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PRISONERS
!
379
pilgrims travel? " "Now speak the truth," the chieftain
added, " and tell me how you, a Lama, dare to travel with
these unknown strangers ?
"
Our Lama replied, that the European caravan had halted
nine days away, but that, whilst the animals of the caravan
were resting, we three had been given leave to go to Lassa.
With regard to the constitution and numbers of the caravan
he gave perfectly accurate answers, for he gathered the
impression that the Tibetans already knew all about it
through their spies.
The chieftain’s decision was given in these words :
" You
stay where you are over to-morrow. I will then come to
your tent, and we will discuss the matter further. I will
bring a Mongol interpreter with me, and we will see what
we can make of the other two." That night we sat up a
long time discussing what we were to do. That the road
to Lassa was now closed to us was pretty evident ; but
would they let us leave the country without molestation ?
It puzzled me to understand where they had got the ex-
pression " Shved Peling " from, unless they could have
learned it from the Tangut pilgrim-caravan which visited
us at Temirlik the autumn before. What had the morrow
in store for us ? One thing was certain, we should be exa-
mined and cross-questioned, but how should we come
through it ? Anyway, whatever the result was, our fate
would be decided, and I confess I drew a sigh of relief now
that the die was finally cast and all uncertainty was at
an end.
All night the dogs were barking in the nomad encamp-
ments around us. Evidently the Tibetans were going from
tent to tent, spreading the news of our arrival, and preparing
for what was going to happen. In several places we saw
their fires gleaming through the darkness of the night.
Scarcely had the sun risen next day when three fresh
Tibetans came to visit us. Stopping at a respectful dis-
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