pieces owing to the rough marching we
had done of late. They were away the whole day, and only returned late at
night, having an amusing tale to tell. Meeting a tribe of Dogpas, they
had boldly entered their camp, asking to purchase food. Unfortunately the
Dogpas had not sufficient for themselves, and could not spare any.
Incidentally my men were informed that _Lando Plenki_--the name the
Tibetans had given me--had taken a large army of men into Tibet, and that
great excitement prevailed at Taklakot as well as at other places, owing
to the fact that the sahib had the extraordinary power of making himself
invisible when the Tibetan soldiers were in his vicinity. He had been
reported as having been seen in many places in Tibet: soldiers had been
despatched in all directions to capture him. His tracks had several times
been discovered and followed, and yet he could never be found.
Messengers had been hastily sent out from Taklakot to Lhassa (sixteen
days' journey), and to Gartok, a great bazaar in West Tibet, asking for
soldiers to assist in the capture of this strange invader, who was also
said to have the power of walking on the water when crossing the rivers,
and of flying over mountains when he chose. When I recalled our struggles
and sufferings in climbing over the mountains, and in crossing the
streams on our journey, this account of myself given by the Tibetans, and
now repeated to me, struck me as almost cruelly ironical. Anyhow, I was
pleased that the Tibetans credited me with such supernatural powers, for
it could hardly fail to be an advantage in keeping them from getting to
too close quarters with us.

Three more days had to be spent in a state of painful uncertainty and
anxiety regarding the fate of our messengers to Taklakot. On the night of
the 3rd we had retired to our fortress in despair, fearing that they had
been captured and probably beheaded. It was 10 P.M., and we were worn out
and ready to turn in; our fire down below at the bottom of the creek was
slowly dying out, and nature around us was still and silent, when I
suddenly heard sounds of approaching steps. We listened, peeping through
the fissures in our wall. Were these Tibetans trying to surprise us in
our sleep, or could they be our men returning at last?

We closely watched the gorge from which the sounds came, faint sounds of
voices and of footsteps. Silent as we were, there were not wanting signs
of the nervous excitement of my men. At last f