ere all sheltered under them. This
would give me time to make a long forced march before they could
discover that I had left my tent, and could get on my track. Hard as it
would be for our little party going forward, we would take no tent
except the small _tente d'abri_, which weighed about four pounds. We
should, in any case, be unable to pitch a tent for several days, for
fear of being detected by the Tibetans. As soon as they would discover
that we had left they would surely start in search of us. We should have
to march long distances at night, keeping mostly on the summit of the
range instead of proceeding, like ordinary travellers, along the
valleys. We must get what little sleep we could during the day, when we
could hide in some secluded spot. The thought of making a fire had to be
abandoned because, even in the remote chance of finding fuel at the
great altitudes where we were compelled to camp, every one knows that
the light of a fire and a column of smoke can be seen from great
distances, both in the day and at night. We had talked over all these
matters before we made a start, and, moreover, we were fully aware that
if the Tibetans could lay their hands upon us, we were too few to fight
them, and we had little chance of escaping with our lives. In fact,
taking things all round, we had come to the conclusion that our lives
were worth a mere song from the moment of our leaving Devil's Camp.

With the full knowledge of what we were undertaking we may have been
foolish in starting at all, but lack of determination cannot fairly be
charged against us.

The thoughtful doctor had brought with him from our last camp a few
lichens, with which he was now attempting to light a fire to cook me a
few _chapatis_ (native flat breads of India). Alas! four hours' hard
work and four entire boxes of matches failed to produce the semblance of
a flame.

At midnight I sent Chanden Sing and Kachi to collect the men. Two came
trembling into the tent, the others could not be roused. I went myself
and took them, one by one, to their loads. All were crying like
children. It was then that I discovered that in the haste and confusion
I had made one load too many. Here was a dilemma! Everything was ready
and propitious for our flight. A delay at this juncture was fatal. I
must have another man.

The moans and groans in the coolies' tent, when I went in search of
another volunteer, were pitiful. You might have thought that they were