Caravans By Night Part 40

He turned and called a word, and three blue-jacketed, turbaned soldiers, each as reckless-looking as Kee Meng, entered and saluted Trent.

"See? Are they not fine muleteers?"

Instead of answering, Trent asked a question:

"What else do you know of her who pa.s.sed on the night of the new moon--and a certain bird that roosts in Tibet?"

"She who pa.s.sed on the night of the new moon?" the Oriental echoed. "Of her I know nothing, except that she would spy upon the _Tajen_, who, according to what she told Fong Wa, is _Tajenho_ in his country. And the bird--" He looked genuinely puzzled. "There are many birds in Tibet--kites and vultures! There are yaks, too, if the _Tajen_ wishes to shoot."

Satisfied on that score, Trent went on:

"But what of my muleteers? I can't dismiss them. And if it's impossible to leave the city to-night--"

"_Tajen_," Kee Meng broke in, "I know a way. Only speak the word and your four muleteers will disappear--like that!" And he made a gesture.

"Then we, my friends and I, will lead you out of Tali-fang to-night; and Fong Wa will not know until it is too late. Once we are beyond the Yolon-noi, he has no power over us. He is Tchentai of only this district. By riding all night we would be in Tibet before sunrise--and there--" He made another gesture.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" queried Trent, putting forth a feeler. A plan was shaping in his mind. He did not look at Dana Charteris, but he felt her eyes upon him, felt, too, that she read his thoughts.

"By Allah!" declared the Mussulman (and a Mussulman's oath to his G.o.d is not so flexible as that of a Buddhist or a Christian). "May I wither and turn black if I lie!"

"What of my muleteers?" Trent pursued.

Kee Meng winked. "Ah, that is easy!"

"You wouldn't--"

"Oh no, _Tajen_! We will not kill them!" the soldier exclaimed virtuously--but he smiled. "There is an unused house near the North Gate, and under the house is a cellar where opium is stored. We will hide them there, and they will not be found until morning."

"But how will we get out of the city?" Trent interrogated.

"Give me five _taels_ and I will fix it. Mo-su, who guards the North Gate, is a poor man and a fool. Oh, it is easy if one is clever, as I am! Your mules and supplies are at the Tchentai's; to reach here they must pa.s.s through dark streets. We are strong.... Then we can take your caravan to the North Gate, while one of us returns for you. We each have a mule. Oh yes, it will be easy, _Tajen_!"

Trent knew Kee Meng's type. "He who would ride a wild camel must first teach him who is master," says a proverb. These villainous-looking young brigands could fight--if the proper inducement were provided. It would be rea.s.suring to know he had allies, few though they were. As for Sarojini Nanjee--"Set a spy on the heels of a spy," runs another proverb. It was not breaking his word to her; there was nothing in the agreement to prevent him from exchanging caravan-men.... Too, he would feel safer beyond the reach of Fong Wa. He did not like those green eyes. Yet it was a desperate risk.

"What do you know of this city, this Shingtse-lunpo?"

"I know that there are many lamas there, _Tajen_--oh, many, like the blades of gra.s.s! There is a monastery called Lhakang-gompa, whose roofs are gold and whose walls are as white as the sky at midday! The holy city of Lha.s.sa is an open book beside it. Soldiers of the Golden Army guard every approach. There dwells the High Lama of all lamas."

Trent credited the "roofs of gold" to the elasticity of the native mind.

"That is strange," he commented, baiting the Mussulman. "If it is so great a city, then why do not the English, who sent an army to Lha.s.sa and routed the Dalai Lama, know of it? White men have been in Tibet. If there is such a city, why has no one heard of it?"

Kee Meng shrugged.

"White men have been in Tibet, yes--but not in _that_ part.... Tibet has its secrets, _Tajen_; she guards them well. My father, who was a Tibetan, said so."

After a pause Trent went on:

"There's nothing to prevent you or your comrades from deserting me when we get under way. What a.s.surance have I?"

"We swear by Allah to go with you to Shingtse-lunpo," said Kee Meng, "and from there wherever you wish to travel--so long as we receive twenty _taels_ a month and half of the first month's pay in advance now!"

Accordingly, Kee Meng's comrades took oath.

"And obey me," Trent added.

"And obey you," the Mussulmen repeated.

Trent reached under his jacket, where his money-belt was concealed, and counted out twenty-five _taels_.

"Five for the guard at the gate," he explained, "and five apiece for the four of you. When we leave Tali-fang you will each receive the other five agreed upon."

"_Cheulo!_" agreed Kee Meng. Then he let his eyes rove over the packs and mules. "Have everything ready in an hour. Fong Wa expects you to try to leave to-night, so we will take your guides and mules to the gate and there transfer the packs to the fresh mules, sending back the men and old mules. If Fong Wa is watching, he will see them and believe you are returning to the inn. He will be very angry to-morrow, but he will not dare touch your porters, for they are _yehjen_. Remember--in an hour."

The villainous-looking quartet quitted the courtyard, and Trent, watching them go, wondered if he had acted wisely.

"Your bodyguards when we reach Shingtse-lunpo," he said, turning to Dana Charteris and smiling slightly; then, glancing at the rice-paper in his hand, he added: "From Euan Kerth.... He's on the way to the Falcon's city, as a lama."

2

At the appointed time Kee Meng returned.

"All is well, _Tajen_," he told Trent. "My friends are waiting at the gate, with the caravan."

The small pack-train was a.s.sembled, and they left the inn. Kee Meng walked beside Trent. The Englishman let one hand rest upon the revolver strapped to his thigh; the girl riding at his side nervously fingered a corrugated b.u.t.t. The streets were dim and for the most part deserted.

Now and then doors opened and eyes peered out, invisible but felt.

Tali-fang lay in a sepulchral hush, its quiet only emphasized by jingling harness-chains and the dull, m.u.f.fled beat of hoofs.

Trent's breathing quickened as they approached the walls. The tunnel leading to the gate yawned cavernously. In its gloom the pale eye of a lantern wavered. A mule brayed hideously as they rode into the foul artery. By the faint rays of the lantern Trent saw mules and ponies, packs and bulging saddle-bags; saw Kee Meng's villainous-looking comrades and a gaunt individual whom he imagined was the gateman. Kee Meng pressed him forward between the ill-smelling beasts. Dana Charteris was by his side. They dismounted.

There was a rasping sound and the ponderous gates swung apart. Starlight gleamed upon spiked panels. Framed in the archway were mountains and sky--dark loam smeared upon the firmament. A breath of clean air penetrated into the tunnel.

"_Tajen_, you and your brother get into the saddles," whispered Kee Meng. "I will tell your men to wait a few minutes before they go back to the inn."

Mule-harness rattled. One of the men uttered a sharp command, and a protesting quadruped moved through the gateway--another behind it. The mules were strung together, led by a man on foot. More jingling of harness; the soft _pad-pad_ of hoofs.

Dana Charteris was trembling as Trent helped her upon her mount. The pony's coat was sleek and moist under his touch. He swung into his own saddle.... The gates closed behind him. A figure that looked like Kee Meng led the girl's pony forward, after the file of mules.

They were again in the clean temple of the open s.p.a.ces.

... Tali-fang fell away in the rear--a pale blot on the dim shivering ma.s.s of the poppy-fields. They skirted a hamlet not far from the city's walls. Dogs snarled; once more doors opened.... The ground sloped ever upward, and from shadowy forests came the healing smell of pines. A b.u.t.tressed range impended, its peaks virgin with snow--rugged mountains where in places the sides were sheer and rose to shuddersome heights.

Toward this mighty chaos of rock--vomit of some earth-ailment--the road plunged.

Thus began the Yolon-noi Pa.s.s.

Loose stones rattled under the feet of the animals, and a wind, chilled in the cisterns of the night, swept down the canon, shaking the scraggly growths and animating the shadows. The pa.s.s had narrowed to a mere rift where not more than four men could ride abreast. It seemed a place of shrieking demons when a mule brayed, for the wind s.n.a.t.c.hed up the sound and carried it from boulder to boulder, until it perished in a weird echo upon the serrated ridges.

Just before midnight the moon rose and sent the gloom scurrying, and jackals laughed as though to mock the terrors that a moment ago seemed so real. Moonlight shone on scintillant rock; the loftiest, snow-capped peaks gleamed like palest nacre.... Trent rode beside Dana Charteris.