rue, as our records
tell us that about two thousand years ago an army sent by that invader
penetrated to these parts, though of his being with them nothing is
said.

"The stranger-man told us also that his people worship a priestess
called Hes or the Hesea, who is said to reign from generation to
generation. She lives in a great mountain, apart, and is feared and
adored by all, but is not the queen of the country, in the government
of which she seldom interferes. To her, however, sacrifices are offered,
and he who incurs her vengeance dies, so that even the chiefs of that
land are afraid of her. Still their subjects often fight, for they hate
each other.

"We answered that he lied when he said that this woman was immortal--for
that was what we supposed he meant--since nothing is immortal; also we
laughed at his tale of her power. This made the man very angry. Indeed
he declared that our Buddha was not so strong as this priestess, and
that she would show it by being avenged upon us.

"After this we gave him food and turned him out of the Lamasery, and he
went, saying that when he returned we should learn who spoke the truth.
We do not know what became of him, and he refused to reveal to us the
road to his country, which lies beyond the desert and the Far Mountains.
We think that perhaps he was an evil spirit sent to frighten us, in
which he did not succeed."

Such is a _precis_ of this strange entry, the discovery of which, vague
as it was, thrilled us with hope and excitement. Nothing more appeared
about the man or his country, but within a little over a year from that
date the diary of the abbot came to a sudden end without any indication
that unusual events had occured or were expected.

Indeed, the last item written in the parchment book mentioned the
preparation of certain new lands to be used for the sowing of grain in
future seasons, which suggested that the brethren neither feared nor
expected disturbance. We wondered whether the man from beyond the
mountains was as good as his word and had brought down the vengeance of
that priestess called the Hesea upon the community which sheltered him.
Also we wondered--ah! how we wondered--who and what this Hesea might be.

On the day following this discovery we prayed the abbot, Kou-en, to
accompany us to the library, and having read him the passage, asked
if he knew anything of the matter. He swayed his wise old head, which
always reminded me of that of a tortois