The San Francisco call., 1904-04-10

craft riding at anchor near by, ard
thought of its mission to Lynx Island
Neither the monotonous throbs of tn.
flabby drum nor the rocky sentinels O
Lynx Island had kept 1t out. Will,
looking for devils. bear came IN un
noticed! 1 was surely becoming a phil
osopher of old Dejneff's SCHOOL, W.
pushed on downward, for the light wa!
waning. General Ling slowly pickins
his way. At first l thought he was
choosing it as he went, but before lcas
1 saw stakes had been driven In thu
ground by some one who had fully an
ticipate1 all that / had been dreading
Through rocky defiles, down steps as
high as those of the great pyramid
along little grassy ways at the very
verge of a precipice, the stakes led US
In actually making the descent, one
did not fiud it such difficult task. AS
we neared the bottom my guide signi-
fled the necessity of his returning be-
fore ii became too dark, and we parted
after arranging that I should be at the
monastery at o'clock the following
afternoon. / found my way easily to
a sampan, where, l need hardly say,
my letters made me a welcomed addi-
ton to a jovial party of men. Spirits
here ran high, for the mission of the
Dulcette had been consumniated and
the boat now only waited its cargo
to be off for Tsi.
Lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking
of the waves, made UP for two sleep
less nights and barely came from my
bath as tiffin was served. 1 had little
more than time to climb the steep path
of the stakes when the last service over
the body of the late Queen of Quelparte
was begun.
1 should observe here that the Dull
cette was brought fifty feet nearer the
shore on this morning, and four sam
pans were lashed together and
boarded over to convey our burden
to the yacht. According to the Kings
orders, General Ling had been COM
manded to fire the monastery immedi-
ately upon the removal of the sarcopha-
gus secrets of which / have only the
merest suspicion undoubtedly con-
nected with the anticipated Russian
possession of the island, rendering this
waste of property necessary. Accord
ingly, l had ordered my Cossacks to
station themselves on the road to Klein
ming behind the village at sundown.
ready to start for the capital the mo-
ment the light of the flames appeared
on the summit of Lynx Island. BY
them / sent a message to Oranoff. stat
ing the success of my mission and that
of the Dulcette.
AS I entered the temple a hundred
tapers sprang to light. The candles on
creased, showing up the hideous figure
of the image unpleasantly. Some one
was reading in a nasal tone from a
Tibetan book, and during the reading
the three score priests entered the
building, bearing swinging torches.
Upon entering they knelt; then, with
noiseless feet, they formed procession
and marched slowly before the image
of Gautama.
If it should be my lot to witness
many august ceremonies, ] doubt if /
could remember another as do the one
of that memorable night on Lynx
Island. There was something in it of
the heathenism of ancestor worship
ing peoples-something which suggested
the religious fervor of India, though
blended with and discolored by the
duller dross of Chinese superstition.
Whatever it may have been-I cannot
describe it-that march of those monks
and their monotones will never be for
gotten while life shall last. And when
to hear, above the song of the singers,
the chant l heard that night:
He knows he lies who dares to say
That Karma cannot be:
For the body of Dharina pure and white,
Ever lives in the liquid light.
Though his form we may not see.
In thousand rivers there water Is,
In a thousand rivers a moon,
In tho isand leagues no cloud Is
Where The heavens lie like an endless dream
To lsTnple cur wind-swept tomb.
On Griddore Peak where vultures fly
Ard lustrous flowers are found,
Full many an occult thing may be-
III the wood comes not can the tortoise see
TIL thousand years roll round?
When half the procession had passed
the altar the priests faced it, and,
themselves, chanted:
o Honorable One by the Altar
source of the pure. endless springs,
Favor onr frail lips that falter,
Grant the three blessed things:
The Buddha.
The Dharma
The Shanga,-
The thrice-blest. the three Precious Things.
Rising, they marched on, then, turn
ing, retraced their steps before the i'm
age, chanting wondrously:
The three worlds swing in an endless arc
Rebirth decay and DEATH
An hundred thousand kalDas fly
Like grains of dust across the sky
While Buddha breathes breath
o clear, pure wind of unmeasured love
Oh blow straight, ATARI
Had not your heart been proven sweet
Who would have dared its message keep
Pyel Ho Of Kasyapa?
Let the chant go forth to the Honorable One
Who sits by the Altar on High,
And strives to break the dark clouds of night
That worlds may reflect his glorious light
And Karma be banished for aye.
/ sat, I know not how long, as one
oewitched. The swinging torches. the
nonotonous chanting, the perfumed in
,ense, all combined to make me what I
lad never been before-somewhat of an
dolater myself.
At last some one touched me and
poke. 1t was General Ling, and when
le asked If was ready, looked out
hrollgh a crack in a paper uipdo,,, ,,,5