Adventure Magazine Cover, November 10, 1924 — page 130: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

128 ag much for you?” he croaked, and they roared applause. . “I am a Bhat, and I can bless or I can curse more efficaciously than any thousand Brahmans in the Province! Watch!” He turned to Diana and made her sit up on her haunches. “What do you think of the Brahmans of this city?’ he demanded, and Diana growled like an earthquake. “What do you think of these people in front of you?” She barked and got down on all four feet to wag her tail at them. “There! There you are! Even a dog knows you are well-meaning folk who have been fooled by rascally Brahmans, who mouth maniras and do unclean things when none is looking! Get out of here, all of you, before I curse you! Go while I am in a good temper—before I put a blight on you! Hurry!’ They yelled for more song, but it was after midnight and the lama had other plans. He hustled Ommony off the stage, himself remaining at the corner of the curtain for a minute to make sure of the departing crowd’s mood. Ommony heard the chink of money as he rewarded the two ‘‘con- stabeels.”’ Then, as placid as Ommony had ever seen him, but a little stooped and tired, he led the way to the stage door, saying over his shoulder to Samding: “Did you study that lesson? Have you learned it?”’ Ommony did not catch the chela’s answer. He felt the floor jerk underfoot and stepped off a trap-door. It moved, and a hand came through, then the outline of a face that appeared to be listening. He bent down to lift the heavy trap and Dawa Tsering climbed out on hands and knees, sweating profusely and rubbing dust out of his eyes. “Yow! There are rats in that place, Gupta Rao—big ones, and it is dark! Go down and look if you don’t believe me.” “What were you doing down there?” Ommony enquired. “Te? Down there? Oh, I was looking to see if there was a passage by which that mob could reach you from the rear. Yes, Iwas! Don’t laugh at me, or I will call you by your right name! Why didn’t you turn me loose with my knife to drive the mob forth, instead of singing to them like a nurse to a lot of children? I could have cleaned Adventure the place of that rabble in two minutes. You should have left it to me!” “Did you kill any rats?’ asked Samding, grinning mischievously. He was holding the door open, waiting for them. “Thou! I will kill thee, at any rate!” The Hillman rushed at the chela, but Ommony tripped him. Samding slipped through the door and let it slam. ‘There, did you see that?” Dawa Tsering grumbled, picking himself up. “That chela uses the black arts. He threw me to the floor with one wink of his eye. Did you see? Heisno good! He isa bad one! Now I am never tempered to slay the lama, which is why I endure his objectionable righteousness; but that chela—I never see him but I want to squeeze his throat with my two thumbs, thus, until his eyes pop out!’ CHAPTER XXII DARJILING The secret of the charm of the lotus is that none can say wherein its beauty lies; for some say thts, and some say that, but all agree that tt 1s beautiful. And so, indeed, tt is with woman. Her influence is mystery; her power in concealment. For that which men have uncovered and explained, whether rightly or wrongly, they despise. But that which they discern, although its underlying essence ts concealed from them, they wonder at and worshtp.— From the Book of the Sayings of Tsiang Samdup. "THE standing miracle was the lama’s skill in having his own way and in keeping his own secrets without any dis- coverable method. His way seemed more alertly excellent, his secrets more obscure, from day to day. For instance—those mysterious young women. Not for one minute during two months and eleven days did Ommony or Dawa Tsering find an op- portunity to speak with them alone, not though Diana grew dangerously fat on sticky sweetmeats that they gave her; for she interpreted orders to go and make friends with them into permission to accept food. The only. key that seemed to fit the mystery was that the girls had been too well trained to be tricked into indiscretion. Tyranny could never have accomplished it. Once, Ommony picked up an amethyst earring, dropped in a corridor; he wrapped it in paper, on which he scribbled a humor- ous verse, tucked it into Diana’s collar, and sent her nosing around the girls’ quarters. The dog returned after an hour or so with COMmiclhoo (© =