THE LONG TRAIL TO SAIN NOIN KHAN 85 



horse, for I learned to love him as one loves a friend who 

 has endured the "ordeal by fire" and has not been found 

 wanting. My wife's chestnut stallion was a trifle 

 smaller than Kublai Khan and proved to be a tricky 

 beast whom I could have shot with pleasure. To this 

 day she carries the marks of both his teeth and hoofs, 

 and we have no interest in his future life. Kublai Khan 

 has received the reward of a sunlit stable in Peking 

 where carrots are in abundance and sugar is not un- 

 known. 



Besides the three Chinese we had a little Mongol 

 priest, a yellow lama only eighteen years of age. We 

 did not hire him for spiritual reasons, but to be our 

 guide and social mentor upon the plains. Of course, 

 we could not speak Mongol, but both my wife and I 

 know some Chinese and our cook-boy Lii was possessed 

 of a species of "pidgin English" which, by using a 

 good deal of imagination, we could understand at times. 

 Since our lama spoke fluent Chinese, he acted as inter- 

 preter with the Mongols, and we had no difficulty. It 

 is wonderful how much you can do with sign language 

 when you really have to, especially if the other fellow 

 tries to understand. You always can be sure that the 

 Mongols will match your efforts in this respect. 



An interesting part of our equipment was a Mongol 

 tent which Charles Coltman had had made for us in Kal- 

 gan. This is an ingenious adaptation of the ordinary 

 wall tent, and is especially fitted for work on the plains. 

 No one should attempt to use any other kind. From the 

 ridgepole the sides curve down and out to the ground, 



