s--Marched off to the
mud-house--Mansing--Insults and humiliations--Iron handcuffs
instead of ropes--The Rupun's sympathy--No more hope--In the
hands of the mob.

EARLY in the afternoon a soldier entered the tent, and striking me on the
shoulder with his heavy hand, shouted:

"_Ohe!_" (This is a Tibetan exclamation always used by the rougher
classes when beginning a conversation. It corresponds to "Look here.")

"_Ohe!_" repeated he; "before the sun goes down you will be flogged, both
your legs will be broken,[34] they will burn out your eyes, and then they
will cut off your head!"

The man, who seemed quite in earnest, accompanied each sentence with an
appropriate gesture illustrating his words. I laughed at him and affected
to treat the whole thing as a joke, partly because I thought this was the
best way to frighten them and prevent them from using violence, and
partly because the programme thus laid before me seemed so extensive that
I thought it could only be intended to intimidate me.

However, the words of the soldier cast a gloom over my friendly guard in
the tent, and when I tried to cheer them up, they answered bluntly that I
would not laugh for very long. Something was certainly happening, for the
men rushed in and out of the tent, and whispered among themselves. When I
spoke to them they would answer no more, and on my insisting, they made
signs that their lips must from now be closed.

About half an hour later, another person rushed into the tent in a great
state of excitement, and signalled to my guards to lead me out. This
they did, after making my bonds tighter than ever, and placing extra
ropes round my chest and arms. In this fashion I was marched off to the
mud-house and led into one of the rooms. A large number of soldiers and
villagers assembled outside, and after we had waited some time, Mansing,
tightly bound, was brought into the same room. My pleasure at seeing my
man again was so great, that I forgot all about what was happening, and
paid no attention to the insults of the mob peeping through the door.
After a while a Lama came in with a smiling face and said he had good
news to give me.

"We have ponies here," he said, "and we are going to take you back to the
frontier, but the Pombo wishes to see you first to-day. Do not make any
resistance. Let us exchange the ropes round your wrists for these iron
handcuffs."

[Illustration: SOLDIER LAYING BEFORE ME THE PROGRAMME O