Show N P 0 lane ly elt pys ghaly co CHAPTER IV continued 6 coarse food fond whiter ner and tile long hours of camela n ins lad had darkened cons cheeks cheek ills linnis helped with the wood gathering nt fit lamp time or chopped tile ice for ten tea water mit but the men of ilia caravan regarded him film us its n if they no him tit nt fill friendliness was winter bound the kalka balka partner alone alono made speech levington kept ills his feelings to himself mid and set bet ills his teeth lie ho vas MIS linn lenn as aa a tartar and was constantly ou on the verge of 0 a fever snow rose rofo to the ho cn inels knees and aind then in the he third week meek of travel thawed generally genc rally over north china the going nas stow slow and monotonous hero was sold to bo be grazing country but obviously the lierd lind had never prospered ered W their skinny rocks hacks at sin clicc through a welter of sta stained in snow tile tho rear of the caravan three turned southward south nard heavy with alth rice and salt that grew moro precious cloua i 1 nt at each days end they were cun currying on to the province of sent rent of wretchedness now nt at sin gin clien chen another party was aa walting for the only group with con to join ithem these two outfits with that ot of tho the white hutc ninn man continued over it a northerly road and tile the mud was ans a drag nt at every camels toot foot you inko sain till finally inquired tho the balka up lit v wanted anted to know whether or not levington was a a christian missionary to far sung no 11 con shook lila ills head unit nu hour later inter tho the bulka resumed you ton sell eoll no nothing to gell fell answered tho the white bilto mail here their talk anik ended for that day late in enry tile lio wind and change and tile tho snows were vero ended the ilia mud find lifted la in dust duat con realized ithai to morning ills compan tons toni tho the two outfits of klin gun traders would go BO on oil northward to find their customers lit in those choking hills but that lie would not n ot be with t bent the file ti malka warned him blin a last wile time being now nony quite fluent fluaitt with no good at light it became clear that both outfits considered him a fool foo with his ono one servants con remained behind anad not nn an arm was na raised in farewell inot not a face turned toward the white imad mall when their dust duat imil hall blown blon lawny away in the west widd ali d and their little allue was reduced by distance to a lanere crawling thing thine along the ase I 1 bof of hills levington turned to ud find his driver weeping did you want to go along tile the servant nio nned and idd his face ace cold weather made it appear that the clouds of heaven molded avoided this part lot of the world tile the sky was pale bale levington gambled on oil his final instructions twenty dinies hn hla fingers stole etole into tile the bag to touch the torn oges edges of ills packet and withdrew t again andrew march ito had trusted him no ile had eivenack five animals and two saddled there was grain to last annl I 1 vall korylu u which was ns it village in n cheso yellow hills a amill 3 point of 0 olden lays days somewhere at ft a distance dl stanca bolden beyond outward and to the north lay sung it was necessary to bo be crisp to his this celestial ran BOH of ifft v hau find never dreamed that tile tho world continued so BO far west lie ile was awed at at the rock frock underfoot find the sand that swooped skyward noting with 16 it fear how tile tho so soil thinned and ri vii t callow chalk na As tho hours I 1 passed it was the beginning of the sand desert unhallowed sha mo alo they came to a thin fust fast river and follow followed cil Us its banks to lind find a solid ford lii ing unwittingly they reached the ond end of at the stream tor for it pitched downward into the earth swallowed up dry with metallic gurgling tho the rock waa cold everywhere around con stood at the base of these rushing i enters watching them plunge into thi the pit nt fit lils his feet and a n sudden budden ei emotion notion flitter flitted over jilin it was fear abrupt lightly touching ile he strove strode to think of satie and ordinary things laughed it away while ills his driver crept back to the beasts but lie he was afraid in koroku were two fresh diomeda rips ries which levington purchased along with vw provision for man and beast and if carbine carb lito for better luck lie was impatient to reach shan sung lie ho was not sure anre how long lie ho could hold out for or tile condition of ills his body kept him from gaining strength it was a slight matter lie ho told himself coln coin gilrod to the possibility that flint clieo chea ming had written into shan sung attend of film find and passed on oil lie ile felt a gravo grave necessity for an interview with that if only for a moment there would need bo be a quicker hand bond than his own if clico clice mang were to go on oil without him hill A land taint hint flattened into emptiness dun and gray with vacant SICY ky per file ho settlement named Sl ifill sung to exist upon its try dry bosom in ID a past ngo age nil all independent state it was now DOW it lor dloss oil and unwilled In hundred indred of human beings whose pr ogency moved solemnly in piny with the starving lays days days lero lot hot all and nights flights cold and the ho air clr a sucking invisible thing that lint blotted tile hie mols moisture turo front from ones bones levington was stiff ills camels straggled jn from their own particular direction since there was no street or path putli by which to enter the state 1 many houses lind lad long IBO ago crumbled down into so much gray rubbish but there cicro was a score of into made habitable i he read this final instruction again and again by mud and reeds from the waterhole water avater hole which was a spring of sul ooze in tho the center of the village dust lad had wiped out every color sand flow flew lit in the air but the wind was wag steady anti silent allent tho the seven women who emerged from their dwellings to loot look upon lovington were wasted of body and blank of face it was distressing to remember that once about nhoun eighteen years denra ago andrew had traveled into this bord borderland border land rland r with lila ills elothria and that in sonia such unholy quarters oft on to the southwest her child had ben be ix en n b born 0 rn these thes 0 al mongoloid Mongo a lold 1 I youngsters did not seem human they stared at him film without uttering a sound round and flung mud con felt no triumph in ills his arrival yo no traveler had passed tills this way for sixteen moons levington spent the afternoon in learning tilt this fag end of information tho the last lad gone tho the other way eastward probably chee sling ling on his way to america but by no possible combination of sound anti sign could con make sure of 0 tills Ra eagerly gerly now ho he opened the envelop given blin in tho the march house ile he never knew how bow much pure fiber lie he had find gained by his difficult honesty in this matter tho the document ans you have passed oil nil the places M ti which tike truth might have burdened you find ns as tile tho prime uncertainties are just ahead you will burn this us soon ns no you have rend read you share ft a federal commission r ash ali me anti and our country does not lightly choose clio oso lier her agents clive chee alim brought largo quantities of oe tin di dam aig kolesh kol esh to san and sold it ile la im to bo be traced ani and your aladino reported so that our chief con can make arrangements to check thin evil at Us its source jie ile can do very little until you have something definite to 0 report its actual starting point etc ld and that means the starting dolbt ot of clice bling upon your success will rest tile tho lionor honor of ridding tile tho world of 0 it 11 deep gray curse I 1 wish you godspeed A al lovington know knew that his hands were trembling ile he rend read this inal final instruction again and again until every phrase was unforgettable able ml much uch ot of his friend came to him film from the page ingo tile worldwide world wide significance ot of ils ahls errand in this treacherous land con was humble before the trust of groat great An america terica lie ile burned to do well tile the ni titter of koresh tile the deep gray curse was ns not liot nt nil all clear to him ue he had an all uncomfortable suspicion that lie know knew the stuff afternoon was frightful with dust find sun glare night came cold yet not lot in tile alio nature of a relief con coil drank a bowl of brownish goats milk anti cracked like n R chip between ills hla teeth A native biscuit lie ile brushed tile ashes from his lips and found himself staring nt at nothing while tho the meaning of his mission grew larger within film something lind find como came nt at last to steady him tile tho underworld under world had always trusted blat sam something ething not granted to many ronny but now nov lie ho was honored by lie he government authority believed believe in him test tested ed hlin him and sent him to unravel a poisonous well web lie ile recalled certain things lie ho had told andrew march almost amounting to confessions now that lie knew ills his friend to bo be a federal officer lie he wondered what march must hayo have thought of those recount ings it ninde made con smile ile he was more keenly aware now flow of the ways in which the elder man find studied him before trying him in the present tusk task lie ilo planned to walt alt a week if need be in the lie that chee chec would come coine ile ho speculated that the chinese lind had probably ably returned to tien tsin to regain lili ills troublesome trunks so accounting for delay in reaching shan lingk tile week passed and brought no traveler levington meant to enter tile V cobl without A having given orders that ills hla servant should have tho lay day to himself lie he turned over and napped again for tho remainder of tho the lay day there ther a were pleasant matter to think over until lie discovered that ills boy had gone taking tricking the two freall beasts doubtless with the aid ot of tho the villagers the oil devil had lied fled back eastward away from the he devils of the unknown tile iho fact that the village was against him film did not depress lovington as it must formerly have done now lie ho had find to sustain him the assurance of hla his own country that ho he had been chosen that men nien ot of power trusted him film the second day lie he found himself quite generally ignored in tile the stony ghost of A city although the old woman and her two sons continued to accept his silver for food and a roof ante in the afternoon of the third day when hla his patience pat lenco was waning a caniel camel outfit appeared to eastward it could not be its ills prodigal driver con coil went forth to show himself ile he ivies lone done with subterfuge and the village offered no concealment had lie he wished to tilde hide there wore were hill half it dozea tuen in tho the approaching party or on A closer loot look two wo men inen and their servants nants so nil all bobbing neater nearer on camels cheo mang aling wai bending tile tho outfit ile ho sat under a flapping sunshade ills ilia try dry face was unchanged nl at though ills hla soul became a curse against tile the western youth who had persisted lie iio hated tile the steadiness of Leving tons eyes and the liala dintle remembering hie brutality of his inns cillar equipment but most ot of adlaie all he longed to blight the power and pene of cons aroln yet so far as tile the countenance indicated when alien lie ills white enemy below him clice cheo mang might hao bien been in the act of serving coffee at cecil AV lV edgers elbow dhow instead of riding it a shaggy beast in these outlands ou of mongolia dut but tho the master of tile the other outfit was a white nian illan beneath a sloping chinese straw hat tile faco face was gray bray and strong and touched with sadness badness con answered anan cred tho the grec greeting tIng of andrew march CHAPTER V on the right foot it wits was impossible to guess ato t chee eting thought it if he had been holding any suspicion the valto man who had ridden with him front from tile the yang gun pate gate it was now insured by marahs handclasp hand liand clasp with levington ive been walting waiting for our friend ming but I 1 hardly expected to see y ou oil sold field con so I 1 should judge replied march smiling nut but why waiting ile he was on oil tile tha ship slimp coming over ever said con UK put me ina funder with a blow needle and got my map I 1 heat bent him this far by two days dais just to have a talk with him about it ali ah ats 5 es silila march or I 1 figured I 1 might ride on with him added levington that was all right mit you will not need the map and wo can alloa jilin him to so go ills his way alone I 1 ild did not expect to pick you up so BO soon there was ii shadow over ever levington tin and lb the elder man felt it quickly he hastened to add nothing w boy bay only I 1 could not tell you ou that I 1 should i be just a few day you nil all the way it ws was planned it would bo be just plain murder to rend ons one man alone out into hint hut but we wanted you ion to think you ou were golup alone youre tilt nil right I 1 you to lend wt out to draw oil nil tile ho attention oh 1 guess gues s youve learned by now that your travels ore are not so go private hii a like perhaps con was relieved ile he smiled and offered his hand again 1 I never had a real job before I 1 like it thanks the old pride come came into andrew azarchs eyes hut but he fie merely said in tile the businesslike tone of at a untied united states investigator youre making good it appeared thlik lait march had arrived it in poking peking about fourteen hours lifter after departure by tile western gate con asked how did you rail find clice chee ming 1 I saw him in tien tsin at tile the bag gage rooms I 1 am sure lie he did not notice mp me for I 1 believe tic lie never tin lind a glimpse of ino ina lit in america when I 1 was waa shadowing hini him but its never wise to ile bo too sure of anything about it a chinese I 1 kept out of ills his sight until we had come as far as the yang gun gate galeand and theria met him openly like it stranger it was natural to talk after finding that lie he knew Un english glish lie ile told tile me he was a wool merchant 1 I never gave you ou the det details tills but my ab acquaintance with cheo chee aling really began one evening in dory street severn several weeks before I 1 met you in cincinnati you know the dory street district in san francisco 1 I had found that flint it was tho the distributing point for koresh I 1 managed to connect with chee ieng the night flight tie ho received ills his money for all lie he had brought lit in fresh from saine somewhere where 1 I am honored by your confidence said the younger lounger man at ono one time my father and I 1 lived on dory street then you know koresh 11 1 I cant say that I 1 do I 1 was very young then there tire aro twelve thousand recorded users of it in tile the united states and that Is but a fraction of those who enter secretly the bliss and tho the agony of it con felt again the importance of his mis mission slon but lie ho occupied its his hands in attending to the smaller personal luggage of its his friend ive been staying in that willylu will you come in lie he indicated A hut and the ho sight of the low misshapen pon structure seemed to 0 o firing bring back to him film the taste and smell of that tan colored goats milk which they had given him there in their mil mistaken staken idea of nourishment chee ailing and s servants spread ibell camp just be beyond yo the group of kennels find and there was no further communication between them and the white men march made a desert |