stor, whose
marvellous successes had been published at Lha-Ssa, by the indiscreet
laudations of the pilgrims.

Altere-Lama, having been arrested on the spot, was immediately forwarded,
under safe escort, to Lha-Ssa, the route taken by his guard being that of
the imperial couriers, through the province of Sse-Tchouan. Upon his
arrival in the capital of Thibet, his case was to be investigated by his
natural judges. Meanwhile, his prodigious receipts were confiscated to
the benefit of the Tale-Lama; for, obviously, nothing could be more just
than that he should be placed in possession of the gold and the silver
which had been raised under the all-potent influence of his name. As to
the Grand Questor's four disciples, it was arranged that they should
await the return of the Thibetian embassy, and proceed with it to
Lha-Ssa, taking with them fifty-eight magnificent camels which the
Altere-Lama had procured, and which were to be at the disposal of the
Thibetian government.

These four unfortunate disciples were the travelling companions whom good
fortune had thrown in our way. The recollection of their fallen master
was ever in their minds, but the sentiments which that recollection
excited in them were not always the same. Sometimes they regarded their
master as a saint, sometimes as a swindler; one day they would pronounce
his name with veneration, raising their clasped hands to their forehead;
another day, they would curse him, and spit in the air, to show their
contempt for him. The Lama of Torgot, however, always made the best of
the matter. He reproached himself, sometimes, for having made an
offering of all his herds to a man who now developed, pretty manifestly,
every appearance of a rogue; but still he consoled himself that after all
the man's knavery had been the occasion of his seeing a good deal of the
world, and visiting the most celebrated Lamaseries. These four young men
were excellent fellows, and capital travelling companions. Every day
they gave us some fresh details of their varied adventures, and their
narratives frequently contributed to make us forget, for awhile, the
fatigues and miseries of the journey.

A permanent cause of the sufferings we had to endure was our pro-cameleer
Charadchambeul. At first, this young Lama appeared to us a budding
saint, but before long, we found that we had got amongst us a complete
little demon with a human face. The following adventure opened our eyes
to hi