashley Anderson.)

After the izreat Mohammedan rebellion in Central Asia the Dalai Lama-of-Thibet was- ordered by the 1 eking. Court to send hi.* tri-annual tribute ny the southern route from Lhasa. It was an. awkward route, but it had to be followed. , There came a time, however, when a great revolution shook South China and the Dalai Lama, knowing that Pekin"- would not commend him lor over discretion, once more turned iiis caravans to the north through the roar-, ins heights of Thibet. And this change of mind on the part of the Dalai Lama interfered in a most. curias manner with the hunting plans of Steve Brodney and tne unprofessional "Doe" Shreyer. For Steve and the Doe had lived two years sufficiently far in the interior to make them long for the untrod uplands of Thibet an Chinese Turkestan. They were both. mighty hunters, and seemed to lwe <=hot a little of everything m China from lerpents in Yunnan to the drab tieers of Manchuria. . in southern Mongolia, where thev had been seeking out the longtafled mountain goat, that their mlfaeed Mongol hunters told them tak* of the flame-eyed snow leopards the Weird man-apes, and the wild camels far far to the west. • -vSLap-bang against the deponed wall of the Pamirs," objected Shreje doing his best to keep the f 6«- hs&t, out of. his eyes; but the novelty ol wild camels was too much tor him. "Hoberr, the hunter, who felt that lie ha'd known Shreyer in a previous incarnation, resumed his aocoiuit, Its flat good-natured face livid m the white Slow of the argol stoves, as he squatted comfortably on. his lynches like an American plains Indian, seldom gesticulating, but coloring his yarns with vivid metaphor. Sab Tak, a. young Mongol, cuddled near him, drawing vt'flectivelv on his long pipe. Steve" Brcdnev seemed: the only uivm- ' forested one of the group. His great .length was stretched away from the fire on a nile of sheepskins, his hanus clasped behind bis head, and Ins intent eves fixed on the low-hung. Stars. As a'matter of fact, his enthus asm was a--teen as Shrever's. but he kept it pen. up until time foi- action, under coyer of a'good-natured cynicism, knowing all the while that what, Shreyer decided was exactlv what they both intended to do. HeVas an Englishman 01 -Magdalen, had Played Eugbv for his countyand could carry his two hundred pou.es over a hundred yards .11 a traction le~ than eleven second?. ■Shrever was h-'s complement: ,= n American, short, stocky as a Along). pony, and as wiry, e-ar-hcadoc., and onick in action, a man who had »e - fectecT himself in the art ol seU-preso.-vation from the days ol Ins wild-eyed - Youth when they chased him out 01 te-.> nora across a continent, until lus late. day encounters with; the Beams 01 Manchuria. , , , • ■ As Hoberr elaborated- on the p.on.- ' tilde of wilk yak and camels m the Kwen-lun Mounta ns which lorm tm northern harrier of Thibet was'formulating a despatch to Peking anhbuncing his western departure =ll such terms as would make the ad-, future seem reasonable. Shrever, any with interest, had made up the minds, of .both at lloberr's first words-.

-A week later thev were in the great .crass desert embraced by the most northerly crook of the Hwang ho. Where the Inner Mongols graze then - herds of sheep and ponies ni uio months of soring. Mv.ch sand tnei •- was in parts, enough to gi.ve a to.etaste.of the terrible wastes to the west. The d-avs were hot and the nights weu' cold; but the plains were beginning n take on watches of green. And tnoy were dotted with clusters of Mongol tents. The moou-faced, gcod-natuiefi "natives, the wolfish dog* -that prowled ■about ownerless, the hobbled ponies an:! lazv ruminative camels—ah peacehilly -driftin"- through the : r nomadic lives under a lofty, Heckles* sky ;.n a, region Whose limits are marked oniy by th-.-■min"- and setting sun —began to wo-.-v a-UrjcH on the two adventurers. It was a "life of real liberty, where a mans true character was his only guide. Shrever, shedding the shell of suspicion which grows on men too well acquainted with human nature, an:: Brodnev. abandoning the mild cynicism that the'social life of London had bred, both' took a new attitude towards tne world. Care-free boys they seemed, purelv cu pleasure bent. Thev drifted across the desert am plains", north of the pretty vallev of Nin"--hsia where the rAums and mediars were alreadv ripening, through the dunes and rock hills skirting the western end of the Croat Wall wh'ch winus .e'mioiislv toward the Takla-Makaii desert in a crumbled pile like a sun-baked earthworm on a flagstone, and finally through the Jade Gate, westernmost of the defences of AncientChina. Here thev turned south anil entered the Ts'aidam, that waste .>r salt and mud and sand which is tlie scourings of northern Thibet. . . . And as thev travelled southward toward the liwen-lun - barriers of tne. northern Thibet, care-free and pubilant at the thought of annroacning big game, the Dalai Lama's tribute caravan ivas to'f'.ng northward across tli> Roof of the World toward Buddna - Cauldron, the Pass that lets down into the plains. ,

The worn-out harnon, leader of tiie , caravan, was fast becoming irresponsible as liis yak and camels scrapcu across the towering, rocky void oi lir.bet ■ shrouded in mist=. cut by the higi:flvin"- gales, beaten by storms or ha; . and "" smothered in whispering snow. During the first part of the lourney :-,i had no fear of man. for Ins caravan was busv battling with: elemental forces. and' as thev approached- the k wen-am Range, where the Tangut robbers scour the mountain ranges and topple boulders in the parses, he was too exhausted and the men and the cattle witn him to feel any fear of petty human:--. The camel bells tolled mouratully, and the- 'harassed kurpon cared n-.it whether the heavens fell or the boweis of the- earth gaped and swallowed lnm But Lop."'the kiishok, the Dalai Lama's commercial agent at DonKyr two weeks' journey east- of the pass, who was anxiously waiting to rehevthe karuon and take personal charge of the caravan after its descent into the plains, most emphatically did car.? "'The revolution which had caused thetribute, train to turn northward baa had a palsying effect on the Government and the Tangut robbers accordingly conducted their forays along t!ie mou'ntain passes with vicious insolence: and barbaric zest. Wherefore Lop. waiting impatiently for news of its approach, was tremulous for the safety of the tribute caravan: and Lop was ■■■ bravo man. He was a fat lama, assigned by tlie Dalai Lama to look out for commercial: interests in the Chinese Empire! arid'to resume responsibility for all thc pohtiff's caravans. Accordingly !:e made his headquarters at Donkyr, in north-eastern Thibet, where he could meet the caravans'going and coming. He. was an tinecclesiastieal-appearing person, with a shaven head and poei;marked face. HLs teeth were not particularly good, and 'his nose, small r>s it r 'was," had been twisted by a pebbkthrown from the heights; but h's full, good-humored li'is and his shrewd eyes. which often soo'ke for-him in a genial way, made him out to be a worthy mail. His left hand was crippled. Once when attacked bv robbers he had seized his assailant's bare blade while he:, reached for his own long dagger. He.: very nearly lost his hand', but tlie robber'lost something that was far more precious to him.

Lop was plainly fluxions. Ho was not'one to repose absolute confidence in .-a'subordinate; and lie always worried over the caravans until he -could take personal charge. To be rosnonsihle for the Emperor's tribute from Thibet is to shoulder a great burden; for this tribute was worth almost three million taels—tribute of rare medicines and, furs " soft silver, raw rubles from the hidden valleys near Ladakh, precious jade, shawls and rues from Cashmere, flurl ingots of purest cold from the washings of the Sangpo River. - In defining the northern route Lop bad specified 'Buddha's C.iulron as the most suitable exit from Thibet: for :; was west of the customary range oi the Tancrut bands of robbers, and he hoped thus to elude them. But stiil he had his doubts. Suddenly he made Tip his mi'nd to meet the caravan in the

mountains and .guide it through the pass in nersoii. Taking his vellow robe between his legs, Lon Lilted himself into the saddle and"' nidi his heads rattling at lis waist, a little- bono prayer-wheel hold lvi"-h In his right hand and the reins mi the loft, ho cantered away toward the place where Buddha's Cauldron empties on to the plain. A solitary servant accompanied him. for he travelled in baste and made no hiss about the order of his going. He trusted to the hospitality of the nomads for shelter at night and food upon the way.

On the tenth day, as the sun vanished in the we.st. he came upon a strange encampment, near the foot of the pass. On the bank of a small stream, in :: tinv "rove ol" larch and birch; tree.?, was a" Mongol tent with seven excellent Dou'-es browsing on the young grass/and two tall, brown wolfhounds mounting guard near the door. This alone was not so strange, nor was the presence of two Mongols. But at a short distance from the camp, leaning against a birch tree, was a- huge white man with a heavy jaw, complacently smoking a pipe and eyeing him with disturbing intentness; while, squatting at his feet, was another white man with a red face and bristly "chin and cheeks puffed out painfully in an effort to blow music through a Mongol flute. Lop took them for Russians, and gave them the Mongol greeting. With outstretched palms and' face turned upward he called out: "Amur isambina.''

And they made him- welcome. As the stars came laugh) Jig forth from the deen sky, they gathered round the argol fire and talked quietly, awed bv the peaks, which towered eighteen thousand feet into the darkness and glowered down unon them. Lop was disturbed -in his heart. What were these fierce-looking barbarians doing., heavily armed, at the very mouth of the pass? For himself," he was a small merchant, 'he said. returning after many years' absence from his home in far Ladakh. ■'Two-horned Moses!" exclaimed Shreyer, regarding h'ini with awakened interest which caused poor Lop to curse hiimself for his indiscretion. Many years' trading meant much money! "'•That's clean across Thibet in India, Steve." Brodney admitted it.

"Do you go up through the Lord's Frying-pan?" continued Shreyer in the vernacular, indicating the gloomy way through the mountains. Actually, for "lord" he said Yesit Ma'shika. "Buddha's Caldron," grunted Lop, with a zealot's emphasis on the Buddha.

"All right. All right," conceded Shreyer. "Have it your own way. I'm no theologian: but I'm thinking if I lived in Ladakh I wouldn't thank God for the beautiful mountains.".

This opened up possibilities to Shreyer, and he plied Lop with questions about thu passes, the game of the country, the hidden gem mines over toward Ladakh: and Lop began to feel assured he had to deal with a new kind of bandit, who dared contemplate forays clear-across the top of the -world. But'he couldn't quite understand the the- great blond man who' stretched his length away from the fire, and occupied himself tantalising the dogs and chuckling at the conversation, occasionally offering a flippant suggestion. "Ask him about the Dalai Lama a tribute. Doc." Brodnoy said in a pause. Shever looked at him with frank admiration. "Son.." said he, "vou're threatened with intelligence." Turning to Lop he repeated the question. Lor> started, and his.smudgy face actually paled. "I know not! I know not!" he cried. Shrever turned to Brodnoy with an incredulous expression: but to Lop the expression seemed to convey a- secret understanding, and he perceived an immediate necessity for defending his master's property. He began to explain the southern route, assuring them with much persistence that was the way the caravan had gone. Shreyer remarked mock seriously: "No chance of stopping it then.- ;._ "Ah. no, praise Buddha," sighed Lop: "ah, no." Brodnev grunted and went to sleep: and Shrever soon followed his example. But Lop," rendered wakeful by his suspicions, turned his attention to Hoberr and Sab Tak and plied them with questions. The Mongols answered readuy, and it slowly dawned on him that- after all the strangers were not bandits, but merely wanderers. He resolved to take no chances, however, and in the morning, when Brodnev and Shreyer awoke, he'was alreadv far on his way up through Buddha's Caldron to meet the tribute caravan somewhere on the other side. "Pooh, he's probably a bandit. • said Steve, x

"Sure." admitted Shreycr;. "the dirtv scab!" Thev had their doubts about the pass, but the possibility of wild yak and camels in the highlands persuaded them. Accordingly they toiled up through the clammy mists, while mysterious voices whispered in sepulchral tones from out each dark defile, and spirits seemed to float above in whispering flurries of snow. With wheezing throats and burning lungs, resting frequently to breathe in huge quantities of air, they managed to roach the top late in the'afternoon, though their ears were filled with a- roaring and their insides were shot with pain. Bleak, misty, and darkening with the shadows of approaching night, the bald, gray mountain slopes gave the uncanny impression of being populated bv spirits of evil. Hoberr and Sab T'ak "felt this strongly as they turned aside to camp on a shelf at the base of a precipitous slope. Even Broclney fell prey to an uneasy premonition; but the' practical Shreyer. quite unaffected. ' slipped away from camp, hoping for a sight of strange game before night shut down. He made his way at an even elevation along the precipitous slope whicu towered high above the caravan trail. He could easily trace the trail below him where it descended abruptly into the shadowy valley and suddenly disappeared in a -narrow defile behind a low-peaked mountain. If he scaled to the crest of the slooe above, be might look over the mountain •what lay beyond; but there was uist j as good'a chance of sighting game in j the'vallev below. A white-necked bear . tickling 'its back in a bed of pebbles | amused him, until if. discovered his ; presence and scuttled away with a startled "Woof." ■ ~ Continuing his way silently along tne slope he followed the line of the trail, though many hundred feet above it. toward tlie defile where it' Vanished. Suddenly he stopped short; then flung h>m- | self 'behind a boulder. A pebble had skipped past him from above. From his new position he studied the cliff-like crest behind him. . It- was misty, but he examined it with prim intensity for several minutes until satisfied that no living creature was above him. Still a bit apprehensive, he turn- ; ed his attention once more to tiie valley. When his eyes found the trad, his heart suddenly gave a wdd thump, and he dropped back again into shelter. Tnto plain view, at three hundred yards range from the mouth of the defile had stepped a great, shaggy camo-. head high, nostrils feeling the air, and haughtv eyes peering over the enormous nose like a suspicious old school master's over his spectacles. Shreyer tasted again all the anticipatory joy q. a- first bill. Up went his rifle, and covered- the beast; then he lowered it. There were other camels following the leader, crowding him. jostling him, grunting and squealing in their eager ness to get through the narrow way, stumbling and leaping over each other with the" agility of-calves. A herd of yak was mingled with the camels and the long-haired, ungainiy beasts,' impelled by the force behind, bounded awkwardly in little spurts up the steep slopes, grunting outlandishly, and loosening the pebbly soil with a startling rush, swelling the uproar that rose in the still, misty atmosphere- like the voices of frightened youngsters shouting in an empty house. Shreyer had wondered a bit over the distinguishing features 1 , of wild cattle; J.e wondered no more. He was astounded and filled with ecstasy. At most he had expected to run across the. camels in single pairs, but this actually looked like a seasonal migration. Still, he had not long to watch. Darkness was settling in the valleys. Should he call Brodney and risk ' the chance of frightening the beasts, or drop the leader and hope for more trophies in the morning? Then he ca-ucht sight of Brodney running toward "him along the, slope, shouting '

and gesticulating. Sin-ever chuck-led and flung up his rifle. Pack! ! The great leader lay down ■nirgling d'eeo in his throat. "P'aek!" echoed Brodney's gun, and Shreycr looked to see another beast

hill:' but instead he heard a sliding rush from the <-Kff behind him. and the distorted figure of a man bounded past, arms and less fiving wide like a crushed frog's—bounded in leaps a hundred feet Jong, head over heels, down, down, and- straight into the crowd of panic stricken "camels, with a final monstrous leap. The body disappeared beneath the stampeding"camels; and Shrevet- wondered curiously why. he had heard no thud. , In falling, the body had loosened n storm of nebbles and. rocks which zipped and roared.past him in a. deadly lia-i 1 .; and ho crent close tinder a protecting ledge, where he could turn his attention to Brodnev without danger of duplicating the eieht,-hundred foot leap into the valley. Brodnev was firmly braced' on the siope, one foot outstretched stiffly . and the other, curled tinder him. while his attention was fixed complacentlv on,the slope above; occasionally he'raised his lvfle with calm precision and fired upward at the crest, with the effective fire discipline of a veteran. In the distance Hober-and Sab Tak could be seen making thenway toward them, rifles ready for action and the Mongol's joy of the hunt animating their "fiat features. Shr'eyer was fascinated by Brodney s actions. ■ "What d'ye know about that? Look at the" kid!—iiist look .at him, calm as a killy in a kettle! Looks like a durned ■ " . . . Spat! A slug, upwardbound, struck the wall behind him, and stung his face With gravel " —Dutch grouse-hunter. Who threw that stone:-' . . . Spat! ." . . Spat! . . . '•Oh, you swine! Down there, too. are you? ' Here's one, cash on delivery!''

Shrever's bullet whined down ..into the vallcv, where a number of Thibetans, armed with cumbrous matchlocks and long swords, had suddenly emerged from the defile and scattered themselves behind rocks, whence they blazed away at the foreigners. The cattle were" streaming frantically up the little gullies which fed the main trail, leaving the slopes of the valley to the belligerent humans. Shreyer suddenly, realised the situation. _

Tangut robbers had started to surround them intending, to attack at nightfall; but his 1 first shot at the camel had precipitated events. By this time Brodney had became aware of the attack from below, and was throwing uneasy glances downward, when Shreyer caught- his attention. ''Ail right, sou,'' he shouted. "You keep the'roof clear —I'll chase out the fat-faced nigs in the areaway." Brodney"grinned. "Oh. go to sleep, you bloomin' tenderfoot/' he shouted back. *TII throw pebbles at—"

Then he winced and clutched his forearm ; but Hoberr had come up and taken his fire, and Shreyer had turned Iris attention back to the valley. It was not a bad wound, and after bandaging it with his handkerchief Brodnev went m\ stiffly with his shooting. Sab Tak was sealing the heights to flank the attack from the -crest; he was a mountain Mongol, and the sound <;f battle, in the uplands .was muste to Lis ears.

The fus'.'H-nde was general now. The barking rifles, the bullets humming through the clear spares and droning through the mists with a sound like the moans of stricken spirits, the -shrill whist-lev of the Thibetans echoing against the dark granite walls of thcniountains, the wild- blood-curdling battle-veils of the Mongols, the taunting, jibing curses of the white men, and the grunting and squealing of the beasts from the shelter of their former obscurity, gave the effect of a waking nightmare. The valley seemed alive with- bandit.

Brodnev and the Mongols had cleared, the crest successfully, and Sab Tak was working his way s'.owly along it beyond Shreyer's position, chasing the Thibetans down into the valley where the camels had vanished. He was aetually advancing to a point where lie could see beyond the screening mountain. -

The magazine rifles and their elevated position gave the foreigners ."• proportion of one to ten of their assailants, now that the crest was clear. But the Thibetans were strangely desporate' holding their positions tenaciously, throwing up a- heavy fire against the ciiff with startling accuracy, and continuing their weird whistling with unblunted shrillness. The men- on the heights took greater care with their aim now. though they wen handicapped by the darkness that had settled down in the valley, while the light-.still clung to the heights. S'ltreyer's forehead was cut by a stone splinter and the blood had caked in two streams down his cheekbones, while Steve was suffering keenly from his wounded forearm, and Hoberr had been burned painfully on the shoulder. The fire had slackened somewhat and seemed 1 to lack it; original enthusiasm: but- every shot was venomous.

[ The costumes of the Thibetans blended cunningly with the rocks, and the strange head-gear, half turban, half Chinese hat. gray and ragged, was perfect protective coloring. As time passed and the attack continued with unabated ferocity-—the Thibetans actually advancing up the slope under cover of the rocks and shadows —the defenders began to feel anxious, hiding their real emotions under the flippant gibes of old lighters. Darkness suddenly came, to their aid. The belching powder flame was clearly visible- in the dusk of the valley: and the men on the heights find at the flashes. It was a slow game, and ■Shreyer soon lost patience. ''The dirty sheep-stealers! Why don't they come out and be shot like honest folk?" ... A slug chipped off a bit of rock and slapped him sharply on the back. . . "Ugh, throwing stones —you welcher! I'll fix you!" '. . .He leaped from his shelter, picked up a small boulder with both hands, and heaved it down the slope.

It bonndec: with the crispness of a,* billiard ball, struck a- cluster of boulders, made a clean break, and went spinning on, sending the-deadly little rocks before it—roaring, whispering, hoarsely shrieking, as they charged down into the- valley. The Thibetans saw the storm falling upon them. The whistling of bullets ceased; they rose, panicstricken, from their shelter and fled — fled with the wild, scurrying rush of baboons before a charging lion.

"Run ! Run! Run! You mandrills!" roared Shreyer, and he chased at full clip after them. Brodney and Hoberr sprang to their feet shouting and screaming, shooting as fast as they could empty tlie magazines, kicking recks down the slope, filling the heathen heart with panic-terror in the presence of strange uproar and sudden death.. They scattered themselves on the trail o? the mountain winds, burying their terror in the mists, and leading their guns, behind them. In. a few minutes'-the'valley was deserted.

The last whisper of pebbles ceased; darkness poured thickly into the cradled mountains and climbed swiftly upward toward the peaks. The last pale light of day glowed softly about the three adventurers, standing side by side peering raptly into the wet darkness below, straining their ears to catch some faint sound; but not even a cloud whispered against their faces. • It was the hour of silence, quick with mystic life. The three men breathed softly. Suddenly from the depths came a voice, rendered wan and thin by the distance, arid ghostly bv the gloom. "Aha!" with ironic merriment. "Aha! . . . Amur 'Sahibina!" . . . The Mongol greeting! The three men -looked stupidly at one another. It was the voice of Lon.

"Come down —come down!" urged the ghostly voice. . Shrey-er threw off the spell and found his tongue. "The greasy-faced bandit!" He shot back the' bolt of his rifle and it jammed. Cursing fluently, he would have taken Hoberr's; but JToberr suddenly turned and started miming: back along the slope. The white men looked after him in aston-, ishment. Then they too started to run: Sab Tak was flying along- the crestabove them, risking his life at every leap, waving his rifle and shouting hoarsely. • "~ "Good Lord," panted Steve, "what's up now-?" Sab Tak passed them, only pausing to gesticulate vehemently, and then ran on t.o the ponies. When the white

men reached their encampment the Mongols were cinching the animals. "What the —" gasped -Steve. "The tribute train!" grunted Hoberr. "We've- attacked the encampment- of The Dalai Lama's tribute train. . ■. . Sal) Tak saw them behind the mountain. Let's go quickly!" "Suffering Moses!" gasped Shreyer. "Mv word!" said Brodney.

Ana they grabbed-'the ponies', halters and led them through the darkness, stumbling, sliding, and jostling toward the Pass." As they groped through the darkness of Buddtias Caldron, Snreyer and Brodney were moved by the same thought. . ' "A barrel full o' monkeys, son."

"A tempest in a teapot. Doc." Morning found.. them at the foot'of the pass, grimy, hungry, and exhausted; hut tney paused only for a short rest to breakfast 'and to dress their injuries. Afterward they turned westward.

•'Where.away?" asked Steve. "Kashgar, It's our only chance,", explained Shreyer. "They'd head us off before we got to. Peking, and God only knows what they'd do. . There's a British consul at Kahgar; and there's chance—just a chance, son —that we can cross "the Pamirs and connect with the railroad at Andijan."

The trail they took is one of the oldest .and grimmest trails in the world. The stupendous wall of the Kwen-lun Mountains .hems in the westwardmoving traveller on his left hand for a thousand miles, and the flat, sinister Takla-Makna- desert lies low on the right, exuding scorching clouds of dustlike the poisonous breath of some smoke-breathing monster. It is a- lonely, depressing inarch, infrequently traversed by caravans, and broken up by a loose chain of unlovely oases where market villages afford meeting-places' for the listless," unmoral nomads. The white men were filled witli dopressing doubts, and the Mongols were phlegmatic, knowing not what would be the consequence of their mad adventure, but- prepared to meet the ' -worst. Shreyer" had invented and abandoned a hundred schemes for escape; hut he always the same conclusion: Their only hope lay in Kashgar. and that hope was faint. Turkestan is a cup chipped on opposite ; sides, east and west, and both openings are jealously guarded. There was no necessity for avoiding the rare villages along the route, as they were not touched by the tele-' graph, and no couriers had passed them.' Shreyer assumed that orders to stop them had been sent to Kashgar from Peking via Siberia, after the Donkvr officials had informed the court 'of the outrage. So they rode openly, without halting more than a day at atime to rest their lean ponies; withouteven pausing to hunt for game. Sun-dried and toughened by the march unconsciously adapting themselves to the nature of the land and the customs of the country, they began to assume the characteristics of natives, and Shrever even thought it possible for them'to slip through Kashgar unnoticed in the turmoil of. caravan travel from the north. With this idea in mind, as they swung northward away from' the Kwen-lun Mountains and'parallel to the line of the Pamirs, they avoided all villages and encampments except when it was necessary to find food and water. They were not molested in any way, nor even questioned, except by curious nomads, until they approached the very gates of Kashgar itself. The sun was 1 setting and the travellers hoped that they might enter the city veiled in darkness, and by joining a caravan pass ■out again in the morning' into Russian territory. But the hope was not realised. A couple of miles outside the city their advance was suddenly arrested by a- company of heavily armed horsemen, who surrounded them, while their commaner dismounted and approached with an appearance of smirking insolence, unusual in a Chinese officer who holds the whio-hand. "There's no use fighting, Steve, observed Shreyer grimly. "So I observe, old clian. In your execrable Yankee patois, I should say we're up against it." The Chinese captain bowed with conventional politeness, still smirking; but his modest greeting called forth only grunts. , . "I am Wn, the unworthy aide of nis excellency the Arnban. And my master directs that you be conducted into his presence." "Oh, certainly," said Brodney. "But first," continued Wh, "permit me to offer ray vile hospitality for your perfumed condescension." Stove winced. They reeked with the stench of desert dust and grime and the odor of horses and cattle. Wafer had been too precious for bathing, and two months in the . blasting, desert made them to taint the air. He knew in his heart that the. Chinese had simply employed his politest phrase: but the irony of it angered him. So he retorted in kind.

"To show hospitality to the weary traveller is an -act of great merit, is u saying of the. Master K'ung," said Steve", inventing fluently. "But we are aware of our digesting condition, and shame for our. fifth restrains us from acceptance."

Wu smiled, bowed, swung into the saddle, and gave a- sharp order-. The prisoners were escorted into the city without having been deprived of their arms. And when-they had gone -a certain distance they were led througli. agateway into the courtyard of an inn or a yamen —they knew not which—adorned in the Chinese style, where a formidable guard of pikemen lounged about, regarding them with insolent curiosity. Here they were given rooms, the Mongols being conducted to other quarters; and presently servants came to them with earthen tubs filled with steaming water, clear and tempting. Perfect irony of a Chinese mind! "Great heavens." cried Steve, "what are they'doing P—tantalising us? Fatten the bullock and garland him with roses and perfume him with sweet scents that he may be a saerific to Moloch! Got your gun. Doc? What the devil do you make of it all?" "Don't know, son," came Shreyer's voice from the adjoining room. "But I want to know whether I'm to wash in this liquid or put. it in wine-glasses and drink it." A splash and a squeal from Brodney's room determined him.

Tliev met ten minutes later, sheets looped about their waists, grinning sheepishly, wondering what was coming next.

There was a sudden hubbub in the yard, and they reached instinctively for their guns, just as the door was flung open and a- long, sunburned white man stepped iiij helmet in hand.

"I'm Stackleigh, the consul," .he.announced. Then his enthusiasm got the better of him. "By Jove, I'm jolly giad to meet you fellows." Shreyer and Brodney blinked at each other.

"Professor," said Shreyer, "you look to me like— You make me feel— ft seems like a— Oh, doggoneiit, shake!" Brodney found that words were "n----ept, and clasped th? consul's hand ; u silence. That formality over .bis Majesty's represtnative'fell back a step and regarded the grinning, semi-nude men. with childish admiration. "Gad,'' he exclaimed, "you are beggars!'' ' They stared at him blankly. "Don't be a silly ass," begged' Bro'dnev.

"'Often have these spasinms?" inquired Shreyer solicitously! "The most famous men. in China," said' the consul,

"Rave, on." -urged. Brodney. "Dashed if I can see why you took the chance," exclaimed t-ho.consul, getting more and more enthusiastic as details of the exoloit recurred to him.

"What will they .do, .garrote us or knife \is?" inouired' Steve.

"Decorat-e you, you silly fools! . . . . Gad. men who have the nerve to fight off the most desperate band of brigands in Ambdoa, put 'em clean to rout, save the Emperor's .tribute train

Steve and Shreyer shouted in unison.

"'.' and then go off without even waiting to be thanked bv the kushok — By George, it's the biggest thing I ever heard of."

The two men sank limply on the edge of the k'ang. "\Yhv, your daring v. ill become a hv-word.. . . . ..And let ipe tell you,

Peking appreciates it. That Lop, the. kushok, was a jolly fine c-hiap. I'm to escort vou to the Amban to-morrow—-royal favor, (presents, decorations-, and all that sort- of thing, vou knpw."

"Cgh!" how. I despise 'em!" said Steve, sti'iiggiiii" gamely back to normal. " •

The consul laughed. Shreyer was >-loivlv reviving'.

■■hub why did you do it? - ' tho consul persisted. "The situation must have" been practically -hopeless. Tho brigands had already captured' the caravan. 1 understand', and even started to drive the cattle away- " "Oh," groaned Shreyer, "that poor HHIISV, straw-fed, I'amilv cow !" _ "What?"

Shfeyor stood up,-and tried to do tin l most difficult of all'things—look dignified ' without any clothes worth meii-* t'oiiing: "Professor," . sJiicl he, "you don't seem to reaii-e that we're knights of the road—l mean we're knight;; of the commercial- highways, doggone it. And we're pledged, Professor, pledged in the name of the s'ar.rcd siinoleon to open up the fa-r places to the commerce of our mother countries, and .whereinsoever we encounter' hindrances to th-e free movements of trade we are bound to remove 'em- —to remove 'em. Professor, at the -rii!i of .life.. limb, and repute. It is the beast of our nations that nothing must interfere with! the marts of trade. "Well. these sheep-stealing, squint-eyed babysnatchers, of Ambdoa closed 1 the Burlf an Bota Pass to traffic. We didn't think they ought to do it, and vie opened it tip again. Professor; we opened it tip again ! That's all, But it's good enough! Hey, son?—it's good enough !" Brodn-ey.'vho had been spellbound by the unnatural; garrulousnrs.s of the Doc, .softly sighed; "It's'good enough," Lay back on the k'ang, heaved' his chest spasmodically, and - bellowed' forth the pent-tip laughter of-tv, o desert months.