The Washington times., 1911-08-13


beaming down upon the gladelike open
ing-low brush and stunted timber OF
one hand, titanic rocks on the other.
glanced at the unscalable heights
which 1 knew we must conquer to reach
the lamasery. Dismal-to one who hoped
to see the world again. Stranded in the
most forbiddng corner of the earth' IN
an enemy's country-well-we mao
thought the girls worth coming tor' ana
should not growl now.
Ry the time we had made last ana
unloaded the sun was up. The next
move was to get breakfast, and althoush
there was plenty of dry wood. GWynne
thought II best to use the spirit lamp
again, lest the rising smoke be seen;
There were matters TO pe CoAs-uei Gu
before announcing our arrival ,
On finishing our morning pipe
Gwynne said: .,,o s,roerar
IN that mack there. Luckily theSe leI-
lows don't have TO talk much' any, nft,in ilio ae
lucky still, the lamas are as sullL1le su1 :, az az
Deacocks We must look wise, anu 1ull
of mystery. 1 know enough o. G tnS
lingo to make myself understood, anu
me of course. They'll find our for
eign talk deeply impressive Aou
won't have to 90 thing. Leave all
to me-" ,, ,-,-h fo-
] asked IL ne nao sulNdDIS Gu"
the neophyte. ,L.
"Eyerything is arranged. l thought
1t all out before leaving LONDON. we
won't move on them till after the nlo,
day meal. It'n be better every way,
We drew the luggage back as Tar
as possible under the rocks. mere
was good shelter for everything. Even
the airship was out OF sight.
Presently Gwynne said:
I'm going to leave you Tor WnlIe'
I've got to study out our parts.
He picked up large pack and leIt'
1t was an hour before he came back.
Don't faint when you cap your
eyes on me. I'm coming, but III guar
antee you'd never guess who IL was.
l recognized the voice, but should
never have known the man. a Ilbe-
tan devil is quite different from the
orthodox one, and Ttbetan sorcerer
is a breed more wonderful StllI. l
wasn't frightened, because l knew
who it was, but such TRANSFORMATION
was never achieved by mortal man
before. A wig of plated hair fell 10
his shoulders and covered his fore
head decoration of goatskln and
yak-tail among which beads OF vary
ing size and br1lliancy were curlously
intertwined, was set squarely upon
the top of his head like crown.
From his shoulders hung robe of
skins dyed in many colors, resplendent
with more beads, besprinkled with
bones, feathers, and other insignia.
The color of his skin was changed to
swarthy brown, and picked out in red
and yellow, with half moons and other
heathenish tokens of the trade, while
his eyes were completely changed in
their appearance by their low hang
ing brows, dark smudges and pen
cilings. Huge earrings OF brass,
cabalistic carvings in bone and metal.
completed the makeup.
IF you are tenth part Of the devil
you look like, ! should kill you on
the spot" 1 observed. Let US hope
the lamas of Tad won't be
moved with similar impulse"
Never fear, dear boy; they'll re-
spect me the more for my strange
tongue and splendid apparel But,
speak in broken English. These fell
lows are quick. They must not reCog
nize my voice The disguise must be
complete"
l was satisfied that l should never
have known him, and was sure the
lamas would not The character had
been studied out IN every detail 1t
was perfect unless some slip of the
Bodskad should betray him. Gwynne
assured me that this was impossible.
He would speak but little-the less
the better-while his foreign words
with me would strengthen the situ-
alton.
1t was now my turn to be decked
out in the garb of ge-tsul or cheda-
student in the black art-and l was
relieved to find that my costume was
L.
little different from that of an
ordinary priest Although / must
speak but little, there were certain
words it would be necessary for me
to know, and in these Gwynne coach
ed me. l must make occasional al
lusions to the PGdma tangyid, a we'll
known collection Of legends about
Padma SambhaVa. This would en-
hance their respect and allay any pos
stble suspicion of our identity. By
the time Gwynne was through with
me l felt like a Tibetan, and when We
were ready to move upon the lamas-
cry we were strangers to each other.
An hour must still pass before begin
ming our perilOus climb to the foot
walls of the monastery, and I i'm
proved II by gaining all the informa-
ton possible. ! had never quite un-
derstood how it happened that both
men and women lived in the strange
retreat we were approaching, having
always supposed that the lamaseries
were occupied by men solely.
Roedler explained that there were
several of these establishments where
recluseS of both sexes were admitted
one of the most famous of these was
the Sanding Lamasery. in the Yam
dok, where both monks and nuns are
TO be found and which is presided
over by a woman. There are others.
or which Tad-sa-fuh is among the
largest. 1t stands upon a barren
rock, presenting a sheer fall of $50
feet upon one of its sides
When all was ready, we set out to
find the path that led to the summit.
It was a full hour before we dis
covered II. Gwynne struggled on
ahead while l followed close behind
him. BY the middle of the afternoon
we were skirting the great mani walls
that marked the approach to the
!amasery. Here and there were slabs
bearing the inscription, "Om mani
Padme Hum" and at intervals were
odd paintings of devils and super
natural beings.
GwNnne went up to the portal. and
pounded upon the iron panel with a
club he had brought for the purpose.
Ihe summons was answered by half a
dozen dirty priests, who regarded MS
with disfavor until Gwynne raised his
hands and said something, when the
look gave way to one of fear
We were admitted with some cere-
mony, and found ourselves in a vast
hall, something like the one at Gimra
only larger, more mysterious and for
blddlng in its aspect. We went at once
10 the kang in the center and warm,
ed ourselves, for the chill of the even
ing was already keen A couple of
steps led to the top of the furnace,
which we mounted, throwing our
serves upon a woolly rug We found
In few minutes we were surround
ed by horde of the most unsayory
creatures. and their numbers were
constantly increasing. Had 1t not
been Tor our own extraordinary an