and would conquer them and bring order
into the universe, celebrating this happy day in the city with white
temples and with the songs of ten thousand bells. It is I, Pandita
Hutuktu! The signs and symbols have met in me. I shall destroy the
Bolsheviki, the bad 'servants of the Red evil,' and in Moscow I shall
rest from my glorious and great work. Therefore I have asked Colonel
Kazagrandi to enlist me in the troops of Baron Ungern and give me the
chance to fight. The Lamas seek to prevent me from going but who is the
god here?"

He very sternly stamped his foot, while the Lamas and guard who
accompanied him reverently bowed their heads.

As he left he presented me with a hatyk and, rummaging through my saddle
bags, I found a single article that might be considered worthy as a
gift for a Hutuktu, a small bottle of osmiridium, this rare, natural
concomitant of platinum.

"This is the most stable and hardest of metals," I said. "Let it be the
sign of your glory and strength, Hutuktu!"

The Pandita thanked me and invited me to visit him. When I had recovered
a little, I went to his house, which was arranged in European style:
electric lights, push bells and telephone. He feasted me with wine and
sweets and introduced me to two very interesting personages, one an old
Tibetan surgeon with a face deeply pitted by smallpox, a heavy thick
nose and crossed eyes. He was a peculiar surgeon, consecrated in Tibet.
His duties consisted in treating and curing Hutuktus when they were
ill and . . . in poisoning them when they became too independent or
extravagant or when their policies were not in accord with the wishes
of the Council of Lamas of the Living Buddha or the Dalai Lama. By
now Pandita Hutuktu probably rests in eternal peace on the top of some
sacred mountain, sent thither by the solicitude of his extraordinary
court physician. The martial spirit of Pandita Hutuktu was very
unwelcome to the Council of Lamas, who protested against the
adventuresomeness of this "Living God."

Pandita liked wine and cards. One day when he was in the company of
Russians and dressed in a European suit, some Lamas came running to
announce that divine service had begun and that the "Living God" must
take his place on the altar to be prayed to but he had gone out from his
abode and was playing cards! Without any confusion Pandita drew his red
mantle of the Hutuktu over his European coat and long grey trousers and
allowed the shocked Lamas to c