old
we could save time and strength in cranking by pushing it down the
slope.

Much to our disgust we found that the _argul_ we had purchased from
the Mongol was so mixed with dirt that it would not burn. After half
an hour of fruitless work I gave up, and we divided the tin of cold
sausage. It was a pretty meager dinner for four hungry men and I
retired into my sleeping bag to dream of roast lamb and mint sauce.
When the Cossack officer found that he was not to have his tea he
was like a child with a stick of candy just out of reach. He tried
to sleep but it was no use, and in half an hour I opened my eyes to
see him flat on his face blowing lustily at a piece of _argul_ which
he had persuaded to emit a faint glow. For two mortal hours the
Russian nursed that fire until his pot of water reached the boiling
point. Then he insisted that we all wake up to share his triumph.

[Illustration: The Middle Ages and the Twentieth Century]

[Illustration: A Mongolian Antelope Killed from Our Motor Car]

[Illustration: Watering Camels at a Well in the Gobi Desert]

We reached the mission station at noon next day, and Father Weinz,
the Belgian priest in charge, gave us the first meal we had had in
thirty-six hours. The Czech courier decided to remain at Hei-ma-hou
and go in next day by cart, but we started immediately on the
forty-mile horseback ride to Kalgan. A steady rain began about two
o'clock in the afternoon, and in half an hour we were soaked to the
skin; then the ugly, little gray stallion upon which I had been
mounted planted both hind feet squarely on my left leg as we toiled
up a long hill-trail to the pass, and I thought that my walking days
had ended for all time. At the foot of the pass we halted at a dirty
inn where they told us it would be useless to go on to Kalgan, for the
gates of the city would certainly be closed and it would be
impossible to enter until morning. There was no alternative except
to spend the night at the inn, but as they had only a grass fire
which burned out as soon as the cooking was finished, and as all our
clothes were soaked, we spent sleepless hours shivering with cold.

The Cossack spoke only Mongol and Russian, and, as neither of us
knew a single word of either language, it was difficult to
communicate our plans to him. Finally, we found a Chinaman who spoke
Mongol and who consented to act as interpreter. The natives at the
inn could not understand why we were not able to talk to