The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1905-07-21
CHAPTER K,

train stopped at Merv station, over five
hundred miles from UEan Ada. We have
seven hours to stop at Merv, and In
company with Major Noltitz "do" the
town. On our return to the station
Popof runs up to me, saying:
II know the name"
~And 1t isY'
"Yen Lou, the great mandarin Yen
Lou Of Pekin."
'Thank you, Popof."
/ rush to the telegraph ofhce, and from
there I send a telegram to the Twenti-
eth Century.
"Merv, 18th May, Z p. m.
'Train, Grand Transasiatic, just leav-
ing Merv. Took from Douchak the body
Of the great mandarin Yen Lou coming
from Persia to Pekin."
It cost good deal, did this telegram,
but you will admit It was well worth Its
price. The name Of Yen Lou was imme-
diately communicated to cur fellow trav-
elers, and It seemed to me that my lord
Taruskiar smiled when he heard 1t.
We left the station at eight o'clock
precisely. Forty minutes afterward we
passed near old Merv, and the night be-
ing dark, could see nothing Of 1t.
Our train Is running northeast. The
stations are twenty or thirty miles
apart. We cross the desert, the real
desert, without thread Of water, where
artesian wells have to be sunk to supply
the reservoirs along the line. Gradually
my companions go to sleep, and our car
eiage il transformed into a sleeping car.
The train enters Tchardjoui Station to
the minute. Our stop here ought to last
49, - kAv a Fnxry tp0r Al
alight, for they have booked to this town,
which contains about thirty thousand in
habitants. Others get In to proceed to
only second-class passengers. This pro-
duces a certain amount Of hustle on the
platform.
I also get out and take a walk up
and down by the side of the front van,
and l notice the door silently open and
shut. A man creeps out on to the plat
form and slips away through the station,
which IL dimly lighted by a few petro-
leum lamps.
1t IL my Roumanian. 1t can be no
one else. He has not been seen, and
there he Is, lost among the other trav-
elers. Why this escape? Is it to renew
his provisions at the refreshment bari
On the contrary, h it not his intention,
as am afraid 1t IL, to get away from
us7
Shall stop him2 will make myself
known to him; promise to help him. Be
hold me then following him without ap-
pearing to do 30. Amid all this hurrying
to and fro he h in little danger Of being
noticed. Neither Popof nor any of the
company's servants would suspect him to
be a swindler. IL he going toward the
gate to escape mel
Mol He only wants to stretch his legs
better than he can do In the van. After
an imprisonment which has lastei since
hours-he has earned ten minutes Of
freedom.
He Is man Of middle height, 1.-the In
his movements, and with a gliding kind
OF walk. He could roll himself up like
q cat and find quite room enough in his
case. He wears an old vest, his trous
ers are held up by belt and his car
Is fur one-al of dark color.
l am at ease regarding his intentions
He returns toward the van, mounts the
platform and shuts the door gently be
hind him. As soon as the train is on thu
move / will knock at the panel, and this
time
More Of the unexpected. Instead o.
waiting at Tchardjoui one quarter of al
hour, we have to wait three. A Sigh
injury to one of the brakes Of the en-
CINE has had to be repaired, and, not
withstanding the German baron's remon
strances, we do not leave the station be
fore half past three, as the day is be
ginning to dawn.
At o'clock in the morning the trail
stops at the capital of the Khanate o
Bokhara, 1,107 miles from Ubun Ada
Bokhara, the capital Of Khanate, Is tn
Rome of Islam, the Noble City, the Cit
of Temples, the revered center of tn
Mohammedan religion.
Major Noltitz advised me to visit tn
town In which he had lived severa
times. He could not accompany me, hay
ing several visits to pay. We were t
start again at IL o'clock In the morning
Five hours only to wait, and the tow
some distance from the railway station
In four hours I have seen most of tn
notable things In Bokhara, and at 1913
alighted at the railway station. l sc
at glance that all my numbers are o
the platform, including my German bal
on. In the rear of the train the Pc
SLAMS are keeping faithful guard aroun
the mandarin Yen Lou. 1t seems ths
three of our travelling companions al
observing them with persistent curiosity
these are the suspicious looking MOI
gols we picked up at Douchak. As
pass near them I fancy that Faruskia
makes a signal to them, which do M
understand. Does he know them? An,
how, this circumstance rather puzzle
me.
The train II no sooner of than Il
passengers 60 to the dining car. IT
places next to mine and the major
which had been occupied since the star
are now vacant, and tho young Chin
man, followed By DE-. Ticking, take q
vantage Of It to come near N. Pa
Chao knows I am on the STAFF Of Il
Twentieth Century, and he Is apparent
as DESTROYS Of talking to me as am
talking to him.
am not mistaken. He IL q true P
risian Of the Boulevard. in the cloth
of Celestial. He has spent three yea
In the world whore people amuse thel
selves, and also IN the world where tn
learn. The only son Of a rich mercha